Go, Go, Goers!

This is such a fun time of year to live where we do! We have 10 fun days to enjoy Leprechaun Days...our town has a strong Irish background, hence the reference to Leprechauns. There are so many fun activities planned, and we only partake in a few of them...but we look forward to them all year! On Thursday night, I headed to Central Park with my friend Tina, and we enjoyed a chilly evening in the beer garden, while listening to GB Leighton (one of the bands we have seen many, many times when we used to go out more!) It was so nice to enjoy the beer garden without the kids, because I knew the next night would be family time, and kids aren't allowed in the beer garden! Scott, Ava, and I picked up G from daycare on Friday night and walked over to the carnival (aka Midsummer Faire) and Ava and G had a blast playing games, riding on rides, jumping in the bouncy houses, and eating healthy snacks. Wait, what? That part's not correct. It was all junk food, all night long. Ha. ...

Whew, we survived! This past week was a doozy, but I can see the end in sight...it’s so close! This was Ava’s last week of band lessons AND her last week of baton (she’ll start up again in the fall, but we’re going to take a little break for the rest of the summer.)  She has now requested to take guitar lessons, so guess what I’ve been researching... Honestly, I think it’s great. She doesn’t have much interest in sports, so if she wants to take lessons in art, music, whatever, I will support that! Ava’s final baton performance was on Friday night, so I had to zip out of work early, fly across the cities from Edina, pick her up in Eagan, get her dressed and made up, and then zoom south to Farmington. We struggled quite a bit with getting her hair into a bun, but luckily another mom was able to help us once we got to the high school. Her class didn’t have a lot of practice time for this show...they each missed one practice, and didn’t really focus much during their classes. I was...

Scott and I can handle busy...we know what that means. The week that we just exited was more than busy, it was almost unmanageable. I'd say that we both barely hung on by a thread. And certainly suffered major sleep deprivation for every night this last week. It started off well, though...last Sunday, we took the kids to a park and they had a blast! Captured just as Scott was starting to fly out of the swing! Ava started her summer band lessons this past week, so every night, she was dropped off/picked up, plus she still has her baton classes on Monday night, so that was a doozy of an evening. I will say that she's made remarkable progress from her first trumpet lesson on Monday night, to the actual tunes I was hearing her play over this weekend. It was so, so hard not to take the trumpet from her and show her how to do it...but, I resisted. It's important for her to learn how to play, as well as read music (glad they had their intense recorder cour...

Having a day off in the middle of the week is REALLY confusing. I was asking people at the end of the day on Tuesday what they were doing this weekend, and then Thursday felt like a Monday. Super odd. But, if someone wanted to give me every Wednesday off, I am sure I could acclimate. Haha. We had a great 4th of July...it stormed like crazy, but cleared up in the late afternoon/evening. My parents came over for the afternoon and dinner, and then after dinner, Scott, Ava, G, and I headed over to our neighbors for a small fireworks show, and some drinks. And THEN we all (minus Scott and G) trekked down to our normal fireworks spot to cap off the evening. At the end of our street, we have a clear view of the Apple Valley fireworks...but it may be the last time since houses are scheduled to be built at our viewing spot at some point in the future! Wednesday was a wonderful day off, filled with fun, family, friends, and fireworks! My mom and I also dyed Ava's hair tips a teal co...

Well, the last week of June flew by in a flash. The kids both had busy weeks at their summer care, and both Scott and I were super busy at OUR summer care, aka work. Hands down, though, the kids had way more fun. Ava had several pool days (did I mention she tested into the Green group for her swimming lessons? Way to go, kiddo!) She also went to a few different fun locations (arcade in Lakeville and dance party at another school) and is making some new friends from other elementary schools in the area. Since this will be her last year in the Summer Power program, I want her to enjoy it as much as possible. Next year, we'll bump her up to the middle school group, and before we know it, she'll be able to stay at home by herself for entire days. Personally, I have fond memories of staying at home during the summer, while my parents were at work. I read a lot and fell in love with retro TV shows like, "I Love Lucy," "Bewitched," and "I Dream of Jeannie...