Skip to main content

Where's the Red-Nosed Reindeer?

Last Saturday was a very full day for all of us. Scott opted not to go hunting, so he scheduled some more side jobs for himself. In the meantime, I headed to downtown Minneapolis for a convention with a friend (and then lunch afterwards), and G was dropped off to play with his cousins. He had so much fun, and it was a great way to start his day!

After I picked him up, we had a very short amount of time before he needed to be at Rockin' Jump for a birthday party. I have never seen it so busy there! I happily dropped him off and took Ava across the street to grab a late lunch at a bowling alley, and then she and I browsed through Target until it was time to pick up the little guy. 

After such a busy day, I think we were all happy to get home and find quiet areas of the house where we could each relax. But not for long, as the next day, G and I were on the road again to see the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer musical at the Ames Center in Burnsville. The musical followed the original story very closely, and at the end, the entire audience got to sing along with the cast. It was so well done, and I can't wait to see what other plays/musicals G might like to go to in the future. I opted not to see The Nutcracker this year, which means Ava was off the hook for attending a performance with me. :)




In other exciting news, Ava tested for her second stripe for her gold belt, and she earned it! G didn't come to class that night (his knuckles were cracked and bleeding from the dry air...which would have made it really uncomfortable for him to hit the punching bags), but he was very supportive and happy for Ava when we came home and told him. I wasn't sure if he was going to be upset that he didn't have a chance to test for it, but...he surprised us!



Tonight we're going to the Christmas tree lighting celebration in Rosemount. I think there will be treats, music, and a visit from Santa. As a bonus, we're meeting a few other families there, so the kids will get to burn off some energy outside. We've also been prepping for our Christmas mini picture session, which will take place tomorrow afternoon (Sunday.) It's a nice way to get updated family photos, without making it a huge adventure. The studio is here in town, and it's a 15-minute session...short and sweet!

We're moving quickly into the holiday spirit, and are trying to check things off the mandatory holiday bucket list. Christmas cards ordered ✔, plans to decorate the house AFTER Thanksgiving ✔, cookie date set with my mom ✔, and we've made excellent progress on buying Christmas gifts for everyone. Whew!

As a side note, both kids' schools ran a food drive these past weeks, and since G is backup for student council in his class, he helped make one of the posters that are up around school. It was neat to see him work with another classmate for a good cause. Nice job, kids!



It's another beautiful fall day in Minnesota...a perfect day to finish up any lingering outside chores. Before we know it, the snow will be here to stay (did I mention it snowed earlier this week...a perfect snow globe snow...but it was gone fairly quickly) and we won't want to go outside!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Exploring Local Places

Last Sunday was the perfect day to explore an area that neither Arya nor I had been to before. We headed east to walk around the Vermillion Falls/River and Greenway area. The path was nicely paved, with lots of overhead shade from trees; there were so many families out on bikes and walking, and we had a nice view of the Vermillion River. Arya got some great pics, and I enjoyed spending time outdoors with my sweet girl. This weekend, G and I will be heading out to explore a creek area in a few towns just south of us. And I've already got an idea for another creek I want to walk by next month (it's a bit further away, and I'd rather put that aside until Arya is off at college) The tree leans to find the sun On the way home, we stopped at the DQ in another town (we have a love/hate relationship with the DQ in our town, so I wanted to avoid it.) The warm weather felt great, and we enjoyed some sweet treats while watching the world drive by. We're counting down the days unti...

What a Week

The weather has been unseasonably warm this fall, so we've been able to extend our outdoor projects just a bit.  This past week Scott's been working in the garden, cleaning everything out, and repairing the back wall of our garage.  Ava was such a good little helper, scooping up dirt, but still trying to keep her hands clean while doing it! I swear, a box is all she needs to make her happy. Princess Darla. Princess Darla has had enough.  I personally like how she and Ava have the same expressions in this picture. Apparently Spanky was bored - check out that yawn in the background! We went down to Grand Meadow this weekend, and as always, it was so fun to see Ava and Isabel play together.  They actually had several little conversations with each other - and they were so polite while doing so!  We even had them share a room last night...boy, that was a challenge.  I think they finally fell asleep around 10:00pm.  And of course, Ava wa...

All Done!

We made it! May was extra busy this year, leading up to Arya's graduation. And now that we are a week out from the chaos, I'm happy to report that we survived and are enjoying a slightly less busy pace in our days and nights. On Friday, May 29, 2026, 601 Rosemount High School seniors graduated, with the ceremony held at the University of St Thomas campus in St Paul, MN. It was a new venue for graduation this year, and it went really well. We were allowed six tickets in total, but were provided with a link for others to stream it on YouTube. We ended up parking at St. Kate's and shuttling over to St Thomas, so the parking situation was easy peasy for us. The ceremony was so well done, focusing on the triple A philosophy: academics, arts, and athletics. We are so proud of Arya, and can't wait to cheer her on in the next phase of her life! We did a pre-graduation photo shoot with a few friends from school Last day of high school! Red Pine is a special school in the distric...