Go, Go, Goers!

It was a big week for Butterfly. She was hand picked by Ava to make the long journey to school, to be a part of the second grade stuffed animal show this past Wednesday. Butterfly gets a LOT of love at home, and goes everywhere with Ava. This means that Butterfly needed to be spruced up a bit before being shown off. As Butterfly was getting a bath in the delicate cycle, I heard comments from Ava like, "This is so harsh!" and "I hope her eyes don't come off."  (For the record, her eyes are embroidered onto her face, so if they come off, I'm going to be concerned about how "harsh" are washer really is, especially the regular cycles!) At one point, I checked in on Butterfly, and pointed out that she was still smiling, even though she was floating upside down, trapped in a mesh bag, face completely submerged by soapy water. And in the end, the girl and her butterfly had an awesome day together. And Butterfly even won a blue ribbon for being the ...

I've learned everything I know about siblings from watching our two kids interact with each other over the last two years.  As an only child, I never had firsthand exposure to sibling relationships, and what they entailed.  This has been a unique learning experience for me, and I can only assume that it will continue to evolve and grow over time.  Ava is an amazing big sister, very rarely getting jealous, and always willing to lend a hand with G when asked.  Garrett is an observant little brother, and often mimics what Ava is doing...whether it's her crazy dance moves, or her funny sayings (hilarious to listen to in a toddler boy voice!)  They are so much alike, yet...so different. I hope these two continue to have a good relationship, well into adulthood!   Yesterday, we drove down to Cannon Falls to meet up with my parents, and my great-aunt Doris.  Doris and her friend came into town (from Kansas) to visit for the weekend, so although the vi...

On September 24, Scott and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary...ten years, WOW!  It was a rainy day, just like it was ten years ago...and it brought me back to all of the fun that we had on that day in 2005, as well as the milestones that we've achieved together over the last ten years. A few years ago, I had hoped that we could have celebrated this tin/aluminum anniversary in Hawaii, but...two kids later, a bigger house, and well, life...we decided to keep it somewhat local, and headed to a B&B in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin.  Ava and Garrett spent the weekend with Grandma Deb and Grandpa Whitey, and Scott and I had two whole days, all to ourselves!  It was a gorgeous weekend, and we had fun spending time together.  We're both so busy with life that we don't often get the chance to spend 48 solid hours with just the two of us.  It was a much needed time away! This was the third B&B that we've gone to over the years, and was definitely the most int...

I had a last minute request to travel for a client, so I headed out to Detroit this past week.  In the last year, I've learned how to better set boundaries on my personal time vs. my professional time, so I was only away from my family for one night - no big deal.  I'm a pretty easy-going traveler...I always assume I'll make my flight, and don't get worked up about small issues that pop up.  But, when I drove up the airport on Wednesday afternoon, and saw that the entire Terminal 1 parking ramp was closed (full?  construction?  I have no idea!) I started to panic a little bit.  I swallowed that panic, and calmly followed directions to park in the Terminal 2 ramp...and then I proceeded to miss my turn while driving, and ended up in some weird part of the airport that appeared to be restricted.  Tick-tock, tick-tock...it's fine, it's fine, I kept telling myself.  I finally managed to park, and get myself down to the light rail station to head to T1....

The first week of back to school was a success!  Ava really likes her new teacher, and is having fun reconnecting with old friends, as well as making new ones.  We seem to have one of the neighbor girls over at our house several times a week, which is totally fine - she's sweet, and a year older than Ava, so she seems to be a good influence on Ava. On Monday, we celebrated the "last afternoon of summer" with root beer floats at the neighbors house.  The floats, the company, and the weather made it a perfect afternoon to say "see ya!" to summer. Ava was so excited to start school on Tuesday, and as you can see, she's wanting to be a fashion designer in the future.  We talked about her past choices (mermaid, "mommy who works on computers", and a baker) and she changed her mind to being a mermaid fashion designer princess, but...that seemed a little unrealistic, so we stuck with being a plain ol' fashion designer. :) G's been havin...

It was the last week of summer before school starts!  And it's been a fun one...during the days, Ava got to go see Minions again, went to an indoor theme park, and even got to take a boat ride down the Mississippi as a farewell to summer!  She had a fantastic time this past summer through the Y program, and we're already talking about what fun she'll have next year. We went to her school's open house on Wednesday night, and put all of Ava's school supplies in her desk, and picked up some info from her new 2nd grade teacher.  We needed to drop off one of her reading logs with her 1st grade teacher, but when we went to the 1st grade wing, she wasn't there!  We finally tracked her down to the Kindergarten wing - she's teaching the newbies this year!  Ava had a great time playing with all of her toys, and I had a nice chat with Mrs M.  She's a very fun, warm lady, and I can see why Ava loved having her last year.  She did warn me that 2nd grade is seriou...