Go, Go, Goers!

What a fun week we've had! We're embracing the fall season around here, even though it's not quite yet October. G informed us exactly when we went from summer to fall on Tuesday, according to the calendar. Good job, little guy! On Sunday we headed to a local apple orchard. It was a different experience than what we've had in years past...no hay ride, no country store with fresh cider, no pumpkin picking, or playing on the playground. And you know what? That's 100% okay! We still had fun. We picked a whole bunch of different varieties of apples, plus we picked up some locally made apple BBQ sauce and some apple butter. And most importantly, we were able to get outside on a beautiful Sunday morning, and spend time together as a family. I made fresh applesauce this weekend to use the apples, and I'm hoping we can squeeze out some apple pancakes before the weekend is over. Scott and I celebrated our 15th anniversary on Thursday. FIFTEEN YEARS! Whaaaat? I can't g...

Well, folks, school has started. And week 1 was a success! G had a great two days with his real teacher at school, and then an equally good three days at home with his mom-teacher (hey, that's me!) He made lots of new friends, behaved well, and seems to be enjoying his time out of the house.  One of the benefits of having G at home is that we can go for walks over lunch together Ava also had a great first week at school...in her room. As a reminder, she's doing 100% distance learning, and rocked it this first week. She worked ahead so by Friday, she only had two things to do. She is starting to learn Chinese this year, and then also decided to learn Japanese on her own. And remember, just this past summer she started teaching herself Korean. She was vacuuming the other day and was able to recognize some Japanese (Katakana) writing on our Dyson vac. I'm so proud of her for realizing that there is a BIG world available to explore and learn about, outside of our country. I bel...

The kids were at home with me for the entire week, enjoying their last week before school starts. Hard to believe in a few days we will have a 7th and a 1st grader. On Wednesday, Ava and I went to the middle school and met all of her teachers...I thought it was important to meet them since she chose to do distance learning. At least they can see that she made an effort.  Also on Wednesday (big school day for us!) G went in for his 1st grade assessment and we ran into some friends from preschool there, as well as our neighbors. It was a very chatty hour at Red Pine! On Thursday, he went in to continue his testing with the school psychologist and the special ed teacher. He did great and the psychologist told me that he may not receive a diagnosis, and we might not be eligible for any extra help. I'm totally cool with that, as their suspicion of ADHD last year just didn't feel right to me. Scott and I maintain that his biggest issue is controlling his feelings, and he gives up on ...

 Yay, it's a long weekend! The kids had their last week of summer programming (and will be home with me for a week before starting school on 9/14) and Scott and I took Friday off to extend the holiday weekend. We decided it was a great day to take the boat out for another fishing trip. The biggest difference is that the launch was empty when we got there (just a few trucks/trailers in the lot) so we could take our time getting the boat into the water. And just like last time, the clasp unsnapped as I tried to pull it to the dock so I had to stretch really far to make sure the boat didn't float away from the dock. It was a little dicey - yikes! G also managed to break a seat lever and then something weird happened with the hitch when Scott was taking the boat back to storage...so besides some really strange maintenance issues that we'll need to take care of, it was uneventful. Big Marine Lake (near Scandia) was almost empty as well...just a few fishing boats in the water. We...

Summer's drawing to a close here...the kids only have one more week at their Y programs, then they're home with me for a week, and then....back to school they go! (Kinda, sorta.) They both had loads of fun at their new Y locations this week, although, the extra 15 minutes of driving them all over town is a bit of a pain, but...it's only for one more week. We can do it! G did a great job of building a cool train track in his room Early morning snuggles with Norman, the guinea pig With permission, G picked an apple from the neighbor's tree and he LOVED it! The most exciting event this week was that we finally got our front porch and back deck stained. It looks so pretty and the team did a great job. I'm so happy that we went with that company, knowing the issues that our neighbors dealt with earlier this summer (with a different company.) We're looking forward to getting our furniture back out on both surfaces so we can soak up the last rays of sunshine and warmth...

Now that we're all spending so much time together, I'm much more in-tune with what kinds of silly things that G watches on YouTube. For a while, we all saw a bunch of Lego kits being assembled, or we watched different gamers playing Minecraft. Sometimes it was funny, and sometimes it was just really annoying.  Now we've moved into the stage where I find myself humming the Coffin Dance song. If you don't know what it is, Google it. We've also become very familiar with many variations of the Coffin Dance. Sometimes it's Siren Head, sometimes it's Steve from Minecraft, and sometimes it's random animals. And no lie, as I'm typing this, G is in the next room, building something with Legos and singing the Coffin Dance tune. It never stops! G built three versions of the Coffin Dance...a little creepy but highly creative! A close-up of two Lego Coffin Dances That aside, G had a decent last week at Deerwood. I can't believe we're down to the last thre...

Ava and G had pretty good weeks at the Y program...no issues or complaints, so we consider that a win! Ava's electronic drawing tablet came mid-week and she's been having fun using it with her laptop. The hardest part so far was trying to figure out how to get the batteries into the pen, lol. G's plushie Minecraft creeper also came, and is hiding out in our closet, waiting for him to have another two weeks of good behavior at the Y. Once he passes that time frame, the creeper and G get to meet! But, we don't want him fixating on it, so if you see him, please don't bring it up. :) I had a fun evening out in St Paul with a really good friend on Wednesday night. We went to the Red River Kitchen, which is an open air seating building, with beverages and a food truck. And it boasts a great view of the Mississippi River! A storm came through while we were sitting there and we were then blessed with a full rainbow. A sheriff boat also went flying by, plus several barges, s...