Jackson Street Roundhouse

Getting work done on the bedroom in the basement of the cabin.











The kids went to a birthday party for friends at the Tamarack Nature Center this past weekend.



Here they are with their seeking scopes, looking for the treasure box.



They found the treasure box! What's inside? Stickers and tattoos.



Everyone got to carry back some of the trail markers and animals we saw along the way.



M got a slinky last weekend from my mom and dad. I guess three years old is too young for him to play with it "properly". Don't get me wrong, he and his sister had a blast playing with it. They were very creative and stretched it in ways I didn't know were possible. The first time it got tangled, he wanted me to fix it. It was work to get it back, but fixable. This, clearly, is a hopeless cause. He told me he wants another one for his birthday and that he won't "break" it again. Hopefully the next one will last longer than two days!



We visited the Jackson Street Roundhouse on Wednesday with some friends. The kids had a great time going inside the train cars, playing with the train tables, coloring train pictures, blowing train whistles, climbing up on trains, walking on train tracks...lots to see and do there. We'll have to go back on a Saturday when they give little train rides on the roundhouse.

National Eagle Center

We went to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha on Saturday with our neighbors. The kids had fun seeing the eagles up close and in person and watching them on Lake Pepin through binoculars.

That is Harriet in the background. She was the "model" for the eagles on the Minnesota veteran's license plates.







We got to learn more about Harriet during the classtime.



Four silly eagles. Afterwards we went to Slippery's for dinner, which is mentioned in the movies Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men.



We went to a bowling and pizza party for one of D's friends on Sunday. The kids loved bowling and ramps + bumpers make for good scores. M didn't want to use the ramp the last few frames and he actually got a spare all on his own without his ball even touching the bumpers.

Ladybug, Ladybug

D loves the new pillow pet she got for her birthday. She throws her regular pillow off of her bed every night and uses the ladybug instead. The kids were watching a movie here and M actually fell asleep. I was just about to pick him up and put him to bed, when D said she wanted a snack and he instantly woke up.



Which one is the pillow pet?

Mall of America

D with her friends--it was Pajama Day at dance class.



Breakfast for dinner! One of my favorite meals. The kids had been begging for waffles and liked making the first letter of their names with blueberries.





Friday night we went to the Little Sweeties Dance at ECFE. Both kids enjoyed getting their faces painted.





Playing in the gym area.



Saturday evening we went to the Mall of America with our friends Ron and Jennifer (poor Steve had to work!). We ate dinner at Famous Dave's. Yum...except for this drink combination!





It was picture day at ECFE and the teachers tried to take a picture of kids only while the moms and dads were out of the room for parenting time.



Someone gave us free unlimited ride wristbands when we were at the mall Saturday, so Steve took a half day off from work Monday and we had a fun family day at the MOA. We had never been on the rides at Nickelodeon World before (it would have cost us $120 to buy all four wristbands--enough said!) and the kids just loved it. We all had a great time.



























We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. While Steve and I think the food there is second rate, the atmosphere for kids is definitely the best you'll find at the mall. The kids loved seeing the animals (not real, but they look real) and we got to sit right beside an aquarium with real fish and a scary looking moray eel. See the gorillas in the background? They move around and make noises when it "rains" in the restaurant.



Fun Day!

Happy 5th Birthday!

D went to her friend's birthday party on Saturday. These three friends, who all just turned 5 within the last month, have known each other since we were counting their ages in months and not years. I can't believe how big they are now!





After the birthday party, Steve took the kids to the Oval to see the Wild practice outdoors. D and M got to meet Nordy.



We celebrated D's birthday with my parents on Sunday. She was sporting all the bling and wearing one of the outfits she got from her shopping trip with Grandma. She had so much fun being a "big girl" and going out to lunch with Grandma.





Tiana is the princess du jour and D has been talking about having a Princess Tiana cake for quite some time now. I finally got smart and bought a cake instead of attempting to make one this time.





5 candles!



M loved the paint set he got from Grandma and Papa. He painted about five pictures after waking up from his nap.



I'm glad M has a "quiet" side to him, even though it usually doesn't last too long. After painting, he found every drum in the house and started "making music." His sister likes to dance to his tunes.



On Monday, we had a birthday party for D's friends at Davanni's.









All the kids got to pin the pepperoni on the pizza.



Pizza cookies. Okay, I did make these.









Gift opening.



More gift opening later in the day from Mom, Dad and Aunt Becky.



Happy 5th Birthday (officially)!

Doing some crafts and playing games.







Opening gifts from Grandma and Papa Stiehl.





Wearing several new birthday gifts all at once.



First Chinese lesson with Yinzhu. D and M learned how to count to five, say little brother, sister, hello, good bye, thank you and Happy Birthday.