In Beautiful You-Know-Where.

Last month the girls visiting their grandparents in Wisconsin. It's always a highlight of the summer for them (and for Grandma and Gramps too). And on a cold, windy, rainy September night like this, I think it's important for us all to look at them, and remember.

Odds & Ends

Our summer is rapidly coming to an end as the three girls all head back to school (and for one of us it's been a long, long time). We have Cecilia's open house tonight, two days of grad school orientation already complete, and Ruby is so excited to go to big-girl school that she could burst. I think we're all ready.

At the beginning of summer I remember feeling a little nervous about how this was all going to go, and I'm happy to report that it was a success. I can also report that it might very well be the busiest summer of my adult life. There were trips out-of-town and trips to the park and appointments and lessons and swimming and play dates and birthday parties and weekend visits from loved ones and triathlons and bike rides and slip'n'slides and gardening and Valleyfair and a proper vacation to the Black Hills. This summer was FULL (and my list didn't include the cleaning and organizing that got shoved in here and there, too).

I'm ready for school to start, but I'm also going to be sad next week when we walk Cecilia to the bus on her first day. Because, as busy and hectic as our summer has been, I ended almost each and every day by telling Dadam how great the girls are, or how much I love them, or what special kids I think they are (he had a hunch anyway :) ).

I'm glad we were able to make this little adventure work, and I'm grateful to my husband for letting his three girls live a life of leisure for the summer. It was a magical summer for me. I might even try and do it again next year...

The Learning Continues

Today at diving lessons they started teaching Cecilia how to do back-flips off the board. It was pretty fun to watch, and she was a real trooper about the belly-flops. Only two lessons left!

Dive Right In!

Many of you know that Cecilia recently started springboard diving lessons and that I'm probably more excited than she is about them (though, she's pretty excited, too). I'm absolutely astonished by what she has learned in four short lessons, and also a little embarrassed about how proud I am of her accomplishments. But since this is our blog about our girls, I figure it's an okay place to brag. So there. (Can you imagine what will happen when she makes it to the Olympics? My head might just explode!) With that disclaimer, here are a couple little clips of Cecilia at diving class, Day 3:

Berry Fun!

The four of us went berry picking on Saturday and came home with pints of incredible raspberries and blueberries. This is one of my favorite summertime activities with the girls, probably because it's a fun activity for all age groups (especially Ruby) and the end result is a motherload of fruit to take home (at least the little bit that survives the car ride). Aside from the dead battery and being stranded in the field for a bit, it was an excellent way to spend the afternoon.

Reunited & It Feels So Good

The girls are back on their home turf and we've just wrapped up another busy summer weekend. Thursday we left for Wisconsin and got to our girls (and Door County) around dinner time. The weekend was full of activity, most notably two triathlons completed by mother and daughter (one each). Cecilia competed in a kids' triathlon and did a marvelous job on her 100 yard swim, 1 mile bike, and 1/3 mile run. She finished in the top half (after being one of the last kids in the pool), and now has a nifty little medal to add to her collection. She makes us very proud.


Yesterday we made the long trip home and even managed to make it to the park for some Frisbee before calling it a day. It feels pretty darn good to be together under the same roof again.

Real real gone.

The girls have been gone since Saturday afternoon. They are enjoying an extended stay in Wisconsin with their grandparents and by all accounts are having a terrific time. I, on the other hand, started to struggle almost immediately. I thought I had it more or less under control today -- then I realized I just spent the past 1/2 hour going through old photographs of the girls on the computer with a ridiculous grin on my face.

Only 42 more hours we'll be reunited with our little goonbags...

I Miss My Family.

We went up to northern Wisconsin this weekend with some friends, and it was fantastic. We had beautiful weather, a beautiful house on a beautiful lake, canoeing and swimming and running, a local small-town festival and an unexpectedly stunning fireworks display. I'm home now, while Momlissa and the girls stayed on for an extra two days.

I acknowledge that I usually look forward to this family-free time. Momlissa and I are different in that she doesn't really see the value in time spent alone, whereas I feel there's no greater treat than having a few hours to myself, to read or play the pipes or watch a scary movie or just to do a glorious bit of nothing, without having anybody else's needs to attend to, or having to feel guilty because you're not attending to them.

But the reality is, it isn't all that fun. I got back at about nine last night, fed the cats, took a bath and went to bed. Woo hoo. Already I'm feeling lonely and bored and wishing my family was back, or I was still there with them - especially those two crazy little monsters who exhaust me so but who also are the best joys of my life.

Maybe that's the real benefit of this time away - it isn't the fun I have when they're gone, it's realizing how much fun I have when they're here, and how much I need them.

Cool Moves.

We're going out of town for a couple days with some friends, so we probably won't post for a while. But rest assured, updates are coming. In particular, Ruby has a new "Michael Jackson dance" and some other "cool moves" she developed recently, so if possible we'll try to capture those on video.

In the meantime, happy Fourth. Last year it occurred to us how great it was to celebrate the holiday without having a kid in the hospital; it's just as great this year.

The County of Door.

We spent last weekend in beautiful Door County with Grandma and Grandpa K, and as usual we managed to pack in a ton of activity in a very short amount of time. Here are some of the highlights in pictures:
Checking out the garden and picking wild strawberries in the field; posing as a family; riding the tractor per usual; kicking back with Dadam on Grandpa's hammock...








...and out for a pleasure cruise on Lake Michigan for Father's Day!


We had SUCH a good time and the weather could not have been more beautiful. Good thing it's just a few short weeks until we go back for more!

So far so good.

We've survived the first three days together as a threesome, and so far so good. Swimming lessons started on Monday, which has helped, and we started off the week with a clean house, which helped even more (at least for my sanity). We've played outside, read stories, gone shopping, been to swim lessons, cooked/baked, worked in the garden, and did some reorganizing in the playroom. Today our big project - since the weather isn't much fun - is to work on a craft project for Father's Day (pretend you never saw this, Dadam).

As soon as summer weather decides to show up, I think this little experiment is going to work out well for everyone!

7.9

This is Ruby's final week at daycare, so Cecilia and I have had the rare opportunity for some one-on-one mother/daughter time now that she's on summer vacation. Today over breakfast we agreed that we'd go for a long bike ride, and Cecilia said she wanted to go at least 5 miles. So after grocery shopping and some tidying up around the house, we set off on our bikes.

We decided to head towards the river for the scenery and because it seemed like the right distance, and our first couple of miles were pretty uneventful. When we got to the river we biked out halfway over the bridge to a bench where you can take in the view, and Cecilia turned to me and said, "It's SO beautiful!" The sun was shining with the beautiful Minneapolis skyline in the background and the river was all sparkly -- she could not have been more right.

Then we traveled the River Road south to Summit Avenue, and near St. Thomas she asked if we could stop and look at the pretty flowers in one of the public gardens. We did, and we filled up our water bottle and set off once again.

We took a couple more water breaks, but by the end Cecilia was getting pretty tuckered out and needed some encouragement for the last mile or so. When we got home I mapped out our route to see how far we biked, and it was an incredible 7.9 miles! Considering she also has softball practice tonight, I think someone's going to sleep pretty hard.

It was an awesome way to spend the afternoon.

Stay At Home, Mom!

Many of you know that today is Momlissa's last day on the job; most of you probably saw her earlier post in which she discussed her reservations about her ability to stay sane while keeping both of our girlies at home with her this summer. I just wanted to pop on and let everybody know how proud I am of her, and how I'm sure all her fears are in vain, and how much she's going to cry when it's time for them to head off to school/preschool in the fall.

Of course, she will have pulled out all her hair by then too. But that'll just make the tears come all the easier. . . .

Splash!

We spent last Sunday at Uncle Jason's pool enjoying the last weekend of summer. Here's some video of the girls in action... (note: Ruby is doing her "special dive")

Wait For It.

Tonight after dinner Cici and I went for a bike ride together. We rode across a wooden footbridge near our house, down some old bike ramps and then walked up and down a freight railway.

A little while ago, while I was tucking her in and saying good night, we shared the following magical conversation:

Dadam: Thanks for going on that bike ride with me today, Cici. It was the best part of my day.

Cici [sweetly]: It was the best part of mine, too, Dad. [pause] Because we didn't really do anything else.

The Great Minnesota Get Together

We took the girls to the state fair yesterday and spent a few hours eating junk and taking in the sights. The girls had pronto pups and a strawberry shake, saw all sorts of barnyard animals (including the biggest pig in Minnesota!), checked out the award-winning cakes and breads, rode the giant slide, and came home filthy and exhausted. It means the end of summer in Minnesota, and it's a good thing we got there before our lovely city is swarming with Republicans -- YIKES!

It Hit Ninety Degrees Today . . .

. . . and this is how Ruby just came down from her room.

Her explanation? "Look at me, I'm Halloween!"

Duluth

We recently spent the weekend in Duluth so that I (Momlissa) could participate in a triathlon on Pike Lake. It was a very nice weekend with great weather, lots of family fun, and I completed the tri without incident. On Saturday night we took the girls bowling -- it was Ruby's first time and, I must admit, she's not good. Her score for the first game was 13 (total), so we opted for the bumpers on our second game. It improved everyone's scores and that made bowling much more fun! Here are some shots from the trip...

Valleyfair

We took Cici to Valleyfair for her birthday on Thursday and had a marvelous time. The weather was gorgeous and the lines were very short and our birthday girl was B-R-A-V-E! For those familiar with Valleyfair, here is what she rode:

Corkscrew (twice)
Xtreme Swing
Looping Starship (twice)
Scrambler
Monster
Tilt-a-Whirl
The Flume
Thunder Canyon
Chaos
Swings
High Roller
Bumper Cars
Mad Mouse
Supercat

I should note that both the Looping Starship and the Corkscrew go upside down and Cici was not afraid for even a moment. Dadam, on the other hand, nearly passed out on the Xtreme Swing and sat out many rides due to "motion sickness." Bah. Cecilia was also allowed a pronto pup and cotton candy. She looks pretty darn happy, doesn't she?

Raspberry Pickin'

Last weekend we took the girls raspberry picking at a farm about 45 minutes away. Ruby ate far more berries than she collected (see Photo #2), and Cici got pretty darn good at finding raspberries hiding under the leaves (that's where the good ones were).

It was definitely a successful outing -- we came home with six pints of raspberries, two exhausted daughters, and one Mommy who couldn't wait to start looking up raspberry recipes. Here we are in action...


Update from Dadam: Look at Ruby's knees in this bottom photo and you'll get an idea of what our summers are like.