Winona

This last weekend we took a trip down south to Winona. The girls were very excited about our weekend adventure and even more excited about staying overnight in a hotel.  On the way there we decided to stop by one of my most favorite State Parks.  Whitewater State Park in located in St. Charles, MN and it is a park that I have visited many times. When we got to the park we decided to take a hike and thought the Chimney Rock Trail would be the most fun for all of us.  The trail was 1 mile long and it brought us up 200 feet to the bluff top where Chimney Rock stood.  Very scenic and pretty but a difficult and narrow trail to maneuver on.  Katie and Allie did really well and they do not seem to have any fear of heights.  When we got to the top the view was amazing.  The trip down the bluff went well but by the end of the hike my girls were tired.   Here is a picture of Allie maneuvering up the trail.



Here is a picture of us at the top of the bluff:

After we got back to the car we had a quick snack and then headed to the beach for our picnic lunch.  The beach was made of sandstone sand which was very fine and soft. 

The water was a bit cold but the girls didn't seem to mind.  They had fun making sand angels and playing with a little boy .

After the park we drove to Winona and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.  We went swimming and enjoyed dinner at a restaurant that was dowtown on the river.  The girls had fun in the hotel room, so much fun that putting them to sleep that night was a bit hard.  They were having so much fun hiding in closets and being silly that they forgot that bedtime was for sleep, not fun!  We headed back home Sunday after spending some more time in the pool.  Here is one of my favorite pictures of my two little girls!

Happy Annivesary (times 2)

I will never forget and never feel so blessed as I was 4 years ago today. First and foremost, today is my wedding anniversary and I am so lucky to have Todd in my life. Then, 4 years ago today we received the most wonderful phone call of all, a call from Adoption Network Law Agency, letting us know that a birth mother was interested in us becoming the parents of her twin 3 month old girls. How could such wonderful things happen to me? I will never forget that phone call - I still have the message saved on my cell phone and I listen to it quite frequently. I am so grateful to Linsey for giving me the best gift ever, her 2 most precious and perfect girls and I am so grateful to be married to my wonderful husband. How could just an ordinary person like me receive such unconditional love? Thank you God for making my life so blessed. I am the luckiest person in the whole wide world.

My New Toy

After complaining for the last year about my worthless vacuum, I decided to treat myself and buy a new toy.  All of the research and reviews pointed me in one direction,  the Miele Vacuum.  Katie, Allie and I went to Warner Stellian to try it out  never thinking that I would fall in love with a vacuum, but I did.  Great suction and power, relatively quiet, and it  is yellow, my favorite color!  I am hoping the girls will always enjoy vacuuming!

Pam and Larry's Pool

We are so lucky to have such wonderful neighbors!  Today my neighbor Pam invited us to come over and use their pool when they were gone.  How could I refuse that invitation?  We decided to go swimming after supper.  Katie and Allie had a hard time being patient about playing the waiting game, so as soon as supper was over we got our swimming attire on and ran across the road to Pam and Larry's pool.  Boy, do they have a nice pool!  Pam turned the temperature of the water up for us so it would be nice and warm.  We had so much fun swimming.  Katie and Allie had fun jumping off of the diving board.  At first, they wanted to jump to me in the deep end but as the night went on, Katie was the first one to be brave and jump in by herself.  Then Allie decided she wanted to jump in by herself too.  We had to leave after it started to rain a bit getting home just before it started to pour.  I think Todd was a bit worried about me going over to use the pool, worried that I will now want a pool in our backyard!  There was a lot of crabbiness going on trying to get them to bed tonight.  I think all of that swimming made 2 little girls and 1 mommy very tired.  Sweet dreams my little angels.

Here is a video of them jumping in all by themselves:

Hastings

I am always looking for outdoorsy things to do with my girls. My hope is someday they will love taking hikes and long bike rides with me. We decided to take the girls and their bikes to Hastings on Sunday and ride a trail by the Vermilion River. It was one of our best outings yet. The scenery was beautiful, with waterfalls, bluffs, wildflowers and animals. The girls did so well on their bikes that I am thinking that one of these days I will be able to bike with them. The only help that was needed was some help biking up hills. We then found a park to play at and stayed until Allie tripped and scraped her knees.  We then came home and cleaned the garage.  We found some old toys to play with which provided us with hours of entertainment. What a great day with 2 of the sweetest 4 year olds ever!

Glencoe

Last Friday we had the pleasure of spending some time with our cousins in Glencoe. My girls idolize their cousin Jackie. In fact Katie spends most of her days pretending she's Jackie, so when I told them we were going swimming with Jackie in Glencoe, they were super excited and even more pumped up when I told them we would be eating lunch at Grandma's house. Grandma and Grandpa were the best hosts! Grandpa showed us his garden, Grandma showed us her flowers, and we ate lunch with Uncle Jon, Aunt Mary, Chris, Paul and Jackie. We then went swimming at the pool and played in the park before heading home. It was fun to see Jackie swim so well and Katie and Allie go down the water slide at the pool. Chris, Paul and Jackie played with Katie and Allie at the playground and it took a lot of coaxing to get the girls to go home.  On our way home we stopped for ice cream . Thank you to the Lemkes for a wonderful day!

Bountiful Garden

Today we had a very busy day.  This morning we went to the Little Gym.  It was bring a friend day so we asked our neighbors grandchildren if they would like to join us.  Anja and Nora are 6 and 3 and they have spent the last 2 weeks in Minnesota visiting their Grandma and Grandpa.  We were delighted that they could join us in the fun at Little Gym.  While the girls played, it was fun catching up with their parents, Katie and Pat.  It will be sad to see them head back home to Nashville tomorrow morning.

After lunch we went and saw Dr. Daniels for Katie and Allie's 4 year old checkup.  We have always been about 3 months behind in our doctor visits, due to the timing of bringing them home from Michigan.  I would have to say that this was the most delightful doctor's appointment that we have ever had!  Katie and Allie really turned on the charm, were super cooperative, never cried and basically laughed and giggled the entire visit.  They enjoyed doing tricks for her like jumping jacks, standing on 1 foot, counting to 30, counting in 10's to 100, spelling their names for her and just being very cute.  I love Dr. Daniels and love how she just really seems interested and concerned about my girls.  She complimented the girls and said that she feels they could go to kindergarten this year.  She also mentioned that she could tell that I have spent a lot of time with my girls.  Allie is one inch taller than Katie (38 inches compared to 37 inches) and Katie weighs 1/2 pound more than Allie.  All in all it was a great visit!

When we got home we picked some produce from my bountiful garden.  Today we picked some summer squash, cucumbers, pea pods and green beans.  It is so much fun to share the love of gardening with my little angels.  They both were so excited to help me pick green beans and squash.  I hope they will always share this love with me.

Friendship Day

On Tuesday we were lucky enough to be invited to Lydia's house in the morning for a pool party!  Lydia lives in a complex that has a pool.  It was so much fun to see all of our old ECFE friends.  Katie and Allie were fascinated with Madison and Leah's new baby sister, Morgan.  We really don't see many little babies and they loved touching her toes and tiny feet.  In the afternoon we invited Olivia and Mia over for a play date. A fun day for all of us!

Elm Creek Park

On Sunday we took a trip up to Maple Grove to visit the Elm Creek Park Preserve.  When we lived in Champlin we used to visit this area quite a bit.  There is a lovely chlorinated swimming pond with a beach and a super cool new playground.  We spent about 2 hours swimming and only about 20 minutes at the playground.  By the time we got to the playground, it was about 90 degrees and you could tell  the girls were hot and crabby so we decided to cut the playing short and head home.

Frustrations

I was a bit frustrated on Wednesday night.  I have talked with Katie and Allie's teachers numerous times about limiting their naps while at school.  At home, my children do not nap.  Todd thinks I am a bit ridiculous but I am telling you that my children sleep better and go to sleep earlier when there is no nap.  I really tried to be the nice parent and be super nice when I approached Ms. Kelly and Ms. Autumn at New Horizons. Most days they are at school, they sleep one and one-half to two hours.  That is just not acceptable.  I know that it is sometimes easier on the teacher if the kids nap, but if a parent requests a nap to be limited to 30 to 45 minutes, I feel that there should be some follow through.  On Wednesday night, I found out that Katie slept for one and one-half hours at school.  I was mad, being that I specifically told their teachers on Monday that 45 minutes was the max for their nap.  Katie, not surprisingly was up until 10:30PM.  So, on Thursday I sent an email to the director of their school.  I was super impressed with her follow through and she ensured me that there will be some follow through with their nap schedule that I suggested.  Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Allie my swimmer

Today at the Cascade Bay swimming pool Allie decided that she could swim and I am so proud of her!  She spent the morning swimming underwater by herself, pretending she was a mermaid.  I think she told me 100 times, "Mommy look what I can do!"  It has helped because one of her friends Mia is a really good swimmer and swims under the water all of the time.  Allie has watched her and she now is brave enough to do it herself.  Katie didn't do any swimmimg today, she just wanted me to hold her. 
This afternoon we met up with some friends, Emily and Blake, at the Little Gym for Animal camp.The kids did some gymnastics, visited Petco, and did a craft.  Karen, Jane and I decided to enjoy our 2 hours of freedom at The Roasted Pear, a restaurant in Burnsville.  We enjoyed catching up over a glass of wine al fresco. 

Silly girls

I don't know if being a twin makes you silly but my girls sure do act silly at times.  I think having a twin brings out the silliness in both because one always tries to outdo the other one.  The latest fad for Katie and Allie is to play dress up and pretend they are different people, like doctors, teachers, vets, Jaci, Isa, or princesses.  There are times when I am just amazed at their creativity and imagination!  Here are some silly pictures of them.

This last picture Allie has her Elmo slippers on and her swimsuit bottoms on her head.  She called iy her crown! 

Lake Calhoun

On Sunday we went to Lake Calhoun.  I was trying to find a fun summer family activity to do and after doing some research, I found a canoe rental place on Lake Calhoun.  We rented a canoe and spent an hour navigating around the chain of lakes.  Katie and Allie started the trip sitting on the floor of the canoe but after 5 minutes they wanted to sit closer to us.  Katie sat by me and helped me paddle and Allie helped Todd paddle.  An hour was the perfect amount of time to spend in a canoe with 2 four year olds.  We saw a lot of wildlife including  a mama deer and her 2 fawns.  After our canoe ride we had a picnic lunch and found a playground to play on.  What a fun way to spend a hot summer day!

4th of July

Our Fourth of July was spent trying to stay cool.  We had thought about going to the Apple Valley Parade, but with temperatures reaching 100 degrees, we shied away and went to the Eagan Community Center for some indoor fun.  The afternoon was spent in the backyard kiddie pool where the girls kept cool.  Allie and Katie thought I should get in the pool with them, which I eventually did and it was quite refreshing!  The girls were so tired by 8:30 that I decided to fore go fireworks and just put them to bed.  Maybe next year we will stay awake for fireworks!

We traveled up to the lake on the 5th of July.  It was fun to spend the day with my parents, my sister and her family and my brother and his family. The weather was beautiful, perfect for swimming.  We spent over an hour swimming in the lake.  I was so proud of my little peanuts!  Katie and Allie both jumped off the dock by themselves, with their life jackets on of course.  Katie tried it first and it took my little Allie a while to decide that she wanted to do it, but she did!  I was able to keep them awake on the car ride home by bribing them with Dora and Diego movies.  I had to make an unexpected trip to the lake on July 6th. because  I forgot my wallet at a grocery store in Cold Springs.  The girls made the trip with me and we were able to go swimming with Jaci for a bit before heading home.  A stop at the Dairy Queen on the way home was a special treat for all of us.

Minnesota Twins

What a great Sunday.  Finally, after the Minnesota Twins moved to Target Field, I got to attend a Minnesota Twins baseball game!  I was able to secure 2 free tickets through work.  We bought 2 more tickets in the same section and through some trading of tickets, we secured 4 tickets together.  Katie and Allie know who the Minnesota Twins are and we have watched some baseball in the past, so they were somewhat familiar with the game, but they didn't understand the entire concept until we got to the field.  On the way to the game, they were curious if they would be playing baseball too :)  We had tickets behind home plate and the seats were under a canopy so the 90 degreee heat and sunny skies didn't make us too warm.  The girls enjoyed people watching, eating ice cream and watching the game.

We left after the 5th inning and Katie was a bit sad that we didn't stay for the enitre game.  Allie was getting a bit restless and spunky so Todd thought it was best that we leave. 

When we got home we had fun swimming outside in the pool.  My little mermaids are so much fun to watch!

Lily and Lucy's Birthday Party

Saturday afternoon we had the pleasure of attending Lucy and Lily's Birthday Party.  I cannot believe that they are 2! Katie and Allie have missed the Maechler girls.  We used to go to gymnastics and swimming lessons with Ellie, Lucy and Lily but their mom, Ms. Katie, went back to work full time so our time with them has been quite limited as of late.  It was fun catching up with them and celebrating the twins special day.  We joked that twin Birthday Parties should be for the parents surviving another year, not for the kids!  Katie and Allie enjoyed cupcakes and ice cream and we played outside until the mosquitoes invaded the party.

2 Pool Day

On Friday we beat the 90 degree heat by spending most of the morning and afternoon in swimming pools.  We visited Cascade Bay in Eagan in the morning and spent some time swimming with Olivia and Emily.  Katie, Allie and Emily all jumped in the pool by themselves for the first time!  Such a proud moment for me!  The water was only 3 feet deep where they jumped and after much convincing all 3 girls decided they could jump in on their own.  As we were leaving the pool, Karen convinced me that going to the Redwood Pool in the afternoon would be much more fun than my original plan of cleaning the house, so we made a quick trip to Target and met Karen and Emily at pool #2 at 1:00.  The Redwood pool is unique in the fact that it is an old fashioned swimming pool with diving boards and no zero entry.  I brought along their life jackets and the girls enjoyed jumping in and swimming on their own with their life jackets on.  A great way to spend a beautiful, sunny June day!