Gearing up for the big party

No, not the GOP convention....Jim's birthday.
The girls and I made last minute party prep plans today....We finally settled on a theme. Lolo has been really pushing the idea of a princess birthday party "because Daddy really likes princesses." But we talked some more about birthdays and how birthdays are really more about the birthday boy/girl rather than the girls attending the party. Uh huh. So, after much deliberation, Lolo and Norah finally decided upon a football theme.
Party updates to come tomorrow.

Lolo's Turn at the Post Dinner Show

Since you're probably on Norah-overload now, here's a little sweet Lolo to balance things out. It was a long post-dinner show tonight.

Post Dinner Show - Norah Part 2

Post dinner entertainment

After dinner, the girls each provided a show. Norah was up first. I think tonight was the first time we've gotten such a complete show from her. It was a many-part-act. I'll upload part two of her show in a bit. I think you'll soon figure out her favorite song and how every song seems to eventually be about Jesus.

Another Norah Swim Video

Delinquent swim videos

I just realized tonight that I had not posted swim videos in a while. This is from the August 14, 2008 class. Norah can really get her legs moving underwater!

Dinner options

Yesterday afternoon I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner. So I decide to brainstorm with Lolo and say "What do you suppose we ought to make for dinner tonight?" Lolo is pensive for a minute, gets a big grin, and says "Mom, the only thing I can think of is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and applesauce."
Can you guess what her favorite meal is?

Finally a snow cone before we leave....

Can you guess what flavor the girls had?

And a few more rides

Norah's favorite ride is driving the cars.

Bumper boats

This was Lolo first experience driving bumper boats.

Later in the day, I was asking Lolo about her favorite ride. The topic of bumper boats came up. She said she really liked driving the boats and she tried really hard not to hit anyone but people kept bumping into her!

Oh. My bad. Maybe I should have explained to her a little more about "bumper" boats.

Poor Norah didn't meet the height requirement and just had to watch intently from her stroller.

Minnesota State Fair

It's that time of year again. I took the girls to the fair on Thursday morning since Jim was balking about braving the crowds. Perfect day. A little cloudy...hinting of rain. Nominal crowds for the fair. Poor Jim. Missed out on grilled chocolate raspberry sandwiches, pronto pups, corn fritters, mini donuts, and the whole reason I was so interested in going to the fair....yep, the chocolate covered bacon. It was yummy. And yes, I did feel gross that afternoon. Penance was today, I had to work off all that fair food. Oh, to have the metabolism of a 16 year old again.

Weekly update

So once again I find myself on a friday evening, realizing that I really haven't been on the ball about posting. Yep. Slacker. We've just been swamped with getting ready for school. Lots of back to school shopping. New clothes for both girls (because you know I can't just bring back home stuff for Lolo when I see something that would be just perfect for Nor). Anyway, earlier this week, we bought big girl panties for Norah. She was so excited about her Elmo panties. She kept say "Oh my gosh!" and was in a big hurry to go upstairs and put them in her drawers. I figured we were on the fast track to potty training. Unfortunately, it appears she's really no where near ready and hasn't yet had an opportunity to try them on yet. It's just such a drag to take the time to use the potty when you can just do your business in a diaper and get on with playing.

Growing girls

Norah has grown!! We're switching out summer clothes for the upcoming fall/winter. Norah is now in 2T!! Hooray. And of course, Lolo has outgrown everything. She's in size 6. Two ends of the spectrum.

Relaxing weekend

The girls and I had a completely lazy weekend. Basically played outside, rode bikes/walked, blew bubbles, had picnics in order to enjoy every last bit of summer.

We also hosted a graduate student from China. It's always such a pleasure to be able to share the blessings in our lives.

What started out as a lazy week, looks like it's going to be extremely busy. Lolo has outgrown most of her clothes, so we will be shopping this week for new school clothes. Norah's got some of Lolo's hand-me-downs, but since Lolo blew through 2-3T so quickly, she never really got winter clothes in that size....so, we're shopping for Norah too. Plus, there's school supplies...and we've got to plan a trip to the MN state fair. Jim's been strongly hinting that we ought to go without him. I think it's because I told him I was going to try the newest item on the fair's menu...chocolate covered bacon on a stick.

Another Dance Photo

Norah Update

Norah's had three asthma attacks in the past few weeks. The latest was this evening while we were out on our post-dinner bike ride/stroller ride. She's going back on steroids. Maybe next year will be the year Norah "outgrows" her asthma....it's not going to be this year.

Picnic on a gorgeous day

Today was an amazingly beautiful day. The girls and I enjoyed the outdoors as much as we could. Chalk drawing and then a lunchtime picnic. Jim even managed to join us for lunch today. As the four of us sat outside, Norah took her croc and threw it. (I don't know what possesses that child at times). It landed in Lolo's hummus. (Since, our readers generally know Norah well enough by now....you'll know to stop reading here if you're squimish.)
Yep. Norah plucked her shoe off of Lolo's plate and proceeded to lick the hummus off the bottom of her shoe before we could stop her. Stomach of steel. You'd think I never feed that child.

Dance Recital Part 2

Here's a little more from the recital....they danced with a partner. Lolo's not so into partner dancing (unless it's Norah, Dad or Mom)....if it's a show, she basically likes the spotlight. Already a prima ballerina....even though it's only at the community center.

Dance Recital

Here's a quick preview of Lolo's dance recital this morning. Her dancing has become much more "sophisticated" compared to the last recital. As you will recall, at the last recital, Lolo basically just ran around in a circle really, really fast. Norah also has become a little more well mannered as an audience member (she didn't get up to hug Lolo during the curtain call and sat very nicely in her seat the whole time).

Sous Chef

I found the cutest apron for my littlest sous chef today. We made limeades tonight.

Another belated pic

This time from Evy and Alexa's visit...the daddys and their girls (I believe Evy was taking the picture).

Belated San Diego picture

Just got this from Kristie...the girls in San Diego earlier this summer.

Don't let that cute face fool you

Don't let the cute face of the little sailor below fool you. After the girls got tucked into bed, Norah got up and bit Lolo's knee. Yep. Bit her. Ended up on the naughty step. But she didn't seem to care. No crying. Just got up when she was done "thinking" about it and went back up to say sorry to Lolo. I don't know how our youngest ended up the aggressor and bully.

Weekend update

Sometimes I feel as though it's hard to catch my breath. There is so much going on it's hard to get everything done. In addition to work, I'm taking a 6 week dive class (and I'm way behind on reading). Willem & Michael's family is moving to Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday. So, we're trying to have the kids spend a bit more time together before they leave. Jim's on call this week. We will be hosting a graduate student from China later this week. Lolo is taking a week long "dance camp" in addition to our class at the zoo (tomorrow's class is about birds). And, Norah is becoming more vocal about using the potty (especially at inopportune moments). It just feels busy. One of those weeks when everything seems to happen at once.

Just because

Just because this sailor is so cute....

Back from the Apostle Islands

We're back. The girls are settling themselves down. They've been crabby and sleep-deprived from all the excitement. I couldn't get over how much they enjoyed being on a sailboat. Lolo didn't want to come home today. She kept asking why we had to come home. Norah was equally sad about leaving the boat. Although, I'm wondering how much of their "sadness" to leave the boat was because Eileen and Julia's family stayed up there a few more days to do other things.

As you can tell, we had a great time sailing around the islands. We actually ended up anchoring off of Stockton Island. Very exciting.

Norah and boys

After dinner tonight, Norah announces that she has decided she wants to be a boy. Huh?
Jim and I aren't sure Norah can really even tell the difference between boys and girls at this age.
So, Jim asks Norah "Why do you want to be a boy? Can you tell me a difference between a boy and a girl?"
Norah promptly replies "Boys wear goggles."
Ahhhh. I see.
We don't let our girls wear goggles when they swim. We don't want sissy kids in the pool that "can't" swim without goggles or are worried about getting their eyes wet. The boys in Norah's swim class have been wearing goggles. And we saw a bunch of kids at the pool wearing goggles. Envy at two years old. Sigh.
We're so mean.

Our budding jewelry designer and her gorgeous sister

Lolo was very busy working on a project this morning. She made a beautiful one-of-a-kind-original necklace for her sister. We're taking orders. I smell a real money making winner in this design.
In other news, Norah's caught a bit of a summer cold and her asthma has been aggravated. She's back on medication for the time being...just until we get this bug knocked out and her lungs cleared up again. Lest you worry too much about our gorgeous girl, she's still running around stirring up trouble....went to a yard sale today, and even went swimming this evening.

More sailing

Jim and I have decided to do more sailing this next week. We're heading out on sunday and taking the girls with us. We're going back up to the Apostle Islands with our neighbors and their girls (Eileen & Julia).
Norah appears to be coming down with a bit of a cold. She's been congested since last night. We shall see....

Skype

I finally got a Skype account. If you've got a skype account, we can start doing video chats. Just let me know if you're interested.

Obama and our girls

After swim school today, Nancy took the girls to the Copper Dome for pancakes and guess who was there? Yep. Obama. The girls were unimpressed. Probably because he didn't come over to shake their little sticky syrup covered hands.

When Norah grows up

Last night at dinner, Norah chirps up out of the blue "When I grow up, I want to be just like Daddy." Jim beams with pride. A bit more chatter....turns out, Norah wants to be a daddy. Lolo pulls me aside and whispers in my ear "She can't do that right mom? She's not a boy."

A few more pics from the museum

Lolo is playing dress up (she's Belle from Beauty and the Beast). Norah tried on an outfit but it was too big....so she went to "count money" at the giant's house (from Jack and the Beanstalk).

Children's Museum Day

Jim's good friends from residency are here visiting the twin cities with their two little girls Evy and Alexa. So, we spent the morning at the Children's Museum. Lolo simply adores Evy (who is 8). And thankfully, Evy is very kind to our Lolo. They were walking hand in hand around one of the exhibits. So cute. Norah and Alexa seem to play well together too.

Norah is zonked out after her morning adventure. I'm thinking about taking the girls to the pool later depending on how the nap goes.

Lolo's first flight lesson

Lolo took her first flight lesson this weekend too. After giving Lolo her lesson, the man asked Lolo "So, do you want to be a pilot when you grow up?" Lolo looks at him seriously and simply says "No." Wrong answer at Oshkosh.

Lolo's pedal plane

Here's Lolo in the pedal plane area. She's so funny. All the other kids had rather short rides. Somehow she managed to "fly under the radar" and kept pedaling, pedaling, pedaling. She got the longest ride ever.

More pictures from Oshkosh

I have to admit. This show was far more interesting (and far more vast) than I ever imagined....seemingly thousands of airplanes of all sorts. Our (Jim and my) personal favorite was the ultralight section. Jim's scheming to get an ultralight right now. Me....not so excited about it. Especially since while we were watching them take off, one stopped working and had to be pushed aside (thankfully before he took off....you could almost see the "whew, don't tell the wife" look on his face).
They also had a good sized kid's area (which we reached via 3 bus transfers). You'll notice that the kids area pictures are all of Lolo. Why? Because after we reached the kid's area, Norah completed one project, ate a hot dog, and then....zzzzzzzz

Back from Oshkosh

We made it back. Thankfully, the weather cooperated. No rain. Reasonable temperatures. Even quite pleasant in the mornings and evenings. It was good to do a road trip and camp for the weekend (despite my initial dread and the immense amount of work it takes to load up and unpack). I have this fear that we'll raise prissy girls, so we like to get them out camping at least once a year.

The girls had a great time. We got them new princess sleeping bags...which they LOVED. They can't wait to sleep in them again.

I'm in the midst of washing our gear. Unfortunately, it's damp out today and I can't air out our tent to dry. We need the rain but I'd love to dry out our tent so I can get it properly stored. This just drags out the clean up process by another day.

Oshkosh air show

We're heading out tonight for Oshkosh, Wisconsin (as soon as Jim gets off of work). We're going to the airshow this weekend. And will be camping. I'm a little apprehensive about this weekend. We're going with our good friends (Norah's godparents) who have been doing this for 5+ years. The campground is at the end of a runway. It's supposed to be hot, buggy, and then rain on sunday.
I'm in charge of dinner on saturday. No fires allowed. What on earth am I going to cook?!? I don't have us packed and still need to go out and buy food.