Getting Excited about Halloween

Can you tell we're getting excited about Halloween already? We've gotten a lot of wear out of this costume.

Lolo's Really Bad Day

Yesterday was probably the worst day in our little Lolo's life to date. First it was monday....which means it's Norah's day off from preschool. (Norah goes to swim class and then hangs out with me usually). Well, yesterday, Jim was off too. Uh oh. "Why does everyone get to stay home except for me? No Fair!" Yep. Life's tough that way when school starts.

Then, Lolo and I head off for school. I walk her in because it's her turn to bring snacks for the class. Unfortunately for Lolo, we've got an attached garage and a mom who didn't do a good job in checking the weather....walking into class I realize..."hmmm. it's chilly and windy. should have had her wear a fleece jacket instead of the light windbreaker. darn." Of course I hear all about it....chalk that one up in the "it's mom's fault" column.

On the drive home I realize that -oops- I forgot to pack a water bottle for Lolo. But I'm not about to do another hour drive (there and back) to drop off a water bottle. I figure she can get a drink somewhere. Nope. Hear about that one too....another one in the "it's mom's fault" column.

Ahhh. But it gets worse. It was "Show & Tell" Day at school and Lolo decided to bring her precious doggy. Yep. The one she sleeps with at night. Of course, she forgets it at school. Can't sleep at night. Doh.

Bad day.

Luckily....today was much much better. Lolo wore a sweater AND a fleece jacket today. We both double checked for the water bottle. I showed up for recess duty and met her friends and Thomas. So today goes in the "good day" column.

Uh oh

Lolo has informed us that there is a boy named Thomas who says he likes her. Thomas isn't in her kindergarten class (he's in another one)....but that doesn't stop him from "staring" at her and chasing her on the playground.
This morning, I had a little extra time and so I walked her into school. The kids in her class were lining up. And as we walk in, I overhear a kid say "There's Lolo. That means Thomas is going to be hanging out with us." Hmmm.
Never fear....I'm signed up for recess patrol next tuesday. I intend on figuring out who this kid is....

Lolo's favorite class

Here's a big surprise. I asked Lolo what her favorite class in kindergarten is....can you guess? No, it wasn't art or recess. Her favorite class is science. Wow. That's my girl!

Style

Style seems to run in the family....

Fishing

Check out Norah's sweet fishing style....she's diligently practicing her cast....complete with swim goggles. Only our Norah.

Mini-daredevil

And since our precious Norah can't stand to be left out....she has to show her stuff too!

Daredevil

Here's our daredevil jumping into the lake....because simply jumping off the dock into the lake is not thrilling enough for a 5 year old....(note: these are Jim's gene's at work....I just egg her on).

From Canada

Popo's here. I'm downloading videos and photos from her camera (from our trip to Canada). A few attached here. Can you believe the size of fish a girl can catch on a "Princess" or "Dora" rod?! More later.

Concert

Oops. Vicki alerted me to the lack of sound on Lolo's concert. I usually have the sound off on our computer. Should have checked the sound quality of Lolo's concert. Just goes to show you get what you pay for in the quality control department. Will work on the sound when I get a chance. Sorry.

Exhaustion

This morning, I go in to the girls room to wake them. Lolo groggily wakes up and says "Mama, seems like you were just in here singing to us and now you're getting us up already." Poor kid. Fell asleep as her head hit the pillow. Exhausted.
Norah and I had "our" day today...we're spending mondays together this school year. When we go to pick Lolo up from school, she looks as if she's suffered through another long jetlagged day. Comes home, collapses on the couch, curled up under a blanket until dinner. At bathtime tonight, Lolo asks me if there is going to be a half day of school sometime this week.
The girls were in bed and asleep by 7:30.
Another round tomorrow.
And no....there are no half days this school year.

Long bike ride

Yesterday, we packed up and took the girls on a bike ride on the Cannon Valley Bike Trail. We went from Red Wing (Old W. Main Access) to Welch Station Access (and a detour to Welch for an ice cream break)....round trip total of a little over 19 miles. Lolo was amazing as usual....she rode behind Jim on the tagalong. Norah rode (and sang and napped) behind me in the chariot.

Here's an interesting factoid...the whole bike ride took us about 4 hours (including stops for a picnic, fruit snack, turkey watching, deer spotting, ice cream, etc).....Aunt Vicki RUNS a marathon in less time than it takes us to do a shorter BIKE ride. Norah especially was very impressed.

As I'm uploading these pictures, it occurs to me that our family eats a lot of ice cream. May explain why the "baby" weight was so difficult to get off.

A concert for you....by Lolo

Lolo has been diligently practicing her violin. So, here's a concert for you....courtesy of Lolo :-)

Start of school weigh in

A few stats...I just weighed both girls....Lolo is now 51 lbs and Norah is 28 lbs. Norah just made the ride cut off at the fair, so I know she's right at 36" (with crocs). Haven't measured Lolo lately. Suffice it to say, Lolo is tall....it's just a matter of time before she outgrows me.

Kindergarten Day 2

Lolo was exhausted after Day 2. Still enjoys school. But is completely worn out. On the first day, they got to rest twice during the day. She was complaining to me tonight that they only got one rest today.
Norah's just as tired. We picked her up today and you could see the exhaustion in her little face. In fact, she's actually got the longer school day. On a typical day, we leave the house by 7:30, Norah gets to school at 7:45, Lolo gets to school at 8:15. At pickup time, I pick up Lolo at 3:40 and then Norah at 4:15. We might reverse the pickup/drop off a bit depending on how late we are....but I figure that Norah would rather play at school than be stuck in the car.

First Day of School

Jim and I dropped off Lolo at school this morning. Pretty smooth and seamless. Lolo did great. She knew where her classroom was, knew her teacher, found her cubby and her seat right away...No crying or tears so far....not even from Mom....no waterworks, just a little misty eyed. However, in the rush of kindergarten, I did forget to put Norah's lunch into her bag....so we did have to make another trip to preschool for a lunch drop off.

Biking

Norah has come a long, long way this summer. She's gone from learning to to pedal her tricycle to pedaling a two wheeler (plus training wheels). Lolo has moved onto a BIG big girl's bike. I didn't think she'd be riding a bike this size for another couple of years.

We've been getting ready for winter...trying on snow clothes, boots, buying shoes for school. I can't believe how quickly they have outgrown just about everything. Summer has come to a close :-(

Big Day Tomorrow

And the biggest news of all....

Our Lolo starts kindergarten tomorrow morning. Can the little girl in the picture above REALLY be starting kindergarten?!?!

Quincy

Lolo helped Norah get dressed up as a witch. Norah declared that we were to call her "Quincy".

Fishing

The girls didn't get in enough fishing in Canada so these days we're fishin in the pond at home.

A visit from YaYa

A trip to Minnehaha Falls with YaYa and the girls.

No Explanation Necessary

Last batch of fair pictures

And, no visit to the fair can be complete without a snow cone. Check out Norah's tongue and the girls' corn dog hats.

Butterflies

Another reason we spent so long at the fair....I couldn't get the girls to leave the butterfly house. Check out the butterfly that decided to rest on Norah's nose.

Day at the Fair

We spent a good part of the day at the fair. Corn dogs, mini donuts, pretzels, snow cones, and (because we always like to try something "healthy" at the fair)....chocolate covered watermelon (on a stick, of course). Norah was finally tall enough this year to ride the rides. Hooray!

The girls are exhausted. Lolo has collapsed on the couch downstairs. Norah is crying and tantruming in her bed....too much excitement and sugar.

Happy birthday dad

Should have mentioned Jim's birthday yesterday. But I omitted to take pictures of the big event. The girls picked out a dozen regular balloons and then a special birthday football balloon for their dad. Lolo and Norah worked on art projects for Jim. Lolo made name cards for each place setting and she played the violin for Jim after dinner too. As you might have guessed....dinner was homemade pizza. Lolo and I made blondies for Jim's birthday "cake".

Dinner at the park

Jim got out of work a little early yesterday. We headed out to the park to have dinner. Notice how Norah developed a chocolate "monobrow" post-dessert.

Top Bunk

We've had a major switch at our home. Lolo has moved into the top bunk. Norah has moved up too. She's out of the trundle and in a big girl bed!