Today marks our first morning of the season with significant ice outside. We’ve had a few frosts and light glazes, but nothing you could slide around on. Griffin, Maggie, Zoe, and Cedar had a blast sliding around before the older kids caught the bus to school. On our walk back to the house, Maggie suggested that I take a picture to send to Mama (who is in iceless San Diego). Good thinking!
Tag Archives: Maggie
Nervous Monster
On the way up to bed tonight:
Maggie: Mama, will you be a monster?
Mama: Sure! Roarrrrrrr!
Maggie, looking nervous: Wait! Um, can I be a monster too?
Mama: Sure!
Maggie: Ok, since we are both monsters, we can touch each other.
Mama: Ok…
Maggie: Let’s hold hands on our way upstairs.
Mama and Maggie, holding hands: ROARRRRRR!
Update—the following night, with Sarah out of town:
Maggie: Daddy, play monster!
Daddy: Ok. Roaarrrr!!!
Maggie squeals, makes it half way up the stairs, and says, “Wait! I’m a monster too!”
We hold hands the rest of the way, roaring together.
Update—yet another night:
Maggie: You know what? I’m super tired so I runned out of energy. That’s why I don’t want to play monster.
All Hallows’ Couture
A conversation yesterday:
Griffin: I know what I want to be for Halloween!
A skeleton!
Sarah: Oh, I think that will be a fun costume to make!
Maggie: I know what I want to be for Halloween!
Elsa!
Or, I could be superman,
but I think I’ll be Elsa.
Sleepy Kiddo
Overheard tonight after putting the kids to bed:
Griffin: <whispering, excited> Maggie, do you want to go to sleep right now?
Maggie: Yes. Because I am SO tired.
Griffin: Oh. Ok.
State Fair 2015
Our annual pilgrimage to the Minnesota State Fair. This year we were all a bit crankier than usual, but that didn’t stop us from staying for nearly 12 hours (and 17,000 steps, according to my trusty fitbit).
Fair food included (basically covering all of our meals today):
- hot waffle ice cream sandwiches (just as good as last year!)
- chicken in waffle cones (another favorite from last year)
- mini-donuts
- strawberry rhubarb milkshake from the dairy barn
- hot dogs and pronto pups (verifying that regular corn dogs beat pronto pups)
- samosas from the midtown global market
- gyros from holy land
- cotton candy
Favorite discovery this year was the play area outside the Eco Experience. Sand + water + building supplies = infinite fun.
We thought we’d kick things off with hot waffle ice cream sandwiches.
Divine.
Seriously.
Puppet show. Kinda weird this time, but the kids enjoyed it.
Ram
Lamb
Rabbits
Piglets
Griffin loves this ride.
Last year he was nervous.
This year he had no qualms.
Maggie on her wheels.
Maggie riding a whale (or something).
Carousel
Carousel
Pilot
Examining the map
Pronto pup
Eco superheroes!
A quieter moment in the agriculture building.
My favorite seed art of the year.
And a close second.
In the skyride
Happy skyrider
As a postscript, in the interest of keeping things real, I should mention that shortly after putting this post together, Griffin puked all over his bed. Besides being gross, it was a good reminder that fair food, though fun, isn’t really what a growing body wants.
(But man, those waffle sandwiches were awesome.)
Spring Lake Adventures
A glorious escape to the yellow cabin with our good friends, Jess, Kevin, Murray, and Olive.
Griffin drew this to welcome Murray.
Squeezed in a bit of D&D too!
Cousins!
Raven and Max, and their parents, came for a glorious visit during the last week of July. Many adventures were had, some of which are documented below. Click on any photo for a larger version (and a slide-show interface, if you’d like to flip through all of them).
Sequence
Minnehaha creek
The Science Museum
Black Sheep Pizza
Canal Park on Lake Superior
The dock at the Yellow Cabin
Tyler & Mieka
Continuing an awesome summer of seeing distant friends and family, we enjoyed a perfect Twin Cities weekend with Tyler and Mieka. I’ve known Tyler since college, and we became close while working together in the Oberlin computing center. Then we were housemates in Oakland for a few years and neighbors thereafter. (Plus probably a thousand hours of D&D and video games.) Suffice it to say that he has been a rock in my life for the past twenty years and I miss having him nearby. Marrying Mieka, of course, added some outrageously good icing to the cake, and not just because we got to hang out with them at an Italian villa for their wedding. We were thrilled that they could make it to our neck of the woods this summer because they’re preparing for a major move from the Bay Area to Zurich in the coming weeks. Our house marks their eighth temporary home for the month of July.
In two short days we covered a lot of territory without feeling frenetic. Highlights included a Korean rice bowl feast cooked up by Sarah, a walk to Highland Fest with the kids, strolling across the Mississippi on the Stone Arch Bridge, an evening at the Guthrie to see a spectacular performance of The Music Man, a lovely Sunday brunch at The Buttered Tin, and a visit to Minnehaha Falls before heading to the airport. (And despite some hearty meals, I think we can claim a healthy weekend, earning more than 25,000 fitbit steps each on Saturday alone!)
We’re already trying to figure out how we make it out to Zurich in the next few years…
Photos of some of our activities below. Click for larger versions.
A Maggie and Mieka duet
“Let it go!”
Mastering the climbing wall at Highland Fest
Victorious descent
Mieka and Tyler catching some shade at Highland Fest
At the Guthrie for The Music Man
View from the Guthrie’s Endless Bridge
Tyler and Andrew, discussing geeky esoterica
Perfect Minneapolis evening
Panorama focusing on the Stone Arch bridge
Griffin perched on a rock by Minnehaha creek
Maggie enjoying the creek
“I’m swimming!”
Nothing better on a hot day
Grudgingly returning to shore
Serendipitous encounter with Scott who agreed to take the kids for a ride
Learning the controls
Tally ho
Thumbs up all around
Falmouth
The culmination of our road trip was a glorious fourth of July weekend on Cape Cod with our friends Nate and Christine. (Nate and I went to high school and college together… whoa!)
The original seed for this crazy road trip was planted during the summer of 2010 by Nate and Christine. We were at Karen and David’s wedding (our friends from Ithaca, a few posts back) in Arizona and we had such a good time that we agreed we should do it again (it = hanging out, wedding not required, though it was a good one). Nate mentioned having access to a family house on Cape Cod. We were interested. But then Maggie was born and life got busy and years went by. It wasn’t until this winter that I reached out to see if the invitation was still standing. It was. And a road trip was born.
The house is in West Falmouth, at the southwest edge of Cape Cod. The time here was the definition of relaxation. Tons of room for the kids to romp, an air hockey table, plenty of bikes for all of us, nearby beaches, mojitos, great food, puzzles and conversation in the evening… what more could you want?
The time was made even better by getting to know Nate’s cousin, Emory, and his partner, Ben. They were both awesome in their own right, and were unbelievably good with the kids—seriously, I haven’t had so much time-off from parenting in years. We were all sad to see them go on Sunday, but none more so than Maggie and Griffin who remained cranky with us for days over this betrayal.
We also hit a new milestone for Griffin’s physical endurance: a 16-mile round-trip bike ride to Woods Hole. He was on an unfamiliar “big kid” bike with gears and handle breaks, and he did a fantastic job. No complaints at all. (The photo of him in the two-seater below was on a different, shorter, ride.)
The best part of all of this is that Nate and Christine will be driving through Minnesota in August so we’ll get to see them twice in one summer. Feels almost gluttonous.
Click on any picture below to see larger versions in an interface that makes it easy to scroll through the full set.
The Falmouth house
Dinner on the veranda
Like a Burley, but the kids are in front.
Swan nest by the trail
Ready to go
Bike path to Woods Hole
Woods Hole Aquarium
Dinner at the farm
Teeth
Air hockey with Emory
Air hockey with Ben
Loving mama’s hat
Prepared
Staring at the sea
Happy daddy
Great fireworks view from the balcony
The kids with their new besties, Emory and Ben
Face full of sprinkles before heading inland for the journey home.
Jamaica State Park and Milton
The new antibiotics were victorious, so after a good night’s sleep at the Worst Western, we resumed our journey to Jamaica State Park in Vermont. Upon arrival, we happily rendezvoused with Mark, Tracy, Cora, and their dog, Holly. The park and countryside were beautiful, and despite nearly constant drizzle, we had a great time—explored nearby paths, played at a playground, cooked up a pasta feast, and finished with smores around the fire. The kids went to bed easily in the tents and the grownups enjoyed some conversation time around the flickering coals.
In the morning, the rain was coming down harder with some thunderstorms coming through. The weather report showed more of the same for the next 24 hours, so we all agreed to cut the camping trip short. We headed to Milton where we stayed in Mark and Tracy’s lovely, and very dry, home.
View from the lean-to
Ants on logs
Praying mantis
Caught in a sudden downpour while walking the dog
Ellsworth Cafe, owned and managed by Cora. Griffin worked in the kitchen.
Chef Maggie
Happy at the playground
Friendly neighbors invited Griffin and Maggie to play in their yard
Fearless climber
Doing a flip
Considering doing a flip
Our awesome hosts
Pannakukken!
Milton logic