Mn History Museum

We used three Library Museum passes last week: the Walker Art Museum, MN Zoo and on Saturday we joined Auntie Em, Uncle Jon and Brianna at the History Museum. Oliver was pretty excited to see everything and Lucius was just so happy to be walking everywhere. He is very independent and doesn't even like to hold hands. I really miss holding those tiny hands.  It was a pretty fun day and while viewing the George Washington exhibit Lucius fell asleep in my arms because he was sooo very tired from the busy week. Thanks Auntie Em and Uncle Jon for inviting us to tag along.

 

Quotable

Jerimy was packing clothes in his bag for a trip he took last weekend and Oliver was just sitting down for lunch, when he said to his daddy:

"Want me to pack some strawberries for your trip for you?  They're nice and cold"

Puzzles

I grabbed two cheap 24 piece puzzles for Oliver and I to work on in the evenings after Lucius goes to bed.  I had heard that Oliver and another little boy from ECFE (school) loved to work on puzzles together. I knew he was ready for more age appropreate things around the house. I think he's been rather bored by all the little kid stuff.

So we opened up the first puzzle and within seconds he had four pieces together. I was impressed and also a little sad we hadn't gotten them sooner. Its been a couple of days now and he can put them together mostly all by himself. Pretty soon he'll have it memorized.

If anyone wants to do a puzzle exchange/ lending program- lets talk.

Friday Night Birthday Party

After our memorable day at the zoo we had planned on having a little birthday gathering for Gammlemor. It was off to Auntie Em and Uncle Jon's house for dinner and dessert. While I gathered all the photos together from the zoo onto a CD, Mick and Em made homemade pizzas. Auntie Em and Oliver put the ingredients into the ice cream maker and eventually I made the cake and whipped up some frosting from the back of the coco box. Yummy was it all super tasty. Happy Birthday Gammlemor! Hope you had a great day.

 

a memorable birthday adventure

A rather lengthy retelling of a memorable event:
My sisters and I had planned for about a week an outing to the MN Zoo with Gammlemor in honor of her birthday. When we set off early Friday morning little did we know just how memorable a day we would have.

Aunite Em and Auntie Mick drove down to meet Gammlemor and myself at the Zoo around 9am. We opted to only bring two strollers in with us to lessen the chaos. We had two Museum passes which got four of us into the Zoo for free, the babies were free because they were under two, and Oliver's admission was covered by donating an old cell phone (A pretty cool recycling program to help save the African Rainforests). Hooray for a nearly free trip.

We walked the MN trail, headed through the Tropics, found a corner to eat our hodge podge lunches, snuggled with one crabby baby (my very own Lucius) and then decided it was time for a ride on the Monorail. Timing was almost scary perfect as we arrived just in time to buy our tickets and hop right on to the train. We jumped in car number two- the first car is the drivers car and no one rides up there. There are 6 cars in total (I think). A fairly ordinary day at the Zoo so far and we're all in high spirits, as I for one had been looking forward to the monorail ride for quite some time.

Here is where things start getting interesting.
We drive out of the station, seeing the grizzly bears on top of their mountain, very cool!, listening to the conductor "animals, blah, blah, the bears on your right, blah, blah... oops". Click the mic goes silent and we heard a crackle as the train shuttered to a stop. "Well folks, it looks like we've blown a fuse, the mechanics are on their way to restart the train. Sit tight".

One hour and fifteen minutes later we were very kindly told "everything we're trying is not working, so it's going to still be awhile." 

 

 The view from our stuck monorail car:

The electric Monorail broke down. To make a long story short three sisters, a grandmother, two children 15 month old, one 11 month old and a three year old stuck in a monorail train car about 6 feet across by 11 feet long with a man and his nine year old son. Though we were told when boarding no beverages or food on the monorail, about a half hour into our entrapment we cracked open our diaper bags to hand out refreshments. Lucius napped, Brianna & Casen fought over personal space and snacks, Oliver snapped about a hundred "detail" photos with Gammlemors camera and we chatted about how they would get us out. An hour and a half after break down the Apple Valley fire department came to the rescue. We had to climb through the crawl space (about 3 1/2 feet) between the train cars, over the middle double bench and then down an extension ladder 18 feet to the ground. The firemen followed behind us and then went back up to the train to carry all our babies to safety. I don't think Gammlemor will be forgetting this birthday trip for a while- I know I won't.

*Ps. Thank goodness for two of the best sisters I could possibly imagine. As I sat photographing the event with (still crabby) Lucius in my arms, my sisters took care of Oliver. Lets just say, I should have been thinking "Are my babies scared, nervous or okay" instead of "Gosh, these photos are going to be stinkin' AWESOME on the blog!".*

Is it just me or...

Um, is it just me or is my first born extremely controlling, manipulative, and bossy? I confess, not the first traits I'd like to be describing my son as, but none the less true. I've heard people tell me other terms to make those sound more positive personality traits but when it comes right down to it- it's all the same.

We went to Arty Pants Tuesday at the Walker Art Museum today. There was a woman leading a dance/ movement activity for the kids. All the other parents sat back and watched. I am usually very hands off or at least I thought I was till today. Maybe I'm the controlling one. Oliver sat on the sidelines and watched for a while. I encouraged him to join the group, watch what the teacher was doing and follow along. He jumped right in after a few minutes and had a HUGE smile on his face. Then the teacher started to direct the children in a couple other activities and Oliver just didn't listen. He wasn't being bad or out of control, but he literally did not listen. I attempted to focus his attention on the teacher to listen to what she was saying. He understood but as usual he needed to talk to the teacher, seeking approval and/ or finding out what was going to happen next. Augh- just listen Oliver and you'll find out.

Is it his age? Is it his personality or phase? I feel like I was always more shy, far less outgoing and more observant. And now I have a child who is totally the opposite in several of those areas, though strangely enough similar in other traits. We are on a constant parenting learning quest.

Lucius, well he started feeling feverish (it was 98.8 when we left the house and 103 when we came home) and wasn't really in the mood to dance or look at art. So we had a quick lunch and took everyone home to rest. Art Museums aren't really my thing either, but I like exposing the boys to as many different experiences as I can think of. Hopefully making them aware of all that's out there in the world.

Animals on the loose

No I don't mean the animals at the zoo we went to Thursday, I mean the two little misters who are suffering dearly from cabin fever. With the weather warming up, it was time to head outside to enjoy a little splashing and wildlife (yup still talking about the boys). Lucius ninja'd his way out of the stroller at one point in our outing. Literally it was in the blink of an eye, he's crazy quick.
We walked through the monkeys, then saw wolves and big cats. After watching the polar bears, we headed off to see the seals, bison, zebra and giraffes. Before leaving we visited the monkeys again- which is where Lucius broke free. Don't worry, he didn't get far before we roped him back in with more snacks.

Thanks Auntie Em and Brianna for joining us for wild adventure.

same or different?

 Are these two handsome little men the same child or two different children?

AND who?

Make a Mess Monday

I found a big old bag of wooden clothes pins in our basement
and used it for a little craft project with Oliver.

Step One: get the supplies ready and pick your brush.

Step Two: Mix, stir, make a mess with major concentration.

Step Three: Show off your creations and call it a wrap.

we went walking...

and that's what we saw.

A relaxing day at Oma's house

What a day: Hanging out, visiting with family, enjoying wonderful playtime.