More from Minnesota

Here are a few more fun pictures from our trip to Minnesota. In the Mall of America Henry was, predictably, very excited about the Lego store. We did manage to get away without buying any.

 Also in the mall we did a couple of rides. Here are Henry and Anders, and me and Clara on the Ferris wheel. Anders sat like this, with his hands in his lap, the whole time. I wasn't sure if he was nervous, or just trying to be good, or so excited, or what...

 On Tuesday I had the kids to myself as Will and Sandy both went to work. We went to the Children's museum in St. Paul. I got totally lost on the way there and on the way home, but while we were there we had a pretty fun time!

 That afternoon, after successful naps for Anders and Clara, we played outside in the little bit of nice weather that we had. We made some sidewalk paint and tried to keep Kelso from drinking it all.

 Kelso got a bit of good playtime in too.

 At one point Henry was playing with the dog, Clara was painting the driveway, and Anders was wandering around with his guitar singing Johnny Cash songs.

 On Wednesday we had a much quieter day. Anders went back to school and Will and Sandy were at work. I gave the kids baths, washed a load of laundry, tried to pick up a bit of our mess around the house and started to pack. We also made a run to Byerly's for train snacks, Surly beer for Pete and a bit of lunch. Then both kids sacked out. They were sleeping on the futon upstairs. I took this sweet picture before I had to wake them to go pick Anders up from school. You'll be happy to know I only missed one small turn on that trip and really didn't get lost at all.

 Thursday morning we were up early to get back on the train. We spent a bit more time in the observation/lounge car this time. It was a little more comfortable and we could all sit together. It was also nice to be able to watch the Mississippi roll past.

 Later we went back to the lounge car- which was much busier around lunch time- and got lucky to find an unoccupied table on the lower level. We sat there to have our pb&j and train-purchased milk and Doritos (gasp!)

 I did try to get the kids to nap a little bit after lunch, which was unsuccessful. This photo was taken about 5 minutes before our stop, though. Clara was listening to Annie and finally just conked out.

 Pete was a minute late to pick us up, so I snapped this quick photo. Does it look like we've just been on an 8 hour train trip?

Thanks to Will and Sandy for hosting us for our Spring Break! It was fun to spend time with them. We also got to have dinner with Sarah and Josh, which was great...though no photos. They did become a little obsessed with helping Henry think of  "-ous" words which his class has been collecting. I'm not sure if he should go back and share androgynous though.
Today Pete stayed home from work and we just had a nice quiet day at home. So pleasant!

Movie time

Can you believe Will never saw Finding Nemo?!?

MOA

Will took the day off to hang out with us today. It was cold and potentially rainy outside, so we decided to go to the mall of America for some indoor entertainment. I was excited about the giant Peeps store-temporary for Easter. We spent a good chunk of time in the aquarium, which was pretty cool. Then we ate burgers at Johnny Rockets and watched all the crazy rides. The kids 'drove' some big rigs and then we went on the ferris wheel. Now we're fighting crabbiness. Actually, Henry and anders each napped a little, so we're doing okay. Tomorrow's plan is that I'm home with the kids. I'm going to take them to the children's museum to meet a friend and his son. There are sure to be more cute photos to come.

On our way...

To Minneapolis!

Dance!

Ready to go!

Clara put on her sunglasses and stuck her phone in her pocket. She's ready to walk Henry to school!

Swim Lessons

Looking ready and excited! Hopefully it goes well...

Science Fair!!

Henry's school science fair was tonight. It was quite the event! Henry had been thinking about a few different ideas and when he saw his Grandpa Bill several weeks back they sketched out a plan for a telegraph machine. Henry and Pete built it and here he is, showing off his work! Notice the blue ribbon! (I'll keep it to myself that everyone who participated got a blue ribbon. Henry was still very proud.)

He was stationed right next to a kid who was heating the air inside plastic bags with candles and letting the bag fly up in the air. That was cool, but a little distracting.

Here's Henry showing his project to the principal, Mr. Thome.

I thought he did a really nice job explaining how it works, and drawing the diagram.

Henry's class also did two class projects to show. This one was a model of a Mars rover. If you zoom in on the picture you can see Astronaut Henry.

They also did a class project where they balanced books on egg shells. Here's Henry's drawing of that project.

They were able to stack 4 dictionaries on top of 4 egg shells!

Here's Henry showing Mr. Toops (a science teacher at my school as well as Meadowbrook) how his telegraph machine works.

I took a picture of this project for Will.

It made for some pretty good reading.

You could also record the length of your own foot next to that of Bigfoot's.

Clara was very excited to be at the science fair. She had really wanted to make something to take herself. We've had to have lots of talks with both kids lately about how some things are special just for one or the other of them and they don't both need to do the exact same things all the time. I'm hoping that this 3rd child will help ease the competition between them a bit. Here's Clara playing with some cornstarch/water concoction. She may also have a little on her face.

She was all over the place- trying out every possible project. And you can see I wasn't the only camera-happy parent.

Clara's favorite thing (aside from her brother's) was this live bearded dragon. Her name was Texi and she was quite a lovely lizard. We got to pet her. Her owner was explaining to Clara about how he fed her different things to see what she liked the best...it was crickets.

And, finally, by the end of the night there was silliness and shenanigans. This is Henry with his pal Josh.

I was so proud of my boy tonight! His project was different from all the others and very nicely self-created. We're going to have a fun time thinking of something new and different for next year's science fair!

Stars on Ice

Our day started with chocolate chip pancakes and ended with Stars on Ice. It was a pretty nice day! The video-if it works, is of Curt Browning...I think. Pete got the tickets free from a friend at work, and we almost decided not to go- just because of the nice weather and the kids already being out of whack with the time change. I've never been to a show like this before (other than the Disney princesses on ice!) but we were all really glad we went. The show was lots of fun! I think you can see some more videos on their website: http://starsonice.com/

I also think it's really cool for Henry to see men dancing. There was a wide variety of music, and of course the sparkly outfits were fun to see too. 

Go Fish

Tonight The kids needed some serious 'settle down' time. I asked them if they wanted extra long story time, or a quiet game before bed. Henry opted for one, and Clara the other, so we divided and conquered. Pete read Henry a few fairy tales while Clara and I went fishing.

Also: Just went in for one more tuck-in with Clara and got this excellent "good night" from her: "Mommy. I like you. Because you have the right hair. And the right face."