Christmas Photo Shoot

In October it seemed like a great idea to stage an outside Christmas photo shoot for the 2009 Christmas card. On December 1 it no longer seemed so great. The unusually warm weather in November quickly gave way to cold icy wind. Even though you will not see snow on the ground behind my squirmy looking family pictures, I can practically see the ice in the air. The location is the Prairie Wetlands Center right outside of Fergus Falls, MN.

The children in these pictures are not my own. MY kids would have stood still and looked into the camera with their beautiful angelic faces. MY kids would not have needed both of their mother's hands elbow deep up their noses to retrieve boogers before the shoot, and my kids most definitely would not have stuck out their tongues at the camera!

Please note that Ava was not happy with this whole arrangement. She is typically a camera hog, but the only thing on her mind, which is painfully obvious from the photos, was the inside.

Merry Christmas!

The camper cake

Dancing under the harvest moon

I swear three weeks ago we decided to spend the rest of our summer weekends hanging out at home and traveling no more than the miles it takes to get ice cream at Granny's. But, when the decision was made to celebrate Grandma's birthday in conjunction with the Green Lake labor day party, it was impossible to say no. One "camper cake" later ( pictures to follow! ) we made our best attempt at surprising someone who has made a living of not being surprised by anything. This party was no exception.

As the sun went down on the campgrounds, droves of children came out of the woodwork. Suddenly fifty kids were playing football, driving mini 4-wheelers and were generally engaged in trying to permanently injure themselves. Ava, probably tired from her first week of preschool, was generally uninterested. She made her way from camper to camper meeting new friends and quickly leaving them behind. A pet bunny that a camper had brought along for the weekend kept her interest for a while as we loaded up plates full of food from the 15 foot long table of potluck offerings. Once the food was largely devoured a DJ began setting up shop on a hill between the lake and the campgrounds. The expanse of freshly mowed prairie looked surreal against the backdrop of flashing lights and mobile disco ball. Both kids were apprehensive, but once Hannah Montana started blaring across the lake, Ava perked up. Instantly a group of 5-7 year old girls hoarded together on the "dance floor" unsure of what to do with themselves.

I couldn't help but remember the years of junior high and high school dances and the liberation of dancing without a real care in the world. All these girls needed was a little encouragement...in the form of a 30 something mother with a couple of glasses of box wine in her system. Two hours and many Black Eyed Peas songs later I was dripping in sweat with a permanent smile on my face. Ava and Dane danced with no rhythm, rhyme or reason, just like their mother. Dane showed off his break dance skills for everyone while Grandpa Ron sang old old school karaoke. I am sure I looked like an idiot. In fact, I am positive about that. But the feel of wet grass underfoot and the harvest moon up above were an amazing combination. As darkness fell the fireworks went up. We moved off to the side and snuggled down into the grass - one child in each armpit - and watched the show while adding our most convincing "ooohhhhhhs" and "aahhhhhhs".

At exactly 9:30 the switch flipped and Dane began begging LOUDLY to go to sleep. Ava joined the frantic chorus and we retired to Auntie & Uncle's camper to break down the dining room table into a not so comfy bed for the night. I had all intentions of rejoining the campfire, but it never happened. I did wake up around 3:00 AM when Auntie & Uncle decided to leave the campfire themselves and settle down for a solid 3 hours of sleep.

What a joyful evening followed by an early morning "I love you" from Dane before he decided to wrestle with Uncle who would have really liked a couple of extra hours of sleep. Oh well!

We are now back at home in Fergus. The kids are watching a movie, well, Dane was watching but he fell asleep. The suitcase is unpacked and I do think we will stick to our plan this time and leave that suitcase in the attic until Christmas. What a wild summer! Time to try our hardest to have a more "selfish" fall and spend less time in the van and more time soaking up the weather.

A birthday gift to me

In October I turn 34. THIRTY-FOUR. t.h.i.r.t.y.f.o.u.r. Ugh.

I have so many things to be thankful for - two beautiful naughty ungrateful wonderful children, a loving husband, a solid career, a super fabulous sister and much much more. But, I also have my Grandmother Helen's arms. God bless her and her chubby German arms but I am not ready for them at 34. So, here we are. I have developed a consistent running schedule again and I feel great about that but it is time to learn some new tricks.

Enter from left stage, Amanda DeYounge, personal trainer. A drop dead gorgeous blonde with energy to spare and legs the size of my pinkie (on a skinny day). I purchased 16 sessions with DeYounge to prepare myself for the big 3-4.

Today was our first session, and regretfully, I may have called her crazy. I meant it in a good way. GOOD CRAZY, ya know? I cannot wait to see what develops over the next 15 sessions - I will keep you posted!

My burning thighs and I are going back to work.

The Sound of Music

We purchased tickets for The Sound of Music several weeks ago and it was a good thing since the show quickly sold out. The anticipation of the evening show wore on Ava all day. I couldn't help but wonder at what age kids start to have an appreciation for time because it clearly has not developed by age 4.

She couldn't take it anymore about an hour before the show and protested by buckling herself into her car seat in the van, arms crossed and pout prominent. Dane followed suit and within minutes the sky opened and rain poured down in sheets. I wished I had strapped myself into the van pre-rain too. We attempted to kill the last hour by hitting McDonalds for some chocolate milk but the drive thru was too quick - we were still early. We rushed into A Center for The Arts under the cover of floral umbrellas rummaged from the trunk of my car.

Once inside the theatre Dane struck up a conversation with a man behind us who was wearing a Harley t-shirt. Dane explained that HE left HIS motorcycle at home. Ava's eyes were glued to the stage through the entire show. It is unsual for her to watch something without asking a million questions. Dane made it one hour before deciding nuns, dancing children and yodeling were not his cup of tea. I can only guess that DadO was feeling the same way because they walked home during intermission!

Ava's intent study of the play ended abruptly seconds into the Reverend Mother's solo of "Climb Every Mountain" which left her writhing in pain in her seat hands firmly clamped over her ears moaning "I cannot handle it! I cannot handle it!" The volume and pitch of the song were intense but powerful, too powerful for Ava's little ears.

We arrived home at 10:00 p.m. We tiptoped past Dane's bedroom and covered our giggles because he was singing to himself. As we settled into my bed the reprieve from the questions ended when Ava asked, "Where did they find all of those acrobat robots to be in that play?" That was not a question I could have ever anticipated. After much discussion I realized the word acrobat and the word actor do sound similiar. But robots? Ava explained; "Mom. They had this cord attached to their necks and like a black thing by their mouths. The kids even had these like battery things on their backs. Robots, duh." Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. The remote microphones apparently look much different to a child, who surprisingly wasn't frightened by a stage full of singing and dancing robots but was quite confused by it. It was now 10:30 p.m. I was hoping the very strange discussion of The Sound of Music was over when Ava's final question came - "But why were those lady vampires singing so much?" Vampires? Well, I guess the nun's black habits do bear some similiarity to those worn by vampires.

It was now 11:00 p.m. and Ava drifted off to sleep after mumbling, "I love you more than jewels - and I promise I will buy you a crown with diamonds and jewels on it....I guess they probably sell those at Target...or Pamida....or the grocery store....."

I spent the next hour laying in bed wondering how to re-write the Sound of Music to incorporate robots, vampires and acrobats.

Running

Running schedule for the upcoming week....I think my toe injury has completely healed so this will be the test...

Fri: 2 miles
Sat: rest
Sun: 2 miles
Monday: 3 miles
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 3 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: rest
Saturday: 4 miles

The County Fair

I was propelled to the Tri-County Fair by memories of my childhood. Treats of this type were not common place growing up where money was never in abundance. My mom would pack a picnic lunch and we were allowed a limited number of ride tickets that we hoarded for the Tilt-O-Whirl and The Bullet. As a farm kid it seemed that we left "the city" at the end of the school year and rarely saw classmates or friends until school started again in the fall. The fair was a chance to see classmates and catch up with friends surrounded by the mystery of carnies.

The current Tri-County Fair is still held in the same place as when we were kids. The buildings look the same and even the mid-July date is the same. What is different is that the carnies are now old neighbors, former teachers and, well....my parents. The Fair Board purchased amusement rides last year to avoid the increasingly difficult task of finding a reliable travelling fair to come to the area. The Board members, spouses and others from the community run the rides. Gone are the strange looking mysterious people operating the rides, replaced by strange looking mysterious friends and family.

We hit the fair around 7:00 pm and the kids instantly jumped into the flying Dumbo ride with its pink glossy elephants. The rides themselves look like they were manufactured in the early 1920's and it wasn't without a little trepidation that I placed my two most precious assets into the Pepto Bismol pink whirling death machine. They loved it. Rides were $1.00 each and we quickly went through $20.00. I rode the mini Ferris wheel with one kid tucked under each of my arms for support (my support, not theirs). The kids enjoyed moving ride to ride and barn to barn with their cousins.

Dane learned that trying to pet a rooster who has been sitting in a sweltering tin barn for a week is probably not the smartest of ideas...not that it stopped him from reaching in a second time before the indent on the top of his hand had even plumped back up. Ava marveled at the baby miniature pony who was hardly as tall as her Auntie's boxer dogs.

Dane drew attention after he decided his shirt was too dirty and stripped down to his khaki capri shorts and crocs. The kids found time to sneak in hugs with Grandma and Grandpa despite being on duty and they even got kisses from Great Grandma Lillian.

Every kid should get the chance to spend an evening at a small fair to study the wonders of blue eggs (what kind of chickens lay blue eggs Ava wondered), to get nibbled on my soft goat lips and to get a little sick to the stomach on rides. As the night wound down the kids were obviously overtired and we were all happy to go to Grandma's house and nuzzle into bed. As Ava wrapped her arms around my neck I couldn't help but turn my head away before whispering, "I love you". Man that kid really smelled like cow barn.