The block party post.

Fasten your seatbelts, I'm actually going to share some of the block party pictures from almost a month ago! This year we did fun stuff like fill up a million water balloons when it was 90 degrees out, have a water balloon toss and then let kids (Fisher) have at the rest of 'em.

But let's be honest, there is nothing quite like spotting a fire truck driving (slowing, sans sirens) onto your street. Kids of all ages are always in awe.
Ron had to take his turn cranking homemade ice cream during part of the fire truck festivities. Fisher was a little nervous about climbing into the truck when he first saw it. I guess awe is one thing, but it is a huge vehicle, so I can understand his hesitation. He got over that fast, though, and then we could hardly get him to come out. And it is very important to fasten your seat belt in a fire truck.There have been a plethora of various water squirters come out of the woodwork since the block party, left on our lawn, I suppose. Fisher was enchanted with them all, and really spent a large portion of the day squirting anything and anyone who'd let him. Including Dad.The fire truck pictures are among my favorites, but this last one might take the prize. This is Fisher with his buddy from around the corner, and there was some baseball-ish game going on. This is Fisher handing his friend the "bat," sharing, and it was just a simple gesture, but I thought the way the "bat" changed hands was simply endearing.

We are definitely lucky to live here among such good people.

Eight million.

When I look at this picture I realize we have about eight million pictures of Alla and Fisher, individually, and plenty of them together, but not nearly enough with us, just hanging out like this, monkeying around and the camera happens to be out.

Super swing.

This is almost certainly the last summer of this blue swing we inherited from dear friends when they moved four years ago, so it is imperative that I document what is happening with it now, (and not just with Fisher - the whole neighborhood has gotten on it at one time or another). He always wants a high push, where he can reach the branches, but I know that he digs the cool disk swings all the big kids have. And I know that his sister wants something more suitable for six year olds. So, next summer we'll move on. But at least I have this photo of what we did when he was three.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. I can't believe how summer is winding down. To be honest, I'm not thrilled about it. I'm not looking forward to September.

2. School supplies have been purchased, and we're in the midst of sharpening all 48 of her pencils. I think we might need a new sharpener.

3. Alla started a chapter book! I don't know if it has seemed too daunting up til now, but she hasn't wanted to try anything longer than the 20-plus Henry and Mudge books, which are about four chapters each.
4. Fisher will have the same teacher and aide this year! Yay, that will make for a smooth transition. I hope.

5. This is quickly becoming the Back to School edition of Ten on Tuesday, and at the moment I am firmly against Back to School, so let's change the subject.

6. We are experimenting with quiet time instead of nap time for Fisher. He loves his naps, falls asleep very easily at naptime. But then bedtime is another matter. Sometimes it's ten o'clock before he's asleep. Me thinks that's a bit late for a three year old. Yesterday's experiment went well, although at 4:00 (designated get-up time around here), he told me, But I didn't get to hold Lovey and suck my finger. Because he was too busy reading a pile of books. So cute.

7. Up twice last night. First time: Fisher's friends (all umpteen of them) were no longer tucked in with him, and I had to convince him that keeping them tucked in with him all night wasn't going to happen. Second time: bad dream for Alla. I should have just climbed into bed with her, as sleepy as my eyes still were. Because after being woken up twice, that's pretty much it for me; it's at least an hour til I get back to sleep, and that's after getting up for a bowl of cereal.

8. We made pancakes for breakfast.

9. Meals have been oh so uninspired this summer. Something like this: grill chicken sausage, pick up some corn from the corner stand, make some rice or quinoa. I suppose that's how summer goes, but I do miss more, well, inspired cooking. I hear fall is right around the corner for plenty of that.

10. Things to look forward to in the next two weeks: meeting Declan, meeting Alla's teacher, and the State Fair. That's right, it's that time again. Sigh.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. The summer cold has officially arrived. Ron actually brought it home last week after a 2-night work trip, so this year there's no saying, How do you get a cold in the middle of summer?

2. Fisher woke up with a bark of a cough last night, his go-to cold symptom. After I convinced him to eat half an orange this morning to up his vitamin C, he told me that his cold was not gone. He was very upset about this.

3. We had a family picnic on Sunday evening to a local park where The Okee Dokee Brothers were playing. Check out this link at about 1:00 to see Miss Alla saunter down the hill in her yellow top and hot pink skirt.

4. I ordered exactly 100 photos yesterday through Snapfish for exactly one dollar and seven cents (MN tax), shipped. Score.

5. We're sitting here watching Hot Tub Time Machine and it's storming outside. For real.

6. Two more days of swimming camp, and I am hoping that Fisher gets to swim the next two days. I had him sit out today because of his new cold, but he sat there on the sidelines practicing his "Tickle T Takeoff." Anyone else's kids do this in swim class?

7. Have I mentioned the storm? It seems we don't get just rain here anymore, it's torrential, and it's a problem for our backyard. It's Lake MinneKillins back there.

8. Three weeks til school starts for Alla. Better start coming up with some awesome plans for Fish and I.

9. Number nine is Fisher and Pappi, since Nana and Pappi have been gone for almost 2 weeks now and we miss them. 10. Number ten is a random never-shared from the 4th, the kids with their friend Brooke watching Daddy do his firework magic.

This is not a necklace.

This is not a necklace. It is a string of one hundred beads, each representing having read one book.

At the beginning of the summer (fearing the summer slide), I asked Alla how many books she thought she could read over the summer, to which she responded, 100. So she got busy reading.

And, last Thursday I watched her read the 100th book, put the 100th bead on her long, long string, and feel so proud for having reached that very big goal. This weekend she was rewarded with a trip to the bookstore for 5 new books, and and afternoon of swimming and ice cream with Daddy. We are very proud of you, Alla Balla!

Three things.a

My children are into their ages being the deciding factors for a lot of stuff. They'll want to eat three or six more bites of something since they are three and six.

So, today, Fisher, I'm going to tell you three things you said to me, in no particular order:

1. Do we have any more salmon?
2. Do we have any more quinoa?
3. I like you, Mommy.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Four weeks left of summer.

2. There are 41 miles of paved trails in our city. Lots of running and biking to do here.

3. We are having simply glorious summer weather highs in the seventies.

4. Kiddos are in the midst of a two-week swim camp. Smiles all around.

5. Alla seems to think that heels would be appropriate footwear for school this year.

6. Thinking of taking the kids to a local parade tomorrow evening!

7. 60 pages left of my book, and I'm eager to get on to the next ones!

8. Fisher is up there in bed right now singing his very own version of this song. It is a-dorable. If you need some new kids' music that the grown-ups will love as well, we strongly recommend our local Okee Dokee Brothers.

9. At bedtime tonight Alla told me she can't wait for the next summer break (yes, next summer) so she can spend the whole summer with me. She's looking forward to school starting, but when she starts thinking about it, I believe the idea of being away all day long isn't sounding like her cup of tea.

10. I really don't have ten today, only nine. So here's number ten - I can't even get enough of her.

Friday ten.

1. I have a backlog of summer images and stories to blog about, but it seems we're a bit busy living all those summer images and stories so they'll come when they come, I suppose.

2. Alla's two front teeth are steadily growing in but there's still clearly a gap.3. As soon as I get a shot of her one way, something else changes! Yesterday she got this lovely 'do, which, goodness, suits her so.4. One night last week, Fisher got up after bedtime to pee and told me, Do you know that my underwear have a pocket? He then proceeds to figure out how to get his hand into that little tiny pee-pee hole and smiles hugely, as if to say I told you so.) See, you can put your hand in there. What is the pocket for?, I asked. I don't know, for stuff I want to carry. Like what? Like [trucks] from my car basket.

5. I took Alla to Dairy Queen the night after her last soccer game. She told me she didn't even ask to go after the game with her teammates because she knew Fisher couldn't have it and if we went he'd be jealous so she just grabbed herself one of the popsicles a parent brought for snack. That girl is something else.

6. That night, apparently, was topped off by getting to take a bath with Mommy and then Mommy telling her a story. She decided she would lotion my feet while I told her a story, which she then told me was going to be a symbiotic relationship because I was getting my feet lotioned and she was getting to hear a story.

7. We celebrated 9 years of marriage this week, but really and truly celebrated with our favorite people last week when they were here and the four of us got to go out. Together. Sans kids. To a rooftop restaurant for dinner and then a different restaurant where we introduced them to butterscotch pudding. Their 9-year anniversary is next week.8. We also had our awesome block party last weekend, so of course I have tons of shots from that, if I ever get to them.

9. This morning the kids and I discovered a nature park fifteen minutes from home. Huge rocks, tunnels, logs, sand pit with toys galore, and, o holy grail, a shallow stream where the water is kid-activated. I think if I'd have brought a picnic lunch, the kids might have taken a nap there in the shade and then gone right back at it. Delightful.

10. The kids start two weeks of swim class on Monday. Fisher has grown leaps and bounds with vacation and swimming at Nana and Pappi's, so let's hope he doesn't cry through the entire first lesson again.

Breezy: A few last memories.

One or two baths a day in the whirlpool tub.
Hysterical laughter during rounds of iPad Yahtzee.
Taking my girl out for ice cream on a cold afternoon.
The gorgeous scene outside our patio.
Reading a whole bunch.
Naps.
Riding bikes a very short way to the park with your big sister.
I love this one. One day, he'll be helping her.
Practicing brakes on the downhill.
Getting to be in the picture. Thanks, sweetheart.

Until next year, Up North!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. The little girl who had a tooth missing now has two teeth missing!

2. Last summer soccer game tomorrow night.

3. When Alla woke up on Sunday morning to find a coin in her tooth fairy pouch, I asked her why she got a dollar coin when I only got quarters when I was a kid. She told me that "in the olden days they didn't have much money so you could only get quarters." Of course I asked her when were the olden days, to which she replied, "You know, when you were little." Ah.

4. Can't believe this is the last Ten on Tuesday for July. Where is the summer going? In a month we will be State Fair-ing and meeting new teachers and checking off school supplies and trying to figure out what on earth to make my child for her lunch box over the next 180 school days.

5. I've been in denial but I think it might be time to stock up on summer clothes for next year.

6. The best thing I heard today was from Fisher at his naptime: "Mommy? I love you."

7. At our regular park playdate this morning, Fisher shouted to everyone present, at the top of his lungs, "THERE'S A TRACTOR!!"

8. I desperately need a good purse. Big, like a medium-sized tote bag. Full of pockets so that important things like epi-pens and cell phone don't just disappear into a great abyss. Super duper durable. No, I'm not in search of a backpack.

9. I've just scheduled book requests from the library through the end of the year. That's a lot of reading.

10. We had an amazing weekend. Here's why:

The little girl loses her first tooth.

This is what she looked like earlier today. A bit like a monster.And now, snug in her bed, she looks more like this, with dreams of the tooth fairy dancing in her head.There is another real loose one down there, and I fear the tooth fairy will no sooner get home with the first than she'll be flying back to recover the second. Busy life for that tooth fairy.

Breezy: Beach.

Beach pictures don't really need a lot of explanation. As far as lakes go, I felt super sheltered once we got up north, as some of the lakes were ginormous, especially compared to the local lakes we frequent. Alla and I must have walked a quarter of a mile out into the water and still the water only reached her belly.



We came home with lots of shells and my own handpicked collection of tiny smooth stones to remind of us of our wonderful vacation.

Breezy: Hike to the Fire Tower.

On our way to town we would spot the fire tower I'd read about, that you could climb on. So we just casually stopped on our way back one day, parked the car in the smallish lot, and headed onto the trail. We really should have paid more attention to the folks coming down from the trail, who were wearing shorts and sneakers to our skirts and flip-flops. A short time later Alla was making this face, sure that if we didn't turn back we were going to find ourselves in immediate peril.We assured Fisher that we'd be back after nap, and by 4:30 we were back on the trail, as promised. Notice the better choice of clothing, hats, sunglasses, bug spray. We were set.
Are steps cheating? I mean, you have to take the help where you can get it when you're left to carry two kids up tall steps while your wife hangs back to take pictures.We went up two flights and told the kids we'd let them climb all the way when they got older.
It was a bit rickety. And that, my friends, is the extent of this family's hiking for 2011.