Spring?

Well, it's cold again. Peg has gone off to spend time with a friend up at their new cabin for a birthday weekend and I am home with the kids. Great weekend weather to be cooped up.

We signed up Ollie and Hazel for Soccer this week through the Y. Hazel said she does not want to play because she doesn't know how. I told her they will help her learn and she will like it. I am not so sure about her. She gets tired running around the kitchen. But I feel like they need to start learning to play some sports. Ollie is happy to be playing soccer. Any sport is a good sport to him.

We also started swimming lessons this last week. The first time that the parents don't swim with them. I asked Peggy to watch them like a hawk. Those little dudes sink like stones when you put them in the water. Who knew kids were so dense! I guess the Haze did great (they were learning to dog paddle) and Ollie cried and needed some consolation from Mom. He said he won't cry next time though. I will let you all know how he does. :-)

If you can believe it they are also taking tennis lessons for a week. We bought tennis raquets for the kids and there was some angst as I could not find a "blue" one for Ollie. It's yellow and black. It took him a day to finally come around and ask if "is that spot right there blue?" to which we replied "sure". Hazel didn't even take notice of hers. It's purple and so that must have been good enough. I am really looking forward to having them learn to hit a tennis ball.



My Mom gave us bikes for the kids. Hazels is Pink and Ollie's is Blue. But Ollie does not like his because it's really hard to peddle. Hazel has taken to hers and really likes that she can now out pace Ollie easily. He rides his trike and she rides the bike. I think the peddle ratio is about 5 to one. Ollie does great but he gets frustrated by not being able to keep up. The Haze tips over at least once every ride, but she never cries much and we always get her right back on it. Eric and Kelly Eiden gave us a 16" bike for Ollie. So we need to get training wheels on it and a chain guard. It's not blue...but maybe I can find some blue stickers to put on it.







Spring has been pretty great so far. I have been to two Twins games already. Both of them day games. We have been going for walks after work with the kids (they ride trikes and bikes) and so it already feels like we are getting out of the house and back to nature.

Cancun

Peg and I had a great trip to Cancun Mexico last week. When we arrived it was raining cats and dogs. Peg was disappointed, but that didn't last long. After sitting and having lunch with a margarita. That disappointment fades pretty fast. We were on vacation!



So that evening we spent inside or on the patio of the hotel. We were lucky to be on the first floor so we could walk right out our front door and 20 feet later we were standing at the pool.

Sunday was beautiful. Peg and I ran along the beach in the morning. It was crazy windy and the walk back todk three times as long as the run down the beach. We actually had to lean into it in order to make any headway! When we got back, Eric and Kelly were up so we went to lay out at the pool. We spent all day just lounging around and reading books. Super relaxed. Eric and I got a bit sunburned, but it was fantastic to not have any requirements on your day.


That evening we went to downtown Cancun to eat with the locals...or as "local" as we cared to get. We had to take the bus, walked down some seedy alley's and Peg had to ask for directions multiple times. But we ended up finally getting the to restaurant. La Parilla. Seemed very authentic to me. The waiter only spoke spanish with Peg (thank goodness we brought the translator) and we had a nice dinner. Afterwards we stopped at the a local grocery store. Quite a sight! We nabbed the bus and went back to the hotel for the rest of the evening.


Monday we went for a run again. We went up the coast this time. Saw some crabs on the beach, lots of people on their morning walks. It was great. Another day was spent by the pool.

Tuesday we did some shopping (turns out the shops on Cancun are all things like Versace, or Dolce and Gabbana, or Louis Vuitton, needless to say, things were a bit outside of our price ranges. But it was fun.



We came home on Wednesday to 50 degree weather. Sounds like it was pretty nice here while we were gone also.

Anyway, would liked to have stayed more, but being away from the kids for a week is a long time and asking people to take care of the kids for that long just seems like too much to ask.

Pat.

The Holiday Season!

Since Thanksgiving we have been having a great time with holiday fun! Peg's family came over on Thanksgiving along with Eric's parents. Lots of food and lots of fun. We started the day with a very chilly Turkey Trot! It was so much fun!

Friday after Thanksgiving the kids stayed with G'ma and Bapa, and Pat and I ventured out to the malls. In all that craziness, we had a good time and got a lot of our shopping list checked off.

The next day we were off to hunt down the perfect Christmas tree. We found one and the kids had a good time helping cut it down and haul it back to the main building.

They saw Santa there, but had no interest in talking with him. They were curious about where his reindeer were.



Since then we have decorated cookies a few times, kept track of the days on our advent calendar, had a preschool Christmas concert, and played in the massive amount of snow we have.


We are looking forward to Christmas and all the family and friends we will see. Safe travels to all!!

Halloween...part deux?

So we went to the dome today to see New Ulm Cathedral eek out a win against Minneota. This was the kids second time in the dome. They didn't seem all that impressed. We sat on the rail and watched the game from the 20 yard line. It didn't look good at first with #44 of Minneota running all over the place. But Cathedral was able to get back in the game and win it at the end. We saw all sorts of NU folks. Chuck Regal (sp), Mark (of Mark and Sara), Theresa, John and Luke were there. Jerry chatted with several folks that I didn't recognize. While there, Tom and Jean came down to talk and root Jeremy on. It was great to get a chance to chat with them and share their enthusiasm for the game.

After naps my mom and dad to chat a bit and see the kids. Mom had gotten a ginger bread house on clearance and brought that over for the kids to put together. The kids were a little nuts about the house, so before dinner we put together the "haunted" ginger house. It was pretty fun. They had stuff in there I had never used before. The kids pretty much project manages (that's fancy for bossed me around) and ate candy while I frosted the heck out of the thing.



They decorated it with a jelly bean "football shooter" on top. There are several smoke stacks and lots of "falling" frosting that needs to be caught before it lands on "someone".



The kids have been pretty fun today. Lots of giggles and only a bit of whining.

Oh! When my mom was here (during the Colombia 'acation for Peg) Ollie told mom that sometimes he cried. When mom asked why he cried. He said, "when I want something". Very interesting.

Halloween!

So Halloween came and went. We had a great weekend although it would have been more fun with Mom. Peggy left for Columbia on Friday and the kids and I have been together since. We were very lucky to have Grandma Geri here on Monday and Tuesday and Grandpa Jerry here on Wednesday and my Mom on Thursday and Friday (and perhaps my Dad...not sure).

We have carved pumpkins...twice....hung out with friends and played Trains. We have been to the Hallowzooeen at the MN Zoo and had countless discussions about what words rhyme with things like bagabooi or babigabaga. Turns out lots of words start with "b" in this house right now.



I will admit they are getting pretty good at rhyming. They are actually getting a few right once and a while. It is very fun. The weather has been spooktacular so we have been spending time outside as much as we can (Sunday we spent all day inside...they had no interest in getting out. I have weird kids).

They miss their mom though. Each night Hazy tells me she wants to hug and kiss Mom. It's cute and kinda sad for the little one. But they get to skype with Peggy every day and so we get to see her and hear about how much fun she is having in Columbia with Freddie and Lisa. I think this was a kick butt trip for her.

Here are a few pictures of a Fairy and Spiderman (they stopped by the house on Holloween).


Also you can't believe how excited these two got at the Zoo. "Will we get Candy Dad?" Yes. "Why we have to say Trick or Treat Dad?" Because that is how the game is played Ollie. "Why that is how the game is played Dad?". He even asks us why he asks us questions. It's crazy!

Hazel was literally jumping up and down at each station. Sooo happy! They also got to see Arnita, Ray and Mindy (our neighbors) so that was pretty special also.

The pumpkins are getting eaten by squirrels and the kids are distraught but now we need to brace for all the fun Thanksgiving brings!

This has turned into a stream of consciousness blog. So I will end it here.

Here is the Preschool class photo.


Pat.

Falltime...Funtimes

This weekend Peggy and I decided to run out to an apple orchard. It's apple time and the best way to get a great Minnesota apple is to head out to the orchard itself! We decided to head out toward Stillwater and hit up Aamodts. We have been there many times in the past and it seemed like a nice morning. We arrived a bit early (before they opened) so we walked the grounds a bit. Ollie and the Haz were into the goats this year. They used to be more skittish around the animals than this time. I am happy to see them excited and trying their best to "pet" them.



We had an apple donut and bought some carmel corn, apple cider and of course...apples. My favorite are Harelsons. A bit more tart than most apples but distinctly Minnesotan. We also grabbed a bag of Honey Crisp.



We probably were there for 1/2 an hour or so and we felt like we needed to move on. Mom gets a bit antsy don't you know. :-)

So we drove down the road to Axdahls. I have been going there for pumpkin picking since the late 90's. We haven't been there recently and it has changed dramatically. They are more of a nursery now then when I used to trawl the fields for a "good one". But it was still very fun. They have painted pumpkins and the kids thought those were pretty great.




That pretty much ended our excursion for the day. We ended up at home for lunch and went for a run after which was refreshing as I have not run since the 5k. Gotta get ready for the Turkey trot you know.

Talk to you soon.

Pat.

are Marathon's next? perhaps not....

Peg ran and finished her first 5k this weekend. She was very excited to run the whole thing! We ran with the kids in a stroller and Team Eiden finished in 33 minutes. Not bad for never having run one before. We did the James Page Blubber Run (www.blubberrun.net) which is pretty cool because tons of people dress up in costumes and run in packs. We saw lifeguards chasing a shark, multiple groups of crayola crayons, chickens, Wizard of Oz characters, gardens gnomes. It was really fun. You run along the river down in Minneapolis. It's a very nice run.

Next we are on to the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. 30 minutes here we come!



Congratulations Peggy!