U of M Arboretum

Last weekend, we all went to the U of M's Landscape Arboretum to check it out for this year. We ventured to the kid's building and play area for the first time and went through the plant maze. I forgot my camera on that trip, but the kids and I went back today so I could check out a garden that I really liked again and get a plant list. This time, the kid's building was open and we found a large greenhouse inside that encourages kids to touch and smell the plants and they get their own spray bottle to water any plant they want. Laura had a good time with that! Here are some pictures of the outdoor nature play area. It is really cool. Its under a huge oak tree, so its in the shade and all the materials are natural. There aren't too many of Laura because she decided she wasn't into pictures today. But Adam was a willing subject!

tunnels

tunnels

puppet theater (they have puppets made from small branches, but we couldn't find them this time)

"Toad Abode"

Elf house and playground. You use fir cones for the elves.

Laura's Art

Here are a couple of pictures that Laura and I collaborated on today on big paper from Jim's work. I think we are now about equals when it comes to drawing abilities.

Cool Dude

Check out his sunburned hand holding a stick with a leaf and his velcro shoes.

Rainforest

the tiny green thing on the lower left with the red coming out of the bottom of it is a clover with roots in the dirt, picking up water. The dots around it are trees and there is a blue insect. The big blue circle is a cloud with rain coming down and there is a rainbow to the right of the cloud. All of this was her idea and creation, except for the sun and I suggested and we took turns adding colors to the rainbow.

fyi - the dishes are done, most of the toys are picked up, the kids are in bed, and the washer is broken. Sooooo...no guilt about blogging instead of doing my actual 'job'! Not that I usually do those things at night, but at least this time, there's no guilt!

mug shot

Check out Adam's first mug shot. No, he hasn't already had problems with the law, this is from his passport.

my he-man

ta da! no more rabbit fence! Thank you Jim. When he built it 3 years ago, he was defending against ninja rabbits, apparently. It was definitely built big and strong. Too bad he wasn't considering the day that I would randomly request its removal. But he took it out with a minimum of grumbling. Now, to follow through with my job of making it look respectable.

A three year old and a garden hose - a full hour of bliss

ooooo...a camera

Gotcha!

Laura feeding Adam

Check out her facial expression

Nothing special, just sitting at the table

Here's a really long video that is just Adam, Laura and I sitting around. Nothing special, but a few cute shots of the kids.

Hair

Laura woke up one morning and said she wanted a braid on each side and a pony tail sticking straight up with a barrette in the front. Well...OK:

And another particularly good hair day:

Plants

Bet you don't know what radishes look like when they go to seed. Well, you still may not because my photography is so poor, but there are some sweet little pink flowers in the picture below from a radish plant. When Laura wasn't too impressed with the radishes she planted, we (I) decided to let them go to seed and see what happens. Maybe we'll get a fall crop that we won't eat also. Anyway, they get really really tall and put out pink and white flowers. These were standing up straight until it got so dry around here, then they fell over. I decided not to waste precious water on plants I probably wasn't going to eat anyway and left them on their own.

After the flowers, they also have these seed pods: 
Radish seeds are awfully small, so I'm guessing there must be a ton of seeds in each one, but I'm waiting until they dry out and open on their own to find out. Will keep you posted. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat.

Below is a picture of a sweet little rose that I have half-heartedly tried to kill (literally) since we moved in. I keep stepping on it and cutting it back because its the only thorny plant in our flower garden and I didn't want to have to worry about it with the kids. But this year, as with my weeds, it grew quiet successfully and bloomed a tiny pink rose that smells sooo sweet. The tiny ones always smell better than the big showy ones. It really reminds me of a large rose bush I had in a big pot in San Diego that I was really sad to leave behind. I found it from a championship rose grower (?) yard sale for $5 and the pot alone was probably worth at least $50. Now I wish I hadn't stepped on this one so many times! I'm glad it is determined to live. I also wish I would have taken a picture before it opened up and isn't very pretty. But this is as good as it gets this year:

And I was excited to host a beautiful butterfly. I would love to know the name it anyone knows it off the top of their head. Please don't spend time researching, maybe I will do that another day.

first day back

Our first day back in the swing of things went surprisingly well. 

vacuum the house

Bike ride to the playground, Walmart, Library, then home. 

Nap for Adam and alone time for Laura. 

Playtime for Laura and I while Adam napped with some workbooks and stickers.

a little computer time for Laura.

snack

everybody mani-pedi on the front lawn (we are not the most ideal neighbors)

Martha Speaks on PBS while I get dinner ready

Adam lacked for a morning nap, but everyone stayed in mostly good spirits.

yea! 

Jenny's folks

Next we went to my parents' house. My brother and his family and my sister were also there. 13 in all! It was great and not at all too crazy. Adam finally slept the last 2 nights so I actually felt alive on my last day there. We also went to a family get together with my extended family. There were 9 of my cousins there and many of the next generation. Very nice time!

Aunt Kim taught us to make individual ice cream servings. yum!
I'll leave you with a parting shot:

Jim's folks

Laura started vacation 3 days early when Jim's parents took her down to Kansas before we left. It was a great opportunity for her to spend time alone with them and it was supposed to make our drive down easier with one less kid. I actually think Adam did worse on the way down because he missed Laura, but I can't prove it. But we only had to go 9 hours and we stopped at a hotel. On the way back, we made it 12 hours with no stop. Anyway, Laura was seriously thrilled at the prospect of her time with Papa, Grandma and Jill. From the pictures and the stories, it looks like she thoroughly enjoyed herself. (Again, thanks for the pictures, Linda)

There was a huge step up in her bravery with Jill this visit. She gave her treats, was able to stay in the same room without being held, and happily, but nervously, petted her.


And then we showed up and brought the little monster that wouldn't sleep. The days were fun, but the nights were a challenge. Jim's mom had Adam until about 2am a couple nights so I could try to catch up. He just couldn't seem to comfortably sleep any length of time without being held upright. I am currently eliminating things from my diet to see if that's it or if he was just teething or something.

But like I said, we had a great time during the day. My favorite was riding the 4 wheeler. It was my first time on an ATV and I had a blast. Laura got to drive the lawn mower and we had a few daytime fireworks which mostly just scared her.
It was cool to see Laura playing with the toys Jim played with as a kid. Wish I would have gotten down on their level for the below 2 pictures, but I guess the back of Laura's head is the best its going to get.

And Laura had her first root beer float. It was a big hit, as you can imagine!

She also got to stay up one night and see the fireflies. We don't have any in Minnesota, but she's read about them in books. It was a big night for this 3 year old!