Life in September

Last weekend, Gpa V came down on Friday to go to Q's hockey game with us. Her game was at 6pm. In Edina. So basically, the kids got off the bus and we told them to eat a big snack (pre-dinner #1). They all ate two bowls of cereal. Then we headed to the game (they won. those girls are goooood!). It was 7:45 by the time we got home and people were H.U.N.G.R.Y. I was planning to throw a couple frozen pizzas in the oven, but knew that they'd never make it until the pizzas were cooked. 

So I opened a bag of chips, pulled out the salsa that Q and I had made, grabbed some queso - and the six of us stood around our kitchen island eating chips/salsa/queso while the pizzas cooked (pre-dinner #2). At 8pm. I looked at Mike and said "is this our life now?" He says, yes. yes it is. 

However, the next day, Q and Mike were at yet another hockey game (they won. I'm telling you, they are good!) and Dec had scored himself an invite to lunch at A's house. So it was just Bugs and me. I was hoping to get a shower before Dec and I headed to baseball. So you know what happened. Bugs made me scrambled eggs and an English muffin while I showered and had it waiting for me. Then she cleaned things up while D and I went to baseball. 

So yes, this is our life now. The kids make us meals sometimes and we eat frozen pizza dinner at 8:30pm. The Big Kid Life has begun.

Besides sports and school, what does September life look like, you ask? Well - let me tell you ...

Mike and I went on a date for the first time in 18 months! Mike's work got tickets to the WCCO suite at Target Field - so we happily accepted two tickets to a Twins game. They actually won and hit five homers during the game. On the home front, one of the kids' favorite people (C's niece Trina) was home from college for the weekend and agreed to wrangle the troops. They had so much fun and would like us to go on another date soon!

Dec and A were upstairs playing a few days ago. I realized it was verrrry quiet, so I went up to check on things. I found them camped out in the fort under D's bed, reading books. It was one of the cutest things ever. For the record, it was more likely that I would have walked into a nerf gun ambush. These two are clever and stealth. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security by this sweetness. 

We've been using the sunshine and cooler days to hop on our bikes and explore the new neighborhood. The kids are extending their radius and learning the routes to friend's houses who live a bit farther away. Mike and I have found quite a few good walking routes too.

It is spirit week at school - so I was elbow deep in hair markers yesterday before driving into the office. Before 7:45am, we had one head of tie-dyed hair and one "Saber striped" ponytail. Today was pajama day, which I am told is the ultimate of spirit days.

Fiona and I made an unexpected trip to the dentist last night when she came home with a swollen and bloody gum and a tooth that had come out in multiple pieces. It looks far worse than it turned out to be - but we all felt better knowing that things were under control. There was one small shard of tooth left in there that the dentist was able to remove without any drama. 

PSA: wiggle your teeth when they are loose. Because if you don't, the pressure of the tooth under it could just cause it to crack into a bunch of pieces. 

I know I said "besides school," but I had to share this. Two of D's best friends are in his class and when his teacher sent this picture of the three of them working together, it just made my day. Little man is just living his best life in 2nd grade!

September has flown by, but we are settling into the new fall routine. You'll have to wait for the October blog posts to learn more about the rest of our September ... like our final days of Labor Day weekend and the big 11th birthday celebration. 

Last Summer Weekend: Waterfalls

Sunday looked to be a gorgeous, but chilly, day - so Mike and I had decided that we'd make a return trip to Amnicon Falls. You may remember that we headed there as part of our northern Minnesota Spring Break tour. It's just under a two hour drive (each way) from Rapids, but we knew that we could get a lot of exploring in to make the drive worthwhile. We also invited Gma and Gpa J and Auntie to join us. And met Gma and Gpa N at the park! 

We all knew that there's been quite the drought in the upper midwest this year - but wow, the water level compared to when we were there in April was crazy low. Several of the waterfalls were barely dripping, so the falls were much less impressive than in the spring. Conversely, the water was so low that all the big river rocks were up out of the water. I have never crossed a river via rock path so many times in my life. In fact, I joked on instagram that clearly my kids are allergic to the actual trails!

The smoke from the western wildfires was impacting the air, so Gma N was having a hard time breathing. We all had lunch together and then my mama grabbed a picnic table spot with Gma and Gpa N to visit while the rest of us wandered down to the river and then tested our rock jumping balance. My dad was laughing so hard and Emmy and me as we tag-teamed a crossing. We stand by our team effort and our dry feet. We even did a trio crossing with Fiona and everyone was successful thankyouverymuchdad! 

Gma and Gpa N left shortly thereafter, but we are so glad we got to see them for a little bit! Then we brought Gma J with us for the next batch of exploring. Because of the low water levels and exposed rocks everywhere, my family did a lot more "off roading" than we had done in the spring. We definitely should have had Gma wear her hiking shoes! Gma and Gpa claim they need to go back again in the spring so 1) they actually get to walk on the trails and 2) they can see the falls when they have more water running through them!

Overall, we spent about four hours exploring the park. Only one Vanneste got fully wet (cough, Declan, cough) but it was mostly on purpose. He had taken off his socks and was walking around in the river in his crocs with his pants rolled up. He missed a rock and took a bit of a swim. Thankfully I had brought extra clothes - because I know my people! 

[Several other Vannestes may have had wet shoes and socks. Auntie may have had a rolled ankle from a long leap from rock to shore. No family members were permanently maimed in the exploring of the waterfalls.]

It was an easy drive back to GR, where we had a big bowl of Gma's famous potato salad waiting for us! Dinner was easy and delicious. Then we ended the night by watching a couple episodes of The Floor is Lava, which, if nothing else, reaffirmed Em and my tag team approach to obstacles! Oh, and then a bonfire at Auntie's house with s'mores because what better way to end a great day!

Last Summer Weekend: Went North

It is our last year of the crazy weird schedule of the kids starting school on the Thursday after Labor Day. Only elementary schools start on Thursday. Middle and High School start on Tuesday ... and we have a middle schooler next year! So we decided to take advantage of our longer Labor Day weekend one last time - and headed north for a few days of trees, lakes, and family before the craziness of the school year started!

Because of work and sports schedules, we decided to head up on Friday ... even though that meant that traffic would likely be less than ideal. You guys, traffic was less than ideal. So we went some back roads, where in the world are we and is there a gas station anywhere in the next 30 miles route. Other than honestly only vaguely knowing where(ish) we were, it was just fine and much less car-sick-inducing than the stop and go traffic on our regular route. Lunch was a little trickier than expected and we ended up with gas station pizza slices. As one does. We made it to Rapids mid-afternoon and were very happy to be there. 

Gma surprised the kids with a brand new bunk bed in the guest room and they were thrilled! The girls slept on the bunk and Dec decided to make himself a bed on the floor in their room. It was the world's best sleepover! The rest of Friday was pretty low key. We headed to the park to burn off some energy, played a full contact frisbee version of keep away, and tested the path between Auntie's and Gma's a few times. We even tried the [fairly sour] grapes on Auntie's grape vine. 

Saturday was the day we had been looking forward to since the 4th of July ... CABIN DAY with the cousins! We headed up right after lunch and were sooooo happy. It was a lovely sunny day (until it wasn't ... more on that in a bit) but not terribly warm. Quinn and Dec (mostly Dec) went in the water. Fiona was happy to just put her feet in and play in the sand. They were all so excited when the rest of the cousins arrived.

The kids were all happily playing in the water and sand until a bunch of clouds blew over us. It started sprinkling and the whole crew huddled under the canopy of the pontoon. We could see that it was going to blow over pretty quickly and were telling the kids to just wait for a few minutes. Then there was a gigantic crack of thunder and the.kids.were.out. Of course, two minutes after the thunder, the storm was over. But it didn't matter. The safety-first moral compass gang was done. 

So we got everyone dressed, cleaned up the beach, and headed up to go on a woods walk. With a short pit stop in the cabin to wait out another quick rainfall and refuel with fruit snacks. Once the rain was done, we headed out for the loveliest hour-plus long walk on the trails. The kids had so much fun running ahead, hiding, jumping out, exploring, running back to us, and just being together. Fiona delighted in being able to carry Arlo part of the way - and he even fell asleep on her shoulder! She felt so grown up and was such a big help to Anna with Baby A. 

We all headed out around 5:00 to get to our various dinner locations. We were so glad to get one last day at the cabin - and even better, to have such a fun day with our people! The kids live for days with their cousins and always look forward to the time together!

Auntie's grapes

Sweet baby Arlo

Just a Bug and her Gpa

Quinn is Nine!

Quinn started the week by heading to school with a rug-burn scrape on her face and a bruised eye. Why? Because as she was body surfing on her dad’s back down the stairs (naturally), little bro got a bit excited, jumped on the body boarding duo, threw off everyone’s balance, and Q ended up somersaulting down a couple stairs at the expense of her right eye. And what was she maddest about in this story? That I put a hard stop to stair body surfing for the rest of the day.

Monday night, Quinn had evaluations for next summer’s AAA hockey team. It’s a team that she is pretty sure she doesn’t want to play for – but if she doesn’t eval now, she doesn’t get a choice later. Since Q is typically 0 or 100 (and no speed in-between), we were more than slightly concerned about self-sabotage in this endeavor. All we could do was hope that the driven, competitive part of her was louder. According to Coach Dad (who found it strange to watch from off ice!), girlfriend brought it. She played hard and was completely exhausted when she got home. We'll see how next summer shakes out (we have time) - but we are so glad she left her options open.

One of the first new neighbors we met when we moved in live just two doors away. They have the sweetest little four-year-old girl, Isa, who adores Fiona and Quinn. F, Q, and all their girlfriends loved to play with Isa and her little brother Luke this summer. Quinn probably spent more time at their house than our house. Well, now not only are the big girls gone during the day, but they have after school activities and homework and reasonable(ish) bedtimes. Isa is not here for it! Every time she sees me, I hear "where Quinn?" So tonight after dinner, there was much joy in a giant bouncy ball game in the driveway because they finally got to see each other ... and so much sadness when I walked over to bring the girls home. Quinn has such a sweet relationship with those two littles. 

It's not entirely surprising that Quinn has no time to play now that life is ramping back up. Her summer AAA hockey will end in a couple weeks - just in time for regular season pre-skates to start. She's also back in the gym for gymnastics classes. She started up again this summer and adamantly wanted to keep going. Q is constantly flipping and cartwheeling and using the living room furniture as gym equipment. She also decided that rec soccer is no longer for her - and tried out for the competitive travel team. She made the B team with lots of her friends, but decided not to play this fall. So spring will be our first foray into competitive soccer life. And last but not least, she's joined her brother and sister and is part of the piano lesson shuffle on Tuesday nights. She's only had a couple lessons but seems to like it so far.

The best part about Quinn at nine is that she is truly growing into herself. She knows what she likes (and doesn't like) and who she is. She is developing her confidence, she is fiercely loyal, and she is driven. There is nothing Quinn can't do once she sets her sights on it. She loves a good competition and she is at her best when she's being pushed. Quinn is beyond competent in the kitchen and several times this summer when I was working from home, a homemade egg sandwich was delivered down to my desk. 

Quinn is the most likely to comfort you if you're sad and the most likely to stab you if you cross her. She's responsible and terrifying. Funny and frustrating. Quinn has always been (and continues to be) our child of paradox. She's a blend of Mike and my most opposite personality traits and is a stunningly wonderful and unique human because of it. Year nine will be her year!

Year Nine Facts about Quinn:

    Height: 52" (43 percentile)
    Weight: 23 percentile
    Favorite color: Yellow (not orange!!)
    Favorite friend: Charlotte and Tenley
    Favorite show: Kids Baking Championship
    Favorite book: Karen's Worst Day (a babysitter's club book)
    Favorite movie: Princess Diaries
    Favorite song: Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond
    Favorite food: Pizza
    Favorite thing to do: Gymnastics on the trampoline
    Be when you grow up: a Baker  

Celebrating Quinn

To recap, we had a fantastic family vacation weekend over Q's birthday ... but the actual birthday celebration was overshadowed by the vacation and deemed insufficient. Do not worry, readers. We got our act together the following weekend and the 9th birthday was declared "Amazing." We have a lot of talents - but celebrating birthdays is definitely in the top 5!

In between birthday proper and the following weekend, Q's birthday present from us showed up. A cake pop kit! She was delighted. Also in between her birthday and the weekend was Uncle Brad's birthday. If she (and that means me because girlfriend was in no hurry to be born) had waited two more days, she and Uncle Brad would have shared a birthday and I don't think the world could have handled that. They are already each other's favorite person. 

Two birthdays plus having our house passable for hosting meant that we had the Ps over the following weekend to celebrate Q and Uncle Brad - and so that Auntie Cheryl could finally see the new house. We made Q's birthday dinner choice (grilled seasoned salt chicken and seasoned salt potatoes) and served the birthday cake that she made mostly by herself. 

Now - let's talk about the cake. I spent literally the entire Saturday in the kitchen because Q had a vision for this cake. Friday night, we had homemade lemon curd (for the first time). We probably should have let it thicken a bit more - but it was delicious! Then Saturday, we made vanilla cake and homemade lemon American buttercream frosting. We put the curd in-between the layers of the cake ... and then dealt was some definite layer sliding. Quinn may be on to something in her campaign for a blast chiller! I managed to stabilize the layers and marble the yellow and orange frosting to cover the lemon curd that was leaking out the side. We have some notes for what to do next time. But overall, Quinn was very happy with her cake.

We also made gluten-free cake pops so that Auntie Cheryl (and the rest of us) could eat [more] cake using Q's new kit. We made 60 cake balls from one box of cake mix!!! But it was so much fun. The kids loved dipping them into the melted chocolate and adding sprinkles. Oh my goodness, it was so incredibly messy and fun. I think my kitchen may finally have not be covered in chocolate from this experiment! But these were also delicious!

My favorite part of the baking day was when everyone tried Q's cake after dinner. Brad took a bite and said, "oh my gosh, this is so good. Are you kidding me that Quinn made it?" We were not and Quinn was sufficiently proud of herself. There is no greater compliment than her beloved Uncle B loving her cake!

Uncle Brad showed up with a "family gift" (it was clearly mostly for Q) of street hockey goalie pads (no one is getting the memo that I don't want to be a goalie mom! Such flagrant disregard for the simple "no goalies" rule that has been in place since Fiona was born!). So after the kids same in our pool, ran around our backyard, and stuffed themselves with cake, we ended the evening with chalk drawing and a driveway street hockey game. Such a fun night celebrating our August birthdays!

Then the next day, Quinn's two besties - who now live really close to us! - came over for a swimming party. They swam, they jumped in the trampoline, they ran around the yard, and they helped finish off the cake pops! It was the right kind of party for Quinn to enjoy herself fully. Two friends  so it wasn't overwhelming for her - just having fun together for a couple hours. Simple and fun - it's all Quinn needs.

One final birthday note ... when Quinn, Fiona, and I went on our girl date before school and were at the mall, I [somewhat] jokingly asked Quinn if she wanted to get her ears pierced when we walked by Claires. She thought about it while we were in Old Navy and decided to go for it. So the rest of her birthday present is that she now has two new holes in her ears. She was incredibly brave and has been very responsible taking care of her ears each day. She's very excited that in three more weeks, she can change out her studs to new earrings. I've promised her another shopping trip to pick some out.

[In case you are wondering, yes, I did give Fiona the option to pierce her ears too. She politely declined and tried to not puke while being in the vicinity of Q getting hers done. F would love to have her ears pierced and is trying to figure out how to manage that without actually going through the piercing process ... she makes me smile. I told her whenever she is ready (whether that is now, at 40, or never), I will take her and I will pay. Stay tuned.]

So there you go. It may have been a belated and extended birthday celebration. But you can see how we nonetheless achieved a high rating on our ultimate celebration! Happy birthday, sweet Q!

Back to School

We are almost to the finish line of the first full week of school - plus two days last week. The house is so quiet during the day and I love it. We are all so tired by 8pm and I love that less. We're slowly but surely building back our school routine muscles. 

Not only are we figuring out a new bus stop dynamic and a new house morning routine (fact: they all have their own rooms and we no longer listen to a fight every day about getting into the one bedroom for a pair of socks. It's bliss), but the school also completely shifted their schedule. They don't start until 9:00, which means the bus picks up at 8:45 and doesn't drop off until 4pm. We, unfortunately, have quite a bit of money in our flex childcare account, so are doing a hybrid schedule of after school care and bus. When our money is used up, I suspect we will be done with after care. It feels unnecessary to pay almost $40 per day for an hour or less of care. Especially since we'll be done next school year anyway.

Why, you ask? Because this is the last year they are all in the same school until Fiona is a high school senior. Let that one sink in. It hurts a little! [The middle school is also on a wildly different time schedule than the elementary school and it will be a hot mess next year. But we are just going to pack that one away to deal with later ...]

So far, reports from school are quite positive. We'd never had a repeat teacher before and this year, we have two. Dec is in Mr. P's second grade class. Q loved Mr. P and was so disappointed when covid canceled the end of her year with him - and more specifically, track and field day. We are all hopeful (including Mr. P) that this is the year a small V helps bring that tug of war championship back to his class. [Random fact: both girls are still pictured in the Tug of War Championship display case from the last track and field day. When Fiona was in 2nd grade and Q was in 1st!]

Quinn has Fiona's 4th grade teacher from last year and will do very well in her class. We told Mrs. M at Meet the Teacher to definitely not expect them to be the same person. Or to have the same personality. Mrs. M loved Fiona and is delighted to have another V in her class. Mike and I feel fairly prepared to handle 4th grade!

Fiona has a brand new (to the school) teacher. She seems just lovely and F really likes her. I am told almost daily that 5th grade is exhausting. She is excited that they are doing a classroom swap with another teacher for science and social studies, so will all get a taste of what switching teachers will be like next year in middle school. 

Masks are currently required on the bus and at school. No one has uttered a word of complaint. They are delighted to be back with their friends. They enjoy the new bus and all the friends on it (although I hear there is a lot of noise and energy!). We are all hopeful for a great school year. Mike and I are going to enjoy every minute we have left of same location and same schedule!

First day of 5th Grade

First day of 4th Grade

First day of 2nd Grade

Taylors Falls Weekend: Hiking

After a great day at the waterslides, we woke up the next morning and had donuts for breakfast to celebrate Miss Quinn's 9th birthday! We packed up, loaded the car, and then explored the trails in the woods behind the cabin before we left. It was a beautiful morning and the kids had a blast climbing up trees and balancing on fallen trunks.

We planned to explore Interstate State Park on the way home. Our first stop was the main entrance to the park because Mike was excited to explore the glacial potholes. Since it was a beautiful summer Sunday, there were quite a few people there. We found a route to the potholes that was off the beaten path and the kids were suitably impressed. We also enjoyed the beautiful views of the St. Croix River. And maybe climbed a few rocks along the way ...

We wanted to explore more of the park - but decided to go to the south entrance in hopes that it would be less crowded. Our plan to grab a quick lunch in Taylors Falls on the way was quickly dashed. Not only were there no places to park, we probably would have waited over an hour for food anywhere we went. So instead, we headed down to the south part of the park, I dug through the leftover food we had from the cabin, and handed out a healthy lunch of granola bars, cheese slices, chex mix, and fruit snacks. We marketed the granola and cheese as food that real hikers would have. I'm not sure the kids bought it, but they ate it!

I had scoped out the park map and picked the Sandstone Bluffs trail for us to hike. What I failed to mention in the pre-hike team meeting were the 200+ steps and multiple switchbacks. There were rumblings of mutiny along the 1 mile loop (don't be too fooled by the dramatic picture of the girls. There were also plenty of smiles!) We survived the hike and the threat of family coup and called it a successful day at the park. 

We had an uneventful drive home, hopped in the pool for a mid-afternoon swim together (my first time in the pool!), ordered Applebee's at Q's request for dinner, and sent Mike and Quinn off to hockey practice. It was the perfect family getaway weekend.

Unfortunately, between the work trip and the weekend away, we were not terribly organized for the actual birthday proper. We didn't have a cake, the present hadn't arrived yet, and her friends were coming over to celebrate the following weekend. When I asked Quinn that night if it was a good birthday, she told me she had a really fun weekend, but the birthday was just okay. We've decided Quinn is like me when it comes to birthdays ... she doesn't need (or want) a lot of fanfare. But she does need a cake to make it feel like a celebration.

Don't worry - we stepped up our game the following weekend and celebrated her in proper form with her favorite people. And cake. There was so much cake! After the celebrations were all said and done, she told me that it was a great birthday!

Left our mark on the trail!

Taylors Falls Weekend: Waterslides

Quinn's birthday was just a few days after I got back from my work trip to Colorado. And it was on a weekend. We tossed around the idea of going up to GR for a long weekend, but between just getting home, the hockey schedule, and other life events, it was just too much. But we wanted to do something that weekend ...

Thus a trip to Taylors Falls was born. Taylors Falls is about a 90 minute drive from home - and contains the location of some of my very favorite childhood memories. Wild Mountain waterslide park! We rented a little house in the woods on the Wisconsin side of the river and it was great. There was lots of woods to explore, an outside zipline, an inside "ninja warrior" room, and enough beds for everyone! The only downfall of the house was that we hardly spent any time there! We barely explored the trails in the woods or used the amazing firepit and patio. But we had things to do! 

We left later in the afternoon on Friday than planned, so navigated our way north along with the weekend traffic. It wasn't too bad and Mike was able to take some back roads to avoid a lot of the congestion. We got to our rental, unloaded the car, and threw burgers on the grill for dinner. Then there was playing and exploring, a few minutes around the fire, and it was off to bed.

Saturday morning, we were on the road to get to the waterpark just after they opened at 11am. Mike had pre-purchased passes, so it was pretty easy checking in. We got our wristbands, randomly ran into a couple hockey families from S-town, and grabbed a table to put sunscreen on. Then we wandered over to the lazy river to see if there were any lockers and to take a tube ride. As we walked into the lazy river, two things happened at once. 1) Mike realized he had forgotten his smart watch back at the table where we sunscreened and 2) the kids spotted our old neighbors and still friends, the Eleos, floating around in the lazy river. So the kids and I grabbed tubes to float with them while Mike went on a rescue mission for his watch. It was super fun to see them  - and we loved connecting with them occasionally throughout the day.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it. After that auspicious beginning, the next bit of the day was quite rocky. We headed to my very favorite ride, which is a tube ride with chutes that connect several pools. Quinn and Declan loved it. Fiona hated it. She ended up going backwards down a couple chutes and that set us back dramatically in the bravery department. We took a break after that ride to eat our picnic lunch ... which was a complete disaster for Fiona. I have no idea how - but she ended up covered with chiggers (or some other tiny bug). They were in the fabric of her swimsuit and all over her - biting her everywhere. 

Thankfully I had brought an extra suit for her, so she and I headed to a changing room, got her rinsed and changed, and got a bit of food into her. Then we went back to the waterslides, but F was adamant she would not go on them. Mike took Q and D (who loved everything about the rides), while I tried to reason with Fiona. Eventually I talked her into going down with me. Holy crap did we go down fast! It was far more terrifying to go down together than if she would have gone alone, but nonetheless, she was on a slide. It was just the needed reset for our day! From that point on, we had tons of fun together! 

Eventually Fiona got comfortable enough to go down solo and enjoyed it very much. We did some sliding together and Mike and I also often split up to keep up with the preferences of the group. D, Q, and I had the most fun ride down F's hated tube one and could not stop giggling the whole time. Meanwhile, Fiona and Mike were enjoying the waterslides and lack of line (I think everyone was in line for the ride my team wanted!). 

[Of note: while Fiona and I were standing at the bottom of the waterslides, working up the courage to participate, a teenage boy got out of the Black Hole ride looking very confused. He walked over to the lifeguard table, set a smart watch on top of it, and walked away shrugging. I looked down, nudged Fiona, and asked "Is that Daddy's watch?" Yep. Sure was. Best we can figure, it fell off when he went down the ride and the teenager ran into it somehow. Since that was the second time M tried to lose his watch that day, we decided to lock it in our bag for the remainder of our time at the park.] 

We had the full park pass, so we also took advantage of the alpine slide (Fiona loved this. Quinn hated it ... Auntie Emmy, please come with us next time. We need man-to-man coverage! But mostly, I need someone to help me carry two sleds because So Heavy!). Fiona was tall enough to drive her own sled and really started to get the hang of it by the end. Quinn, Mike, and Dec did the high jump onto a giant pillow while Fiona and I kept our feet firmly on the ground, thankyouverymuch. Well, Dec did the medium jump. Quinn did the high jump. And impressed many a stranger with her form and her bravery. We know, because F, D, and I watched her from the alpine slide line.

We ended our day with go-karts and I impressed Dec (my partner) with my "racing" ability. It helps that I have muscle memory of that track from driving it so many times as a teenager. Fiona was supposed to drive her own car, but she couldn't reach the brakes. That felt important. So Mike drove with Q and then was able to jump back into the front of the line for the next race with F. 

The park closed at 6:00 and we were walking across the parking lot to our car at 6:07pm. Despite a shaky middle, we'd say we got our money's worth. And the kids had a blast. Next time will be even more fun because they will know what to expect!

Vacation mom showed up big time and suggested stopping at the cute local ice cream shop on the way back to our cabin. For Ice Cream Before Dinner. Seriously - this is why people love Vacation Mom. Turns out, they closed at 6pm. So we grabbed gas station ice cream and sat on a park bench to eat it. Then we got to the cabin, made dinner, and started eating at 8pm. Everyone thought we were Auntie (who the kids tease all the time about eating late at night!). After dinner, I ran everyone through the shower and it was off to bed. 

After 7 straight hours in the sun and thousands of steps walked (counted by my watch, which I lost zero times at the water park), we all slept very well that night!

Life in August

Well ... we survived the first two days of school and are officially in Fall mode around here. But before we fully transition, here is a glimpse about how we spent our "non-bloggable event" time in August.

We spent lots of time with neighborhood buddies - including bey blade battles on the front step with the OG reason behind the bey obsession, D's friend G. On Fridays when I worked from home, I swore it was Grand Central Station here. Like can a doorbell really ring that many times in a single day?!?! But we are loving all the friends and outside and social time. It makes for tired and happy kids!

So you know I'm not exaggerating ... on National Night Out, we popped back to our old neighborhood for dinner and to visit. It was a nice, small, calm gathering and was sooooo fun to see everyone. Then we came home to make an appearance at the block party for the new 'hood. Look at all those kids!!!!!!!!! And that's not even all of them! It was both fun to start to meet people and incredibly overwhelming for 5 out of 5 Vannestes. No one fought me when I said "time to head home."

I spent a couple days away from home on my first work trip in almost two years (to Boulder, CO). It was a bit of a shock for all of us. The kids went from fairly fine with me traveling to the struggle bus. Luckily it was a quick trip - and my flight landed early enough Wednesday evening that Mike and the kids even came to pick me up. They are fairly certain they saw my actual plane land! [Note: this picture is from our team night out. We had an Arcade Olympics competition. I did not score well - and had to look up what Frogger was on my phone ... but this group is always fun to party with!]

August meant the return of hockey [as if it ever went away!] in many forms. There was a lot of street hockey with the new goalie pads that Uncle Brad bought for Q.

There was real ice hockey. Q's AAA team is back on the ice to mid-October (and then the winter season starts). This is a picture from her first fall game - up in Bloomington. Fiona, Dec, and I came to watch. Q's team (the Bulldogs) was down 0-2 at the end of the 1st period, up 4-2 at the end of the second period, and tied 5-5 with 3 minutes left of the 3rd period. Right after we gave up the tying goal, Q's line was heading out. Mike was the offensive line coach that night - and he looked at Q, Reese, and Hadley and said "you need to score on this shift. It's up to you to win it." And you know what - THEY DID! They put so much pressure on that goalie, hustled to the rebounds, and finally Reese put it in the net. Then the next line held the lead and they won 6-5. Such a fun game to watch! [Pictured: one medium-sized Moon and one medium-sized Vanneste hockey player]

And there was old man hockey. Later that same week, Mike's summer hockey team was in the championship game. So the troops and I set out for the rink again to cheer them on. M's team played really well and handily won the game. So fun to go cheer for Mike! [Pictured: one tall Moon and one tall Vanneste hockey player]

Fiona spent three days at horse camp - and is proud to say that on Day 2 and Day 3, she got to ride her horse at a trot. The camp was for all levels of riders, so she felt like it may have been a little too beginner for her. However, she truly enjoyed feeling like an expert and helping the other kids out. Mike said it often looked like she was holding court when it wasn't her turn to ride.

The girls and I went on a school shopping date that was less successful than we had hoped (there were no fall tops in stock anywhere!). So we celebrated our few finds and eased our sorrow with their first trip to Cold Stone. They weren't allowing any inside seating and didn't have a patio - so tailgate ice cream it was. Despite the lack of inventory, we had the best day together. Meanwhile, the boys went to the Mall of America and checked out the Mystery Mine Ride and the Rainforest Cafe.

And finally, thanks to the 15 gallons of tomatoes that Uncle Phil dropped off for us, Q and I have been elbow deep in tomato sauce. We have used up about half the tomatoes and have 5 quarts of marinara sauce in the freezer. Next up, salsa! Fair warning: your next gift from us has the potential of being tomato-based!

So there you go, the August that happened in between the next few posts about waterslides and hikes and ninth birthdays!

Backyard Pool

'Twas the night before school, when all through the day
Mom ran around like crazy while the children did play;
The backpacks were hung on the coat hooks with care,
In hopes that the school bus soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
As parents stared at laundry that 'cross the floor was spread;
And yet, while we were all thinking about school,
The blog is so behind, we're writing about a pool!

When we bought the new house, we noticed a circular spot in the yard that quite clearly had been an above ground pool at one point. It was poorly reseeded and the grass was not growing in well. When Mike replaced the old inflatable pool with a new one, we took note of how the kids always wanted to use it and were disappointed every time we took it down. 

After much discussion and research, Mike found an above ground pool that he felt would fit the circular area and would give the kids enough room and depth to actually swim. He ordered it, told the kids, told the kids that he might not even put it up until next spring, and then actually put it up within 36 hours of it being delivered. All pretty predictable operating procedures!

We started filling it on a Friday morning and by mid-afternoon, he let the kids in to test it out. They are very brave because we filled it with hose water - and that could not have been warm! But they loved it! There were shrieks and giggles .. and then lots of shivers. A few short days later, a solar cover arrived at our house!

I think the pool is about done for the season (no one seems interested in getting in these days at it is in the low 70s for highs), but it was very popular during all of August. In fact, Dec was known to swim multiple times a day! It felt like we were washing the beach towels and swim suits every night. 

We have pretty strict ground rules around pool usage and friends - and everyone has been very respectful and responsible. Mike's stern warning of "you won't be allowed back in the pool" was quite effective. Our kids - and their friends - are already looking forward to a full summer with the pool next year. I may install a clothesline to cut down on the pool-induced laundry. 

Both Mike and I agree that the month of giggles and constant requests to go swimming made the purchase feel well worth it!