June so far...

What a busy month we have had. It is so nice to have Andrew done with both preschools. We can do fun stuff and not do stuff if we want to. We have gone to the Science Museum, Minnehaha Creek, Ikea's play land, played with legos at MOA, the beach at Snail Lake, the pool at the Y, had a sleepover at Grandma Kathy's (that was just Andrew)and had days where Andrew is still in his pajamas at 2:30pm after sleeping until 10:00am and just playing all day. It is also nice to be able to put Nick down for a nap without trying to plan it around drop offs and pick ups for Andrew. I have opted to not schedule anything for the beginning of summer. We talked about taking more swimming lessons and possibly doing soccer one night a week, but we just needed a break.

We have been having lots of fun on the weekends too. The first weekend in June we went to a dog show. We met up with a breeder and a few Rottweiler puppies that had recently been placed in homes. Seeing Andrew playing with the puppies reminded me of playing with the puppies we had when I was his age. That prompted us to decided that our next dog will be a puppy. I know they are a lot of work, but I want Andrew to have that experience at least once.

Last weekend, on the spur of the moment, we decided to drive out to Hudson, WI and then to Stillwater. Tim wanted to do something fun for Fathers' Day - although we knew it would be easier to do something just for him Saturday than Sunday. We walked along the river for a little bit, then walked near the stores. We happened to find a new kids store, Little Giants, that was having their grand opening. We enjoyed the air conditioning, I fed Nicholas, Andrew played with the toys that were out to play with and got a balloon and lollipop, and we talked with the store owner about the shop and her family's move from Uptown to Hudson. After the store, we discovered the pier that goes out into the river. We walked across and played in the river for a while. I think we will have to go back sometime. Andrew always wants to bring floaty things to play with, but none of the beaches allow them. This area is a bit less regulated. Many people drove over to the sand bars on their boats, although it wasn't very crowded. It was a great thing to do considering it was above 90 degrees. After that we drove to Stillwater, which is on the other side of the river and just a little bit north of Hudson. We ate at a malt shop, looked at some stores, and just enjoyed seeing something different. Sunday we met up with Tim's dad and brothers and sister at a park in Bloomington, grilled and ate hot dogs and brats, and all went for a long walk (with a little wading in 9 mile creek for some).

Today was busy too. We all did the pacemaker 5K in Minneapolis in the morning. The route along the river is great, but we agreed that there were just too many people. We preregistered, but when we got there all the bags were gone. Andrew also did the kids fun across the stone arch bridge that he has been asking about (really the whole reason we were there). I am happy that he likes to run and that we can encourage him by doing active things as a family. This afternoon Andrew and I headed to the pool to work on his swimming while Tim supervised nap time. Then this evening we headed over to Snelling Ave in St. Paul to watch the old cars drive around. The MSRA has their back to the 50's weekend at the state fairgrounds this weekend and we have had "old cars that are in shape" - in shape to differentiate the from the cars that just have rust - sightings since Thursday. Andrew has been somewhat interested in cars since watching the movie Cars. He looked for things like white sidewall tire and cars that looked like Doc Hudson. We brought Steve along, knowing that he just brought his '65 Mustang from WI, and actually knew what some of the cars were. Steve has had the car for 15 years and is going to be responsible and sell it to help pay for the car he bought recently (the one he uses to get to his job and stuff). All in all we have had very fun active weekends and Andrew was very ready to go to bed tonight.

ETA: I don't know how I forgot about the Saints game Tim and Andrew went to and our day at Shepherd's Choice - Andrew even won a door prize at Shepherd's Choice, a little needle felted sheep.

From June 2007

(click on the photo or link to see more pictures of the events)

There has been knitting - although I can't actually call one project finished quite yes since I still have ends to weave in (two), but it is blocked and everything. Maybe I will do it quick tonight. Andrew's gansey is going well. I almost have the front and back done, and still need to knit the sleeves. My step socks get a row or two knit on them every once in a while, but I have been bring more complicated projects when I go places, because otherwise I don't get a whole lot done only knitting at night after the kids go to bed. I also joined the Mystery Stole 3, along with 2000 other people, and have yarn and beads and need to start a swatch. I have also been thinking of doing the tour de fleece, mostly because I really need to spin up the ramboulliet I have on the wheel and get some other stuff spun up that is here. I figure I don't have to spin much in a day, even a couple minutes is something, but I am still thinking about it.

Enough for now....time to watch The Doctor...