Sweaty on a Stick

I had my doubts we would make it to the Minnesota State Fair this year, given the recent wave of heat and humidity. I had planned to take Monday off, but looking at the forecast of high of 100/feels like 105 (no joke), we decided to try another day. Today looked a bit better, relatively speaking...high of 88 with dew points in the 70s.

So we bit the bullet and headed to the fair this morning. My worries did not subside with the way the day started out, including rush hour traffic and a pit stop for a certain 4-year-old at a gas station with only a  port-a-potty for facilities. Trust me, for my little one, this is a near-death experience. Only because she had to go so bad were we able to complete the task, but not without a few tears through cries of "it smells really bad, Mommy!" Sigh.

Around 8:30AM we had finally entered. We probably only covered half (at most) of the grounds, but hit the high points: Little Farmhands, food, and the chicken, cow, and horse barns. I may or may not have impaled a stuffed giraffe while playing a dart game in the Midway. I may or may not have received some dirty looks from another mom while Lucy was riding some sparkly cars at the Kidway, because I had a beer in my hand. Yes, I was THAT mom. This was followed by Lucy being completely terrified on an elephant ride which remained in the high up position because she didn't understand she could move the bar to get it back down to boarding level. Mom of the Year, for sure. But I did take her on the SkyRide and the giant slide, so I think overall I redeemed myself.

Can you find the Little Farmhand?

Trying our luck on the Midway.

The fruits of our labors (plus it helps to have a cute kid, people give you stuff!)

Asking to pet the cow.

Oversized corndog.

Pre- elephant trauma.

I think I was more scared than she was on the big slide!

We may have done more, but it was damn stuffy going into any kind of building. At least outside there was a bit of a breeze, which was a small consolation to the sweat acting as my second skin. Luckily, attendance was a bit down because of the heat, so it wasn't shoulder-to-shoulder walking down the street, and you could actually move in the exhibits.

Re-energized and ready to go after a drink and some french fries.

She was fascinated with the Lego sculptures.

Given the heat and the overstimulation, Lucy did pretty well. There was some whining and she did get tired of all the walking. But what can you expect, really, from a 4-year-old? I'll tell you what you can expect by about 4 hours in:

Staging a mid-street protest.

It was time to go, and Husband and I felt it too. By 1:00 we were back in the car absorbing the air conditioning. By 2:00 we were at home, and I believe the whole house was rather tranquil for a couple of hours...

Stuffed animals gotta nap, too.

Hopefully it's a little cooler for the fair next year!

We crossed something off the SUMMER! list: State Fair

Summer Weekend Warriors 8/24: Beating the Heat

After all of the garage sale luck last weekend, Lucy and I got the bug. We decided to have one of our own! I had been thinking about this for awhile and decided to bite the bullet and just do it. When I told Husband what I was thinking, he was all for it. Our spare bedroom has long been absorbed in boxes and bins of baby equipment, toys, and little girl clothes that this family is not going to be needing anymore. It was time for it to go.

Mind you, this was my official admission that our family is just fine the way it is. I have known this for awhile, but it has been hard letting go of those little girl things, that symbolize my little girl is growing up and there will be no more babies in the house. Over the past couple of years I have slowly been giving away or selling baby items to friends, but this was the proverbial final nail in the coffin.

I was motivated, and I got all of those little girl clothes tagged. They were already pretty sorted by size, so that helped...but holy cow, was there a lot of stuff in that room! I knew Lucy had a lot of clothes, but didn't realize it was that much. Wow. Also all those baby toys that have been packed away for awhile...it was a lot of work! But we got it all out to the garage and after Lucy's dentist appointment early Saturday morning, we opened for business.

It went well, and I had a great little helper and saleslady. :) There was only one instance of wanting to keep something of hers that was up for sale, which happened to be a large pink stuffed Pegasus given to her by her cousin H. I couldn't complain. It was a hot day, and she was outside with me for most of it. When we didn't have customers she played with her stuffed animals and created artwork like this:

We got rid of a lot of clothes at the sale, but it was still only about half of it. A friend of Husband's came over later in the evening and collected much of the rest, which was fantastic. She brought over her 4-month-old daughter, who I got to hold while her mom shopped. She also brought over her bulldog Tater Tot, and he and Buddy completely wore each other out wrestling and chasing.

This morning, I went through what was left and pulled out a few items for other little girls I know (so look out, some of you have some things coming!), and bagged the rest for Goodwill. We dropped off a car full, including some household and other items we had leftover, and then went to Target to buy Lucy a new booster seat, since we sold both of her convertible carseats at the sale. It felt so good to purge a lot of this stuff, and gain some storage space back! Not to mention, Mom and Dad, you won't be surrounded by diaper boxes and plastic bins when you stay over next time!

Today was so stinking hot and humid with a heat advisory, so after our errands we didn't do much but watch movies in the air conditioning. This evening, however, we did get outside for a little bit to let Lucy run in the sprinkler. Tell me these images don't say "SUMMER!"

Money and Nail Polish Flower Bouquet

Say what?

We got a list from our niece with her birthday gift wishes, which went a little something like this:

The list is mostly want to least want.

 1.iTunes card (mostly want)

 2.Money

 3.Stuffed animal from Fleet Farm-teddy bear

 4.Mints

 5.Pillows from Pier 1 Import

 6.Gift cards for Justice+Target

 7.Nail polish+nail polish remover

 8.Clothes

Money was easy, but how could I make it into something more than sticking bills in a card? Maybe I could try making some of those folded money flowers? As I browsed the list, an idea started to form...why not add some bottles of nail polish to some money flowers, and make a bouquet. 

So this is what I came up with:

The very best part of this project was that I used things that we already had on hand (minus the nail polish). I had some clay pots around for Lucy to paint, and she enjoyed painting one for Miss H. I had floral foam from her birthday party a couple of years ago, when we made cake pops. Lucy cut up scraps of scrapbook paper I saved from another project for the grass. The purple pipe cleaners were from one of her school projects. 

I made the money flowers using this tutorial, and it was pretty easy! I used a glue gun to attach them to the pipe cleaners. Lucy and I assembled everything but the nail polish before we left, and bought four bottles on the way to the party. While I was in the store, I realized I should probably cover up the labels on the bottom of the bottles with something, so I picked up some Mentos and while driving to the party, filtered out the yellow ones and taped them to the bottles I had stuck in the foam. Voila! It turned out really cute, and the birthday girl loved it.

And I didn't even need Pinterest! :)

Summer Weekend Warriors 8/17: Puzzles, Parties, and Ponies

Saturday we had a low-key day doing something very summery but not on our list...we went hunting for treasures at garage sales! I know some people make this a hobby and that's not really me, but I do love a good garage sale. There are a lot of good deals to be found, especially for kids stuff. When you think about it, the life cycle of kid items is pretty short, because they grow out of things so fast, from clothes to toys! So you can find good quality items if you find the right sale, and not pay a lot for something that may only be used for a short time. We hit a few sales looking for some girls clothes and found a couple of items, but scored bigger on some early reader books and this great U.S. puzzle/game. We had lots of fun playing with it that day, and I anticipate many more times to come.

Sunday was cousin H's 11th birthday. This girl is growing up too fast! We had a truly awesome afternoon celebrating her big day and catching up with everyone. It was some much-needed relaxation and reconnection with family.

Lucy didn't leave the party empty-handed...Miss H handed down a boatload of her My Little Ponies to her cousin. Lucy was in HEAVEN. It was all about the ponies the rest of the night, outside or inside, it didn't matter.

Summer Weekend Warriors 8/10: "Uncle Boji"

This was family reunion weekend in Okoboji, IA, which Lucy affectionately refers to as "Uncle Boji." We had been looking forward to this trip for a long time, and it didn't disappoint. The only thing was that it was way too short. We got a late start Friday and had to leave very early Sunday morning due to some issues with a friend of ours in the hospital, but we made the best of the time we had. It was great seeing everyone!

Of course we couldn't wait to get our hands on "Baby June,"
who is growing so fast!

Always have to go to Arnolds Park. Lucy was a rockstar on the rides this year!

Ferris wheel!

The kiddie coaster was no big deal, smiles all the way!

She totally surprised me by riding this all by herself!
(2nd row from top in middle, pink shirt)

Not tall enough to ride the old wooden coaster...that's fine by  me!

I love that we can all sit together for dinner!

Plenty of campfire time with the cousins.

 We crossed something off the SUMMER! list: Okoboji

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

We had THE BEST time at Target Field on Husband’s birthday!

We have been looking forward to the time when Lucy would be old enough to enjoy going to a game, and I think we did alright. She was very excited to go, and once we got there I can only imagine all of the things her little head was taking in.

She was little fidgety and whiney at times, but I think overall she did outstanding for being four years old in an overwhelming atmosphere. We spent one inning walking the concourse and getting popcorn, but otherwise she was in or near her seat. She asked a ton of questions (surprise) and seemed to enjoy herself. She really liked holding up her sign between innings and kept asking if she was getting circled. I don’t think she did, but she had fun trying! Clapping and chanting were also a hit, and over course singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. She was also very interested in when we were going to see “JaMauer” [Joe Mauer]. It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon in the 70s, with a little cloud cover to keep the sun from feeling too hot. A perfect game day.

After games on Sundays, kids under 12 are allowed to run the bases. As we were trying to figure out where to go, we saw a line down by the field and figured that was where we needed to be. Turns out, it was a line to get an autograph or photo with a player. We didn’t know who the guy was, but figured, why not? Turns out it was Andrew Albers, a rookie who two nights later pitched 8 1/3 innings in a shut-out in his Major League debut. Lucy got a big kick out of seeing him on TV lastnight. What a great memory for her, and she’s already telling the story to anyone who will listen. Hope this guy continues to do well…Mr. Albers, we are watching you!

We found the right place to go to run the bases, and went into the bowels of the stadium to emerge near right-center field. We walked along the warning track with TONS of other kids and their parents, until we reached first base. At first Lucy wanted Husband or I to run with her, but once she got up there, she took off all by herself and followed the other kids around to home plate. It was so fun to see, and she thought it was awesome. She told me “I was running really fast! Sometimes I was kicking my butt!” J What a special treat for her, and for us to see and experience with her. It’s pretty damn cool to be on the field (even if we couldn’t touch the grass).

It was a simply wonderful family day. Baseball is something I grew up with and have always enjoyed, and Husband has been a lifelong fan of the Twins. There is nothing like being at a Major League ballpark – I still get excited about it! It was so fun to share our love of the game with Lucy. Hopefully it has inspired a lifelong love for her, too, and a new tradition for us as a family.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

This was the first year she could write it herself!

Summer Weekend Warriors 8/3: Birthdays and Baseball

What a glorious weekend! Beautiful weather, and we had tons of fun with TWO birthdays to celebrate, and our first baseball game of the season.

Is it bad that I can't even remember what we did on Friday night? Oh that's right...a whole lotta nothing! I had a loooong week last week and was very tired. I came home early, took a nap, met with the roofer...then Husband went to pick up Lucy and took her to Costco so I could take another nap. I just wasn't feeling well and I'm sure it was just the long hours, stress, and lack of sleep; because Saturday morning both Lucy and I slept in, and we felt great!

It was a good thing, because we had a busy couple of days ahead. Husband got up early Saturday to head down to his softball tournament in Eden Prairie. Lucy and I made it there to see just the last bit of their 10AM game, then were able to spend a little time playing in the park and partaking of the "Corn Feed."

Straight from the tournament, we left Daddy to play some more games and headed down to Le Center, MN for my niece's birthday party. We got to see most of my family there, and Lucy had a great time playing with her cousins on an absolutely gorgeous day. Can't believe Em is 3!

Sunday we awoke to Daddy's birthday! We had a big day planned at the ballpark, and first headed to the pro shop to get some new gear (and our last-minute tickets). After that, it was an absolutely fantastic afternoon at Target Field. More on that later...it was so great, it warrants its own post!

I am just loving these summer weekends. There's nothing like having that tired-but-content feeling after a full day of fun and sunshine.

We crossed something off the SUMMER! list: Twins game