School Time!

September has been a month of changes for our family!  I started preschool in early September.  I attend a Lutheran preschool two mornings a week and I LOVE it!  I went to the same preschool last year, but only went one morning a week for two hours.  This year, because I am 3 years old, I get to go two mornings, for 3 1/2 hours per session.  Here I am on my first day of school.

 At preschool, I am most excited about the "loft" where kids get to role play.  I love that the preschool has TWO vacuum cleaners.  The first day of preschool was a little preview.  Daddy came with because Mommy was teaching.  The classroom is huge, colorful and happy.  I am so blessed to be able to attend such a nice school.

 I loved these noodle type art things you wet and stick onto mats.  Who knew such a simple thing caught my sustained attention!  Mommy plans to find these for indoor days.  We eat a snack at preschool which stresses Mommy out as she now needs to remember to send a snack to school with me twice a week.  She finds it ironic to be on the "other side" (parent) instead of a teacher. 

 Daddy was given one job by Mommy that day... take pictures!!!  He did a great job with the camera, capturing my first day of preschool.  Cooper wanted to come to preschool too, but he was dropped off at Jenny's house so that Daddy could focus on just me.  To make Cooper feel better, we included him in the "getting ready for school" photos.

 Mommy started her twelfth year of teaching. She has always taught Kindergarten and is continuing the madness this year.  She is job-sharing again with Heather, but is working full-time for the first six weeks of school.  Things are going well, but she appreciates job-sharing even more with her busy full-time schedule.  She looks forward to Heather's return mid-October.  Per Dad's crazy request each year, Mommy holds up her fingers to display how many years she has been teaching.  Since Daddy was in Canada on her first day of school, he took this picture the following week on day 3.  We'll let it slide this year.

Daddy celebrated his 36th birthday on September 3rd.  His gift this year was his Canada trip.  Daddy was gone on his birthday, so we celebrated with him when he returned home. Daddy is now one step closer to 40, yikes!  Have a great year being 36 Dad!

 Another "school" that I started is Sunday School.  Mommy is teaching JAM (Jesus & Me) with the toddlers again this year.  She started this program last year for 2 and 3 year olds and it has been a success ever since.  Parents get the much needed break during church and the toddlers (us) get to listen to a story, do a little project, pray, and sing songs.  It is a win-win situation!

While Daddy was in Canada, Mommy played the single parent role.  It was NOT easy, so note to Daddy... next time we need some reinforcement around here (hint to Grandma's too).  We went to the park on Labor Day for the last train ride for the season.  We went on both of the trains (open air and enclosed coal/steam train).  We met up with Laurie Jo, Lily and Lucy because their Daddy, Ben, is the one who planned the Canada trip and invited Daddy.  It was great to see them and the Moms were happy to "vent" about their

 L-O-N-G five days of single parenting!

When we got to the train station, we saw Heather, Patrick, Finley and Hadley and Melissa (a teacher Mommy knows) and her little girl Elle.  Finley's Grandma was nice enough to take a picture of our entire group!  We look like a traveling circus squished into the caboose. 

With our long weekend came many silly moments as we kept each other busy.  I had fun playing photographer with Mommy's camera.  Not too bad considering Mommy is protective of her "new" camera.

After bath one evening, Cooper was fully dressed in PJ's and getting ready for bed.  Mommy was closing his curtains when she turned and noticed he was gone.  It was very quiet, which is never good in our house.  When she came to the bathroom, this is what she saw.... Cooper who must have hurdled himself into the tub (no splash?) and me putting my kid shaving cream all over him.  Despite having to get him dried off and dressed again, the silly situation sure made her laugh.

Daddy missed the family reunion on Grammy's side.  We went to the small town's park where the reunion is held every year.  It was a chilly day, but we lasted two hours and had time to eat some yummy food and play with cousins at the park.

We were happy for Daddy's return after his 5 day trip.  He had a great time with the group of guys he went with.  He brought home Lake Trout, Walleye and Northern for us to eat.  We missed Daddy but are glad that he had a great birthday get-away in the great outdoors.  Here are a few photos from his trip.  Have a great week everyone!

So Long...

It is with great sadness, we start our blog post with the news of Grandpa Jim's passing. Grandpa was the prime example of a loving, kind, humorous, and successful person. He valued education and was proud of the accomplishments our family made. Cooper and I were blessed to meet Grandpa, even though he battled Alzheimer's the past 11+ years. We will miss Grandpa dearly. Some of our favorite photos are here as a remembrance.

In happier news, we have had a very busy few weeks. August seemed to come and go. I have been busy playing make believe. It is my mission to role play everyday. These days, I enjoy playing auto mechanic, hence the jacked up Coupe on our garage steps. Mommy turned the corner to see this followed by some clever handi-work.

Papa and Grandma Sharon took us to Como Park for a day filled with animal spottings, rides, and a trip to McDonald's. Papa is a kid trapped in an adult's body! Cooper loved making animal sounds all day and I was more brave than my parents thought I would be (fooled them!) I went on nearly every ride possible for my height.

We enjoyed the two giraffes exhibit. I was particularly amused that one of them was trying to get a piggy back ride from the other one (my parents said they will explain what this means someday)..

Cooper was trying to call the buffalo over. Thankfully, he did not listen.

Papa and I pretended to be seals in the Arctic. I told you Papa is like a big kid.

I thought the outdoor seals were pretty funny. The seals are Papa's favorite exhibit; he remembers taking Mommy, Auntie Stefanie and Uncle Jimmy to Como almost every weekend when they were kids. They always watched the "Sparky the Seal" show.

I clung to my black wax ape that the machine made for me at Como. Papa used to buy these for Mommy when she was a kid. Daddy also recalls getting one when he was a child and he mistakenly thought it was a chocolate ape and ate it. No comment needed on that one.

Papa humored me and rode the train around the track. I am certain his knees are still sore from sitting in the crunched car.

I rode on Aladdin's carpet ride, race cars, a horse drawn carriage, bumper cars with Daddy (I was hysterically laughing at this silly ride!) and we ended with a carousel ride as a family. It was a perfect day!

Daddy's work hosted a wedding shower at an indoor play area, called Action City. The bride- to-be works for Daddy and her fiance are both adventurous. The shower was a lot of fun and Cooper and I had a blast playing games and going on rides there.

Mommy and Daddy floated the river with some friends on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. They won the river float as part of the charity ball auction and nearly missed the chance to use it this summer. They had a great time floating the river while Amanda watched Cooper and I at home.

Auntie Stefanie and Uncle Bruce came to ski with us for the day. Lexi and Sam haven't attempted to ski, so they both were eager to give it a try. We are happy to report that both of them were success stories and are official waterskiiers!Lexi went first and got up after attempt number 3!

Sam also popped up after a few tries, although he preferred to sit on his skiis and ride around in a sitting position. It was quite funny!

Happy Sam returned to the dock because Auntie bribed him with soda if he gave it a few tries.

If you look closely, this is definitely NOT pop! Mommy told Sam that he could grab the soda in the refrigerator. Without really looking carefully, he grabbed a Miller and drank "some" of it. When Auntie noticed what he was drinking and asked how his pop tasted, he said, "kind of gross!" The can was half gone, so we are not sure if he actually drank that much or poured some out. We are pretty sure the ride home resulted in either some giggles, sleep or sickness. We never did find out.

I am sure you are wondering how my waterskiing is going this summer? I call myself a waterskiier (LOOK MOM, I AM SKIING!) My comfort this summer has been skiing from shore on my trainer. My parents had high hopes that I would give it a try this summer on the water, but it doesn't look like this will happen. Maybe next summer, when I am four, I will become a true waterskiier. Sorry Daddy!

Other pictures from this month reflect our summer routines... Cooper and I duke it out in the jogger/bike trailer almost daily as Mommy insists on getting some form of exercise. She usually tosses us some snacks and hurries out of the driveway. She found us cozy and tight this week when she retrieved us from the bike trailer.

Grandma bought Cooper this cute little patio table for his birthday. It is one of those dual gifts as I LOVE to eat lunch, dinner, and snacks on it too. We also play games and crawl all over it when Mom isn't looking.

We are so lucky to have beautiful parks all around us. Almost weekly, we met up with friends for a playdate at the park. This summer's weather was beautiful! We had perfect weather for many outdoor outings. My parents are a bit concerned about what we will do to stay busy once the cold arrives and snow falls (HINT... SNOWMOBILE!)

We end our post with a "so long" to Grandpa Jim and to our special summer memories. We also have to say "so long" to Mommy being home everyday as she begins teaching this week. She will teach full-time for 6 weeks as Heather is taking maternity leave but will job-share again this year. We will do our best to continue our blog posts as we love to update everyone with the latest. Take care!