More State Fair

The kids each had some money to spend at the fair, and this is how they chose to spend some of it....

The Great Minnesota Get Together

Usually the state fair is given the nickname "The Great Minnesota SWEAT Together", but this year we went on just about the perfect day. Cool in the morning, nice in the afternoon. I don't think any of us felt "hot" until we got in our car to go home.

We rode the bus to the fair. It picked us up in Eden Prairie, so we had a nice 40 minute ride to St. Paul. We got there about 9:30 or so and headed to our first stop. There were some kid's events in Carousel Park, and we made it early enough to get a free kid's CD, and since it was "Library Day" the kids each got to pick out a free book.

From there we went straight to the rides. I had pre-purchased ride tickets at a discount so I wanted to make sure we got them used up. It was a great day for rides - no lines, no waiting. And this year they could both go on ALL the rides. (Not that they DID all the rides, but they COULD have. :) )

Sorry - this is through Plexiglas...you can see he really likes it though!

We ate burgers and fries and a milkshake for lunch. I'm a bit sad that I skipped the cheese curds and corn on the cob, BUT we were able to eat lunch for $11 for the 3 of us, and there's always next year. Then we found some cookies and a smoothie.

Katie and Will each got lots of free pencils and each a pair of sunglasses. We also caught a random show at the family stage - a ventriloquist which kept the kids laughing with his funny bird.

Check back tomorrow for more fair pictures....the kids each did a bungee jump on a trampoline. :)

An update....

So Mary asked how it was going with Molly...

Ugh. How does it EVER go with cats? :) She's still here, and there's only been 2 threats of return trips to IA.


Overall, it's good. I've learned that I am kinda anal about keeping things clean. That'll have to relax a bit and I suppose that's good for everyone all around. I think we finally found a place that will work for the litterbox...as long as she continues to use it. I just never remember having to clean up after a cat when we had one. Oh, that's right, I didn't. (Thanks Mom and Dad.) And have cats gotten smellier? :)

We have drops for her eyes, which had some "debris" in them, and drops for her ears because she had a lot of ear mites, (which our cats always did.) Those are going well, and it will be about the extent of our vet care. We have shots for distemper and rabies coming up, but that's it. Believe me, they try to push a whole heck of a lot more on you than that. There's leukemia shots and a whole bunch of others that I didn't listen to.

The kids are loving her, and I suppose it's mutual. If they are home, she's never more than 5 feet away from either of them. The only time she cozies up to John or I is after Katie and Will have gone to bed.

Meet Molly

Ok, so now it's back to Molly. We have gone through a LOT of names in the last week or so. Charlie, Valentina, "Cat", Emily, Lilly, Bella, etc. For now, it's Molly. One thing we learned at the vet yesterday - it IS a Molly and NOT a Murry.

She is never far from one of the kids. She has found a nighttime sleeping place in Katie's bed, which means for the last 2 nights, Katie has slept with me. She'll get used to having a roommate soon though, I'm sure. She likes chasing Will around the house, in fact, she runs after both kids just like a puppy.

Molly is using her litterbox regularly too - I haven't found an "accident" either - so I'm pretty pleased about that. So far - things seem to be going well these first few days. Katie asked her if she missed the farm and she looked back at Katie as if to say "What farm?" It's sure been fun seeing her scope out favorite spots...she really likes the back of the couch!

Sometimes we get bored...

We have an announcement...

I'd like to announce that our family will soon grow by one.

This weekend, we are bringing home a kitten. John's aunt has kittens on her farm and she's offered one to Katie, well to all of us. In fact, I think she said we should take them all. We're fine with one. The problem is WHICH one? And what the heck do we name it? So far, no one is in agreement. :)

Here are some options....we'll have pictures of our kitten at home next week. So far we have toys, food/water dish, a cozy box, food, litter box/litter, collar, leash.... geez - I think we have more for a kitten than a baby!

A last minute activity

At the fair last week, Katie won a month of free karate lessons and a free uniform. And while I have mixed feelings about it, she had a blast at her first lesson on Monday. Plus, you can't deny that she is adorable in her uniform.

Backyard camping

So far this year the only camping that has been done is in our backyard, but we have hopes to do our first REAL camping away from home as a family of 4 in a few weeks.

These were taken a couple weeks ago - Will did great in the tent, fell asleep pretty quickly after I laid down with him. Katie, on the otherhand was awake well past midnight. She was itchy...then the pillow was too big....then the sleeping bag was too noisy....then she didn't have any room....ugh! Obviously we missed her sleep window - we'll be more careful about that next time.

Every fire needs a supervisor.

Katie's manuscript

The Magic Show

One day there was a magic show at our school.

The Magician pulled a bunny out of his hat

and he mixed up the train colors too. It was

so funny. Now I have to go back to my classroom

and I love magic.

Splash Pad fun

The Oak Hill Park Splash Pad is even more fun on a cool day. The kids and I met some friends there last week on a somewhat cool morning. I was only about 75 degrees - and that kept a lot of people away, but not us! At one point it was only Katie and Will in the water. Another reason the Splash Pad is one of our favorite FREE summer spots.

A special Saturday post

Happy Birthday to my good friend, Shelley!! She has finally caught up to me (in age)...we used to give her grief for being a young one in class....now it's not so funny anymore. :)

Did I tell you that Shelley has wrangled me into a 5k in September? She didn't have to twist my arm too much, but it's easier to rationalize being "dragged" into something like that versus actually admitting that you WANT to do it. :)

Thanks to Shelley's 5k I have been training a few mornings now and I think of her every time I have to drag my butt out of bed at 6:30. :)

Happy Birthday!!!

Some afternoons...

...are actually just this nice. :)

Rochester Gathering

Last weekend some college roommates of mine got together at a park in Rochester. It's actually the 2nd annual picnic together....we did the same weekend last year too! Everyone had such a good time, the weather held out - even though it was a bit windy for a while.

We have a great little "gang" of kids - they all got along so well together, played baseball together and even hijacked a random little kid's jumping-rocket toy together. It was so fun seeing everyone and I'm sure we'll be doing it again next summer.

Geez - when Laurel and Jamie eat....WATCH OUT!

Katie loved Cameron because he was still in a cuddle stage.

There's 4....who are we missing? Oh yeah, Will - he was in the bathroom with Julie.

No, he wasn't actually using it.

Will Pladsen, Noah Margolis, Katie Pladsen, Cameron Hagensick, Karlie Hagensick

Allstar Weekend....on a Wednesday

Today the kids and I journeyed to the Mall of America to see the band, Allstar Weekend. Who is Allstar Weekend? Chances are, if you are over 18...you've never heard of them. They have a few songs on the Disney Radio station that we listen to in the car, and Katie seems to know them by heart. So, when I saw they would be making an appearance at the mall....on a Wednesday....at noon, I figured it was just our speed, and I was right.

Our actress

In my opinion, this deserved an Oscar or a Tony, or whatever.

Thou Shall Waterslide

Katie has been at Music Camp all week. Our church puts on a children's camp, and for 5 days the kids rehearse, learn songs, and put on a show at the end of the week. Katie has 2 lines in the show - and sings a tri with 2 other little girls. I watched them do it at a nursing home this morning and it was SOOO cute. :) I'll have video later.

As you can see - it isn't ALL hard work. I think the 11th commandment is something about a waterslide...

Allamakee County Fair

Last weekend we traveled back to IA to take in the County Fair in our hometown. It had been a few years since we'd been able to get back for it. Just so happened to work out this time.

The midway is smaller than it had been in years past, but that's the kind of thing that is almost bound to happen in small towns. The food wasn't as good as I remember either, which is more disappointing. But, the people seem to stay the same, and that's comforting in it's own way. There's always bound to be someone you run into that you haven't seen in a while.

Katie and Will went on a few rides, played a few games, and got lots of little trinket freebies. A local bank also has a cash grab game where you get into the "cage" and grab as much money in 30 seconds or so. Whoever has the high total for the day wins something. Katie wanted to try it, and she did great - grabbed $22. In her age group, the high total was $53, so we didn't win, but it was still pretty fun.

Happy Birthday Will!

Over the weekend, Will turned 3! As you can tell, I'm a little late posting his "Happy Birthday". Actually we celebrated his birthday a few days early because we were going to be out of town all weekend. So by the time his actual birthday rolled around, it wasn't a big deal.

I wasn't in the mood for cake, so Will agreed to chocolate chip cookie bars instead. It still worked fine - and was actually a lot easier.

Like our Batman tablecloth? .25 find at a great sale. :)

After supper and cookies we opened presents. Will got a garage with some cars, a train, a movie, a bingo game, stamps, some workbooks, a bunch of other books, and of course clothes.

And (this year, anyway) we gave Katie a few little things too.

Katie has always wanted a trophy. So I found a plastic one and used stickers to say "best big sister" Luckily, she thought that was pretty cool.

4th of July festivities

We had a pretty busy holiday weekend. It started on Friday with a little "mommy time". I met my friend Shelley at the Mall of America for a movie date to see Eclipse. (No laughing at me, now.)

Saturday morning John went to the driving range for some "daddy time" while the kids and I visited friends in Eden Prairie for a play date. It was HOT Saturday, so what better time to go to a pool party with some friends? We have some friends that live about 30 minutes north of us, and they have a beautiful pool and patio area in their backyard. We didn't make it there last summer so it was nice to relax and catch up with them.

It's quite different taking a 6 and (almost) 3 year old swimming. The last time we were there Will was 1. In some ways it's so much easier, in other ways it's a bit more stressful.

Will spent a LONG time talking to their dog, Missy....or was this one Minnie????

At one point we realized he was gone - he was following the dog around the house. She had such little legs, Will had no problem keeping up.

At the parade Sunday afternoon.

I swear I never saw the guy in the background....I'm sure he was ok. :)

Ugh. Holidays are exhausting.

But no matter how tired, there was no way he was letting go of his candy bag.

Why do my posts skip days at times?

Because competition for the computer is stonger than ever!

Katie's first hostage

At a neighbor's garage sale last week, Katie and Will each got a bug house. She and John went outside to see what kind of a bug they could catch.

10 minutes later, John had her a butterfly.

She found flowers and grass for it, loved watching it. After a couple hours, we had to let it go because a storm was coming and thought it deserved a chance to find some shelter out of the rain. (Besides our living room.)

Just in case...Will's is ready to re-catch the butterfly.