Laura, with 50% Fewer Snarls!

Last night Laura and I decided to play beauty shop and give her hair a trim. We decided that 5 inches off might be even better, so Laura now has medium-length hair. She seems to love her new 'do, especially now that it's so easy to brush! Now we won't have to worry about cutting her hair for a couple more years...

Como Zoo

Today we met Matt's cousin Kristen, her husband Dave, and their cute little boy Xavier at Como Park. It turned out to be a beautiful September day, so we were happy the weather cooperated with our plans.

Matt and Dave were not in our group photo because they were taking the pictures, so you'll just have to believe me that they were there.

Xavier turns 9 months old tomorrow. Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks?

Karl found out that snow leopards do not always have to be in snow.

No visit to Como Park is complete without a ride on the carousel, right Laura?

A Beautiful Day for a Hike

Today we went to Wild River State Park to enjoy the last of the warm weather. We took two cars so we could bring Penelope with us too.

The first part of our hike was along the St. Croix River.

Taking a break at the halfway point.

Penelope's ears were up and her tongue was out for most of the time we were there. I think she had the most fun of all of us!

Consulting the trail map.

The kids were tired, hot, and very crabby by the end of our walk, but they made it! We'll go back in a couple weeks after the leaves have changed, since that puts everyone in a good mood...

Happy Birthday Wyatt!

Today we made the big trek to Dan and Peggy's in Wisconsin, where we celebrated Wyatt's first birthday.

All seven Lundgren kids were there, so we HAD to take a picture of all of us before Jim had to leave for work.

Bryan, Jennifer, Dan, Angie, Mike, me, and Jim

Wyatt had a lot of fun trying to open his presents. His favorite part seemed to be tearing off big pieces of wrapping paper and walking around with them.

Dan gave us a tour of his garden, and when Karl was reminded that Dan keeps honeybees, we had to see the hives (Karl is very intrigued with bees and honey-making). We couldn't get too close because there's an electric fence around the hives to keep the bears away.

Wyatt and Justin are only a couple months apart, and as the youngest cousins, they're bound to be buddies.

Happy first birthday Wyatt!

Target Book Festival and Children's Theatre

Every year we meet Angie and Jason at the Target Book Festival at the park reserve in Bloomington, where the kids always have tons of fun listening to the live music, jumping in the inflatable bouncers, checking out the different booths, and of course shopping for books in the big merch tent.

This is Karl doing the "robot dance."

more dancing

Highland Park also has a huge play area, so after the kids wore themselves out dancing to Choo Choo Soul, we headed over for more playing on the playground. We went back near the stage in time to hear Justin Roberts play, and at this point the kids were seriously subdued.

Karl was too tired to get up and dance, so he just danced in his seat.

And then, because I was crazy and ordered the tickets before I knew when the book festival was, we ate a quick dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with the Elliotts (note to self: Karl and Colin should never sit next to each other in restaurants. It was not a peaceful dinner.), and then we went to a 7:30 p.m. performance of "Bert and Ernie Goodnight!" at the Children's Theatre in Minneapolis. The kids laughed nonstop, while I just tried to keep my eyes open.

I wasn't sure how the day would go, but the kids were troopers. They were certainly ready for bed by the time we got home!

The First Day of School

Well, my baby started kindergarten today, and my oldest is in third grade. Crazy! Both kids were bouncing off the walls this morning because they were so excited to get on the bus; I was a zombie because I barely slept last night ( Apparently, I still get butterflies before the first day of school. Meanwhile, Karl went to bed last night and fell asleep within five minutes, sleeping soundly until this morning. These kids. It's like they don't get nervous for anything.)

Look at this--they're almost all grown up!

Here it comes!

Karl got on the bus and went straight towards the back like a cool kid. He sat with his buddy Jake, a fourth grader. Laura doesn't care where she sits, since she's just so happy to go to school!

Karl came home at noon, bubbling over with his report of the fun day at kindergarten.

Laura came bouncing off the bus this afternoon with her own happy report of the day.

As soon as Laura came home, we headed over to Wisconsin to visit Jim, Connie and the boys at their new house. (Did I think to take a picture of them in front of the house? No. Oops.) They have a huge, kid-friendly yard that the cousins immediately started exploring, and it was great to see them playing together again, just like always. We went out to eat since their new dining room set hasn't come yet, which is when I remembered to take some pictures.

I just don't know what I'm going to do with myself now that both kids are in school. Guess I have to work on my paper...

Happy Labor Day!

We spent the last evening of summer vacation at Mike and Lamiae's. The kids' favorite thing about visiting Mike and Lamiae is the ride on the six-wheeler they always get. We were there about five minutes before we headed out to take our tour of the land.

Angie and Jason were there too, since they were on their way back from Goosebury Falls. Karl and Colin didn't waste any time getting down to business:

We couldn't stay too long because we had to get home so the kids could get to bed on time. They have to be up and ready to go for the first day of school tomorrow! Yay! We're all very excited.

Click here for a bonus picture. :)

Karl's Big Day

Yesterday, when Laura got to spend the day at the Mall of America with Oma, Karl had a tough day. He wanted to go too. To take his mind off all the fun his sister was having, we spent the morning doing rocket experiments that he learned from his Science Museum classes this summer, and the afternoon baking cookies.

He chose to make oatmeal raisin cookies, because Laura doesn't like those (neither does Matt, so it's been up to Karl and me to try and eat them all. *Sigh*).

But today finally came, and Karl got to spend the day with Oma however he wanted. And, surprise! He went to the Mall of America too!

Karl has picked up the habit of reading in the car from his sister.

The highlight of Karl's day today was the Underwater Adventure at the mall.

He got to touch a starfish!

Karl and Pam took a behind-the-scenes tour at the aquarium. Here is Karl in the "kitchen," where they prepare the food for the fish. I guess it smells really bad in there.

This is an aquarium just like the one in "Finding Nemo."

Lunch at Subway (Laura hates Subway).

Karl also got to go to Barnes & Noble. He took advantage of being with Pam and picked out a human anatomy model, complete with slimy removable organs, because when I take him to bookstores I only let him choose books.

Meanwhile, Laura and I had a very quiet day without the guys around. We walked Penelope around the neighborhood in the gorgeous September sunshine and met Mom and Dad for lunch at Perkin's. Yay for fall!