Another Guthrie Playdate

On Saturday, I took the kids to Minneapolis for a Guthrie Playdate — the kids attend classes on acting, movement, and other theaterly stuff while the adults take in a play. But with Deborah working her first weekend at her new job, I saw "A Streetcar Named Desire" solo.



We had a bit of time to kill prior to check-in, so we checked out the Endless Bridge overlooking the Mississippi.



The big new discovery at the Guthrie this time was the fire escape underneath the seating area of the bridge. Karl explained exactly where to go in the event of a fire...



Then it was time to head inside to the most terrifying part of the day — the escalator. The Guthrie's escalator is three-stories tall, and as every worker has told us the half-dozen times we've been there, it is the longest escalator in Minnesota. No word on if it's also the narrowest, but I wouldn't doubt it. The kids are both a bit freaked out by it, and I don't really blame them. We took the stairs down after the show...



The kids reported that during the class they acted out a scene from the play, which kind of took me by surprise. Karl even got to wail "STELLA!" Thankfully, as the kids described it, the scene wasn't exactly like it is in the play...

July Sports Spectacular

We've been having a crazy-busy summer, and much of that has to do with Karl's soccer and t-ball schedule. Here are some great highlights from the past week or so. (Bonus: see if you can guess what Laura brings to every single sporting event!)

A week ago Wednesday, Jason and Angie came up to watch one of Karl's t-ball games.

Mom, Dad, Pam, and Fred were also there, so Karl had quite the cheering section.

The next day, Karl had a soccer game, and even soccer superstars love to cuddle with their mommies.

On Monday, we went to Colin's soccer game. Wow, is it fun to watch him play.

Here is Colin with a post-goal glow.

It's even more fun to watch Angie cheering for Colin!

Laura "watching" Colin's game.

I'm sure Angie and Jason would tell you that Justin and Colin are always this sweet together.

This afternoon Karl had another t-ball game.

I'm not sure where Karl learned all his natural baseball postures, but they sure are cute!

Playing pitcher with Coach Schlagel

Tonight, Karl had a soccer game. Here he is scoring goal #1:

Goal #2

We had no picture of goal #3, but I need to mention it anyway. Oh, and here's Laura "watching" the soccer game:

I think Laura loves sports, since reading outside is one of summer's nicest pleasures...

Karl is now fast asleep. He has to rest up for swimming lessons tomorrow morning!

4th of July 2010

Mike and Lamiae hosted their annual Independence Day bash in Sandstone, and once again we had a great time.

Mom and Dad

Karl and Matt

Jennifer and Angie

This year we went on a hayride!

Colin, Justin, Karl, Luke, Laura

The whole crew, minus photographer Angie.

When we rode through one of the cattle pastures, the cattle started following us (Karl said they were enticed by the hay we were sitting on).

Because of the rain earlier in the day, Mike had to bail out the fire pit, with the help (?) of Karl and Colin.

Angie demonstrates her loon call to the delight of Karl and Max.

I managed to get a picture of the kids while they were all in one spot...

...but then things fell apart and they just got silly. I'm not sure what the deal with the shirts is.

Yay! The fire is started and the fireworks are about to begin. This is when the battery in our camera petered out, so you'll just have to take my word that the fireworks were (mostly--ask Laura) a success! Thanks Mike and Lamiae!

Too Much Sun at Wild Mountain

Matt took the day off today, so we went to the waterslides at Wild Mountain. We didn't know if the sunny warm day and the holiday weekend would make it super busy there or not, but Laura said she wouldn't mind standing in line, as long as it's for a waterslide. It turns out we didn't have to do any waiting at all! It was nonstop waterslides for the four of us--Karl even went down the infamous Black Hole! Unfortunately we all came home a little pink. Good thing we were too happy and tired to care.

Karl's Baseball Pants

I just have to post a couple pictures of Karl from his t-ball game last night. He's wearing his new baseball pants (and Matt says you can't wear baseball pants without the belt, so who am I to argue?), which simply make him the cutest t-ball player ever.

Karl Earns a Wristband

Karl would just like to report that he took the test at the Rush City Pool to be able to swim in the deep water and go off the diving board, and he passed! When you're a little fish, the test is a piece of cake. While he was swimming, the lifeguard asked me, "Does he go to Rush City?" I told her he did, and she said, "God, this school needs a swimteam!"

Laura's Project SEEK Performance

Once again Laura took an acting class through Project SEEK (Summer Enrichment Experience for Kids). This year the musical was called "Character Matters," and Laura played the part of Repunzel.

The kids in the class must learn all the songs, choreography, and their lines, plus decorate the set, in just over two weeks. Here Laura showed us where she painted.

Laura really looked like she was having fun!

The performance was brand new to us, because even though each student had a CD of the musical with which to practice, Laura never listened to it at home. She wanted the show to be a surprise. When I saw on the schedule the date she needed her lines learned, I just asked her the night before, "Do you have your lines down?" "Yup!" and that was that. I guess she just worked really hard while she was in class, because she did a very nice job. Way to go Laura!