Fort Snelling

Here in this great state we have many historic sites to visit. Tiffany and I rediscovered them a few years ago. They (The Historical Society) had a "History Matters" challenge. It was to visit six different sites in a summer and earn a prize. We took that challenge.
Here is a picture of Ryan and Trevor from 2006. They are at Fort Snelling learning about different cannon ammunition. Sadly, that program challenge has been discontinued. But we found some favorite places and made a good habit of visiting and learning from these places.

We went back to Fort Snelling on Tuesday. Again, it was so much fun. This time we went with Grandma, Grandpa, Nico and Leo.
Here is Grandpa Bill with five of his grandchildren. They are standing on the round corner tower. Actually it is one of the oldest buildings in Minnesota. It has had many different uses..interestingly one was a beauty shop.
Emily was so happy to get to hold the bugle in the picture with welcoming guard. Today we learned that the soldiers would listen to the bugle to know their battle orders..because the battle field would be so loud.

Grandma and four of the kids joined up for the day. They made great soldiers.

Probably one of the kids' favorite parts of the day was learning about the "8 Piece" money system at the old settler's shop. Back then, they would chop the coin in order to give change. That guide (in the above picture) was really fun to listen to.

Grandpa Bill and my three really enjoyed the blacksmith. They watched him make a nail and a hook. Good times...
Here is a picture of Ry working with the same blacksmith in 2006
We recognized a lot of the same people that work at the fort. They really know their stuff!
Here, Nico and Leo are modeling how the soldiers had to sleep "head to toe." We also learned that 12 soldiers had to share one tiny room. One "soldier" said that in the winter that wasn't so bad though.

We also got to watch musket loading/shooting demonstrations and the cannon was fired. Both were very loud and really interesting.
I renewed my Historical Society membership...so watch out Mill City and Pine City here we come!

The listening program

Twice a week Andrew goes to Children's Therapy. He gets to work for an hour working with an occupational therapist and then a half hour with a speech specialist. He is making huge improvements in his speech (we are just starting the OT piece, those big improvements are still to come..).

Our speech specialist is wonderful. I feel like she really likes Andrew. She gets excited about his successes. Now that it is easier to understand the kid, we are all realizing that Andrew is a clever and funny guy.

She recommended that we look into a new kind of treatment program. It is called The Listening Program. She explained that she has seen results in each of her clients that use the program. We researched some and decided to give it a try. Basically it is a music-based auditory stimulation method that provides engaging brain stimulation to improve performance in school, work and life. Here's some of what they say:

The Listening Program’s psychoacoustically modified music and patent-pending production techniques are designed to stimulate or “exercise” the different functions of the auditory processing system. This enables the brain to better receive, process, store and utilize the valuable information provided through the varied soundscapes in our lives such as music, language and the environment in which we live.

Systematic training is provided through listening to psychoacoustically modified classical music which trains the brain to process sound more efficiently. This leads to improvements in:

Learning Attention Communication Reading

Listening Sensory Processing Social Engagement Behavior

Self Regulation Musical Ability Brain Fitness Daily Living

Basically he listens to these CDs for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening. We decided that Ryan would participate in this program too.

We are on week two. He is not allowed to eat, watch TV, sleep or play video games while doing his listening. We have found some fun activities.

Sticker books are fun.

So is Shaving Cream.

If you guys have any other fun activities let me know. Also I will let you all know how the program works for us : ) It seems pretty cool.

All over the place!

I love summer time. Every year I have an illusion of a schedule-free summer and every year it gets filled with stuff. I would not trade our summers though. These past few weeks have been jam packed with places to be and things to do. So this post is going to jump all over the place-sorry about that.

Andrew and Emily started gymnastics or I should say Emily started gymnastics and Andrew started tumbling (for some reason Andrew is against the word gymnastics).
I love watching Andrew go on the vault. He runs super fast then jumps like 5 times on the trampoline (instead of 1) before he actually gets on the vault.
Ryan and Emily have tennis three times a week. Last Saturday was picture day and tennis matches. Because of some confusion, a mom took her daughter and left early. That left only three players in Emily and Ryan's court. Guess who got to grab a racket and join in? That's right me. Somehow that picture did not get taken (just picture me playing tennis with a bunch of 4-9th graders and ALL the other parents sitting watching while talking on cell phones). It actually was pretty fun. I wish I was better at tennis.

Our week also involved speech/OT 2 times a week for Andrew and band lessons 2 times a week for Ryan. I got to work all weekend too. We also had fun game nights with friends and family.

Erik got a chance to take the kids swimming at the water park. He was successful at NOT letting the kids get a sunburn. Good job Erik.
We did get to go to the cabin. Each year the lake is a little different. This year the weeds are growing in more, but that did not stop us from having a blast. The kids just plowed through them.

Here is a bucket of the fruits of their labors. It was so funny to watch the 5 kids try to keep 7 VERY bouncy frogs in one bucket.

This is a picture of Nico (my sister's son) modeling one of the frogs they caught that afternoon.
So that was one week-I wonder what this week will bring. I am sure eventually I will have to face the housework that I am avoiding.

Fifth Grade band!

As the school year was wrapping up, Ryan got the chance to decide if he wanted to participate in fifth grade band next year. Without question, his answer was "yes!"
We were very careful about the instrument selection. We wanted to find an instrument that Ryan would want to play. One that he would be successful with and MOST IMPORTANTLY one that we wanted to listen to as he practiced. Erik and Ryan went on You Tube. They listened to MANY different options. Ryan decided the sax was the one for him. I am excited for him.

We went on good old Craig's list and found a good sax for him. His lessons started this week. So far (day 3), life is good for Ryan and is Sax. He has learned how to use the sax and three notes. We are ready for the song "Hot Cross Buns."

Happy Fourth of July

I love the Fourth of July. It is a fun family gathering involving explosives and food. What a better combination? Today we started the afternoon with a few tank wars. Andrew was jumping up and down with excitement.

We also set off smoke bombs in the driveway.

We had family come and join us here in Apple Valley this year. There was a small family fair before the show started. We got to win some stuffed animals and play at the park.
The kids got to ride some crazy old rides...you know the kind that look like they were made in the 50s. I am not sure they would still make a ride like this...
It seemed to have a WW2 theme. Kids sitting in forward and backward sitting bombers trying to shoot each other down.

Ryan and I rode the rocking ferris wheel

It was slightly creaky and Ryan enjoyed freaking me out by rocking our car back and forth. Good times. (Emily took this picture. I think it is pretty cool).
Earlier in the day we had a rain storm come through, so that cooled down the temperatures. We brought chairs and blankets and set up camp for the show.

We had fun visiting and playing around before it started.
It was not this cold though. Some people are slightly dramatic.
I have this guy trained to stop and smile for a picture mid-sentence.
It was a clear night and our view was completely unobstructed. Look at the tiny moon in the corner. Some of the fireworks seemed to be right over our heads. The grand finale was of course the best part. It was fabulous. The whole thing gave me chills...and they were not from the cool temperature : ).

We ended the night with a few fireworks outside our house.
The sparklers were a smokey hit though.
We were pretending to have magic wands. Here Carol is passing on some magic to Nico.
I hope that everyone's had a great 4th!

Birthday boys and fireworks

Andrew had a birthday

He is lucky enough to have a cousin only 1 month older than him and that cousin just happens to be visiting this summer.

So

We celebrated Andrew and Leo's birthdays last night with a fun family birthday party.

I cannot believe they are 6!

Leo shows great pinata form..almost open!

Andrew smashes through to find all the candy.
The boys then make some birthday wishes.
and we all got to enjoy some yummy cake.

After the birthday party we decided to see the Bloomington fireworks.
They have their celebration on the third..so it is a fun way to start the Fourth of July festivities.
Although the fireworks were great, Leo seemed to enjoy the glow sticks more
He made a huge glowing circle and he made a glowing solar system
Happy Fourth of July..more to come

The Children's Museum

Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum in St. Paul. We had a great time.
They had the spark cart out. Emily has NEVER been able to pass the chance to paint on her face. (I start with this fact so that you understand the rest of the pictures)

and the boys ALWAYS seem to pass on the chance to paint on their faces

(here are the same three girls three years ago doing the same thing)

We spent time in the world's room. That is the room with the grocery store, restaurant, bus etc.
We also spent time in the work room...still one of our favorite rooms. You get to move foam blocks around on conveyor belts, play with bubbles, water and lights.

We hit the roof for the outdoor fun and nature art. Always a good time

Of course we spent a ton of time in the ant hill.

In this picture is Ryan, Adriana, Emily, Alexis and Andrew...a crazy group of life time friends.

This is a place that I have been taking the kiddos to ever since we moved here. I have a ton of pictures of my kids over the years at this place and yes I am going to share a few (that is the mood I am these days).

This is Ryan outside the anthill
Here is Andrew playing with an exhibit
Emily and Ryan playing with a muppet.
There is a room dedicated to the ages 4 and under. Now when we go I always say with a sigh "we don't qualify for that room any more."
This is baby Andrew hanging out on a lily pad from that room.