The camper returns

So Ryan has been at scout camp for the past five days. This has been the longest time that he has ever been away from the family. He woke up Monday morning and met his troop at 3:30am to take off for camp.

This is who was there when we got to the Hogge's house...more showed up later, but it was early and I wanted to get back home to bed. We cheated and sent Ryan with a cell phone (it was an old flip phone so he was roughing it), so we were able to get daily updates.

Some highlights...
Ry went on a hike through the deep woods. When he got back to camp he found 9 ticks sucking his blood. He says he screamed and freaked out until someone got them off him. He is proud of the fact that he holds the record for the most ticks though. Tick total for the week:15.

Ry worked on and finished a bunch of merit badges.

Slept in a tent with tons of bugs had no zipper net-plus he left it open to let in light (and bugs). Thank goodness we sent a bug net.

Completed lumberjack maze-not on paper, but among the trees.

Got 40 points on his first try shooting a rifle. Not as much luck with archery.

Brought home some of the drinking water, for us all to experience. On the left side is the camp drinking water, on the right side is our home drinking water. (Hopefully that was self-explanatory-our home water is not yellow) YUCK!

Cooked steaks for the troop, and had three campfires.

When he got home he told me that camp makes our home feel like a fancy hotel.

I asked him if he was planning on going again next year. He says, "Of course, but once a year is definitely enough."

A Summer Day

As I have already said, last summer my parents moved to Apple Valley. They actually now live about 11 minutes away. Their house is on a beautiful, deep clear lake. It has become one of my children's (and their friends') favorite places to go on a hot summer afternoon.

Today was a hot summer afternoon (finally). Emily grabbed three friends and spent the day swimming, kayaking, fishing and generally having fun.Can't you just feel the sun's heat and hear the laughing as they jump into cool water.

Andrew got to hang out with Ethan, one of his life long friends. They navigated the lake in the kayaks, built in the sand, and caught 12 fish.
My children are not the only MN grandchildren to love spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We also got to play with our dear cousins Fiona and Adele. They looked so cute with their sun hats, goggles, floaties and smiles!In theory everyone should be tired tonight, but somehow I am the only tired one around here!

Our cookie stand

The "last day of school" cookie stand started many years ago. The bus stop up the street had a fun tradition. A cool mom had set up a table with cookies and juice and cheered as the kids came off the bus. Well, Ry was the only kid at our bus stop , and I did not think to set up a party, so we joined their fun. The next year the fun mom told me that I would have to continue the tradition because her kids were done with elementary school. Our bus stop has grown each year and I have faithfully set up a table with cookies and juice to start the summer celebrations. Unfortunately, I had class this year so I missed the fun.

But the cookie stand lived on! Luckily, Erik flew into the country minutes before the bus and found himself manning the stand with some of the neighborhood moms. It looks like they had a great time!
Here is my sad fifth grader. She had to say good-bye to her elementary school life.
Here comes my now SECOND grader!More summer bound kids..

Our lovely neighbors...plus the little one was a fun new kindergartener this year!

The stand stayed set up long enough for the middle schoolers to join the fun (Ry wanted to make sure they did NOT miss the tradition-after all Ry was one of the original cookie standers).

Summer Plans

There is less than a week of school left (for the kids that is) and we are starting to think about summer and how we want to spend our time. When one asks Andrew how he plans to spend his summer, he will say "computer games." I have NO DOUBT that Ry would give a similar response. I am sure that many computer games will be played...but I have other plans too.


This year, I wanted to find something that the family could enjoy together. Naturally, that lead me to Valley Fair. I grew up going to Valley Fair. I have many great memories riding the rides with my brothers and sisters. Actually, when they are in town, we still can be found going to Valley Fair running together from ride to ride. So I decided we should get season passes this year. The kids are finally all tall enough to really enjoy the park!Growing up, we loved the rides, esp. the Corkscrew and the Enterprise *pictured above. (I also have fond memories of pudding pop stands-sadly those are gone now). It's funny, but each ride still carries vivid memories with my brothers and sisters. Last week, we spent the afternoon exploring the park and riding the rides. Surprisingly, there were no lines at all. It was such a fun day.We were able to ride rides like The Wild Thing then hop right back on and ride again.Andrew did the same with the High Roller aka the White Roller Coaster. The day was filled with good family togetherness...including screaming together and laughing together.

Dancing through the years!

If you are familiar with Emily, you know she loves dance. Emily fell in love with the costumes, moves and being in front of a crowd. She started in kindergarten. Emily had a friend named Jaquelyn who introduced us to You Can Danz Dance Company. It has been fun to watch Em grow up in the different dance classes. Here she is in the first grade class.

Here she is in second grade.

This is her fourth grade pictureEach year has been fun. She has danced at the MOA and Timberwolves half time each year. One year, she even got to dance a the Twins baseball game. This past year, Em has been in the fifth grade and up class. This means she got to participate in the cool light stick performance AND best of all the Daddy/Daughter dance. Each year the Daddy/daughter dance has a theme. This year was Gone Country. Erik and Em got to perform dance routines (in the front row) to Born to Boggie, Hoe Down Throw Down, Buttterfly Fly Away. Yes Erik learned THREE different dance routines!
I had every intention of laughing at Erik during the dance. After all, Erik doesn't usually grab a bandana and go country...but the dance was so sweet. Emily and Erik looked so good out there. Emily is growing up so fast.

The dad's did do their own routine too. Enjoy..and yes I now see some humor in the video! That is Erik in the front center of the screen with the red bandanna. When they do the long kick line he is the second one in from the right. He was such a good sport. If you make it far enough into the video...you can see how excited Ry and Andrew are to be watching their dad dance.

All for under 20 bucks!

I was first introduced to the Harlem Globetrotters when they appeared on Scooby-Doo. Somehow the Scooby gang would run into them from time to time and it was sure to be a silly crazy episode.Do you remember these episodes or is it just me?

Fast forward MANY years later, to me sitting in a Complex Kids workshop. My cooperating teacher leans over and asks if I want free tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters for the upcoming weekend. I thought about it for about 1/2 a second and "YES!" I am a sucker for free stuff. They were playing/performing at the Target Center. The seats were up close and we absolutely had a fabulous time. We were dazzled by the basketball skills: the jumping, the shooting, the spinning and we loved booing at the Washington Generals. Of course we thought Globey the mascot was funny. It was quite a show. I think one of our favorite parts was actually captured on film. It will give you a glimpse into our family's sense of humor. Get ready for it... watch out for the masked man standing behind you!
(I am not sure the Elmo boxers are the best choice for this part of the show. Elmo's nose and mouth have an awkward placement)

Beginnings and Endings

It seems like everything happens in one night. I guess it is true sometimes. Tonight was Andrew's first night of soccer. In fact, this is his first soccer team. After school, I took him to buy shin guards and cleats. He is excited to start the season. He signed up with James, a friend from church, and ended up knowing a few of the other boys on the team as well. They are the Lime Green team and get their uniforms on Thursday. Andrew had a great time and is already learning a lot about soccer. He has good instincts. Go Lime Green!

We had to leave soccer practice 10 minutes early to make it to Emily's last band concert. Andrew and I walked in just as they were finishing their first song. I am always impressed with our school's fifth grade band. They put on a great show and even had some audience participation. Andrew was chosen to accompany the band during one of the songs. I think he got to hit an ice-cream bucket with a spoon. It was hard to tell, because he played the entire song with his back to the audience. Good stuff : ). Band has been a great experience with great friends. Emily has practiced her flute diligently all year. Now that fifth grade band is ending, she is looking forward to middle school band. We are both happy that next year, big band will be during the school day and not at 7:20 in the morning.