A picture or two to tide you over

We just unloaded the camera recently and here's a couple pictures of the kids:


Stella in cloud camo:

Sammy won this stuffed gorilla at Valleyfair during a school trip. It was a ring toss and she got one ring on the post and missed the other two. She started to walk away, but the guy said, "You won!" She was at the park all day - until 4:30 pm. She won this at 9:30 am and had to lug it around the whole day. Fortunately, she was not lacking in Gorilla Babysitters to watch this when she went on rides. This now resides in the girls' room. Stella has made it into a climbing toy/slide/ladder. A monkey for the monkey.

July 4th Recap - Sammy's Gone to College

Well, we just had a relatively quiet weekend -

On the fourth - we just stayed close to home - lit off some small fireworks in the driveway.

Saturday, we had a retail day - we went to Ragstock, a used/vintage clothing store chain that I used to LOVE in high school. Sammy's feeling the Ragstock love now. I was a little dismayed to see a sundress I picked up at Penney's a couple of years ago going for $3.00. Oh well. Sammy got a velvet shift dress for $3.oo and a light jacket with guitars on it. I got a Blondie Tote Bag, that is so fricking awesome.


I actually had noticed it a couple months ago, but thought that $15 was too much. When I went back, I saw it was on sale for 50% off! Score! Later we went to Cost Plus World Market, were I got a picnic basket I've been coveting for a while and also got a picnic kit that I thought was a good deal at $14.99, but was also 50% off. Score again!

Sammy Goes to Camp

Today, we got Sammy ready for her camp. She's staying all this week at a local university at a Science and Technology camp for girls. It's free! Everything is included: tuition, materials, room/board/snacks. It's limited to 40 girls a session. All girls have just completed 6th grade. Sammy was on the waiting list, and a girl dropped out so she was moved up.

We dropped her off in her dorm (not air conditioned - ouch) and got her set up. Then we went to the orientation meeting where they talked a little more about the program. They have a theme song they played for us: "Power Tools are a Girl's Best Friend."

Here's a little blurb on the camp:

• An opportunity for girls to learn more about what engineers do:
  Outstanding instructors with extensive backgrounds in engineering, technology and science, teach the workshops
• A one-week introduction to the world of technology and engineering.
• A camping experience at the Campus of the University
• A hands-on experience with high-tech equipment and processes

It's designed to catch girls at that age to get them interested in Sci/Tech careers. Very chick empowering. They do camp related things, like swimming and karaoke and movie night. They also take Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Ecology. There's a class called "MacGyver," which sounds so much fun! They have animation labs, they create their own websites. And the highlight of the week is airplane building. They create the parts and assemble a RC plane. I saw some pictures and it looks like they're about 3 feet long. Wednesday night we meet them at a fly field and watch them fly their planes. (Jilly, I keep thinking about you with this!)

Sammy's excited. I'm excited that she has this opportunity. I want her to know that she can do anything that she wants to do!

Happy Fourth of July

Please be careful with your fireworks today!

Mommy/Sammy Day

Last week, Sam was feeling a little overwhelmed - she was cooped up with her little sister and was feeling a little down. I suggested we go out for a bike ride - just the two of us. We biked to the east side of the lake and sat down and relaxed. Thinking about my own frazzled work schedule, I said - "How about I take off a day in the middle of the week - we can put Stella in daycare and just have a Mommy/Sammy Day?" Sammy's head whipped around and she grinned.

"What'll we do?" She asked "What do you want to do?" I replied. Sammy wanted to go to the beach of our nearby lake where there are no lifeguards. This way, she can use the little inflatable raft we got last summer, a no-no at guarded beaches. That's it - that's all she would be content with doing.

I had other plans.

We dropped Stella off at daycare at her usual time - then Sammy and I went off for a morning of geocaching. I had researched a loop of about 6 caches within about 3 miles. So, we were off. The first cache was in a nature preserve of a big Minnesota company that generally mills things. I had to dive into a overgrown weedy area in order to find the cache. Sammy didn't come off the trail; she was too concerned about the teeny thumbnail sized toads we saw on the blacktop path. She coaxed them into the grass so bikers or unattentive walkers wouldn't smoosh them. We did another cache that Sammy really enjoyed. Instead of using the GPS unit, it's a Pict-O-Cache - a series of extreme close up pictures of landmarks in this park. You go from place to place and then at the final stop, find the hidden treasure. Terribly fun. The other caches were more traditional - We did one that we had to take our picture by, which I may post here, depending on how many chins I have, a common problem when you take your own picture.

We went to lunch at Panchero's which Sammy though was tasty, hit Target and bought matching skirts ($12.99!) - she's able to fit into the ladyclothes section now - and swim noodles and little mesh things to make them into floaty chairs and then headed home.

On the way home, I asked if she'd like to have her friend B join us. She made the call and B came along to the park. The girls had such a blast being kids at the park - splashing, gawking at fish, etc. I got to chill out and relax on the sand.

So I'm thinking - hey, the Music in Plymouth thing is tonight. It's a big deal with lots of different music and the toppers are the Minnesota Orchestra and fireworks. I call Mom and see if she wants to go. She's in. We invite B along as well.

We go to pick up Stella, who I told there's someone special in the car (she likes Sammy's friends). She guesses - Grandma? no.... PopPop? Nooo... It's a surprise, I tell her. We get to the car, and she sees Sammy in the front seat and with much disdain dismissively exclaims, "No, not Sammy!" But then she sees B and is all smiles.

Later on, we head to the concert, Mom, me B and Sammy (we discussed bringing Stella, but thought it would be a long, loud time, things Stella doesn't do well with) - along with bug spray and camp chairs. It's packed. We can't hear the orchestra very well, which is odd as the previous act (Mick Sterling) was LOUD! Must have been some audio issues. The girls have run off trying to find a friend of theirs. I look at Mom, consider we aren't able to enjoy the music, probably won't see fireworks under the canopy of trees, and ponder the mass exodus that will occur after the fireworks end and say, "Boy, this bites - let's get the hell out of here." Mom agrees and we decide to walk through a path on our way back to the car. I think, hell we can watch the fireworks from the parking lot, jump in the car afterward and burn out before the thronging hordes.

So we begin the walk back through a woodchipped path and get to the Millenium Garden, the girls get all kiddish and run and chase each other. Mom and I plop ourselves down on an uncrowded expanse of land and think. WTF, let's park here for the fireworks. Meanwhile the girls run and play through the twilight.

The fireworks are slated to begin at 10 pm. 10:00 comes and goes. We hear crackling here and there and think "are we missing them?"

At 10:15, a burst of red squiggles explodes. And this went on and on - just a gorgeous display. We were so close the the fireworks, it felt like they were going to touch us. A huge, larger than life display. Mom said that she hadn't every been that close to ground zero, pardon the expression, when seeing fireworks before. We were amazed at the display - we loved the Happy Face one and one that had a heart in the center. Like, I said, it kept going and going - you'd think it was the finale and there'd be a bigger set. So, so cool. I hugged Sammy to me and asked how her Mommy/Sammy day. She said it was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

A extra bonus - we got to the car, after a 15 minute walk, and was able to pull out of the parking lot and slide into NO traffic. So cool.

We were so pooped when we got home.

Bacon Salt!

We had a fairly low key weekend.

Saturday - saw WALL-E at the 10 am showing. Smart move as there were not that many folks that could get their collective act together to make that early showing. Stella did very well - only squirming toward the end. She had only one potty break. And now she can impressively mimic a computer-generated voice saying. "Wall-e." and "Evvvv-ah"

Sammy had a sleepover Saturday night - we had some Mom/Sammy time and went geocaching. We got stuck in some rain and brush. I still feel like there's bugs on me. We also swung by the Charles Burwell house in Minnetonka, which was doing an open house/ice cream social.



I mildly embarrassed Sammy by chanting, "Ha-ha. You're learning about wheat milling on your summer vacation!" It was a cool tour - I've driven by the house several times and have been wanting to peek in on that. We also saw the Hopkins Woodwinds Concert Band play Stars and Stripes Forever. Sammy says that they sounded better than the Wayzata Middle School band because they had more than a week to practice. She did let out a "woo! Clarinet!" too.

We TiVo'ed SNL last night as they were rebroadcasting the first episode hosted by Carlin. Have to watch that later. Andy Kaufman was on that show as well.

Which brings us to the title of this entry... In the Strib's taste section, they mentioned this little product called "BaconSalt," that gives everything a bacon-y essence. We went to the Lund's on Vicksburg to get some, but they had it in the back - you have to ask for it. I'm grilling some hot dogs right now - which will likely get some BaconSalt treatment.



I will experiment and let you know how it fares. There's also a recipe for Bacon Mayo on their website that I must try.

Quick Sammy Story

Last week on my way home from work, I was listening to the radio and they were talking about the Gloucester, Mass teen "pregnancy pact."

Of course, I got upset and sad at this. So I see Sammy when I get in the house and I think, "teaching opportunity..."

I relay the story, to her shock and dismay (Her reaction: "Pardon my language, but - damn!") and told her that the girls were not doing this out of love: [reports were] that one young girl had sex with a homeless man in order to get pregnant. We really didn't discuss any more about that.

So the next day, we were watching TV and some dating commercial comes on. Some guy was going on about how his mom had recommended this site and blah, blah, blah. I'm really not paying attention to what's on. From the couch, Sammy pipes up with: "Well, it's better than Doing It with a hobo."

eHarmony, I think we have a new tagline for you.

Lightning Bug Moon

Busy summer weekend with the Millers.

Saturday, we went to the way overpriced Hennepin County Fair. Admission $22 for the 3 of us. (Stella was free). Not too much to do there - Stella went on a pony ride ($5) and a mini-train ride ($3). The rabbit agility show was free and the girls did a craft at the 4H tent. We did get a couple freebies at the Ag booth - a meat thermometer and a ruler. Also a stretchy bracelet that says "2006 Oink Booth mnpork.com." Which was pink and make me think of trichinosis. Shouldn't have it been white? Or grayish-brown. Oh, pork, you are so misunderstood. There was also a kids show that featured a lot of pre-recorded songs by "Nick," who was offering them up on CD for a fee. Oh, would the RIAA frown upon old Nick. I'm thinking we should have gone to Tater Daze in Brooklyn Park instead. Stella had a ball; Sammy, being at THATAGE was underwhelmed.

Sammy and I had our monthly canoe by the full moon through the local park. For every month you complete, you get a snazzy pin. May was the Frog Moon. June is the Firefly moon.

We did much better than we did last time, where we were dead last (the guides kept on reassuring us that "It's not a race!" and "[Hey you two lame-os,](I'm paraphrasing) are you having fun?" Us "yeah" Them: "Well, good then." Us: "Stop patronizing us."

So we were paddling through the lake and some SLCs (Scary Looking Clouds) drift in. Sammy and I get slightly freaked as we are in open water, in aluminum canoes with a storm approaching. Our leisurely nature paddling turned into a frantic haulass to the dock. We were doing fine until the storm winds hit. Up until then, there was no wind. When the storm hit, the winds blew us off course and we had to work twice as hard to get to shore. We just made it before the rain hit. It is a freaky feeling being on a lake during a lightning storm. We did get our pin and did not get electrocuted, so it was a win-win.

Sunday.

Heading to drop off some library books and we see smoke in the grass by the side of the road. We pull over and circle back and see that the grass is on fire. I hand a water bottle to L and he gets out and douses the fire. He found a firecracker in the midst of it all. So small excitement on a Sunday.

Stella and I went to the garden shop and got a bunch of 50% off annuals to jazz up the yard. Stella was a good helper and made sure all the plants (and herself) were watered.

So we've got the Sunday night letdown/winddown now. Sammy's going to the Y camp this week. Stella's letter of the week is G. CSA is on Thursday. And I'm so very tired right now.