Children's Museum with the Masters family

Last Sunday we trekked downtown to the Children's Museum to meet the Masters for a morning of balls, books and bubbles (I'll explain later). I used to work with Sara Masters at RSM McGladrey and we've stayed in touch since we both left our former employer-she's grown to be a good friend. Sara and Jason have their own three-year-old darling, Maren. And can you beat that name--Maren Masters? Jason, she has very high potential from a sports standpoint with that name.

The kids had a great time. We played in the water exhibit blowing bubbles and playing with ping pong balls in the water (by FAR Amy's favorite part of the museum experience). Matthew and I "manufactured" blocks and put them down the conveyor belt-in case you couldn't guess, he loved this. We even listened to storytime and a book about frogs that was acted out quite well by one of the great Children's Museum volunteers.

We also played in the make-believe grocery story and hospital and kicked, threw and bounced from wall to wall in the "ball" exhibit. Thanks to the Masters family for coming out and making the long journey from Shakopee to St. Paul--hoping to see you again soon. Take care of that little Maren.

My golf fantasy

I had the fortunate opportunity to play the White Bear Yacht Club this morning, a private club in White Bear Lake. Dr. Bert and Andy Bert, a friend of my brother's, invited us out for a round (big thank you to the Berts!). The Yacht Club is one of the more hidden gems in the Twin Cities. It's a little short at 6,400 yards from the tips, but it's everything you could want in a private club--lightning-fast greens, meticulous fairways and private-club service across the board. It's the little things that make WBYC special--blue triangle flags donning the WBYC logo, tees and ballmarkers emblazone with the logo on the first tee and water bottles on every fourth hole.

I didn't play that well--although Aaron did shooting 80 with a triple on the last--but it's more about the experience than anything else. Did I mention we played in three hours? And there were about 10 folks at the course. Nice. The locker rooms were pristine, the food was fabulous and they even cleaned our clubs while we ate. A wonderful day through and through.

The question I asked myself on the way home--how can I make this work for me? Clearly, I don't pull down enough to join a course like WBYC. I probably never will. But, I know there are private clubs that are affordable in the outlying areas of the Twin Cities. I was a member at River Falls for a few years, and even that was enjoyable. Could there be an opportunity at Northfield CC? Forest Lake CC? Stoneridge? I know the timing is right now with two kids under 4, but at some point, I need to make this happen.

Yeah! Mom is home!

Angela took off for Texas on Tuesday for a two-day business trip, leaving me alone with the kids for the first time in a while. While it's not easy handling drop off and pick up, feeding the kids and getting them down for bed at night, we enjoyed our time together. We built bathrooms (Matthew uses tiles from our former bathroom projects to simulate bathrooms in the basement--yeah, don't ask), read lots of books (Amy's a sucker for books now) and at one point both kids had every single pot and pan we own out on the kitchen floor (hey, it distracted them for a full 10 minutes--stop laughing, you'd take it if you could get it too!). 

All that said, we're very happy Mom is home. Quite frankly, we missed her. I know it was only two days, but we all missed her. Amy missed her bedtime book ritual with Mom. Matthew missed Mom "talking about his day" before bed and I missed having someone to rehash my day and the kids' antics with after the kids go down. We're glad she's home safe and sound. 

One other nugget to share. As some of you may know, Matthew is going to be Spidey for Halloween this year. Apparently, he can't wait because the last few days he's taking to wearing his costume around the house nonstop. And now he's taking it to a whole new level. He's referring to himself, as Spiderman, in the third person. "Spiderman needs to eat dinner." "Spiderman is going to sleep." "Spiderman needs his Teddy!" Need I remind you the kid is three years old. Unbelieveable. 

Yup, these are our kids...

I'm going to start a new, ongoing post series on the HWTH blog. It's called "Yup, these are our kids." It's a little spoof of The Sports Guy's (Bill Simmons for you non-ESPN.com followers) regular post. 

In this first installment, I'd just like to share some of the faces we see at the dinner table each night. 

For those HWTH readers who don't have the opportunity to see us as much as we'd both like, our kids are loud, head-strong (that's putting it lightly), opinionated, bull-headed, and a little crazy. We wouldn't have it any other way. Sometimes it drives us nuts (OK, many times it drives us nuts), but for the most part we love it. 

So again, here are a few of the faces we get from #3 (I'm #1, Angela's #2, Amy's #4--running joke) at the dinner table.

My personal fave's the blurry pic--that's a classic Matthew pose and one that comes out often.

Fall clean-up weekend begins

It's Oct. 18 and I'm pretty sure I haven't mowed the lawn since early August. Now, I'll admit, that's part laziness. No way around that. But it's also attributable to the fact that our weekends have been fairly full lately. 

Regardless it was time to get out, rake the leaves, mow the lawn and start the general fall clean up. 

First step? Create a giant leaf pile for me and the kids to jump in, of course. 

Matthew and Amy helped--I insisted. Good way to work off those Cheerios they had for breakfast. But the big hit of the morning workout was the leafblower and "tractor" as Amy called it (also known as a truck) up the street. Big hit.

 

We closed the morning session of our fall clean up by putting the leaves into bags--Matthew even did one all by himself! More on the afternoon and Sunday work sessions later this weekend.

The importance of grandparents

Today, I wanted to give "big props" as the kids say these days to a few of the most important people in our lives: our parents. But, not just because they raised us right, made sacrifices and continue to support us (even at this advanced age). No, I want to recognize them for being such a big part of our kids lives. 

We're lucky enough to live within earshot of our parents, just 20 minutes away. Virtually every weekend one of them comes over to watch the kids so we can go out, catch a movie or have a leisurely dinner that doesn't involve the phrase "Hey, Mommy" or "Hey Daddy" a minimum of 500 times a minute. We try to say thank you each time they come over, but it bears repeating. Again and again. 

So, I'll say it again: Thank you.

Not just for the baby-sitting (although we do appreciate that, more than you probably know), but for being such a big part of Matthew and Amy's lives. I grew up living four hours away from my grandparents. While my parents did their best to get us down to Fairview and Rising Sun (small towns in Wisconsin) once a month or so, it just wasn't the same as living in the same city and seeing them on regular basis. 

Matthew and Amy have their own rituals with each grandparent. They "play cords." Build castles. Put stickers on windows. Go for walks. And run through sprinklers. They've known their names and faces since they were just babies. And the kids talk about them all the time. That's worth far more than any baby-sitting gig to us. 

And we hope our parents know that. So, maybe this is the Norweigan in me, but I'd like thank our parents for being a steady and positive influence on our kids' lives. It makes a huge difference. And it certainly makes a difference for us. Thank you--and we love you.

Truck Day

Arik is out of town for the weekend, but that isn't stopping us from having some fun.  Today was "Truck Day" at the Woodbury library.  All I have to say is, what a fabulous idea!  Kids love trucks - not toy trucks - real trucks!  They cleared out the parking lot and filled it with fire trucks, snow plows, buses, giant rigs, a UPS truck and more.  Matthew had a blast.  I think every little boy between the ages of 1 and 5 in the 55125 zip code was there.  The funniest part was that all of the kids were dying to get into the drivers seat - and when they did - they insisted on honking the horn!  It was non-stop!  The kids were having a ball ... while the parents were getting a headache!  

I will attach a few of my favorite photos.  

We had a great time.  After he sat in just about every truck, we went inside for some truck stories and a trip through Lookout Ridge.  It was an awesome morning.  We had lunch at Grandma Jane's house, and then decided to even do naps there.  

If you need a Matthew funny to tide you over until our next post, I will share one little exchange from our morning rush ...

Matthew:  "Mommy, I need this wrench out of my guitar!"

Me:  "Matthew, I don't have time to take that out right now, it will have to wait until we get home tonight.  We need to get going."

Matthew:  "Take it out NOW!"

Me:  "I told you we don't have time right now because we have to leave.  If you don't turn your behavior around pretty soon, we aren't going to see the trucks at all!"

Matthew:  "That isn't very nice to say ... I am not going to invite you to my birthday party!"

Keep in mind, Matthew's birthday isn't until December ...