Sam started school on Tuesday while Ben’s first day was today. This year Sam will be going to a new (to us) Montessori program in Burnsville - he will be attending three full days a week! We’re hoping that the change in programs will give us a better idea of whether he will be able to thrive in a public school setting or not. After his first day, Sam eventually told me that the group time made him “happy”, but that individual tasks made him “mad” - that would be the Extrovert talking… We’ve really been working on emotions this year and learning to identify them as he reacts to different settings. Supposedly he told his teachers that he was “frustrated” by one activity… this is good!
Ben is starting at a preschool program run through the school district - mostly for social interaction with kids other than Sam and his Sunday school class. He’ll be attending half-days twice a week. He’s had a bit of separation anxiety lately with Cindy so it might be a challenge for a while. We’re hoping that the change of environment will also help with his speech development - he’s been doing really well and starting to put some phrases together (e.g. “people on the bus”, “daddy going downtown”, “drive up the hill”, “more milk please”), but there are still plenty of non-word vocalizations too.
The time away from the boys will give Cindy a chance to do some extra client work and continue building her business, which has been steadily growing. Cindy also has some exciting opportunities to work with our church on an employment ministry program; she’s presented her tools and training methodology to the pastoral staff and received some very encouraging feedback. We thank God for his blessings on Cindy’s work!
We were able to get away this past weekend and spend a few days in Duluth, Minnesota along Lake Superior. It’s a fairly familiar trip, about 2-3 hours away from Minneapolis. The last couple of times we’ve stayed at the downtown Holiday Inn - it’s convenient to get to, has some decent room layouts to choose from and there are readily accessible indoor pools for the kids to play in. We were unsure if we would be going even up to the day before, as both boys were fighting some kind of a cold and “helpfulness” was lacking, but we persevered and it was well worth it.
Saturday, August 30
We left Minneapolis early Saturday morning and were unpacked into the hotel by 11am. The rest of the morning and early afternoon were spent at the Historical Depot, which has a North Shore train museum with plenty of engines and coach cars for the boys to explore, as well as a childrens’ museum, which is pretty straightforward, but is a nice way for the kids to wind down after the trains. While Ben took a nap, Sam and I went swimming - he must have gotten worn out because during dinner afterwards he fell asleep on Cindy’s lap. Fortunately we were able to wake him up and walk around Canal Park, where we saw the 690′ Herbert C. Jackson come through the famous Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge. Soon after we returned to the hotel and crashed.
Sunday, August 31
On Sunday, I enjoyed the luxury of everyone else sleeping until 7:30. We roused ourselves for breakfast (kids eat free!), then ventured to the Great Lakes Aquarium, where the kids had fun feeding catfood to the salmon and trout, among the many other exhibits and display tanks. After lunch, nap and swimming, we rented a bicycle surrey and enjoyed the views while pedaling along the shorefront. The weather was almost perfect the entire weekend - sunny and 80s - which is almost unheard of for Duluth, at least from our perspective. After dinner, the boys enjoyed throwing rocks into the lake, then gave in to temptation and threw themselves into the water. It must not have been too cold because they kept at it for a while, but eventually our parental instincts kicked in and a warm bath and dry clothes became a priority.
Monday, September 1
All the activity wore the boys out and they slept until almost 8:30am (!) - we had a light breakfast and packed the truck before heading back for one final look around Canal Park. We debated taking a harbor cruise, but the boys were still tired and the wind was picking up a bit, so we decided to save that for a different trip. We walked over the lift bridge to Sam’s delight - or rather more accurately, he rode on the back of Ben’s stroller as we walked over the bridge. After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed back toward Minneapolis, a trip remarkable only for nearly running out of gas after I forgot to look at the gas guage when leaving town…
It was nice to be back home, but the time away was good, especially with both Sam and Ben starting school this week and Cindy helping her mom organize a massive garage sale that begins Thursday, nevermind the day-to-day busyness of our jobs.
Sunday evening we enjoyed fun and food at Cleary Lake Regional Park in Lakeville with friends from church. After everyone arrived, we rented some paddleboats and churned our way around the lake for a half-hour, which I likened to peddling up a perpetual low-grade hill in 3rd gear… Sam tried his turn at steering with the predictably comical results, but the problems were more mechanical than mental - he definitely understood how the breeze and waves were pushing the boat off the course we wanted to go.
After we’d put our feet back on the sand, we enjoyed a light picnic dinner and conversation while the kids played (and played and played)! They all get along great and it’s nice to be able to have adult conversations without the constant tug of little hands.
On Saturday, Sam and Ben went to a friend’s birthday party at which there were pony rides. Both Sam and Ben rode on the ponies, but I could only get photos of Sam since I was walking next to Ben as he held on tight…
A small flag that Ben has been playing with broke last night while we were driving to meet friends for a picnic dinner and playtime for the kids. It’s the cheap kind of printed flag that you get at parades and we have a bucket full of them at the house. We told Ben that it was broken and that he could get another one when we got back home. Very clearly and very firmly, we then heard Ben say:
“No, buy new!”
Ah, consumerism…
On Friday, we took the boys and cousins Kyle and Ryan Odefey to the Minnesota State Fair for a morning at the “kidway” riding rides and eating fried cheese curds and mini-donuts.
Ben showed no signs of slowing down this afternoon after church (he normally naps), so we drove over to Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan. The “Voyageur Trek” walk around Jensen Lake is a little over two miles and gave the boys lots of chances to explore and look at things while getting some fresh air. Hopefully they’ll sleep and sleep and sleep tonight!
During the hike, we stopped at a small picnic area. Ben found a modest-sized boulder to climb on and posed for a few photos. He can be quite the ham for the camera when he wants to … say “cheese”! We initially left to continue on, but Ben ran back to the rock saying, “more cheese! more cheese!” And then, just as fast, he was interested in something else… *shrug*
Sam is definitely showing a knack for building things and coming up with his own approach to the world. This particular setup is his second version of an exercise bicycle - he used toys under the training wheels in the first go-around.
Katie took Sam and Ben to the Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum in St. Paul for a “field trip” excursion. We’ll have to go again because Sam came home itching to replace all his toy Thomas trains with real model ones. I don’t think we’re quite ready for that… though I seem to recall my dad having a few trains set up in Alaska at one point in time — it must be genetic!
After watching the model trains, the nearby tracks held real boxcars to investigate. Yes, the boys are getting big, but the train car is BIGGER!
Katie, Sam and Ben finished the trip with a stop at the St. Paul Cathedral and worked off any remaining energy by running the steps to the entrance. Do I hear the theme from “Rocky” in the background?
FYI: see the Model Railroad Museum website for more amazing photos of their track layouts and accessories.
Cindy took Sam and Ben to the Dakota County Fair in Farmington as a “warm up” for the State Fair later this month. They went with good friends from church, Jennifer and her girls, Coco and Mimi.
