Visiting Granny B

Daddy was home and not on call this weekend, so we all hopped in the car and headed to La Crosse, Wisconsin, to visit our Granny B. We had a nice car ride over and got to Granny's at lunch time. Daddy unloaded the half of the house that we had packed and brought with us for the two nights we were staying while mommy whipped together some sandwiches and chips for lunch.

The girls spent the afternoon playing in Granny's apartment and having Granny read books to them. They did wonderfully sleeping on the floor in the bedroom on their "ready beds".

Friday morning after breakfast we all hopped in the car and headed to Holmen, Wisconsin, a small town just 20 miles or so away from La Crosse. We went there to see the house that mommy lived in until the age of 9. The neighborhood that once seemed so enormous to me as a child was suddenly rather miniature looking as mommy and the girls stood in the street in front of my childhood home. We went up the door to ask permission to take a picture of the girls standing in front of a maple tree that Grandpa had planted in the yard when we first moved in back in 1971. There is a picture of mommy and Aunt Carrie standing in front of this small tree many years ago and we wanted to get a picture of the girls standing in front it ... now the original picture is missing ... I will post it when I find it again. So, after permission, we positioned the girls in front this now gigantic tree and it is amazing the difference.

After mommy's trip down memory lane, we drove back to La Crosse and had lunch at the infamous Coney Island to have coney dogs. Of course, Miss Alyssa only wanted french fries, but mommy is proud to announce the Miss Madison finished off TWO coney dogs with mustard, hold the onions and chili. Granny B was so proud ... definitely a part of mommy's side of the family!!

Our last stop of the afternoon was for homemade ice cream at a La Crosse landmark, The Pearl ... a must stop whenever we visit La Crosse.

Granny was tired from all the walking and decided to wait in the car, but the weather was so nice, that while daddy ordered the ice cream, mommy pulled a sidewalk table up to the car next to Granny so she was sitting with us anyway while we had our treat.

We headed back to Granny's for the rest of the day and had a wonderful visit. We headed back home early Saturday morning, because daddy had a haircut that afternoon in Minneapolis. We can't wait for our next chance to visit our beloved Granny B!!!

Love & Hugs

Big Girl Bikes!!!!

We all went shopping today and returned home with big girl bikes for the girls! They were both super excited with their new bikes and thought it was pretty cool that mommy found license plates with their names on them to fasten to them.






Alyssa got the hang of pedaling within a few minutes. We need to practice steering and braking. Madison didn't come by this naturally and was frustrated with a few minutes. She kept braking instead of pedaling. The bike is a bit big for her, but the size smaller wasn't going to last too long. We are sure with a bit more practice she will be chasing after her sister before we know it!!!

Enjoying the 65 degrees F!!!!! Bring on Spring!!!!

Today was beautiful out and when we returned home from school and after our naps, we spent the afternoon outside playing ...








Enjoying the water table:




Enjoying the sandbox:





Enjoying supper outdoors:





Can you tell we have been suffering from cabin fever over the winter??!!!

Love & Hugs-
Amy

Happy 3rd Birthday Christian!!!

Today we headed over to Aunt Tammy's to help Christian celebrate his 3rd birthday, Go Diego Go style!!!

We arrived nice and early, around 9:30 a.m. The girls and Christian had fun playing with toys and balloons with only a few little tussles over toys between them. After playing for a while, Aunt Tammy started the birthday fun with a game she made up called "Animal Rescue". The kids were each given a picture of a specific animal which was hidden in the boys bedroom. Once they were given the picture, they crawled through a tunnel, went through some jungle paper at the doorway and over another obstacle and then search the room to find their animal. Once the animal was found, they returned through the obstacle course having rescued the critter!! The kids loved it and had lots of fun.

After some more playtime, we all settled in to enjoy some tacos for lunch followed by cake and ice cream!! Yummy!!!

Finally we all watched Christian open his presents and the kids had fun playing with all the new stuff as well some old favorites. It was a fun morning and afternoon spent with the kids. It will be even more fun next year when "Baby Heath" is old enough to join the rest of the kids.

Happy Birthday Christian!!!

Love & Hugs -

Amy

A Visit To The Minnesota Zoo

The weather hit nearly 50 degrees F here and so mommy and the girls checked out free Minnesota Explorer passes from the library to get into the zoo for free and off we went. Daddy was in his yearly training for the weekend and taking his check ride for his license, so we were on our own.

The first thing we did when we arrived was sit and watch the snow monkeys and their little babies playing in the sun. The girls just loved watching the little monkeys chase each other. They thought it was fun that they were playing "tag" with each other.

After watching the monkeys, we stopped by the explorer room where the girls dressed up like different animals (Madison was a zebra and Alyssa a butterfly). We played for a while at the vet station and then did some crayon rub drawings of different animals found at the zoo.

Next, we headed to Discovery Bay and spent a lot of time watching the sharks, dolphins and other fish. The girls loved the extra large windows to see the fish through and enjoyed ducking into the coves that allowed the fish to swim over their heads.

We decided to take a little break and enjoy some cheese popcorn, water and a much needed cafe mocha for mommy.

After our little snack break, we headed over the monorail and took an overhead train ride through the 180 acres of zoo. We got to view camels, yak, buffalo, wolves, antelope and other large outdoor animals this way and the girls loved riding the train and moving from side to side to look out the different widows.

Following the train ride we headed to the tropical indoor trails and had lots of fun looking for all the animals in the natural settings. Alyssa's favorite animal of the day was the red panda which was sleeping in a tree and Madison loved the kimono dragon or as she calls it a very big Iguana!!!

The last thing we did was walk along the Minnesota trail which was outdoors. We got to see a bald eagle at feeding time which was sort of complicated to explain to the girls, why the thing he was eating had a tail like Ratatouille does ... ugg.

All went well, until mommy flatten Madison's finger in the lynx embosser at the press station ... so we were off to the medics office for ice, a band-aid and a lollipop. Hopefully she will not lose the fingernail ...

We headed our morning with lunch at Taco Bell and a long car ride home. It was a good way to kick off spring ... other than the finger incident ...

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Speech Therapy Update ... We have a Graduate!!!

I am pleased to announce that Miss Alyssa graduated from speech therapy last Thursday!! Mrs. Buthe (above) had both Alyssa and Madison in that day for testing to see how they were doing compared to the average three year old. Madison was ranked above average for her age and Alyssa was at the lower limit of average which is a remarkable improvement for both girls after a year of speech services. Mrs. Buthe is confident that the issues that still remain for Alyssa are typical for the average three year old and that she will develop these sounds on her own. We will be returning in the fall with the next school year for retesting on both girls to check them at the four year old level. If, at that time, there are concerns, we will resume additional therapy at that point, but for now, we now have two mornings a week at our disposal for other activities!!

The girls and mommy stopped by Mrs. Buthe's office at the elementary school after our morning family class to drop off a thank you card and some sticker books and puzzles for use in her therapy office and to fulfill part of her teacher wish list for her classroom.

We can't thank Mrs. Buthe enough for the way she touched Alyssa, Madison and our entire family.

Love & Hugs -

Amy

Lunch with Granny M

Today the girls and I headed over for a morning visit with Granny M. We had a wonderful time coloring and playing puzzle books while we were there. Granny even took us all out to lunch at the local golf course, which was yummy.

After we finished eating and fortunately paid the bill, Miss Madison left quite an impression on the rest of the dinners as she through a full bore temper tantrum on our way out the door. She continued to scream and cry even after we were driving away in the car until mommy rolled her window down and hit her with a blast of cold Minnesota air ... that actually worked. However, with my verbal warning to Madison that if she didn't stop screaming I would open the window, her sister promptly yelled, "Mommy don't throw my sister out the window, I love her." Umm, who said anything about throwing her out the window, although it sounded good at the time ...

Things settled back down and we stayed with Granny for a little longer before heading back home for naps ... or at least mommy was hoping for naps ... I will not hold my breath.

Love & Hugs -

Amy

A Conversation With Alyssa

Alyssa: Did you bring me here?

Mommy: Yes I brought you home.

Alyssa: Where did I come from?

Mommy: From mommy and daddy and you grew in my tummy.

Alyssa: And then I popped out?

Mommy: Yes, then you popped out.

Alyssa: I want to go back in there.

Mommy: You can't because you are too big now.

Alyssa: I want to try ... mommy open your mouth ...

Now Back To Our Regular Blogging ... Our First Visit To The Dentist

Last Friday, February 27th, the girls had their very first dentist check up, teeth cleaning, flossing and fluoride treatment. Mommy and daddy were a little worried about how this visit would go over with the girls ... but we were pleasantly surprised. I have to thank our family practice physician, Dr. Maus, for leaving such a good impression on the girls regarding doctors, they love him and they want to visit him ... yes, even despite the shots!

The night before the big day mommy read a Sesame Street pop-up book about Elmo and the other monsters visiting the dentist. It included a toothbrush to brush a pop-up monsters teeth and let us help the monsters go through all steps of taking care of their teeth ... it was hit. Mommy explained to the girls that the next morning we would be going to see a new doctor, a special doctor who will take care of their teeth, just like Dr. Maus takes care of their bodies. Again, nothing but excitement about the appointments.

We arrived and this office is a pediatric dental office so everything is at their level and geared with children in mind. The girls had exam chairs right next to each other and each had their very own hygienist who took the time to show each girl all the special tools and what function they performed.

They got to chose a new toothbrush, which was used during the exam. Both of the girls opted for the bubble gum fluoride treatment and tooth polish. They loved wearing the "sun glasses" and laying on the dental chair for the exam. They even tolerated the flossing with nothing but an open mouth and a smile. After the hygienists were finished, the dentist came in and introduced himself to the girls as "Dr. Hank". He chatted with both girls and checked their teeth ... NO CAVITIES ... mommy and daddy were thrilled.

Dr. Hank asked Alyssa how old she was and she replied "three" and then Dr. Hank asked Alyssa how she was doing and she said "good".Madison even got to show off her comedic side when it was her turn. Dr. Hank asked Madison how old she was and she replied "fine". Dr. Hank asked again, how are old are you and she once again replied "fine." Thinking she was confused on the question, Dr. Hank then asked her, how are you today ... to which she replied "three" with a big smile. Dr. Hank and the hygienists all thought she was quite a little clown.

Dr. Hank let each girl chose a treasure from the toy chest ... Alyssa chose a princess mirror and comb and Madison chose a stretchy pink lizard or as Madison calls it her "Aguana".

Finally each girl posed for a picture with Dr. Hank and we just received them and a thank you cards in the mail from Dr. Hank.

We are now flossing their teeth nightly and brushing two times a day and are looking forward to our next visit in six months with Dr. Hank. Mommy and daddy were so proud of the girls, we took them out for lunch and they got new princess magic wands ... mommy is so glad she went with a pediatric dentist as they truly were wonderful with the girls!!

Love & Hugs -

Amy