Svenskarnas Dag

Daddy happen to be home this weekend and it was perfect timing to attend this year's Swedish Day in the park with Svenskarnas Dag at Minnehaha Park.  The girls put on their three crown shirts and mommy put some flowers in their hair and we were off to the park!

The weather worked out pretty good for us, not exceptionally hot, but overcast and a little humid.   While daddy looked for a place to park, mommy took a few minutes to take some photos of the girls by the creek.

We got to the festival in time to see some of the dancing around Maypole.  The girls decided they just wanted to watch the people dance rather than try it themselves.

We took a walk through the food booths and many merchandise booths and while daddy was ordering his Swedish pancakes, the girls waited in line to get their faces painted.  Alyssa opted for a sparkling heart and Madison asked for a Dala horse ... only pink and purple rather than the traditional orange and yellow.

The girls enjoyed a rice krispie treat shaped like Dala horses while daddy enjoyed his pancake.  We even got to listen to the American and Swedish National Anthems sung by a mens' choir.

Before leaving the park, we decided to rent a Surrey take the girls for a bike ride around the park area.  They remember us doing this last summer and were super excited to be able to do this activity again ... mommy and daddy's legs were not so "happy" but we did enjoy ourselves despite the hard work!

We even found a few Svenskarnas Dag princesses while we on our bike ride and they happily stopped to have a picture taken with the girls, who were thrilled!

We finished our day up with a late lunch at Maynard's on Lake Minnetonka, one our favorite summer eating places!

And ... of course ... we fed the ducks/geese too!

Dr. Seuss Visits the Minnesota Zoo and So Do We!

The girls and mommy decided to head over to Apple Valley today after mommy got home from school to check out the Dr. Seuss event at the Minnesota Zoo.   We arrived just before lunch but the girls decided they were not hungry yet, so we opted to check out the Zoo for a bit and then figure out lunch later.

For part of the Dr. Seuss event going on at the Zoo currently, they have placed numerous bronze statues throughout the zoo of the famous story book characters.   The girls had fun trying to find them all ... our first find was the Cat himself!

In addition to the statues, we also found a few "storybook" pages that we could "jump" into for a picture.  The  girls even found their own counterparts, Thing 1 and Thing 2 ... how appropriate!

Before heading out to explore the zoo itself, we were invited to the Dr. Seuss Story Time that was starting in just minutes.  The girls agreed a story would be good and we took some seats for a reading of Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs & Ham ... The Cat in the Hat even sat with us to enjoy the story.  We wasted a few minutes while we were waiting for the story to begin and took a picture of ourselves ...

The girls had a few items of things to do on their own lists ... the playground, the bears, the otters and, of course, the dolphins ... so after story time, we were off on our walk to hit the playground before checking out the bears and otters.  We found a few other statues along the way ...

After playing in the park, we spent some time exploring the bear cave and otter habitat ... Madison had a blast running back and forth in front of the window while an otter swam next to her.  We decided that it was then a good time for a break.  We grabbed an ice cold water and a bag of cheese popcorn and found a nice quiet bench in the shade right next to Mr. Lorax above.   The cheese popcorn got six thumbs up!!

When the all that was left was the unpopped corn kernels, we were off again ... this time heading to the fountains to cool off a little before the dolphin training show.   We had to stop along the way to get a picture with our favorite Dr. Seuss character ... Mr. Grinch!!

Finally we made it to the water fountains ... and boy did we get wet ... well, at least the girls did ...

Our last stop of the day was Discovery Bay to hopefully catch a glimpse of a dolphin and to visit our most favorite sea horses.   We had to take a little time to check out the the tide pool and the girls excitedly tried over and over again to touch a shark or sting ray and finally they both had success!!

We ended our adventure with a viewing of the dolphin training session that included all three of the dolphins located at the zoo ... Alyssa proclaimed that she would like to be a dolphin trainer ... no scratch that ... a unicorn trainer when she is bigger.   We had a great day!!!

The Perfect Princess Tea

Upon arriving home from school today right around lunch time, mommy was asked if the girls could have a tea party outside ... so why not, we have to eat any way right??!!   The girls headed out to the deck with all the stuff they had prepared just in case the party ended up being a go when mommy got home.  

While the girls were busy setting up the party outside, mommy was busy making lunch and tea (pink lemonade) to enjoy at the party.  

Daddy was home and even joined us girls for lunch ... and let me just say that Flynn Rider and Puff the Magic Dragon were very happy to see another boy at the get together!

We received a quick instruction from Alyssa on tea party etiquette which included, most importantly, the holding of your pinky finger up and away from the cup while you drink.

We were honored by the presence of many a Disney movie star and even a few cute little animals ... we had a lovely time and hope to be invited back again soon ... :)

Alyssa Making Good Business For The Tooth Fairy

Mommy was brushing the girls' teeth tonight before bedtime and noticed that Alyssa's second tooth was ready to come out.  The dental floss wasn't popping it out, so I asked her to go in the other room and to try twice to get it out ... a few seconds and a little squeal of joy later ... a happy little girl returned with bloody fingers and the tooth in hand.

So, baby tooth #2 is ready to be added to that big tooth castle in the sky ... let's hope the tooth fairy can make the swap without incident tonight!  

Swing Set One ... Madison Zero ... in other words ... She lost the battle

Today Madison battled a swing set ... although the swing looks unaffected, I cannot say the same for Madison.  She only ate a little bit of dirt after falling from the swing and landing on her face ... *sigh*

And, of course ... one with a smile ...