go gophers!

The girls continue to make the rounds of the sports stadiums in the metro. (See first Vikings game and first Twins game).

This past Saturday they experienced their first college football game. Little Pie was pretty excited to watch football not on TV. Everyone got decked out in our Golden Gopher best.

It was a big family affair. We met Nana, Papa, Uncle Drew, Eric, Brenda, Magramma, Boompa, Katie, Erin and Cody at the stadium. The girls were pretty impressed everyone was there. 

Magramma, Erin, Cody, Katie

Random guy who ruined the picture, Uncle Drew, Katie, Cody, Boompa, Magramma, Erin

We started by standing under the big jumbo-tron (near the majority of the family's seats). The girls were totally enthralled with the marching bands performance before the game started. However, when they blasted some fireworks as the team ran onto the field, Little Pie suddenly got nervous and scared. She wanted to leave right away even though she was the one that was most excited about the game (she and Rob played catch with her little football before we left for the game and she had to bring the football with her). 

We decided to go find out four seats in the stands to see if that would help her calm down. We got two big buckets of popcorn (which kept Little Bird completely occupied), but it still took Little Pie until almost half time before she stopped plugging her ears in anticipation of more fireworks. 

She finally got comfortable enough to watch the marching band's performance at half time (she plans to play the little drum and Little Bird plans to play the cymbals...help us now!).

After the half time show, we grabbed some ice cream and headed back down to hang out with the rest of the fam.

The newlyweds practicing for their next phase...

The girls claim they had a great time and that they want to go back and watch more football not on the TV. Little Pie even claims her favorite part is the fireworks at the beginning. Right!

Both girls did a great job with the rouser but I never captured it on video. But here is an old favorite of Little Pie singing the rouser way back when.

After the game we went to Brenda and Eric's to continue the fun and celebrate Magramma's birthday.

preschool, day 2

Since day 1 of preschool went so well, I (and the girls) could hardly wait for the second day.

Unfortunately Little Bird came down with a runny nose and cough late yesterday, didn't sleep well all night and missed her second day.

Little Pie was completely fine with going on her own. 

While Rob's job can be challenging in that he travels and puts in a lot of hours, it can also be quite flexible. He took his calls from home this morning so that I didn't have to drag a tired, sad, sick Little Bird with me to drop off Little Pie at school.

The first thing Little Pie said to anyone and everyone she encountered, was Sophie didn't come today because she is too sick. She had to make sure everyone knew Little Bird was missing today.

After drop off, I quickly went to Starbucks to get a much needed latte and a treat for Little Bird. She was quite happy to have something special. 

Before I knew it, it was time to get Little Pie and because Rob had to head into work at this time, Little Bird came along. She sure put on a miserable face and everyone felt so bad for her that she missed school. The teachers made sure to say she was missed that day and I think it made her feel pretty good.

Little Pie was so excited to share that she had Little Bird's project for the day and she informed us that she could work on it at home. 

While I wish the girls would never get sick, I know this won't be the first time one girl goes to school without the other. But I'm certainly proud of both girls for handling the situation so well even in the first week!

first day of preschool

I opened the doors to the girls' rooms at 7:40 this morning. Both of them rolled over and groaned when the light beamed on their faces. At first I thought I had opened the door to the year 2024, but the only reason I knew they were still my sweet three year olds (and not grumpy fifteen year olds), was because when I said happy first day of school!, they jumped right out of bed.

Both of them got dressed as fast as they could and didn't cry and complain when I brushed their hair. They immediately put on their backpacks and went downstairs to the door. 

Wait girls, we have to eat breakfast! And take some first day of school pictures! With reluctance, they sat at the table giggling and munching down their breakfast. 

We snapped a few pictures outside. New mums planted in honor of their first day of school.

But then I realized I had made some signs for them to hold, so we had to start the shoot over.

So excited to get going and losing patience with mom and her camera! Let's get going already!

I didn't sense any nervousness from the girls. On our short drive to preschool, Little Bird decided that when the teacher asked the class to stop what they were doing, she would stop right away (we've been reading It's Time for Preschool).  Little Pie decided that she was going to be polite to the other kids. 

As soon as they climbed out of their car seats, they put on their backpacks and practically pulled me to a run through the parking lot. They were so excited to see where their hooks were and what book cover would be by their hook. Little Pie was hoping and hoping she would get Good Night Moon. 

And guess what she got?

She can't stop looking at it.

Little Bird LOVED that she got Madeline because we have been reading all the Madeline books this summer. 

The girls were so excited to start that I had to follow them into their classroom just to get a goodbye hug. 

While I have been so excited to have a couple of hours to myself two days a week, I didn't really get to do much of what I wanted. I ran to the bank quick, but then came right back to church to help the Sunday School prep team get things together. Before I knew it, I had to go back upstairs to pick up the girls! (I have a feeling I will enjoy Thursday much better). 

The teachers all told me that the girls did great and that they had so much fun. One teacher pointed out to me that both girls were so polite, saying please and thank you when some kids are still learning to do that. She also said that Little Bird kind of acted like a mother hen for the other Sophie in the class. And apparently Little Pie went around saying this is my friend Sophie who also happens to be my sister. Hilarious! 

On the way home the girls told me about the book they read (The Kissing Hand), the game they played during gym time (Duck Duck Grey Duck), the snack they ate (pretzels and cheese) and the craft they made (their own kissing hand). But they were most excited to tell me about the rules they followed. When the teacher says 1, we have to get ready to stop. When she says 2, we stop what we are doing and when she says 3, we put on our listening ears. And we stand in line to use the bathroom, but we have to be quiet. And when it's time for mommys and daddys to pick us up, we stay in our chairs until they come in.

Love my little rule followers and LOVE that they LOVED school!

yum yum honeycrisp

Since Rob was out of town all of last week, we had a very low key weekend. We got a lot of stuff done around the house which feels really good. The girls played outside with the neighbor kids all day, every day. It's great that they have friends right next door that they LOVE to play with. The moms even enjoyed a glass of wine on the deck one night! 

On Monday, we decided we had enough "working" around the house, so we opted to take the girls to Apple Jacks Orchard. We were already out of the Honeycrisp apples Nana got us last week, so Rob was desperate to restock our supply. 

So the day wasn't really an apple orchard-y kind of day what with the temperatures close to 90, but we managed to still have fun. 

Who's taller?

It didn't take either girl long to choose what she wanted painted on her face.

Wow, was this girl ever impressed with her frog.

Of course I'll kiss you!

A slice of watermelon for Little Pie.

After running around a bit, we bought the girls a "ticket" for the cow train.

Perk of a hot summery day: no lines.

Little Bird has a doll named Sadie.

And Little Pie has a doll named Gracie!

They went around a pretty big trail!

Pretty soon we were very sweaty and we were dying to get out of the sun. It was time to pick our apples and head out.

Rob is such a sucker. I would make them walk!

It was getting to be lunch time and we were all dying of thirst, so we stopped at Lake Rebecca Park Reserve. I couldn't remember if there was a play area, but we needed a spot to eat our picnic. We were in luck; there is a great play area that was somewhat in the shade! The girls could have spent the entire day here.

Especially in this little log cabin play house:

The house even has a fire place!

I'm proud to say that Little Bird has become more outgoing when playing with random kids. Little Pie has always gone right up to a kid and introduced herself. Now Little Bird is doing more of that and needing to follow her sister less. It makes me feel good as they start preschool next week where I don't want Little Bird to be overshadowed by her more extroverted sister.

There are some pretty awesome slides too!

Apparently Little Bird made a new friend while coming down the tube slide

You coming Daddy?

Even though the play equipment was somewhat in the shade, we were still dying from the heat. I was ready for some ice cream, so after a quick trip down to the lake we headed home (after getting ice cream, of course).

"Mom, I wish we could have a boat so we could ride a boat in the lake."

"Mom, I wish we had a fishing pole so we could go fishing."

We had a very lovely day, even though it started off rough when we pulled the girls away from playing with their friends to leave for our little family outing. I like long weekends at home; getting things done and having fun helps us recharge and prepare for our new fall schedule.