Memorial Day weekend

We had a great holiday weekend, but I was a total slacker and barely took any pictures.  Sorry!  You'll have to suffer with my descriptions instead.

Friday, the girls were off school, so I took them to the zoo.  We also stopped at a historic church (National Shrine of the Little Flower) and an awesome playground on the way home.  Friday night, we went downtown and bought Katie a new bike!  It is white and turquoise, and has adult-sized tires (26") but a smaller frame.  At first it looked huge on her, but now it looks so natural.

Saturday was home & garden day.  We got some compost, I planted almost all of our annuals, I mowed the lawn, and Chris re-graded and landscaped around the pond and waterfall.  Chris broke out the smoker again and smoked two huge pork butts for pulled pork.  It smelled amazing!  Katie & I went on a shopping date to Meijers & Sam's to get groceries and prep for our BBQ!

Also on Saturday, Chris and I were treated to lunch by the girls.  They decided to open a diner in our house.  They made up open/closed signs, had a menu, had assigned duties, and had a tip jar.  I ordered iced tea, PBJ waffles, and ramen noodles (they were realllllly pushing the ramen noodles, so they could have some).  They seated me at the best table in the diner, a window seat.  They even brought me a coloring page and colored pencils so I wouldn't be bored while waiting for the chefs to cook my meal!

Chris was also pressured into ordering ramen noodles, as well as the pickle/pepper/olive tray.

The diner staff are great cooks, but not so good at cleanup yet!  They got nice tips anyways.

Jessi passed out while reading a book, at around 5pm.  This time, she didn't wake up for dinner!  Chris moved her into her bed, and she slept soundly all night long.

Sunday was a little bit of everything.  We went to church.  Then we biked to Bloomer Park and had Megan practice without training wheels in the big parking lots there.  (I drove the van to deliver her bike)  In the afternoon, I took the girls to Spencer Park - aka "the beach" - and we did our first swimming of the season there.  Brrr, the water was only 62 degrees!  Chris ran the 4 miles to meet us there, and then ran home.  He is crazy sometimes!  Then we had a BBQ at our house with our friends: pulled pork sandwiches, black bean burgers, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, cookies, yum!  A round of thunderstorms rolled through right at dinnertime, so we had to eat in the house.  But after the rain, the kids ran out to plan in the mud, and the boys improvised a slip-n-slide by sliding down the hill in our back yard.  They were a MESS.  I'm glad the girls just watched.  They were muddy enough from running around the yard!

Monday was also fun.  We set out on an early bike ride...not expecting it to take several hours!  We biked to the Clinton River Trail, and did a 3 mile loop to the east.  Then we remembered about the parade, and decided to take it a mile or two to the west.  We missed the parade, but made it for the Memorial Day service/speakers at the Veterans' Park.  Then we biked home, up the big hill, but right before we got to our subdivision, Megan mentioned wanting to go to DQ.  That sure sounded good, so we coasted down the other side of the big hill, into downtown Rochester, and got treats.  Before lunch!  Then we biked home.  Chris' GPS said we biked 11.5 miles!!  Not bad for Katie's first big ride!

After biking, we had lunch, and lounged on the couch for a few hours.  Then we headed back out into the 90 degree heat and sunshine...first to the cemetery to plant Sarah's flowers, and then to the pool!  The water felt awesome!  We saw plenty of friends there, too.  This is going to be a fun summer of swimming!  After showers, we went to Penn Station to pick up grilled subs, and then to the park for a picnic dinner.

We were all thoroughly exhausted!!

Katie's pioneer field trip

You know how much Katie loves all things pioneer, right?  She has been looking forward to the field trip to the Troy Historical Museum all year long!  I had Chris take the day off work and take care of Megan and Jessica, so that I could be a driver and chaperone on this field trip.  Katie & I had our cute pioneer clothes all ready!

At the museum, the kids got to go into several buildings and learn about life in Troy in 1877.  The first stop was a log cabin.  The kids learned about cooking, cleaning, beds, gardens, water, and much more.  They also got to make butter from cream, and ate it on rolls, right in the log cabin!

The next stop was the old Troy city hall/meeting place.  The kids learned about candles, and got to make their own beeswax candles.

Then we had lunch outside.  All the kids brought their lunch in baskets or in hankerchiefs, and they were supposed to minimize things like ziplocs & plastic packages.  Most kids just brought "regular" lunches, but Katie & I went all out and brought authentic pioneer foods - smoked salmon, bread, cheese, and carrots, all wrapped in wax paper, and canned pears in a small canning jar.

After lunch, her class went to the one room schoolhouse.  This was their favorite part!  They had to take on the name on the desk where they were seated, and they had to follow 1877 schoolhouse rules, like asking permission to speak.  If they were noisy, the punishment would be to sit with the boys.  If they dropped a book, they would be called to the front of the room and forced to hold a book in each hand out at their sides for 30 minutes!  If they chewed gum, they would have to stand with their nose on the chalkboard for 30 minutes!  The kids loved it!  They did do some real work, too, they read from a reproduction reader, and did math problems from a reproduction math book.  The kids learned a lot about what it was like to be in a one room schoolhouse.

Class picture in front of the schoolhouse.

Then we came back to the classroom to do more projects - calligraphy with quill pens, sillouettes (sp?), writing in a homemade journal, dying wool yarn with onion peels, etc.

It was an awesome day, and I'm so lucky to have gotten to tag along!

Another fun week

We had another fun and busy week last week.  So busy, in fact, that I have to separate all the pics into several posts!!

Chris tested out our "new" smoker (thanks, Dad!) by making delicious smoked salmon.

Megan's whole grade held the annual kindergarten AlphaFriends Parade on Monday.  Each child was assigned to a letter of the alphabet, and then got to dress up as that alphafriend and/or as something that starts with that letter.  Megan was Y - Yetta Yo-Yo.  All 110+ kids paraded in and out of every single room of the school to show off their costumes, and then paraded out onto the playground blacktop for a presentation.

See Megan, in pale yellow?

Each class sang & danced to an alphabet song.  Here's Megan's class (only 11 kids!).

The best part of the parade is the picnic afterwards!!  Each child brought a plate of food that begins with their chosen letter (we brought yogurt), so there was a LOT of food to enjoy!  Here's Megan showing off an apricot smile.

On Thursday, Jessica had her last day of preschool for the year.  The kids sang us several songs, and then received their portfolio of the cutest pictures and projects from the whole school year.  We also celebrated all of the summer birthdays on this day (Jessi included).

Jessica with her teacher and her diploma!

Jessi loves her pushup popsicle!  We had a healthy treat of Oreos & pushups right before lunch!

I'll save Katie's field trip for its own post...

Race for the Cure

Today was the Detroit Komen Race for the Cure, and all five of us participated this year!  Chris ran the 5K, and us girls walked the 5K.  Chrysler had a team this year, so we got nifty "Imported from Detroit" t-shirts to wear at the walk.  Tons of people commented on our shirts - they are a hot commodity around here!  (We also got the cute pink ribbon t-shirts for registering for the race).  The weather was perfect, and we had a wonderful time!

Girls before the race.  They thought of wearing pink shorts and pink frou-frou in their hair, to go with the pink breast cancer theme!

Three little walkers, among 40,000+ others!

We all finished!

 After the race, we decided to take advantage of the nice day in downtown Detroit.  We picked up some shrimp dinners and ventured over to Belle Isle for a picnic lunch and a walk along the Detroit River.

Girls with Detroit skyline behind them.

We also walked through the Great Lakes shipping museum again, since they liked it so much the last time.

Everyone napped the whole way home, except me, the driver, of course!  Once we got home, we went back outside to enjoy the beautiful day, and the girls helped us wash the van and car.  They LOVE wearing their bathing suits to play outside, and this is the first time they'd gotten to do it so far this year.

I think Jessi is the project manager at this point.

Bathing beauties

We managed to cram more fun into our day, too!  We picked up a Kruse & Muer pizza and enjoyed a picnic dinner at the duck park.  We walked around the park, played at the playground, and walked on the Paint Creek Trail.  And, since we were already downtown, we figured we might as well walk to DQ!  (You're not surprised, are you??)

We love summer weather, and we hope it sticks around!

Busy Week!

Last week was chock full of special school activities!  On Monday, Megan's kindergarten class held a play/performance of the book "The Very Busy Spider," by Eric Carle.  The kids made their own artwork to represent their character, and they each had a line or two to say.

Megan the owl.  "Whooo, whooo built this beautiful web?"

On Tuesday, Katie's grade had their Art & Music Night.  We started off with music - there was singing, dancing, and recorder-playing!

See Katie in the choir, wearing the turquoise-flowered dress?

Katie playing the recorder, one of three songs she played!

Katie showing off her artwork.

On Thursday, Jessica's preschool class took a field trip to a farm.  The field trip was in the morning, so Megan got to tag along, too!

Jessi petting a baby duck.

Jessi milking a cow!

Megan the bunny whisperer.  The bunnies ran away from the other kids/moms, but Megan knew just how to quietly pick them up and snuggle them!

I'll spare you the zillions of other pictures - the girls got to hold or pet baby ducks, chickens, piglets, lambs, goats, cows, etc.  And they got to visit the horses and mommy cows, and we went on a hay ride through the woods and around the farm.  It was a fun field trip!

Family Happenings

I was going to post pics from the latest school events (Megan's play and Katie's art & music night), but I'm too tired to fight with the pictures tonight.  So I'll just write about two big pieces of news that I don't think most of you know!!  They are not secrets, we just haven't had an opportunity to talk to you about either of them yet.

(1) Chris is on the Holy Family school board!  He is our parish representative (an appointed position).  He is really excited...but I am nervous because he is already very active in the Dads' Club, both as a volunteer for most events, and as the VP for the next two years.  I don't know how he will fit in the additional meetings, but I do know that he will be great in both organizations.  It's really a great honor that our priest asked him, and the principal is very excited to have him on the school board.

(2) Katie was recently diagnosed with mild dyslexia, and now sees a tutor twice a week for specialized phonics/reading/spelling help.  We have had lots of warning signs over the years, mostly that she despises reading, and can't sound out new or unfamiliar words well at all.  This spring we had her evaluated, and found that she is truly "gifted" and super intelligent, and that reading is her only low point.  They did a second evaluation and found that she has mild dyslexia.  She can read at or above grade level, but she depends heavily on context, not on deciphering word sounds.  So this tutor is starting from scratch with the basics of phonics and the rules of English.  This program usually takes 12-18 months to complete, but Katie is flying through it so far, so it might be a bit shorter.  We'll stick with the tutor as much as we can this summer, to keep things consistent for Katie.  The tutor is great, she uses the best program available, and comes highly recommended from one of Katie's classmates, so we are confident that we found the right person/program to help!

Another funny story

Chris wanted me to post another funny story, courtesy of Jessica, of course.  We were packing up our swimming things for our trip to Frankenmuth.  I asked all the girls to find their flip flops.

Jessica: I don't got any flip flops.

Chris, gently correcting her: I don't HAVE any flip flops.

Jessica, dejectedly: Neither do I.

Choir Field Trip to Frankenmuth

This past weekend we went to Frankenmuth for the Children's Choir field trip and final performance.  The kids sang at St. Christopher's Church in Bridgeport at the Sat. afternoon mass.  They did a wonderful job, as always.

Katie's in orange, and Megan's in gray.

Then the whole group went to Zehnder's for the famous chicken dinners - all 70 of us!  It was a lonnnng dinner, and all the kids were antsy to get back to the hotel waterpark!  We finally got back around 8pm, and let the girls swim and play til it closed at 10pm.

Sunday morning we went straight back to the waterpark for a few more hours of fun.  I was amazed at how brave the girls were - all three went on the big water slides that were 3 or 4 stories tall!  Jessi did the small and medium slides, too.  She was determined to keep up with Katie & Megan and their friends.  It was such fun to be with friends and aquaintances outside of church.  It was good for the girls to see their choir director in his swim trunks (not a suit, like usual), flying out the end of the big water slides, laughing his head off!

Jessi the brave.

Megan and Katie on the little slides.

Katie with Jessi on the lazy river.

Megan on the lazy river.

Katie & her friend after zooming out of the big water slide.

Jessi & Megan on the teeter totter.

Then we had to check out of the hotel, and we ate some much-needed lunch.  We walked over to Bronner's after lunch.  You can't go to Frankenmuth without stopping at Bronner's!

Jessi loves the baby Jesus.

Megan's favorite part of Bronner's is this Halloween display.  Really!

I jokingly told Jessi to count the Santas...and she did!!  It was so funny to watch!!

Girls by Santa at the exit.

Then we decided to drive and walk across the wooden bridge.  Can you believe Chris has never been on this bridge??  It was soooooo cold for our short walk - 40 and misting and gusting wind.  We were all freezing after just a few minutes.  What happened to our 80's??



We got home around 3pm, with plenty of time to unpack, make dinner, and get ready for a super busy week of school activities.  It was a great trip, and we look forward to our next visit to the waterpark!!

Funny story

A recap of one of this morning's breakfast conversations:

Megan: One time when Grandpa was here, he dropped the milk!  It spilled all over the place!

Chris: Well, now we know where you get it from.  (jokingly referring to her tendancy to spill drinks)

Jessica: Cows.  Milk comes from cows.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Family pic

I forgot to add this family picture we took tonight before our nightly walk.  Every year we try to snap a pic of all of us in front of the blooming crabapple tree.  It is fun to see the girls grow!  Last year we took this picture before Megan's birthday in late April.  This year, it's been such a cool spring that the tree didn't bloom til almost mid-May.  But it's beautiful, as always.

Grandparents' Day

Today was Grandparents' Day at Katie & Megan's school.  Dad Christensen took the day off work to come to the celebration and had a really fun day with the girls!



Thursday night we went to DQ.  It's a required stop when you come visit us!



Friday morning, Dad took the girls to school.

Megan at her seat in her kindergarten classroom.

Megan showing off the pictures of her grandparents.  They're famous!

Grandpa with his cutie girls.

Girls at Katie's desk.

Katie was chosen to bring up the gifts at mass.

He toured the girls' classrooms, and then went to mass with Megan.  Katie had to sit with her 3rd grade class because they had leadership in the mass, but they all wound up sitting near each other.  The girls serenaded Grandpa with a cute song (so I hear).

After the celebration, Dad brought Megan home for an hour before afternoon kindergarten started.  We took a trip to the compost pile to load up his pickup and trailer.  The compost place is always an adventure!  Then we had a quick lunch together before I had to dash off to school with the girls.  I wish we could have had more time together, but it was a fun visit!