Most evenings in March found Matt and I in heated battle...we have 2 new board games that we are really enjoying. The kids have been learning to play as well, although the competition is a little different when they're playing. Our new games are Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne. We think these are going to be great games to take with us to Bearskin this summer! We've been accused of being game-geeks but we're having fun and since I can even occasionally beat Matt, we keep on playing.
I spent several days helping Clara's class at school this month. They had an economics unit that included bartering/trading and selling goods or services. Wednesday the 26th was their store day. Most students had created a product (I helped a lot of girls with their beaded bracelets!) and all of the 3rd graders set up a store for the 2nd graders to come to. Everyone was given play money and they started shopping! There were bookmarks, pet rocks, sock buddies, face painting and nail stations. In our opinion (of course) the best booth was Clara's! She made little fleece sleeping bags for Webkinz animals. The 2nd graders came to shop in 2 shifts and she only had 4 (of 42) sleeping bags left by the time the 2nd group came to shop! She has had many requests for more. She showed great thinking skills when she was planning her shop...telling me I needed to get some camoflauge fabric for any boys who might want one! She was right...the boys AND the girls loved them.
Matt and I were able to take a short, one-night getaway to southern Indiana and were glad to have a little quiet for the day :o) It's been quite a while since we've spent any time away from the kids, and so we're planning another weekend away in May...more on that next time.
We FINALLY found the Wii that we had promised the kids at Christmas time. As a family, we pooled all of our Christmas money and decided to buy a Wii. We had no idea it would be 3 months before we found one! We've been having lots of fun with, and arguments over, the Wii.
March ended with a trip to Minnesota for Spring Break. It was just a long weekend, but we had a great time. We drove to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin to see my brother Brian and his wife Courtney. We started with a trip to Olson's Ice Cream shop, with some yummy homemade ice cream. We decided to order sandwiches first...we sat, and sat, spilled some drinks, yelled at the kids, and still our sandwiches hadn't arrived. I made the comment that it was taking so long that they must be baking the bread. About 2 minutes later, and I am NOT joking, the cashier came out to our table to apologize for it taking so long. She said that they had to bake bread for the sandwiches!! As if that wasn't bad enough, when we got up to the counter to order, we had asked what came on the turkey subs. She said: "cheese, tomato, mayo and lettuce." These were for the kids, so we asked for them plain--just turkey and cheese. When the subs (on freshly baked bread) finally arrived at our table, the kids' subs had mayo on them!! We tried to see if we could salvage the situation, but there was just so much and our kids won't touch mayo, so we had to ask them to bring new sandwiches. A minute later the gal from the kitchen came out with our ticket and asked what the problem was--it said "turkey and cheese sub plain." She looked confused as to why we were complaining. Matt politely informed her that the subs had mayo and we had asked for them plain. She looked at him and said, "well, the bread comes with mayo." Are you kidding me? Who ever heard of such a thing!?! We need to make sure that the bread is plain, too? It all ended well (and the ice cream WAS fabulous), but I guess we will never again assume that ordering a plain turkey and cheese sandwich will have JUST turkey and cheese on it! :o)
After the ice cream shop we went on the Leinenkugel Brewery tour (they are based in Chippewa Falls). This might not seem like the ideal place to take your young children on a vacation, but it was very interesting and, as Matt would say, "it's Wisconsin! What else is there besides cheese and beer?" I'm not really a beer person, but you get 2 samples and I liked what I tried. I know that sometime later this picture will come back to haunt me, so I'm just going to go ahead and post it now (Clara took this with her camera and waited for just the right moment to catch Mom in the act!)
The weather was pretty nice that day, so for supper Brian grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and we roasted marshmallows around the fire pit.
After our visit with Brian and Courtney, we headed to the Twin Cities for a couple of days. It was great to be back to visit Wooddale, and we were able to see a few friends there. The church service was awesome...even though we felt quite conspicuous sitting with all four kids right under the huge screen (that's what you get for forgetting your cell phone under your brother's couch, making your hubby turn around to get it, which results in being 15 minutes late for an already packed service!) After church we went out for lunch at our very most favorite Mexican restaurant in the whole world--El Loro!!!!!! We were greeted warmly by our favorite waiter, Martin, and Zane even got a hug :o) The Swan family joined us for lunch and it was great to catch up with them.
After a fruitful stop at the Lands' End Inlet (with many great bargains to be found!), we headed to Apple Valley.
Our former neighbors, the Franciscos, came to the hotel and we had a great visit. The kids swam for a while and then we headed over to Old Chicago for dinner. The kids were so happy to see Beatriz and Troy again. It was amazing how much older all of the kids' friends look--and we've only been gone 9 months! It was a great visit and we hope the Franciscos can come visit us in Indiana sometime, too!
Monday was CRAZY!! We knew there was a chance of snow, but we honestly weren't expecting the almost-blizzard that came through. I think we saw more snowfall on Monday than we saw all winter in Indiana. Millie spent Monday playing with her good friend (really the first friend she ever had!) Mykaela. We were thankful that it worked out for them to play--Millie has been asking to play with Mykaela for about the last 3 months. Quinn, Clara and I spent a couple of hours at Highland Elementary (their old school) where I started to fill out a volunteer nametag until I realized I was just there as a visitor. Quinn and Clara each had a special "lunch date" with their teachers from last year (and even got to say hi to teachers from the years before that). There was inside recess because of the wet snow, so they also walked around to the 3rd and 4th grade classes and said hi to old friends. Matt and Zane went to check out the new Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America. Dinner with the Ashley family was great...and Matt enjoyed a game of basketball Monday night with the old early morning Y guys.
By Tuesday the snow was over, roads were plowed, and we headed home (of course, after a quick stop at our favorite PDQ for gas, coffee and a scone...and a drive-by of the house on Ebony Ln. so Clara could get a picture for her scrapbook.) We had a great drive home and made it back in a Brown Family record 10 hours!
I think that about does it for March. Now it's April and the sun is out today, which makes us anxious for spring!! We hope you are all doing well and we love to hear from you!
PS--Quinn has a YouTube video! (Clara will have one soon) It's really short, but you have to use this link to get to it and you can't post comments there...if you see it and want to send him a message, his email address is quinn@indybrowns.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment