Happy Halloween

Halloween is here! The whole family got involved.

Anna wanted to be a pink spider. Emily did a great job making the costume.


Laura changed her mind a couple of time, but ended up being a graceful ballerina. She even made the costume herself with clothes from around the house.


Emily as a candy corn witch. It's ok, she's a good witch.


I threw together an Indy costume.

Princess Laura

Not to be outdone, Laura had her photo shoot too. Since she's a princess, she chose to wear all her princess dresses. She helped me pick out and set up the background and was more than willing to ham it up during the shoot.

Laura as Iradessa, the light fairy.


I think this is Ariel.


Laura makes a great Rapunzel, but at least she lets us cut her hair.


Rapunzel giving a kiss.


Laura as Rani, a water fairy.


Strike a pose!


Laura showing off her arm muscles. Flex!


Thanks, Laura, that was fun.

Anna's hat

Anna enjoyed trying on my hat, so naturally I have to take some snapshots.

"My hat now, daddy!"


Don't even think of taking it back.


The fedora / flower combination is a good look.


Usually I see this smirk right before she's going to cause mischief!


Ohhh, The iPad!!!


Laura, let me have a turn!

Up in the Sky

In order to catch some fall colors, we visited the Hyland Hills park in Bloomington. They had an event where they turned on the chairlifts and took you to the top of the hill to get the great fall views.

Laura was SUPER excited to ride 'The Chairlifter'. She wasn't even nervous about flying 20 feet in the air.


Emily and Anna on the chair lifter.


Laura loved watching the trees go under her and see all the kids running down the hills.


Here's our feet dangling above the slopes.


You can see downtown Minneapolis off in the distance. After the chairlifter, the kids played games, looked through telescopes, saw raptors from the nature center, and ate smores right off the campfire.

Haircuts!

Now that it is back to school, we decided to get the girls a haircut. We've had them on the Bumpa haircutting program: twice a year, whether they need it or not.


Laura wanted to keep her hair long... like Rapunzel. So a neat little trim.


The curls are like mine... they do what they do. Any effort to control them is in vain.


Anna wanted her hair short, so we cut off a good 3 inches.


Just enough curl to make for a nice cut.


And still plenty sassy, which fits her personality.


Nice haircut Anna!

A picture is worth 1,000 words

We recently went on a family hike at the nearby Murphy-Hanrehan park. The girls loved hiking through the woods with their trail maps and looking for nature. Here are a couple of shots that I really like.



Except for the mosquito infestation, everyone had a great time.

Grand Marais '11

As if we needed any reminders, Summer is over.

To wrap up each summer for the past 7 years or so, we've gone up to Grand Marais with a group of Emily's extended family. This was the first year Anna has really enjoyed the trip - it shocked me to realize that last year she was not yet 2 and she was just toddling along. Now's she's like unique little person... I guess that makes sense!

Nothing beats rock throwing at the harbor.


The kids enjoyed playing at the beach watching the fog roll in. Laura was intrigued by the notion that we were walking in a cloud. Anna is trying to find the best rocks to try to eat.


The rocky sand is great for making your legs dirty.


Anna is getting really good at charming people. Here she was busy charming all the aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, or any random stranger in the lobby of the hotel.


Laura and her cousins decided the beach would be a great place to sell water. The fee was reasonable: 1 rock.


Anna enjoyed burying things in the sand.


Like her feet.


If Anna is anything, it is enthusiastic... it doesn't matter about what!


Naturally we had to make a few visits to the hotel pool. Here little Auntie Mandi ahem, Anna climbs the steps of the pool.


Laura had a breakthrough swimming on this trip: She's officially a doggie paddler. We forgot her life jacket, but she insisted on swimming by herself and did it. By the end of the trip she was able to paddle across the pool with only a little rest half way through.


One the traditional activities is going up to great uncle Steve's cabin and catching grasshoppers. Here Laura is showing off her latest catch.


We also took the kids out to Artist Point in Grand Marais for a hiking adventure on the rocks. Laura and Anna loved scaling all the rocks and hiking through the forest.


Here Anna takes a moment to ponder the universe.


On the way home we made a quick stop at Gooseberry Falls for one more hiking adventure. Anna was so excited to visit a waterfall. She was only slightly disappointed when she learned a waterfall is NOT the same thing as a waterslide. I was a bit surprised when she insisted on riding down the waterfall until we cleared that up.


One last hike through the rocks and then the drive home. It's been a great summer, and now we look forward to Fall.