Gymnastic Pictures

Maren has traded ballet for gymnastics this year, and Brendan is along for the ride. Recently after practice, the head coach for the gym noticed Maren climbed up a half wall. In broken English, he told me to have her sign up for the team practices (which are 4-6 hours per week). Although we are very flattered, we'll be sticking to her fun practices for now.

My Baby Boy is a Second Grader!

Here is Connor's fall school picture. He is now a second grader. I can't believe it. I was just reminiscing with my cousin about when Connor was a baby. It seems like just yesterday. I know that I will soon blink and he will be a teenager. I'm already worried about the girls calling!

Orlando Trip

We had a wonderful time in Orlando. We pretty much packed in as much as we could. We hit Magic Kingdom on Sunday, Epcot on Monday, rested/swam/shows on Tuesday, Sea World/Fishing on Wednesday, Islands of Adventure (at Universal Studios) on Thursday and Animal Kingdom on Friday.

Here are our favorites:
Connor-the orange Misson Space ride at Epcot
Maren-playing with Dad.
Brendan-buying toys with Dad and playing with Dad.
Louise-getting all the princesses autographs with Maren and riding roller coasters with Connor at Islands of Adventure (Incredible Hulk, Dueling Dragons (red/fire and blue/ice), Spiderman ride and Dr. Doom's Fear Fall. And I didn't even get motion sickness!
Bret-Laser/firework show at Epcot

It was a little hard because Brendan was too short to ride most rides, but he was usually happy going to buy his toys for the day with Dad. We were all very thankful to my mom, Ellyn, for this trip of a lifetime. I have already thought about our next trip. I'll have to check to see if Bret's up for it.

Enjoy the pictures!

The kids at Magic Kingdom Indy Speedway.

The kids meeting Mickey Mouse in ToonTown at Magic Kingdom.

Maren meeting Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty, her favorite princess).

The kids with Grandma Ellyn at Magic Kingdom.

The kids with Princess Jasmine at Cinderella's Royal Table Lunch at Magic Kingdom.

Brendan got a kiss from Princess Aurora at our lunch.

Maren atop the Ariel statue at Magic Kingdom.
She climbed it while we were waiting to meet Ariel and get her autograph.

Maren with the "real" Princess Ariel.

Maren and Grandma relaxing on the lanai.

Brendan at the pool in our lanai.

Connor in the pool.

Brendan, Maren and Connor in Bruce's jaws (from Nemo) at Epcot.

Brendan and Maren with Dopey and Snow White in Germany at the World Showcase in Epcot. After getting the other princess autographs at Magic Kingdom the day before, Maren was only missing Snow White. Bret went with the kids and were the last ones to see Snow White (what great luck!). Brendan got another kiss on the cheek; this time from Snow White.

Feeding the sting rays at Sea World.

The Shamu show at Sea World--just before we got soaked by their splashes.

Maren, Connor, Grandma and Bret riding Ripsaw Falls at Islands of Adventure.

After the ride, SOAKING WET!

The kids slinging webs with Spiderman at Islands of Adventure.

Connor and Maren at the Boneyard in Dinoland at Animal Kingdom.
Connor is holding "Diney", which he won there.

Maren and Bret on our "safari" at Animal Kingdom.

We Have An Address!

Well, even if the construction is not moving forward, we have an address:

5486 N Tischer Road
Duluth, MN 55804

We're redesigning (for the 3rd time) to get the costs down. Amazingly, Bret and I are very at ease with this. We certainly don't want a house that is too big to clean and be house poor! We'll know more after vacation.

WDW here we come!

Put the Brakes On!

So, disappointingly, the budget for our design has come in WAY over budget and we've put the brakes on. We are trying to decide what to do. I have let go of getting it started this fall and this has created a great relief of stress. Bret is still holding on to hope. We're headed to Walt Disney World this Saturday for a fun filled week. We'll tackle this when we get home.