Emma's Day

Well plans changed for Emma's day. Grandma convinced Emma to go up north Wednesday morning and then go to a waterpark in Brainerd for Emma's Day. Atho they wore Grandma out they had a lot of fun. I stayed home and worked on the dreaded taxes and organizing the house. It was a nice break and the kids enjoyed spending time alone with Grandma and Grandpa Nichols.

Moms Day

Moms day! Yippie. I took the girls to the Como Conservatory for my day. We got a late start as I needed to finish some work stuff for the week. After an great lunch at Red Lobster (grandma's treat!) we made it over to St. Paul. I didn't even think of looking at the hours of operation but they were open shorter during the off season. So arriving at 2pm and closing at 4pm didn't leave much time to see the zoo too! We enjoyed the conservatory tho! I wish I would have brought my second DSLR for Emma to use as she was showing a rare interesting in taking pictures. She wanted to use mine (um no) and conviced Grandma to let her use hers. After more begging from Emma that she must use my camera I allowed her to use it while sitting down! Using this as a teaching lesson tho I told her my camera only shot in manual mode and I would need to teach her how fstops and shutter speed worked. She was a quick learner and took some great shots!

We did see a new part of the conservatory we have never discovered before. The Rainforest as you come in the main doors. We saw all kinds of fish, turtles, birds and even a Two Toed Sloth!

Katelyn's Choice

The girls are on spring break this week so I decided to let the kids have their own day where they could decide what to do. Today was Katelyn's day. She picked going to Nickolodian Universe at the MOA. Emma was so happy Kate choose this activity. Win win for both! I informed Grandma Nichols of our plans and she decided to come down and enjoy the week with us too.

The day didn't start out very well with both girls fighting and arguing. Emma claimed Kate broke her flat iron for her hair by spilling water on it and as a punishment Emma decided Kate needed to do every chore imaginable to make up for it. (which his probably what Emma thinks of me! LOL) To top it off, in the van on the way to the mall Kate was picking on Emma in every way possible. I actually had to stop the van and do the old lecture if you don't behave we will turn around and go home bit. Once at the mall Emma somehow got Katelyn to do the scary big rides. Katelyn is usually very reserved and actually will get those red faced head rushes that are visible as a spectator when riding on a simple swing. But today she was brave and Emma took every advantage. Kate kept saying she was having a blast.. part of it was the undivided attention she received from her older sister. Sadly, Emma discovered she was getting to tall to go on some of the rides. (Her new nickname/signature on facebook and text messages is 5'6!) She was too tall for the big pineapple jumper and the bumper cars!

Nickelodian Universe had a new exhibit called the Butterfly Bay which is an enclosed netted area that is full of live butterflies. We like to go to this kind of exhibit at the state fair every year. The girls just walk around and encourage the butterflies with their finger to let them hold them and sit on their shoulder. At one time Emma had 8 butterflies on her. Grandma had never seen anything like it. They had some really HUGE butterflies too. They were kind of freaky looking when you think about their 3 inch bodies and legs!

Well that was Katelyn's day. We ended it with a stop at Domino's for a quick dinner to bring home. Grandma and I were all wore out! Tomorrow is Moms Day!!

Arts and Academics night

The middle school holds an Arts & Academics Showcase every spring. Emma participated in a Greek play about Persephone where she played Demeter the mother, she played a piano duet with her BFF Taylor, She also played a piano solo and she participated in choir. She has been practicing her piano solo, "Cobbler Cobbler", for a couple of months under the advisement of her piano teacher so it was quiet an accomplishment. It was rather hot in the performance area but we all got through it. I was so proud of Emma for doing the solo in front of so many people!

Flooding

Every year we get flooding down our hill from the Crow River. 'Down the hill' is a flood reservoir for the river so its doing what its suppose to and we enjoy the lake property every year. This year they predicted high levels because the snow melted quickly and we got a lot of it. I can vouch for the amount of snow as I had the snow blower out way too many times this winter! The news declared the Crow River as the 'River That Could' because it keeps rising more then expected.

On Thursday morning after I took the girls to school I ran in the house and grabbed my camera. I had full intentions of not seeing anyone so I stayed in my PJ's. I ended up driving all the way to Delano and taking pictures of the high water across their downtown bridge. For the most part I avoiding seeing anyone in my pj's. Altho when I stopped at the canoe launch between Rockford and Delano a guy stopped to take his morning run and was shocked that the path was under water. Over the last couple of days the water has risen even more possibly 2-3 feet more. Its the highest I've seen it in the 7 years we've lived here altho our neighbors say its not as high as 2001.

It seems rising rivers follow us. Darin and I lived in the Fargo area during the infamous 1997 flood. We both helped sandbag houses along the river. I remember driving to the cities when I heard Grand Forks was in flames as a result of the flooding. Last year we took a trip to Banff, Canada and had to carefully plan out our trip around the raging Red River again as it crested record highs the day we were expected to leave. Now we live on the river and experience its spring flare ups every year.

End of season

I know its been way too long sense I've posted but I'm just going to do it! Not sure how often I will update but I will try to be better. I just love looking back at what I've done and want to continue it.

So today we returned from the last basketball tournament of the season. It was an great year for the 6th grade girls and Emma had lots of fun and improved immensely. Emma has been carrying her basketball (with her name on it) back and forth from practice and games for the last 4 months religiously. She could leave it with the coach each time but has insisted on keeping it in her possession. So when we pulled in the garage this afternoon she jumped out of the van she threw the ball in the third stall of the garage where it got sucked into the abyss. Symbolizing that's it we are done with you for the year! Onward and upward.. softball starts tomorrow! On and off throughout the evening she was tossing the softball into her mitt and throwing me the ball (usually without warning!) which was her way of asking me to practice with her.