The Help

As the garden season begins and the amount of work around the house seems to quadruple, I've been fortunate to have a few extra helpers this year.

 

 

Thanks to all these helpers for making my Mother's Day so enjoyable this year.

Win-win-win

 

The thought was that I could handle anything for a mere 4 weeks so last week I impulsively signed Sammy up for the EFC Tiny Tots Soccer Camp, an opportunity to have fun and learn fundamentals from visiting Brazilian coaches. I figured the worst that could happen is that I'd have to spend four Wednesday evenings chasing a 2 1/2 year old around the boundaries of the soccer field while her brother ignored the coaches and got easily distracted with picking grass or making monster sounds at his teammates.  What we got instead was a wonderful spring evening in which it seemed much of our community was out enjoying the spring weather... kids actually engaged in the process of learning soccer, parents relaxing on the sidelines with their cell phone cameras or their knitting needles and their children's water bottles.  What a difference a few years make.  Sam was attentive and engaged and fun to watch for the 20 minutes Eva allowed me to sit before she dragged me off to the slides and swings.  In the car on the way home Sam asked if he has soccer again tomorrow night, why he has to wait a full week until the next lesson.  He loved it.  And so did Eva.  And so did Mommy.  Win-win-win!

MS Walk 2013

When we pulled in to the parking ramp, Sammy said "Go all the way to the top, Mommy!  I like the way top."  And we did.  And the kids were amazingly well behaved as I enlisted the help of a mother of two who had just put her kids into a stroller 3 cars away from us.  She squeezed the rails together and I pushed the pin through and the double stroller was ready.  Only after the kids were tucked in and I'd pushed it across the top floor of the ramp did we discover that the elevator was out of order.  It wasn't a big deal going down.  We were early and the sun was out and the kids were excited to see Bonnie and Sam and Sammy was insistent that he was going to have at least two donuts because he needed them for energy for his long walk, so we raced down the parking ramp and stood in line to get in to the registration area and found Sam and Bonnie just inside waiting for us.  Big hugs and big smiles and a little bit of chaos before we settled at a table where Big Sam was interviewed by Channel 19 and Little Sam ate three donuts and Eva caused general mayhem during the moments when she wasn't falling through the back of the fold-up chair she attempted to sit in.  By the time the Dobkoski's arrived we were all excited and anxious to get out in the sunshine as we did the last time the Klikas walked with us in La Crosse.

Aside from a few struggles to keep Eva in the stroller and to make sure that her new favorite toys Banana and Orange never left her side, the kids couldn't have been more fun.  Sammy did seem to think it was a race and he was determined to win, so the adults among us took turns keeping an eye on him, and Big Sam often raced after him with his motorized cart.  And Bonnie and I caught up on how our lives have changed over the last few years, and I remembered once again why we do this every year... for these very, very special people who are like extended family who I don't see often but am inspired by every time I do. 

Thanks for making the trip Bonnie and Sam, and thanks for always being full of love and generous spirit!

 

Delta Point

It was the day we've been hoping for since the sun moved north of the equator in March, one of those days where you need a jacket in the shade but out in the sun you toy with the idea of a short-sleeved t-shirt.  When we pulled in to the Marshland Access parking lot, a man got out of a white van with two big dogs and Sam asked if he was the dog catcher.  Eva, of course, screamed at the thought of dogs in her space but seemed to feel secure sitting in one side of the double stroller.  We loaded up with raspberries and pepperoni and sweet peppers and the all-important Lunchables, and we dusted off the nature scavenger hunt checklist and we set out on one of our favorite trails in the Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge.  Eva mostly rode in the stroller but Sammy and I raced and looked for flowers and big rocks and leaves and animal poop.  We spied a few small birds and several geese and wood ducks and a mating pair of Sand Hill cranes, and in the distance we could see a ballet of twelve migrating pelicans.  The trail was in good shape except the last little stretch before the picnic bench where the water was deep enough to soak our shoes and a few inches of Sammy's pants.  After tossing sticks in the water and and eating cheese and crackers and trying to identify the birds, we headed back.  Just one quick stop in which Eva learned how to pee outside, and the kids collapsed in the stroller and I thought about how much I loved having a dog on the trail and how much easier it all is when you're not outnumbered.

Migration

Over the last few weeks mating pairs of bald eagles have started circling in the sky and sand hill cranes have glided over us on the road, and the inevitable threesomes of geese that signal spring have arrived, but the weather has been just a tease.  Warm sweatshirt weather one day followed by icy wintry mix storms the next three days.  We woke up this morning to a light snow cover and a forecast for increasing winds as the day wore on, so we headed to Perrot State Park early to check out migrating canvasbacks and gadwalls and to see if we could find any green plants along the Black Walnut trail. 

Before the Storm

What Spring looked like before today

Quite the Aquarium Adventure

The day started with hope and excitement after both of my children had seemed to quickly recover from the 24-hour puking virus that was racing through Sam's pre-school.  And despite Kate mentioning that Eomji wasn't feeling 100%, we piled the car full of suitcases and car activities and snacks and a cooler with strawberries and cheese and yogurt squeezers and set out for an overnight adventure up the river.  Sam wasn't as impressed with the dozens of eagles fishing on the recently opened water of the Mississippi River as I was.  He was anxious to see the Lego store and the Mall of America aquarium and the Science Museum, excited to stay in a hotel suite with a kitchen and two separate bedrooms.

The drive up the river was lovely, the girls buckled in right behind Kate and I mostly content with pretzels and magic marker princess activity books, the boys teasing each other in the way back.  Kate and I caught up on the crazy developments in our lives talking about religion and creative writing and children and dating as a single mom.  We stopped in Prescott for a picnic in the cold, windy sunshine so the everyone could pee and run off a little energy before we got to the mall.  And we all laughed as Sam and Gedion ran and ran and ran from the Tenneessee lot through a glass tunnel over the road and in to the Mall.

"Remember Hooters," I told the boys.  "This is how we find our way back to our car."

And the ride in the glass elevator down to the lower level for the Aquarium was even fun.  But shortly after our second elevator ride Kate was on her knees cleaning up vomit and I was rounding up the other 3 kids.

I have to say, if you have to have a puking toddler in a crowded public place, you want to manage it with Kate.  There were several attempts at clean-up and regrouping and maybe-we-should-go-home.  And layers of clothing were stripped and bagged and we just kept moving forward.  But after I chased Eva through the shark tunnels while Sam and Gedion marveled at jellyfish and seahorses and hammerheads and sting rays and giant fish and Kate and Eomji rejoined us halfway through the aquarium we decided we would be going home after the Lego experience.  Unfortunately we never made it there.

The day was not a total loss.  The boys had a blast and I got to catch up with a good friend, and when all 4 kids were buckled in the car it was very pleasant.  The boys were disappointed to miss the Lego store, but after a Lego picnic dinner at our house and some discussions of all the sea life we had seen that day, everyone was happy.  Well, except maybe poor little Eomji.