Work camp.

Put them to work. They stay out of trouble.


Don't you love Amelia's wife-beater shirt?


And thanks for the cupcakes, Grandpa Randy!

Again with the butt?

Mira was watching "Sid the Science Kid" today and they were learning about smells. Mira held out her finger and said, "Mom, what do you smell?"

"I don't know," I said. "Where was your finger?"

"Not . . . in my butt!" Uggh. The "joys" of a 4-year-old.


And in other news, Amelia got her first "shiner" today. She's walking pretty good, but is still a little unsteady. She fell near the coffee table and got an eyeful of the corner. Fortunately, it was a rounded corner. Unfortunately, it was hard wood. She took it very well and didn't cry too much. I hate to have to explain this at daycare tomorrow!


Here's a photo of Amelia in the neighbor's backyard. She really is a mischievous little girl! And so funny. She doesn't tell jokes or anything, but there is a little glint in her eye and she really knows how to get into trouble! We think she'll be "the funny one"!

Weekend with the 'rents

Last weekend Mom and Dad come to spend some time with us. We haven't seen them since early August, and didn't have plans to visit until Thanksgiving, probably, so it was wonderful to see them. We took them out to dinner Saturday night for their birthdays. Then on Sunday, Chris took Dad to the Vikings game, and Mom and I did a little shopping with the girls. Of course, Mom fit in a little play time with Mira and Amelia.

A beautiful log cabin was built in just one afternoon!


My beautiful 4-year-old:



What the heck is on Amelia's face? She's cute even covered in crusty food!


Somehow, Dad escaped my camera. He had a great time at the game, even though the Vikings blew a nice lead.

This weekend, I take Mira to see "Mama Mia" in the theater. She loves the soundtrack so much that I think she'll really enjoy the movie too. Oh, and I guess I wouldn't mind seeing it again either!

Hello? Who is this?

Lately, Amelia has really taken a liking to our phone. She holds it to her ear and says, Hello?" She's so cute when she pretends to be all grown up.

It's for you!

Here's a photo of Mira enjoying the rain with some bubbles. She's really enjoying the days at daycare and keeps asking when she'll be going to kindergarten. Next year she'll be taking the bus from daycare to kindergarten, then getting dropped back off at daycare. She's really excited about it!

How sweet!

Mira to Grandpa Bob: "One hand was in my butt and one hand wasn't. Which one do you want to smell?"

Niiiiice.

Yearbook Yourself!

It's all the rage. YearbookYourself.com.

Here's Mira in the 50's. I'll try to get more up soon of the whole family!

Fun day with the bros.

Jeff, Sara, Justin, Mandy, Abby, Nicholas, and little baby Norstad came over last night to spend today with us. We had such a nice time! The men played in the neighborhood poker game last night, and all came home with more money than they left with. We had a nice breakfast, then the men played golf while the ladies entertained the kids. Then the men watched the kids while the ladies went shopping and got manicures. (We think we got the better deal!) We loved having you all!

I didn't take many photos, but here is a really nice one of Amelia and Mandy:


And I discovered that Amelia knows how to climb the stairs! So here are a couple of photos of her making her escape with her "partner in crime" Nicholas!

"Come on, Nick! They are gaining on us!"

"Oh, no! Where did my partner in crime go?"

A clean "getaway."


We've been patching Mira's left eye for a couple of months, just a couple of hours a day. I heard about this site (patchpals.com) that sells cloth patches that go on over the lens of kids' glasses. Mira picked out the fairy one. It's much nicer for her than having to take off that sticky patch every day, plus a bit cheaper!

We hope you all had a good weekend. Lindell family book club is tomorrow!

Our Labor Day at the State Fair

I decided that since it is a family blog, I should step up and give Michelle some rest from the blog updates...for today any way.

We decided to face the 80+ degree heat and take our annual trip to the state fair on the last possible day. Mira has now been there 5 years in a row...hard to believe. It's Amelia's 2nd time but next year should be her time to fully enjoy it.

Every year Michelle and I have our things to check off the list from the fair; cheese curds (Michelle and I), pronto pup (me), photo booth picture and holiday ornament (wow that was PC of me-sorry retail background)
In between, Mira rode on many rides with mom and dad, enjoyed all the food (favorite was the cone from the dairy barn) and looked at the baby animals.

It's like....butter!


Hey, not so fast.
Amelia's view for most of the day

We were all tired by 2pm but still made an appearance at a neighborhood picnic later in the day.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day.

Chris