Dinner with friends

On Saturday night we had friends from our daycare days over for dinner. Rose #1 and their daughter are still really good buddies. They were together in the infant room at daycare so have known each other for 5 years! Whenever they see each other they pick right back up where they left off. My hope is that they can stay friends for a good long time, despite living in different cities (I know, St. Paul vs. Minneapolis, but it is hard to stay in touch with people that live on the next block!).

The highlight of our night, besides delicious dinner and good company, was that Ruhi's nightgown and Rose #1's jammies were of the same fabric and pattern. So, everyone changed into jammies, and H snapped a shot of the three big girls on the living room rug:

I think they have the sparkliest eyes and the widest smiles.

The Minnesota Zoo

We spent time at the zoo yesterday with Anna and Nadia. A family membership to the Minnesota Zoo is one of the best things you can buy if you live anyplace close to the zoo. Seriously, it only takes a few visits for it to be cost effective, and the kids love the zoo.

Our first stop was the butterfly garden. This shot, as cool as it is, does not do justice to the beautiful garden. There are butterflies everywhere - Rose #3 kept saying "FLY! FLY! FLY!" and beautiful flowers. It is so peaceful and floaty and beautiful. If our kids hadn't been there (and if about 1,000,000 other people hadn't been there) I would have sat on the bench and watched the butterflies for awhile. It was lovely. Anyway, this is one of the butterflies that H caught on his cell phone camera. I think it is a swallowtail.

Even though this is lilies, my husband H said, "Look: Three Roses Minnesota!"

After the butterfly garden we went to the new grizzly bear exhibit. It is called Russia's Grizzly Coast, and it is a very well designed exhibit. They have sea otters and grizzly bears in a very nice exhibit. You can see the sea otters swimming up very close, and you can also get very close to a grizzly bear. The girls loved it.

After you see the sea otters and the bears, you get to a spot where you can pretend you are digging out a woolly mammoth. This held the interest of Roses #1 and 2, and Nadia, for quite awhile:

Rose #3 also very much enjoyed digging in the sand. Regarding her attire in this picture, here is the thing. Between the butterfly garden and the grizzly bear exhibit is a HUGE water fountain in which children are expected, nay, encouraged, nay, nearly compelled, to run. We had 1) no swim diaper 2) no towel and 3) no change of clothes. For either Rose #2 or Rose #3. (For some reason I had a change of clothes for Rose #1 which my colleague, quite correctly, pointed out was kind of strange. Who carries a change of clothes for the 6-year-old but not the 4- or 2-year-old?)

Anyway, all of this by way of explanation regarding Rose #3's diaper peeking out here. She was just wearing a t-shirt and diaper by this point (luckily I at least had a dry shirt for her)!


After the sand pit we checked out the wild boars and then headed home. We had a very delicious dinner with Anna and Nadia of brats, bean salad, watermelon and lettuce salad.

I am very grateful that we can do things like take our kids to the zoo and then bring them home for a delicious dinner with good friends. At dinner, Rose #1 said to Anna, "I feel like you are members of our family, and that Nadia is one of our cousins." Rose #1 is such a good girl. I was very, very proud of her to say that.

A long day

I have a demanding job (I won't say what it is here, since this is a blog about my children and family and not my work). Occasionally - more frequently lately than I would like - I have to stay at work late, and my husband H covers my evening "relieve the nanny" shift. It is such a blessing to know that I can call him in a panic and he will generally agree, quite cheerfully, to pick up my slack.

Here is something I have wondered about a lot. I sweat my work. Really. I work really hard, and I worry a lot about getting everything right. Yet, ask me what is the most important thing in the whole, whole wide world to me, and I will always say, hands down, every time: My family.

I don't obsess about how I should dress my children, or whether I structured the correct activities for them, or whether I am using the most perfected childrearing method for them. Yet what is the most important thing? Making sure that they are raised well, raised happy, raised healthy.

I wish there was a happy medium, or that I could just stop worrying about work.

On another note, yet in the same vein, I emailed my brother this morning to see if he was available for lunch. I had to cancel at the last minute (more work) and my dear brother picked up lunch at Subway and brought it to my office to have a picnic with me. I love: 6" tuna sub with extra pickles, cucumbers, and lettuce. I also love my brother!

I remember when I was pregnant with Rose #3 I craved Subway tuna subs. I know, the mercury in tuna, etc. I still ate them every week!

Rose #3 - Then and Now

Here is Rose #3 on her first birthday last June:And here she is this year (being held up so her hair did not catch on fire from her birthday candles).

Time sure flies from age 1 to age 2! By the way, if our Apple laptop had not been ruined by the Lemonade Incident, I would have included a picture of Rose #3 on the day of her birth. Alas.

A Northfield Birthday

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, I went to the Soviet Union on an exchange program. My best friend Anna was on that trip too, and we became lifelong friends. Sunday was her birthday (age 27!) and we went to Northfield for the celebration! Here are the girls eating dinner on the porch. The repast was delicious: hot dogs, corn, watermelon and edamame (which my children pronounced yucky but which I found to be quite delicious). A birthday is not a birthday without a good game of "upside down." Here are the Roses and Nadia playing this fine game. Luckily this game happened before dinner, since the upside down game can be hard on one's tummy.

(Can you tell how much we love being invited for a party?)

Happy Birthday Anna, and many, many happy returns. I honestly believe that you never know what might be around the next corner - life has a way of working out. All my best birthday wishes to you!

A T-Ball Game

Tuesday nights is t-ball, and Roses #1 and #2 are on the same team. The Giants! We struggle to get to the games on time, but we made it last night. We had a can of Pringles, a bag of candied pineapple, a water bottle, our REI chairs, and we were set. Rose #1 loves t-ball. Any sport where she can run after the ball and try to beat other kids to the punch is good with her. Here she is on the bench waiting for her turn in the batting lineup:Rose #2, on the other hand, struggles a bit to keep up with where exactly she is supposed to go and what she should be doing. Here she is, for once appropriately placed in the outfield:

Last night our kids only got one chance at bat (yes, in a 1 hour game). There are no outs at this age, so everyone who goes to bat gets to run the bases. Rose #2 did a pretty good job!

Rose #1 cracked a line drive down center field. Then she ran around the bases with her chestnut hair flowing behind her:

Guppy and Poppy came to the game and entertained Rose #3, who mostly wanted to drink the entire water bottle down to the dregs. I had to go back to the rec center to refill it!

I am very glad that we live so close to the rec center, we can walk to tball and to the park.

Pictures from Grandparents Day

Guppy emailed pictures from Grandparents day. Here is Rose #1 reading:Guppy and Rose #1 making the list in my previous post:

Circle time with the fabulous Mrs. Webster:

A shot of Rose #1 at her cubby:

And the best of all - Poppy, Rose #1, and Guppy.

It is such a blessing to have lots of people who love our kids. When I was a girl, only my mom's dad was alive, and I knew he loved me, but we didn't see each other very often. He died when I was in second grade. My paternal grandfather is still with us - practicing medicine at age 95! - but he lives in Bethel, OH. I am so grateful for Guppy and Poppy, and Ahma and Ahgong, who can be here to love the Roses in real time.