Ever so Clever:

See you soon, Oma!

Liebe Oma,

Thank you for visiting us! There just never seems like enough time to do and show you all the things we want but we were so happy you came! Don't stay away too long!

Love,

Astrid, Annika, Ava & Mark

A pouty Ava.

Mississippi River Museum with Oma

Remember our fun trip to the river museum we took a few months ago? Annika, Ava and I were pretty anxious to take Oma (and Daddy for that matter!) there for a visit. I had planned on it being a short visit- and be back home in time for lunch- but we were there much longer than that!

The museum really does have a lot of fun, hands-on activities- which I LOOOOOOVE!

Can you resist some turtles sunning on a log? I can't.

Oh no! The alligator got my baby girl! Oh wait...it's just a GIANT stuffed toy. Whew.

Thank you so much, Oma! Thank you very much for the lovely Christmas gift! (an annual family pass to the museum).

And I've decided not to tell you about our mediocre lunch at a local restaurant because as I've been telling my girls- "If you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all!" So there!

:)

Halloween in Madison

Our Fantabulous Friday started out with running errands in the greater Madison area...boring stuff like shopping at Costco, Trader Joes (NO hazelnuts! How can they not have hazelnuts?! I NEED hazelnuts to survive. Okay, so I don't but I'm still bummed they didn't have any.) and Penzeys....followed by SUSHI for lunch. Hooray for SUSHI! Then a quick snack at a French bakery....

And then finally....

The Moment the Tired-of-running-around Girls have been waiting for...

Trick-or-Treating on the Square and Madison followed by the Beakers and Broomsticks Event at the Children's Museum!!!!

What made the occasion even more special? Oma (my mom) was here for a visit!

Ava giggling at her Daddy....

Totally amusing scenery on the Square.....

Many businesses on the Square participated in the trick-or-treating (mostly banks- go figure!) and Starbucks was no exception. Except, they didn't hand out candy....they gave out hot chocolate!

Sweet little window display in a children's toy store. I adore those bats and those strings of falling leaves! (ideas for next year!)

Dr. B, Mad Scientist. Patiently waiting for the party to start.

Alrighty...did I mention that I'm a computer genius? No????

Well, I'm not.
I'm having trouble figuring out how to upload my photos into Blogger and keep them in order.

So- just to warn you- these photos are all in random order. Just to mix things up and confuse me. LOL!

BEAKERS & BROOMSTICKS PARTY at the Children's Museum in Madison

I honestly wasn't sure what the party was all about but since Annika (and Ava for that matter) are into all things Science and Annika went as a Mad Scientist and Ava was a witch for Halloween I thought a party called Beakers and Broomsticks would be a good match for us! The party seemed like an open house for families to enjoy the fun exhibits in the museum with lots of additional science-y stations. We had a blast!

Awesome magnetic marble run

Completely gorgeous waterworks room...

Ava being very brave and touching Eyeballs and Worms and other Creepy Things.

Gorgeous flooring- mosaic tile work. This museum is new (not sure when it opened) and it's obvious that they put a lot of thought into it. The museum is a piece of artwork in of itself.

Fantastic play area!

Ummmm....Cow on a rope.

Oh! The cow is on a pulley system the kids can make go up or down (only so far it can be moved).

Face recognition system on Annika.

Just a cool thing...the bindings of book create a piece of artwork.

Creepy, crawly goo dancing around on a speaker.

I'm totally kicking myself for not having taken a photo of one of the coolest costumes I've seen....a lady dressed up as the Periodic Table. She was wearing a table (of sorts) that was decorated with all the elements in the periodic table. Totally clever!

And then there was the two HOUR drive home. We had two very zonked out girls in our car that night!

Trunk -n-Treat 2010

This year our school's PTA (of sorts) held a Trunk and Treat event for little kids. Now, I've never even heard of such a thing until that night but I can tell you now it's an AWESOME idea!

A bunch of families got together in the school parking lot one afternoon and decorated the trunks of their vehicles:

Here's mine. I call it the Car Monster. Don't worry, he's friendly! (if you reach inside his mouth you might even find a goody for your treat bag!)

Other families with their tricked-out vehicles:

And then the kids go trick-or-treating from vehicle to vehicle. Great way to provide a safe environment for the kids to go T-or-Ting ...the kids all had a blast!

My little mad scientist, Dr. B, ready for some trick-or-treating!

Oma was here to join in the festivities! She took the girls around to all the tricked-out vehicles.

Did I mention that it was CCCCCCCOLD out? The wind, oh that wind! (that naughty wind also delayed Oma's flight into Dubuque...darn that wind!) As little Ava said, "Oc- toe- BRRRRRR!"

My friend Amy totally got into the spirit of Halloween with her awesome costume! Even her dog got dressed up!

OH NO! The Car Monster at my Annika!!!!!! AAAAACCCCKKKKK!!!!!!

We really hope this event becomes an annual tradition at our school because we're already planning on how to embellish the Car Monster for next year's Trunk-n-Treat!

Galena Art Fair

Galena Art Fair 2010!

Were the girls excited to go? Hmmmm.....perhaps the above photos will give away their level of excitement. Actually, Ava was sooooooo excited to ride on a BUS! (we had off site parking so we took the free shuttle bus into Galena)

I do believe that it was also a record day for HEAT. Not sure why this is but every.single.time. we've gone to this fair it's unbelievably hot. This is our third year visiting the fair...I felt like melting into a puddle from the heat. I'm an Alaskan girl! I don't handle hot days very well! LOL!

Annika browsing some ingenious recycled art. Very clever and interesting sculptures all made out of various recycled materials. I have one of the mason jar butterflies at home that I purchased from this artist a couple of years ago.

Caramel apples covered in nuts! Oh so good! We ate so many goodies at the fair we didn't need dinner last night! Ava being a little Statue of Liberty. 'Cuz she's cute.

The fair always has fun booths for the kids....both Annika and Ava got to make sand art necklaces....

And Ava had a ghost painted on her arm (Annika didn't want any face/arm painting done). I think the ghost is a cute addition!

Why is this photo sideways?

Anyway...we wanted to take the bus back to our parking lot BUT there was a what seemed like a mile-long line for a shuttle bus. So we ventured into downtown Galena. It's definitely a bit touristy but ever so fun to go window shopping. Plus, it's such a lovely & cute town! (do you see the dog in the photo? It's made of several gourds) After some ice cream and cold drinks we braved the long line...