Kendall's happy day

Kendall is no longer the only 9th grader in the civilized free world who doesn't have a cell phone. After enjoying her begging & pleading for the past two years, we caved in and made the monumental trip to Costco last night to pick out a phone and add a line to our plan. Well, actually it's an "extra family phone" to be available for both girls to use as needed, but I'm pretty sure it's primary residence will be Kendall's purse or backpack.

This was a tough move for us because we have prided ourselves on not giving in to the teen cell phone craziness. When Kendall's classmates began getting phones in 6th grade, we were appalled. In 7th and 8th grade she was one of a handful of cell-less kids, and we told her she could have one when she starts driving. Just yesterday at Jenna's open house at school, a parent looked at me in open-mouthed awe when he learned that Kendall didn't yet have a cell phone. He had succumbed when his son was 12 and he told me he admired my strength...and I felt proud.

Well, now that she's off on her own more, I've been finding myself thinking how I wished she had a phone so I could check in with her, find out what time to pick her up, etc. I know there will be times when it will really come in handy. BUT, just to keep Kendall humble, she is STILL the only 9th grader in the civilized free world who doesn't have texting! We'll hold our ground as long as we can on that one too, and if you've had the opportunity to witness teen texting in action, you'll understand why.

The upside for us is that since our Verizon contract was up, we switched to T-Mobile (cheaper) and all three of us got new blackberry phones for free! Kendall has been quite busy getting them set up for us. Ha!

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!

The Great Get-Together

Today we went to the state fair. I was excited to create a post about our day filled with compelling & amusing pictures, but Blogger (or my computer?) is refusing to upload them. So, free your minds and let those imaginations fill in the blanks.

The weather was perfect, clear blue skies & not too hot. We visited the "miracle of birth" barn and saw a poor sheep about to give birth surrounded by a crowd of people & a guy practically on top of her with a camera so it could be broadcast on screens all over the barn. :( I know it's educational & everything but I found it disturbing. In my mind I'm secretly plotting an escape plan for the remaining pregnant animals in that barn.

So, jumping off my soapbox, we saw a dog agility demo. (cute!), a birds of prey demo. (very cool), must-have gagets galore & our favorite talent competition. I enjoyed my once-a-year corn dog & we all engaged in our annual "weird new fair food experiment". This year it was chocolate covered bacon. Yep, what could be weirder that that? Jer & Jenna liked it. Kendall thought it was gross & didn't get past the first bite. I didn't really like it either, but managed to finish my piece just to make sure. The chocolate bacon was sold at a Famous Daves vendor that featured the loudest Elvis impersonator I've ever heard.

As usual, we marveled at the people who had most likely spent $50 in the midway attempting to win an amazing prize, that were now stuck hauling around 5-foot tall gorilla on their backs all day. We again lamented the loss of Paul Majors as we passed the KARE11 booth (ok, that was just me), and I had to settle for getting my picture taken with the Randy Shaver cutout (sorry Randy - there's no comparison).

So yeah, the fair is pretty much the same year after year, but maybe that's why we love it. Getting Sweet Martha's Cookies to eat at the talent show has become a family tradition we cherish. :) So, everyone go to the fair - and if anyone gets the hot dish on a stick, PLEASE come back here & tell me about it. I can't even imagine.....

a day on the river

Yesterday we decided to take the boat that we're "babysitting" this month for a ride down (and up) the St. Croix River. We started out with a yummy lunch on the patio of a restaurant in Stillwater, then plopped the boat in the water & off we went. The boat that we're happily babysitting is a Mastercraft water skiing boat that sits about 6 inches above the water (or so it seems anyway). Probably not an optimal vessel for river travel - especially when surrounded by yachts and miniature cruise ships. Fortunately it was a hot day, because we spent much of the ride under a steady mist of water.

But, we did find some calmer seas and pulled off to a beachy area for some swimming, and the girls found several large & small clams. Some stinky clam shells even came home with us and are now decorating bedroom dressers. It was a fun day & reminds me that I DON'T WANT SUMMER TO END! I really don't. Three months of nice weather is not enough. School starts two weeks from tomorrow. Nooooooooooooooo!

just some ramblings

Well, as much as we wanted to kidnap our auntie & cousies and keep them here forever, they had to make the long journey home. :( The start of school is looming ever closer so we're determined to enjoy every last day we have left.

Kendall returned from camp on Friday and was the most excited I've ever seen her. She told me camp stories for 3 hours straight. I'm not exaggerating...I noted the time when she stopped talking. It was great & I'm so happy she had such an amazing time! Her high school soccer (HIGH school?!?!) starts tomorrow with a 4 hour tryout/practice so the poor dear will have to get up at the crack of 7:00. Our sleeping-in days are already over.....(sigh)

Jenna is in complete heaven this week. Our neighbors are on vacation & asked us to take care of their amazing swimming pool while they're gone. In return we get to use the pool as much as we want! It has a slide & diving board & is just great! Since Jenna can do a mean "puppy dog eye", I have a feeling we'll be there every day....at least once.

AND, there is major progress happening in the basement! Jer sprayed primer on the ceiling & walls this weekend, so now we have to get busy choosing paint colors. I don't know how to pick anything other than a variation of tan or green so I'm up for any creative ideas anyone may have. I guess we need to figure out what to do with the trim too...stain or paint? AAHHH!

a seaweed tale

Friday was a day of fun at the cabin with the Goodmans, Grandma & Papa. After swimming & tubing, Jenna and her cousins decided it would be fun to pull up a bunch of seaweed and pile it in a boat. They worked at it for quite a while & managed to accumulate quite a big, stinky harvest.

But then came the dilemma of what to do with the big, stinky pile (yes, it REALLY stinks). The kids had been told at the beginning of their project that they would need to put it in the wheelbarrow & haul it to the woods. They initially agreed to this condition, but as one cousin put it, they "didn't think they'd really have to do it". Heh heh. Wrong.

So they worked together to transport the seaweed and throw it into the woods by the armfuls. This part was really NOT as much fun as pulling it out of the lake...until..........

They reached the bottom of the rusty antique wheelbarrow and found a crayfish that had been pulled up with the seaweed! None of us could remember ever finding a crayfish at the lake, so this was pretty exciting!

The cousins put him in a little pool for a while and had a fun time watching him do crayfish acrobatics. He was a really great little critter!! Of course we try to teach our kids to treat the critters they catch with kindness. Sadly, their kindness brought tragic results this time. The kids decided to set "Mr. Crab" free by gently placing him in the water off the end of the dock, where he instantly became dinner for several cannibal fish.

Ugh. Another cold, cruel lesson about the "circle of life". But I think Mr. Crab would say he was happy to have fulfilled his dream of seeing the world outside of his watery home. That's what I tell myself anyway. :)