New Black & White Wall

For those of you who have ever been to my house, you know that I always have a black & white picture section. Well, when we moved here, I wanted to update those images since I haven't done that in awhile. I absolutely LOVED one of the images of Andi that I took of her at the Minnesota rodeo...however, I did NOT love the background. So, I went outside, took a picture of the trees down by the lake (made sure the light was coming from the same angle) and just replaced the background. Now, the 'new' image is hanging on my new wall. I will post some pics of our house as soon as I get around to taking them...

Bowling...I mean wedding reception!?!

Last Saturday night, Derek & I decided to take the kiddos bowling. Andi was absolutely hilarious! I dubbed her my 'drama queen bowler.' First of all, she would roll the ball down the lane sooooo slow...it even stopped in the middle of the lane a few times & had to be rescued. Then, the entire time the ball was rolling down, she was doing her drama. She acted like it was the most suspenceful, exciting thing she has EVER seen, and she kept looking back at us with her silly little faces. She had the whole place giggling.

The ball was rolling so slowly this time, that she decided to lay down & wait.

Then, the blacklight bowling started! She was all done bowling, and all about the booty shaking!

It was really hard to get a good shot of Dawson looking at the camera, he wasn't really wanting me to take his picture this evening.

And, out of the blue, an entire wedding party showed up & began bowling right next to us. What??? It was the bride & groom, the wedding party & the photographer. We figured they were just doing it to get some fun pictures, but the photographer wasn't taking any. He was standing there with camera in hand, but not taking any pictures! Who knows? Gotta love small towns!

Enjoying Bemidji

There have been several days over the last two weeks, that it has been warm enough to enjoy summer activities here around town. The weather this last month has mostly been highs in the upper 60s/ low 70s. So, we really took advantage of the days when the highs were 80s & 90s to enjoy ourselves. This is the Bemidji waterslide...the town boasts that it is the largest waterslide in all of Northern Minnesota. (whoopity do right?) All I know, is that it is 56 steps to the top. And, if you buy an hour pass, we can get in about 24 rides...that's a lot of steps! This is the only pic I have since I can't take pics while sliding...

My kids just LOVE going to see the Paul Bunyan statue! Anytime we drive by him, they want to stop & go see him. Dawson calls him "Tall Bunyan" and Andi calls him "The giant & his fox." They always hug on his legs like this.

Here is crazy Andi girl enjoying the park after a swim.

Swimming at Lake Bemidji

Andi LOVES to swim, & she has no fear whatsoever! Two different times on this day, I had to swim out after her because she decided she wanted to swim to the other side. She has always been my child to bolt away from me any chance she gets...she definitely keeps me on my toes.

Doin' chores

Last week, I decided that Dawson was old enough to take over doing some chores & to start getting an allowance. Derek & I have not decided on what his weekly amount will be yet, and Dawson hasn't even asked about the money yet...he just likes to be my special helper. So far, he has been sweeping the living room & kitchen, dusting, cleaning the windows & sweeping the porch & ridding it of spider webs. How cute are these pics of my 'special helper'? (He calls himself that) The only bad part is that he goes through half a bottle of windex in about 10 minutes.

Well shoot...Welcome to Minnesota.

As I previously mentioned in an earlier post, when we brought the kids up to Minnesota we had to drive the last 5 hours from Minneapolis, because all the plane flights were already booked that last leg from Minneapolis to Bemidji. Derek had reserved a sedan for us with two carseats in it, and our car for the day was a Lincoln Marquis. It was a very comfortable car for a long drive.

.

One problem: this car was parked right next to 'our' car. Oh, great.

Dawson threw a hissy fit! He did not want to ride in the white car, he WANTED TO RIDE IN THE BLUE CAR!!!!!!! THE BLUE CAR IS FASTER...I WANT TO RIDE IN IT!!!! (side note: he is SO Derek's son, is he not?) One BIG temper tantrum later, lots of coercing, and finally one spanking later...he finally got in the white car. He continued to pout for a very long time.

Derek began trying to cheer him up a little while later by saying things like "Dawson, this car is just as fast as that blue one...in fact it's probably faster...you know, this car is super cool...I love this car Dawson....etc." Dawson began to take the bait. Dawson began asking Derek if he would drive faster, Derek would 'punch' the gas pedal (just enough to be noticeable), Dawson would laugh, and then he would ask Derek to do it again. For the next several hours, Dawson would ask Derek every few minutes to drive faster. And Derek, being...uh, Derek, was happy to comply.

Then, about an hour away from our Minnesota house, we flew past a cop going about 80mph. In Texas, that wouldn't have been such a HUGE deal since the speed limits are 70mph. But in Minnesota, the speed limit on this highway was 60mph. Uh oh. The cop was super nice & realized that we had traveled all the way across the United States & we were just anxious to finally be there. The cop decided to give us a citation instead of a ticket. Whoo hoo! Well, not quite whoo hoo...it seems that in the great state of Minnesota, you still have to pay money for a citation. It's really kind of like writing a check out to the officer personally & no one knows the wiser.

During the time Derek was talking to the officer, Dawson was constantly trying to talk to the officer himself. I kept having to convince Dawson that the officer was busy working & that the officer did not have time to chat with him. When we were finally able to drive away, here is the conversation that took place:

Me: "Well shoot...Welcome to Minnesota."

Dawson: "Daddy what was that officer doing?"

-pause-

Me: "Derek, we should...uh, probably tell him the truth & teach him that driving fast isn't a good idea...and about following the rules & stuff...hu?"

Derek: "Yeah, I guess so... Dawson, The officer just gave Daddy a speeding ticket because I was driving too fast."

-pause-

(Insert hysterical toddler screaming here)

Dawson: "NO DADDY...I don't want him to give you a TOOKET! NO! NO! NO! Daddy I don't want you to have a tooket!"

(continued screaming)

Derek: "Dawson, CALM down...it's not a big deal. All Daddy has to do is pay some money & that's it. No big deal."

(screaming pauses for a second...then picks right back up)

Dawson: "NO DAD!!! I don't want you to have to pay any money...no DON'T pay any money Dad. (he stops screaming for a second, then says in a very calm voice) Dad, let's just throw that tooket in the trash, okay?"

(Derek & I unsuccessfully try to hide our laughing. Seriously, where did his criminal mind come from? Probably Derek's side of the family.)

Derek: "Buddy, that won't work because the officer has a copy of the ticket...but really its okay, not a big deal, we just need to slow down."

(About 45 minutes pass without ANY conversations about the 'tooket', Derek & I mistakenly think we are in the clear when out of the blue, the screaming commences)

Dawson: "DAD I don't WANT you to pay any money for that tooket...don't do it!!!!"

(Out of desperation/ frustration Derek yells back)

Derek: "DAWSON...if I don't pay the ticket, they will ARREST me!!!!"

-LONG pause- (I am grimacing my face waiting for his response)

Dawson: "NO DAD!!!! YOU CAN'T GO TO JAIL!!! JAIL IS ONLY FOR BAD GUYS, AND YOU ARE A GOOD GUY, AND I WOULD MISS YOU....."

(That is all he got out before he began sobbing. I panic. What do I do? Of course, I lie. I told him that Daddy was kidding, that he would NEVER go to jail if he didn't pay his ticket...totally lied. Just like that, I broke one of the ten commandments just so my son would calm down, so he could sleep that night without envisioning Daddy going to jail.)

Before this event, Dawson was a pretty bad back seat driver. He was constantly telling me to GO anytime I had to stop for something other than a red light. Now, he is a TERRIBLE back seat driver. He feels the need to remind me to slow down so I won't get a 'tooket' anytime I go faster than 30 mph. If you are interested in reading more about our parenting, you can find my latest novel on any bookshelf entitled Bad Parenting for Dummies.

Day 13

So, last Friday marked the 13th day that we were here in Minnesota....why does that matter you ask? Well, I realized something on the long drive up here: the longest I have EVER been out of Texas is 12 days. All my life I have taken vacations, but I have never been out of the great state of Texas for longer than 12 days, until now. We are now in uncharted territory...bring it on.

A RODEO...in Minnesota?!?

Well, the very first weekend we were here, we saw a sign that the rodeo had come to town. So, of course we had to go & get all Texan'ed up! As we were leaving our house, Derek said he had a feeling we were going to stick out like a sore-thumb...boy, was he ever right! No one else, and I mean NO ONE had western clothes on! So, everyone there stared at us the entire evening. They at least did not have to be curious where we were from because I was wearing my "Made in Texas" shirt.

Seriously, does it get any cuter?

Dawson posing for me on our front porch before we left.

I thought this one was really cute too...you can also see Turtle Lake in the background.

Andi posing for me.

Walking away...giving me one of her many "Andi" faces.

These shots were taken at the rodeo...sometime a cowgirl just needs to twirl!

Riding the carousel.

Derek & his mini-me.

I LOVED this shot too!

Me sliding down the BIG slide with the kiddos...

then it was Derek's turn!

The kiddos riding the little roller coaster...they are both such daredevils!

Around Town

Here is Derek with the kids in front of the Paul Bunyan statue. Dawson calls him TALL Bunyan, and I can't find it in myself to correct him. We have been to visit this area twice...the kids love it. There is a little park here & it is right on Lake Bemidji. There is also a web-cam online that points at the Paul Bunyan, so one day, maybe someone will see us on there!

Okay...this is our street, looking towards Turtle Lake. Immediately on the right is our front yard, then you can see two of our neighbors driveways on the right...and Dawson running in the distance.

This is what is looks like when you get to the end of our street. You take that little path on the left to get down to the lake. Dawson is is the distance again.

And, here is Dawson standing on one of the piers at Turtle Lake. It is a beach entrance here...which is nice. Dawson LOVES to come here. So far, we have come here everyday. Yesterday we sat on the end of the pier & watched some teenages attempt to water ski.

Dawson hanging on the Bemidji sign which is by the Tall Bunyan.

The only shot I have snapped of downtown. It is really cute. Lots of little places to shop. The Chocolate shop is AMAZING. Everyone needs to send me $15 & I will mail you a pound of their fudge...it is to die for!

This is across the street from my house...unbelieveable hu?

The kids playing at the park by our house. How cool are all the pine trees everywhere?

The kids watching the Dragon Boat races on Lake Bemidji. It was a beautiful day...just cold! It was a high of 55 that day...in July!

The teams are made up of 21 people. 20 rowers & one drummer at the front. The rowers row to the timing of the beat from the drummer. They have a lot of Indian traditions here...they even have community pow-wows once a month! You know I will post some pics of that after we attend!

View of some of the boats coming back in after they finished racing.

And, here is Lake Bemidji. How gorgeous is this? I took this picture while sitting on the park bench by the kids playground. I am really stoked about all the photo-ops I am going to have over the next year.

The First night

Dawson was SOOOOO excited because he knew we had decorated his new room in MN with Spiderman. What he didn't know, was that he was sharing a room with Andi. Our MN house has two bedrooms on the main floor & then a third bedroom on the lower level. I just couldn't bring myself to putting one child on a separate floor. Also, we transitioned Andi to a BIG girl bed now that she is potty training so well. This made for ALOT of changes, but the kids handled it great. So, the lower level room will be a guest room for all of our visitors. Speaking of visitors, we have a steady flow coming in September...3 out of 4 weekends are booked already! Here are some pics from the first night.

Dawson's face seeing his new spiderman room...andi is pointing at the spiderman decorations.

Trying out the new spiderman bed.

Andi in her new BIG girl bed.

Reading them books the first night.

So, I read them books, tucked them in...re-iterated to Andi that she can't get out of her bed, and then I went to the living room with Derek & waited. We started to hear some noise & Derek went to check on them. He found the two of them wearing their sunglasses & both laying in Andi's bed! By the time I came in with my camera, they were up running around. Overall, night times have gone really smoothly. Once my kids fall asleep, you normally don't hear from them for at least 10-11 hours. I am VERY thankful that aspect did not change in Minnesota.

The kids vs. The Airplane

I was pleasantly surprised that the plane trip with the kiddos went so smoothly. I was VERY nervous about how Andi would react in a new & possibly scary environment...but she did great! She sat in her seat for the entire 4 hour flight...in fact, she would not even get up to go potty. I think she was a little scared to get up. Good thing I had put a pull-up on her.


Riding the tram at Intercontinental airport

Watching planes land/ take off before our flight

The girls row

The boys row

She 'read' the safety brochure for about 30 minutes. I think she liked it because it was all pictures.

Here are all the funny things Dawson said while we were flying:

1. As soon as we got on the plane, he asked Derek if we were going to get to do any flips.

2. When we started to descend, he asked Derek if our plane was going to land on someone's roof & if we would all have to go down their chimney.

3. The last thing he said was "Dad, it would be silly if we landed in water...because the wings would get wet & fall off hu?"

We actually had to fly in Minneapolis & then drive the last 5 hours since all the plane flights to Bemidji were booked up by the time we made our reservations. So, baby girl finally crashed in the car around 8 pm for a late nap. When she woke up, she screamed the last 45 minutes of the trip!!!!

And, here are the kids playing in the garage when we finally got there around 10pm that night. Somehow, Derek & I managed to lock our new keys inside before we flew back to pick up the kids....all we had was our garage door opener. Luckily, our realtor answered her phone about 10:30 that night & came over to let us in. At least we had toys in the garage for the kids to entertain themselves with.