Legoland

Travis really never understood why we would go to Disney World and NOT legoland.  He finally got his wish!

Lego beds, Lego signs, Lego bellhop. 

The Lego bunk bed room for the kids.  

Party in the elevator every time!

A Lego city in the lobby also.  

The pool.  Complete with floating bricks.  

But even better than the pool with water was the

 pool in the lobby full of Legos.  

Yes we're the first ones at the park....

Because to the right is the entrance to the hotel lobby.  

50 yards at most.  

Travis likes fast rides.  Luke has decided he does not.  

The teacher convention break is clearly a good time to go to theme parks.  Here is his line for the above roller coaster.  

Luke may not like roller coasters,but the only way you get a smile that lights up his entire face, such as this, is by putting him on a ride in which the objective is shooting others with water guns.  

The observers off the ride also had water 

guns to shoot at the boat riders.  

Most fun to shoot at dry moms on the boats.  

At Lego city there was boating school, 

and driving school.

And a double-deck carousel with a soaking-wet Luke.  

Grandma Tree joined us on our Lego trip.  

Grandmas buy ice cream.  

Emmett and Wild Style from the Lego Movie.  

They had a few carnival style games.  One was to throw balls into a bucket. She must've needed a winner because she let Travis throw about 30 balls to win this Pikachu.

Space ship built of legos....

R2D2 built of Legos.  Lego people tend to be Star Wars people was what I gathered from looking at the attire of the crowd.

But more than rides or games, they mostly built with Legos!  I was surprised they didn't have blisters on their fingers from building.  This was a build-your-own race car.  

Travis was undefeated this first day.  He says he learned a thing or two at all those Cubscout pinewood derbies.  

Hero factory building.  Travis made me build one also.  Not pictured because... lets just say I'm NOT a Lego person.  

Master Builder workshop.  Travis probably 

could've taught the class, but they loved it.  

They had these big mosaics throughout the park. Brick-or-treat! 

The kids built the tiles and then the master 

builder hammered them into place.  Travis tells the guy 

"I think the tile for the 'o' is in upside-down."  See it?  

We barely saw the boys at the hotel because every free moment they rushed to the lobby to build.  

Displaying some of their creations.  

They had display shelves for finished projects. 

 Luke and Travis' ability levels are slightly different.  

The boys loved the scavenger hunt to open this treasure chest under the money.  Inside?  Legos to keep!

Too hot to build?  No way!  Not with Legos in the pool!  The boys built barges and shipped bricks to others throughout the pool...

for hours.  

Legoland is in the location that was formerly Cypress Gardens.  

A sausage tree.  Really!  That's what it's called!

Luke had said years ago that his favorite tree is a banyan tree, mostly because he liked how the word sounded.  Here is an actual banyan tree.  We went back a few times to see this beauty.  We're planning on Chuck Evens getting one for us.  

marie in love

silliness at buffalo river

Summer 2015

"Oh, I don't know why, but I've always loved the idea of summer, and sun, and all things hot."   -Olaf

We had some fun kids come and stay with us this summer.  The Sylling boys came to stay and went to the Bison Football camp. 

Tee (8)            Luke (7) 

Travis and Wyatt (10)

Halle Buckhouse also came to stay with us.  

Marie (5) and Halle (4) 

 made a giant fort with Eva's help....

and danced while listening to "singing in the rain."

Eva (12) had some fun this summer.  She went to a"Miranda Sings" live show (check it out of youtube if you are just DYING to know what it is, as I'm sure you are) with her friend Kara.   

She and her friend Olivia went to the fair.... alone!  I dropped them off and sat at a bar with Aimee Mitchell down the road.  Best time at the fair I never had.  

And Liv and Eva camped-out in the tent with Liv's dog Gus.  

And whenever Eva was gone, Marie snuck in her room and did big-kid stuff.

The rule in our house is that you can't get out of your bed until 6:30am.  And every single morning Luke and Marie are ready to go at 6:30am and often accomplish things like building this blaster before I'm up.  And when they decide to paint and make breakfast before I'm up, then I regret sleeping in due to the path of destruction.  

Fed a bunch of kids on the patio this summer.  

Marie is the fashionista in the house.  I find myself asking her "does this look okay?"  She's certainly a risk taker when it comes to fashion!   Some of her ideas give her a "hippy" vibe.  

Other ideas make her look.... interesting.  

I had a great idea.  We are going to do LESS this summer.  We are just going to spend time together being active and not participate in as many organized sports.  We'll use and appreciate what God gave us in the great outdoors.  And we won't wait for a weekend when Chris can come; we'll do this in the middle of the week on our own.  Camping here we come!

Enjoying the beauty of Mother Nature.   

Family togetherness.  Reading and chatting and getting along.  

Look at the rustic log walls surrounding my happy family.    

Now look at the rustic log walls surrounding my disgusting ankle.  This is what I get trying to do the shortest hike (2.3 miles) with the kids at Itasca.  We got onto this trail and Marie was the only one who listened to me with regards to proper insect protection.  The trail started out with boardwalks and such.  Then it went deep into the woods and became buggier than sin.  The 3 big kids took off running.  I was getting claustrophobic since I am a true Nodak and accustomed to being able to see for miles.  I was wondering how many other trails connected with this one that my 7 year old may be lost on in the woods? This was the longest 2 miles of my life; it just never seemed to end.  We saw nobody because of my great idea to go on a Wednesday.  So, I told Marie to get on my back and we would get going quick. And then she leaned to itch a mosquito bite and I fell.  Had to walk the remaining half mile out of there on this ankle.  

So much for my great summer plan of doing less.  We went from "less" to "nothing" in the itch of a bug bite.  

So the park ranger had to help us.  I filled out an incident report and he asked what they could've done to prevent this.  I asked why they highlighted a trail as a great family activity when it was so long?  He replied "Mam, it's our shortest trail."  The kids packed up the entire van, made lunch, got me ice, and then I had to drive home and sit like this for the next week and then wear a walking boot for 3 weeks.  

Before that, we had a wonderful 4th of July with the Evens, as usual.  Eva decorated America's birthday cake.  

Andrew and Norah were our guests for a week before Chuck and Sue came for the 4th.  Who knew that Norah happens to love hair buns when I had recently just learned how to make hair buns for Marie's dance recital?!?  We turned the patio into a ballet studio.  

And Marie's hair bun gave her unicorn hair!

As Luke says, adults exercise to get their energy out. After all, that's why I make him exercise all the time? Yep, a whole bunch of adults walking around out there with too much energy.  

The Evens kids fit in great as early risers with the Hanson kids.  So, we were at the gym every day bright 

and early to get some energy out.  

I have a thing for picnics.  I'm not sure why?  I used to make the kids I nannied for have picnics all the time also. So we had a picnic here.  Eva (12)  Norah (6)  Marie (5) 

Travis (10) Luke (7)  Andrew (8)

A bit of information about Erika?  I hate crafts. Crafting is just torture to me. I get the Martha Stewart magazine because I love her recipes and organizing and environmentally friendly messages.  I usually quickly skim over the crafts.  But that awful Martha talked me into this $25 fringe cutter to do crafts with my God-daughter and daughters.

These things took 2 1/2 hours.  They were cool....

But definitely not as cool as these tie blankets that were Eva's idea to craft with the girls.  My crafting career began and ended in those 2 1/2 hours.  I'd much rather spend time organizing my photos onto a blog or in albums or making food. 

Look at the other super cool craft item blowing in the wind not completed by myself but by the daycare woman at the gym.  I'm leaving the crafting to pinteresting people.

We set out to camp again, but this time with a group of Buckhouse-type relatives.  This is my niece Eleanor being entertained by some 
sand toys and dirt.  Travis thought it was fun also.  

Marie (5) Elison (9) and Halle (4)

Marie being an injured baby tiger who 
made a miraculous recovery!

They've got to be creative to find something to play while camping.

Speaking of creative?  Adam filled up the tote that carries the sand toys for Eleanor's own fill-and-dump station!

Matching bug-clothes kids.  Halle really wanted to stop playing horses for a moment to take this picture, as you can see.  

Who remembers going to Fort Sisseton as a kid?  Elison, Marie, Travis and Halle enjoyed the tour!  Tracy and I commented that the "fixer uppers" and Nicole Curtis would love to get their hands on this place.  

This was the sign hanging in our sleeper cabin.  Luke read the first line and said "When your stay at Roy Lake is over...you will be sad."  I felt the same way as a kid!

The Hansons finished up their last year at Sheila's daycare.  It's so weird not going there before/after work!  Sheila's annual summer picnic.  

We took a visit to the Kemp's house this summer.  Marie and Svea, who have birthdays 21 days apart, were inseparable.  

Swimming with the Kemps:  Luke (7) Jack (8) Travis (10) Eva (12) Svea (5)  Travis and Luke and Jack were playing some game all afternoon and finally I asked Jack if he was getting tired; he was treading water for the entire time while Luke and Travis could touch!  

And Marie taught herself to dive!

Hanson family vacation to Wisconsin Dells!  Again, I avoid crowds in any way I can.  So we went Sunday- Wednesday.  

This was Sunday- still pretty busy. Still fun in the sun!

Whenever we decided it was time to find Luke, we'd just find the basketball hoop in the pools we were at.

Travis and Eva went zip-lining through the forest.  

Drum war.  Chris beat this honor-band percussionist!

Dumb prizes.  

Ropes course.

Super fun ride: the Hurricane.  

On the last night we were there, we pushed dinner back later in the evening.  And then when we arrived at the restaurant, the power went out.  So, we had to travel to another area of town where the power was still on.  For any of you who know how hangry Travis can get, this is a picture of him on the brink of.....well, whatever you're on the brink of when you're 10 and scrawny and haven't eaten for 6 hours.  

Travis after some food is much better.

Duck boat tour in 60 degrees with rain.  

Sure, just hop on a river in a boat/car without life jackets. It's only a rushing river out your window.  The tour was worth the cold though.  

They should just call this attraction "Luke's dream."  It is a volcano that you put foam balls into and it explodes and shoots them into the air, pummeling all people around.

I did something WAY out of my comfort zone.  If you are wondering why it's out of my comfort zone, refer to the post from Nov/Dec 2008.  I let Marie ride her own horse, while I was on a horse behind her, on an hour long trail ride.  And remember how a previous trail ended that Marie and I took this summer?

I didn't bring my phone because I was thinking that the sound of me taking a picture might spook the horses and Marie would fall off.  So imagine Marie was as happy as this girl on the horse.  Sometimes I would enjoy the lovely scenery of the canyons and fawns frolicking; other times I would imagine Marie's horse deciding it wanted to eat some grass like that deer at the bottom of that canyon.

Speaking of Marie and being as happy as she can be.....Marie fell in love at Courtney and Chase Nelson's wedding on the farm.  Now, this wedding was so beautiful that love was in the air.  Marie decided this boy was dancing with her.  At first, he didn't want to.  But, his mom threatened him with no swimming at the hotel pool and the rest was a magical evening.  Marie faced their chairs like this so they could chat while drinking punch.

Initally, Marie had told the little brother she would dance with him.  When she found out that there was a big brother, she refused to dance with the little brother and he was heartbroken.  Watching this 5 year old drama unfold was hilarious!  (see the video)

Hankinson high school class of 1995 book club on Kelly's pontoon.

And continuing Hanson/Evens season, Chuck and Sue took my kids for the weekend while I was with the Hankinson gals.  Chuck took them hiking.  His ankles were fine.  

We also went and visited Adam and Sheena this summer of "doing less organized activities."  Sweet little Eleanor splashing in puddles.

In aberdeen at Storybook land.  Adam helped Travis name his sunglasses "binubulars" and now he wears them all the time.

It's about time the Hansons/Evens got together without the kids!  Chuck and Sue were Vegas virgins until this!  

Hey cocktail servers from the Rock: I was showing Chuck and Sue how we used to hold our money!

Does this count as screen time? Chris Hanson LOVED gambling with Chuck and Sue and myself.  We're nearly as good of gamblers as the poker people he hangs out with.  

Fun times at the Linq pool.  >30 was the average age; thank goodness after somehow ending up at Ditch Friday at the Palms last time we were there.  

A lovely double date.  

We ate at Giada DeLaurentis' restaurant in Las Vegas. Sue had mentioned before we went to Vegas that she was going to meet Giada while we were there.  I was thinking "sure. And then we'll go meet Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri..."  But she was right!  It was so terrific to watch a super-fan.    

Hey kindergartner!  Last Hanson kid in school. 

And the 6th grade neighbor girls joined 7th grader Eva at the middle school also.

Two kindergarten photos.  One is Luke and one is me.  And I guess from the horrible photo I took with my phone, it looks like my mother is better at technology than I am.  

And then summer ends and Sylling-Season begins.  Look at this gal.  She's a natural at taking photos with tall people.  It's as though she's had years of practice?

Travis and Wyatt have the same shoes!

Section 8 selfie.

My diving, one-handed catch.

Kids.  They're just so precious.