Sunday, November 27, 2011

Swinging, Dancing, and Plucking

The kids had their dance recital last Monday. I didn't get many pictures, but I got a lot of videos. Before we get those though, I'll share one from a few days prior.

The kids and I went to Glen Park for a hike. The hike was nice but the kids were more drawn to toys in the park. Julia's talked about swinging on the monkey bars but I had never seen her do it. I remember first seeing her try some time ago and she couldn't get far. I'm not sure if she was determined to learn how or felt some positive peer pressure from seeing her friends swinging with ease, but either way, I'm proud of her. Especially after this past year of being physically inactive as much as she was.

Finn is in the background in the green jacket. At the end of swinging, Julia would always want to know how long it took her make it across. So maybe it was the competition amongst friends that drove her.


My favorite part of Finn's first dance is when he shakes the scarves up and down at the end.


The followup of Twinkle, Twinkle.


Finn's tap routine.


Julia danced to Party in the USA. She's in black with pink tights.


For her tapping, she starts in the back row.


There are a few more videos from the recital that can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/onetwothreeman There are a ton of other videos of the kids there too.

And finally, Julia has been practicing for a guitar recital coming up soon. Here's one of her practice sessions.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

From One Month to Another

Finn had two costumes for Halloween this year. When he was indoors, he wore his pirate costume, like for their costume day at preschool.


Julia had just one costume, but that was enough for her. She was a Pop Star! and would announce it just like that at random times. People frequently asked Julia which pop star she was and she soon got sick of the question, because she wasn't any particular one.

Finn's second costume was Julia's old homemade Care Bear costume from several years ago. It was the warmer of the two, so he wore it for trick-or-treating and for handing out the treats.

The kids got to wear their costumes at the River Falls Business Expo. We talked to this woman about possibilities for Julia's hair and it turns out she is also a Wilms tumor survivor from when she was three! It was awesome on so many levels!

The kids had fun carving pumpkins and afterward they helped to make roasted pumpkin seeds.



A trip to the Walker Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis was well received by the kids (and the dog).



A large cardboard box was transformed into a TV and has provided lots of entertainment for all four of us.

We took a Fall hike along the Kinni below Glen Park.

And I'll leave you with some funny faces and a moment of the kids getting along.