| November & December 2011 | 1/4/2012 10:45:00 PM |
| We had a wonderful holiday season. It flew by in blur, of course! We spent an uncharacteristically warm Thanksgiving in Waterloo, IA, with Stef's extended family. Daniel & Diane really enjoyed playing with their cousins Nora & Tuck that long weekend & spending lots of time with their Grandpa Steve. Stef's sister Brittany along with Nora & Tuck came to Rochester for a week-long visit in mid-December, which was a lot of fun for all of us. Luckily we had snow at that time, so Nora got to do some sledding with Daniel & Diane. Not long after Brittany, Nora, & Tuck's departure, the weather warmed up significantly, and all our snow melted. We actually had a brown Christmas this year, and there were quite a few days in late December with high temps at or up to 10 degrees above freezing. We spent Christmas at home this year, and it was probably a good thing since both Daniel & Diane ended up with a miserable bout of the stomach flu. Despite the sickness, both kids did enjoy their gifts and a break from our usual busy routine. Now on to 2012! Happy New Year! |
| September/October 2011 | 11/1/2011 10:03:11 PM |
| The past two months have been exciting ones for all of us. In early September, Daniel started kindergarten at Rochester's only public Montessori elementary school. He loves his teacher and is thriving in the classroom environment. Stef has been hard at work with Daniel outside of school helping him with reading, so there is a lot of learning going on these days for Danny. We can't believe the 1st quarter is almost over...the report card we're sure will be filled with happy news about how well Daniel is doing at school. We had a number of really fun family outings during September including a trip to the beach in Lake City, a hike at Quarry Hill Nature Park, an afternoon of raspberry picking, and a very fun Saturday at the Olmsted County History Center where we pressed apple cider and helped harvest potatoes & veggies to give to a local food shelter. In early October we were blessed with 10 wonderful, warm, summer-like days so we took advantage by spending a day at Tweite's Pumpkin Farm & passing many afternoons at our neighborhood park. Towards the end of the month Stef took the kids to Northwoods Orchard for a few hours of fun with farm animals, a corn maze, and fresh honeycrisp apples & hot sugar-coated donuts! The true highlight of October (aside from Halloween) was our day-trip to Gilbertville, Iowa, to experience corn harvesting. Stef's cousin Shelly and her husband Bill took us on an adventure in the cornfields where we saw exactly how a combine works and how the corn gets from the fields to the grain elevators. The kids had a blast, and of course Daniel's favorite part was driving the combine. We finished off the month with a trip to Winona and the 150-year-old Pickwick Mill, and of course spent Halloween evening trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. |
| July/August 2011 | 9/1/2011 10:56:37 PM |
| It was a great summer. The weather was wonderful, and we spent as much time outdoors as we could. In July, Daniel and Justin had fun shooting a rocket high in the sky (see video), and Stef and Daniel spent an exciting evening at the Olmsted County Fair where Daniel got to experience the "waterball" as well as ride the rides on the midway. We had a fun day trip to Lark Toys & Museum where we rode the carousel, played mini-golf, and of course checked out all the amazing & fun toys in the gift shop. That same day we visited the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN, where we learned all about bald eagles and even got to meet a few of them up close and personal! August was a fun month too! Daniel turned 6 on August 26th, and we had a great birthday party for him at ChuckECheese. We invited his best friends from the neighborhood, and the kids had such a wonderful time at the party. Grandpa Steve's birthday is also at the end of August, so there was a lot of celebrating going on. We traveled to Waterloo, IA, for Grandpa's big 70th birthday bash. It was nice to have the whole family together for the big celebration. Daniel & Diane finally got to meet their newest cousin on Stef's side of the family, Tuck Conlin. Now we're looking forward to Daniel's 1st day of kindergarten--coming up in about a week. It's hard to believe that summer is ending! |
| May/June 2011 | 7/10/2011 11:12:03 PM |
| The past few months have just flown by. From May 5th-17th we visited the Meunier side of the family in Moncton, New Brunswick. Although the weather was surprisingly rainy & cold, we had a really fun time and many memorable family get-togethers. Daniel & Diane spent a lot of time with their cousins Noah, Alex, & Cullen. Daniel got to have his very first sleep-over at Noah's house, and that was really exciting for him. It was hard to say goodbye when it was time to go! On May 19th Diane turned two years old. After a party in Moncton with the Meuniers, she enjoyed another party back in Rochester with neighborhood friends. It was really a lot of fun. Grandpa Steve (Stef's dad) came for a visit at the end of May, which was a nice start to the summer. We had a lovely trip to the MN Zoo and a relaxing Memorial Day Weekend. In early June, Daniel participated in his first kids' triathlon at the Trinona race in Winona, MN. His race consisted of a one-lap swim in the pool, a half-mile bike ride, and then a 1/4 mile run. He did an amazing job and finished the race in about 13 minutes. Of all the 5 year old participants, Danny came in 6th place. We are really proud of him. Justin also competed in the triathlon sprint at Trinona, and he seems to have found a real passion for this type of race. Justin competed in a triathlon sprint here in Rochester in mid-June and has another coming up in July. |
| Feb/Mar/Apr 2011 | 5/1/2011 8:15:08 PM |
| We are finally back to updating our website! Whew! These past three months have just flown by. In February, Stef flew to Arizona to help out after the arrival of her newest nephew, Atticus Orson Conlin, on 2/11/11. It was a lovely week with the Conlins with plenty of time to enjoy the warm Arizona weather and fun stuff like visiting Tombstone, Bisbee & Tucson (and two meals at In-N-Out Burger!). In March and April we stayed put in Rochester, waiting for spring to come. Danny has been very busy with his community ed classes (math, science, music, alphabet, gym), but his big news is that he can now ride a bike without training wheels--check out the video! Diane has really grown up over the last few months. She recognizes the letters of the alphabet, talks all the time, and is pretty much the happiest little girl ever. It's hard to believe Diane will be two in just a few weeks. |
| January 2011 | 2/1/2011 8:06:45 PM |
| This month was a quiet one for the most part. We spent a lot of time playing indoors (although Justin and Daniel did get out in the snow a bit) and had a few visits to Rochester's House of Bounce! Our biggest news to report for Danny is that he will be attending Rochester Public Schools' only Montessori elementary school starting in September. We feel very lucky to have won the lottery to have Danny admitted to the school. He is very excited about it. Diane is talking up a storm. She's 20 months old now, and her vocabulary is expanding daily. Some new words for her this month include "book", "sock", "shoe", "snow", "toes", "pony", "mine", "boy", and "baby" among many others. Of course Daniel has made sure that she can say "pee-pee", "poo-poo", and "butt" as well. Diane is also able to point out many letters of the alphabet on her own, which really caught us by surprise. She is making headway with understanding counting too, and often when she tries counting on her own she will say "one, two", or "four, five", or "eight, nine". |
| November and December 2010 | 1/1/2011 11:30:14 PM |
| The holiday season was fun and busy for us! We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Stef's relatives in Waterloo, IA. Soon after, snow came to MN in two big storms in early December, and we had the kids outside playing and sledding. Daniel really loves being out in the snow, but Diane wasn't overly excited about it! In mid-December we traveled to Virginia where we spent time with Stef's Dad Steve, sister Brittany, and brother-in-law Chris. Daniel and Diane played a lot with Cousin Nora, and it was fun to have all three kids together on Christmas morning at Steve's house. We are excited for all the wonderful things 2011 will bring. Happy New Year! |
| October 2010 | 11/3/2010 9:15:09 PM |
| This month fall came to Minnesota. Although we had some very warm days towards the beginning of October (notice the kids in summer clothes!), the leaves eventually fell from the trees, the temperature dropped, and the wind picked up a bit! We did have a great trip to a local pumpkin patch to get into the Halloween spirit, and we also had a weekend trip to Waterloo to attend a family member's wedding. At the end of October we had a fun time carving jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating. This year Danny was Spiderman and Diane was a ladybug. They sure looked wonderful in their costumes. |
| September 2010 | 10/3/2010 12:02:11 PM |
| This month, Grandpa Steve, Britz, Chris, & Nora came to visit us in Rochester and join us on a week-long trip to the Wisconsin Dells. We had a great time doing typical Dells "stuff" like going to amusement parks and waterparks; feeding deer, zebras, kangaroos, and giraffes; playing minigolf; touring Circus World; and eating at really fun restaurants. Once we returned to Rochester, we spent the warm days left in September playing outdoors since winter is fast approaching. |
| August 2010 | 9/1/2010 12:12:54 AM |
| This month was an exciting one for all of us. It started with a great visit to the Olmsted County Fair. Daniel had a blast riding all the kiddie rides on the Midway. In mid-August, Stef took the kids to the "Days of Yesteryear" celebration put on by the Olmsted County Historical Society, and it was full of all sorts of 1850's-style activities. Daniel spun rope, ground corn, drilled a hole into wood the old-fashioned way, and attended class in a one-room schoolhouse among other kid-friendly activities. The end of August brought more fun for us all: Daniel & Diane's grandpa Steve came for a visit, we celebrated Daniel's FIFTH (!) birthday, and we visited the MN Zoo. |
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