What I've learned in Minnesota

I have been looking at living here for the summer as a time to try new things out.

The first thing I wanted to try here had to do with toys. I have never really loved the idea of toys that make noise. I thought I was pretty careful about the noisy toys we acquired, but by the time we were ready to move, I feel like all the kids did all day was push buttons and watch the lights blink. So I decided I wasn't going to bring any toys that made noise. Oh what a relief! I love watching them use their imaginations! I think this is going to be something we take home with us.

I also didn't bring too many toys, the reason I didn't was two fold: one, because we didn't have a ton of room in the van. And two, because if we didn't have a lot to play with inside, we would have to go somewhere to find entertainment.

Which leads me to my next thing I wanted to try out. Getting out every day. We have been really good at it! I think we have gotten out every day, and it makes all the difference! Our days seem a lot shorter (in a good way) and we are getting to know the area so much more quickly.

I have also made it a point to do something fun with the whole family every weekend. This has been so fun, I'm a little worried about what is going to happen when we go back home and dive into crazy-dissertation-writing-time. I guess we will still do fun stuff, just without daddy, since he will be busy.

Here are some fun pictures from our adventures the past few weeks.

first of all, can we just talk about this girl's hair for a sec.... 

 Minnehaha falls. It was such a fun park!

 Corbin found these cool bikes... too bad he wasn't big enough to ride them...

 Daddy is such a good sport! It was only about 65 degrees, but he took off his shoes and played in the water with the kids because they wanted to. What a guy!!

 we took a little walk down to the bottom of the falls. It's so beautiful!!

 We ended the day with ice cream. It's always a good day if you end it with ice cream!

 Memorial day: we went to a splash pad! We left early because the kids were ready and we wanted to go in the morning (since we never know how much time we will have in the afternoon... with naps, sometimes the kids wake up too late to do anything)

It was only about 75 degrees (it warmed up later in the day) so I didn't get too wet, but Jonathan didn't mind the cold water, so he and Cambria had a good time. Jonathan got the most wet... for sure! 

This was Corbin's happy place. In the shade, dry, and eating snacks. 

I caught Cambria reading library books to Corbin. So sweet! 

This last weekend we went to a free zoo! It was pretty amazing considering it was free. 

Cambria and Corbin were trying to decide where to start 

Cambria: admiring the pink birds. She does love pink :) 

Corbin loved the spider monkeys!

Another thing I'm trying out here is to do one dinner a week that is mainly veggies. I figure a diet with more veggies doesn't hurt anyone, and if I can feel better, and have more energy by doing so, then there's nothing to loose!

 we ran out of spinach, so we decided to make a carrot smoothy! It actually was really good.

This is our baked veggie burgers. They were delicious. I think I might tweak the recipe a bit next time, but they were a hit (between me and Jonathan... the kids don't eat dinner... 

The experts say that you shouldn't make a separate meal for your kids, so we don't. They also say that they will learn to eat what we eat... well our kids just choose to go hungry more nights than not. *sigh* maybes someday they will learn)