State Fair for Three

It has been two years since we were last at the State Fair.  Knowing Julie is not a big fan of it, Ted decided to take the kids himself to get their Fair fix. The weekend was terribly hot and humid, but on this, the last day of the Fair, the weather was perfect.  This time they took the express bus to the fair which was a very nice way to do it and avoid figuring out parking, plus it was like a Fair ride!

Upon arriving the trio headed for the animal barns which is our only must do activity.  Joe wanted to pet anything with four legs, while Clara mostly followed after with a quick pet.  If Ted didn't keep an eye on him Joe would have climbed into the hay and snuggled up with a 1,000 pound cow.  A new activity was to duck into the show arena which happened to have a barrel racing competition going on.  We watched for about 30 minutes and all were fascinated the entire time, the longest they have jointly paid attention to something for that long!

We kept the "try new things" game going with a trip on the water raft ride which got us pretty well soaked but again everyone had fun with it.

From there we walked around and got our requisite pronto pup, mini donuts and lemonade interspersed with some tractor sitting.  The line was ridiculous for cheese curds, so we missed out on that favorite.  But we got to take the gondola ride across the park and get our milk shake from the Moo Booth before heading for the bus. And that was our trip to the Fair!

For the Birds!

Ever since Joe was enrolled in A Bird's Eye View camp at the Bell Museum last summer, he's been pretty into birds. As many of his Fans know, he is into animals generally, but birds are of particular interest. So last summer, we got a bird feeder and hung it from a tree. In retrospect, we realize we probably fed as many squirrels as birds. This summer, we acquired another feeder for a different type of seed. The birds wanted nothing to do with it. Humph. Then one day, while The Birds were out and about, they stumbled into a store called Wild Birds Unlimited where they asked why no finches were coming to dine on their nyjer seed and were set straight: it gets stale easily and gets compacted when wet. They were given new seed and bought some silica. One evening and replinished seed later, we awoke to two pairs of finches darting about the backyard.

It's been an education, Fans.

But the squirrels continued to get the better of us. All of us have run them off looking like deranged maniacs. We spent one morning thinking we'd bested them, watching them slide down the shepherd's hook pole slicked with olive oil, but a few hours later, they'd figured a way to best us. Joe informed us that squirrels can jump five to six feet up in the air. So there you go.

All of this is why we are now the proud owners of a bird feeding "system," including a "baffle"--that black cylindrical object on the pool in the picture--which apparently baffles the squirrels. And baffled they have been!

Now that we've run off the squirrels, we've seen all manner of birds: cardinals, finches, chickadees, a downy woodpecker, and a bunch of gray birds and brown birds we've not yet identified. Together, they clear out the entire feeder on the left in the picture above--!!!!!

Which is why we had to find a bird feeder filler while we head off up North, as they say here, on summer vacation.

Catch you on the flip, Fans.

Birdie's Pre-K Graduation

Fans, our Birdie will not flit off to kindergarten until the Thursday following Labor Day, but her Pre-K class had its commencement ceremony the Thursday before last. We gathered for what will be the last time for a while at the St. Louis Park Junior High. The graduates appeared on the stage of the cafeteria in shiny red robes. Our Birdie was looking for us. When she finally spied us, she raised her hand in the briefest of acknowledgments and then went back to the busy of looking like a mature pre-K graduate. We wouldn't distract her! But, her new shoes would.  They were magenta pave if you will with black pave hearts. And underneath that shiny red robe was a new long dress so Birdie was feeling pret-tee fine. You only go around once. Might as well do it in sparkley shoes.

Mr. Mark said a bit about each student as he or she crossed the stage to Ms. Elyse to receive his or her diploma. Each child's classroom nickname was noted. Here is what he said about "Claire-bear":
"Another one of our classroom ambassadors, Clara is the first to befriend any new student, to help show them the ropes--and never the last to remind someone of the rules. A rule follower herself, Clara has been a delight to have in Pre-K all year, as she sets a shining example of positivity and kindness that will truly be missed. She'll be attending Susan Lindgren this fall."

Isn't that so lovely, Birdie Brigade?

Kindergarten. Here she comes! But not quite yet, thank goodness.

Groundskeeper Clara

Not to be outdone by her brother, Clara took a hand at the lawnmower today.  She has even less leverage than him so didn't get far, but A for effort. Meanwhile Joe was photographing the baby bunnies born in the flower pot on the deck.  Cute, but we would prefer the bunnies to destroy plants at someone else's house.

Groundskeeper Joe

On Friday night the boys went to the Twins game which was highly anticipated by Joe because Friday in the summer they do fireworks after the game. Knowing it would be a late outing Ted wasn't concerned about getting there for the anthem like usual, so when they arrived in the second inning the entrance wasn't crowded which allowed Ted to get his season ticket scanned at the kiosk where you find out if you won a prize. Better than a prize was that they told us they still needed one more kid to be part of the 5th inning grounds crew to switch the bases!  So there was Joe, after the 5th, running around the field with TC Bear!  They got a picture with TC, a shirt, a signed TC card and a piece of bubble gum.  Joe did a great job.  And from there we stopped to sing the 7th inning stretch with Sue, and got back to our seats for the end of the game and fireworks.  And as if that wasn't enough we saw a great full (and blue) moon between the downtown buildings!