Out and About

It's AWFUL that I'm trying to do so much catch up on our blogs and was so neglectful for so long.  (Sorry Carter and Amelia, too, for not documenting the happenings more specifically.  I'll fill your portfolio with more specific posts soon.  Yes everyone...I am totally obsessive and print these off, 3-hole punch them, and put them in books for the two kids!  I don't scrapbook, so it's my way of treasuring memories!)  Anyway, here's an overview of some of our favorite summer happening locations (at least thus far):Here's Amelia and Mommy "helping" at vacation bible school at our church.  Mommy thought she could volunteer, but she wasn't much help!  It was fun when Carter's group made their way to our station though!
Another of our favorite summer happening spots is the Science Museum!  We received patches for free admission for the rest of 2009 following our camp in this past May, so we've been making good use of them this summer!
Anything with bubbles involved is AWESOME!
This is the section of the museum that is about your body and health.  They have situations set up where a "person" presents with symptoms and your job is to diagnose them.  Right now that's a little beyond our kiddos, but it's still fun to check out the gigantic replicas of germs and scabs and blisters...
Carter was able to make a "fossil" on this day.  The shell made an imprint in the cement that he mixed and set.  
I love the flower "maze" that's outside to walk through and so did the kids!
There are lots of other moms with little ones that work (or worked in the past) at Poplar Bridge and we've formed a playdate crew for the summer!  We meet each Thursday at different locations around the cities!  Here are 4 of the little ones on one playdate morning!
Mommy's Heart Attack #1 at the Park - Amelia climbing up the stairs at the "big kid" portion all by herself.
Mommy's Heart Attack #2 at the Park - Carter climbing ON TOP of all of the tunnels and tunnel slides when I was trying to keep track of Amelia.
Gotta love the 100s of different little playground areas around down here.  This one is close to our house and our favorite spot to bike ride too!  (Carter rides his 2-wheeler like a pro now and Amelia loves the pull behind trailer on Daddy's bike!)
All that playground equipment around and Amelia's most interested in the sand and dirt!  At least she doesn't eat it...yet at least!
Carter has been a monkey bar pro for a while, but this was the first time he crossed the kind that aren't stationary bars!  Way to go champ and thank goodness for the inventor of the Band-Aid brand special blister band-aids 'cause once he starts, he doesn't like to stop!
Edinborough Park is another favorite play spot!  There is a gym with lots of scooters and balls to play with (and LOTS of room to just run and run and run) and a HUGE (as in 4 stories high) climbing structure.  What a way to burn off energy!



The HUGE climbing structure has a little toddler section attached to it.  Amelia loves to climb and slide and jump, and it's so nice to have a responsible little guy who plays independently in the big structure so I can watch her.  I LOVE the 5 year age difference right now!  (The reason why no pictures of Carter in the big structure are included are because once he's in, we don't see him again until he's out!)
Amelia enjoys the opportunity to have "freedom" to play and Mommy loves that there's only one way out of this toddler area so she can stand and block the door!
The wheels on the bus go round and round...
Carter and Amelia just LOVE to hang out with Nana and Papa at parks (well, they love it anywhere, but parks are fun too)!  They crawl and run around right with them!  Nana and Papa - you're the BEST!
What better way to spend a summer evening than eating out at Sonic!  This was our first venture to the new restaurant that opened in Bloomington this past spring.  It was crazy busy, but we enjoyed eating outside at a picnic table (once Mommy and Daddy figured out how to order from the big order box near the area)!  It's funny that the servers bring the food wearing rollerblades!
Oops...didn't plan on the fact that there would be no high chairs at this restaurant.  So, here's Amelia's first attempt ever at eating on a regular chair!  Good thing it was just a chicken strip and not messy macaroni and cheese (the other staple of our kids' diets when we eat out)!

School's Out For Summer

Here's a pit-stop from the usual blogging of events and happenings to share some of the current "top stories" for the Hanson kids:

Carter -- loves collecting baseball cards and is really into the Twins, reads like a rock star and spends at least 30 minutes during Amelia's nap reading (chapter books - YEAH) with Mommy, took on the GRASP summer academic skills program and is completing activities for reading and math that are for the end of 1st grade, helps out with taking care of and playing with Amelia like Mommy and Daddy never imagined, consistently hits and throws like a future pro-baseball player, plans to keep busy this summer by attending many week-long activity camps (like "Ooey Gooey Messy Madness", "Bon Appetite", and "Twist and Shout") and bible school and a baseball clinic and Camp Kota (a full-day city day camp), enjoys being able to stay up late and sleeping in, had his first cavity filled with no fuss, can't get enough of Pokemon, rides his 2-wheeler like he's been doing it for years, spends time shooting hoops outside on his new basketball hoop, continues to soar above other kids in height in the 92%, laughs and giggles nonstop, thinks of others before himself, is the proud recipient of the Citizenship Award from his class and the Academic All Star award, and would love to have a playdate with friends each and every day

Amelia -- views Carter as her own personal American Idol, dances every time she hears music, can do sign language for "more" and "thank you" and "please", knows how to put her clothes (and anything else she pleases) down the dirty laundry shoot, goes down slides all by herself, loves nothing more than climbing up and down stairs, says a few words (on her own terms and hardly ever when prompted) - mama, dada, Carter (or her version of it), Nana, Papa, Grandma, ball, up, down, bye-bye, ni-ni (night, night), hot, hat, book, bath, uh-oh, no (accompanied by a push away hand slap to the air), oo-oo-ahh-ahh (like a monkey), baa, choo-choo, Addi (her friend from day care), eat (her personal favorite) - but would still rather babble away constantly as though we know exactly what she's saying, climb up on the couch, naps only once a day for 3 1/2 or 4 house (YEAH for Mommy), sleeps in until 8:30 or 9:00 (trouble when the summer ends, though), acts like such a stinker and then shines the cutest and impish smile in the world to whomever scolds her (see toilet paper picture below), runs as fast as she can away from the scene of the crime when she knows someone's after her, can't wait to be outside and would stay there all day if she could, eats popsicles like they're the greatest thing in the world, and still likes to be held and snuggled and rocked before going to bed 
Amelia is all packed and ready to go to Grandma's house!
"What?  It wasn't me!" 
Chef Carter is a great help in the kitchen!  I can't believe my little guy uses a knife already!
"I got my new sandals that click on the floor when I walk and Mommy's phone...I'm ready for some fun!"

First Grade Here He Comes!

It's Carter's Kindergarten Graduation!!!The celebration started off right the weekend before when Nana and Papa surprised us with a cake!  We couldn't wait for the official ceremony, though, and dove right into it then and there!  Any occasion for a cake I say!
Oops...these 2 are out of order.  But, what graduation would be complete without the cap toss?
The Room 13 Kindergarten Graduating Class of 2009!
We're so proud of you, Buddy!  What an incredible year you had!  Look out 1st grade!
I can't even type this without tears in my eyes...We were SO blessed to have had the BEST kindergarten teacher in the WORLD for Carter!  Mrs. Heil thanks so much for all your time, attention, caring, and love.  Carter learned so much, but even more importantly, had SO much FUN this year!  You are awesome and such a blessing to the Hanson family and all the other families that you touch!  (Not only that, you are an amazing friend and colleague.  I cannot fathom teaching without you next door and I will miss you more than words can even say!  I am a better teacher because of you and our school will take a HUGE loss without you here.  But, we wish you well at your new school right next door!  Note:  This was Mrs. Heil's last year at PB, as we will be going down to only 1 section of full-day kindergarten next year.  But, she'll be teaching K right down the road at another Bloomington school!  Thanks for letting me use our blog to share this sad news...)
Carter made fast friends with Harrison this year!
Carter and "the girls" - well some of them.  Although he did enjoy some friendships with the boys in his class, he was definitely a ladies man too!
Since Mommy's grad school graduation celebration at The Melting Pot (a really fancy and fun fondue restaurant in Minneapolis), Carter has been asking to go back.  Well, what better occasion than for his kindergarten graduation?!  We spent 2 hours eating constantly - bread and fruit in cheese, meat in chicken broth, and fruit and marshmallows in chocolate!  YUMMY!  We were no sooner out of the parking lot when he asked when we'd go back.  Well, for $200 a dinner, it can't be a regular outing.  But, we'll definitely return for his 5th grade graduation (when he moves on to middle school), which happens to be the same year we'll celebrate Amelia's kindergarten graduation!  I think we found our official graduation celebration spot!

Soon-to-be-Summer

Summer is just around the corner and we CAN'T wait!  Nearly 3 whole months of sleeping in, hanging out, and spending all of our time together!  Aahhh...living the teacher's dream!  Sorry, Daddy...we promise to still have fun things to do after 5:00 too!
Check out Amelia's new pony!  Her hair is long enough for a little sprout on the top of her head!  Now if we could just convince Daddy that doing little girls' hair is not that scary!
"Wait a minute...I thought this was the almost summertime blog entry.  Why am I wearing this fleece suit like it's the middle of winter?"  "Well, Amelia, let me tell you a little something about Minnesota weather..."
Carter had his first sleep-over!  Our next door neighbor, Jonathan, was playing at our house in the evening and the boys asked if they could have a sleep over!  After 2 movies, many snacks and popsicles, and the clock turning over to midnight, they finally called it a night (or, actually, a morning)!  
Being a noodle-lover, she fits right in with the Hanson family!  Yummy, yummy, messy, messy!
While Mommy was away for a girls shopping and hotel stay weekend with Mrs. Heil and Mrs. D (aka Mommy's friends Karin and Pam and Carter's kindergarten and 1st grade teachers), Daddy took Carter for his first golfing outing.  They both loved it - and with a pink golf ball find at the pro shop, Carter was in his glory!
"Fore!
Watching Saturday morning cartoons snuggled up next to each other...every mother's dream come true!  
Children's Museum fun...


Phew...that was a long day!  You know she's tired when she falls asleep with a tray full of food!  (Well, it was a tray full, but I packed it up to take home!)  
So, lately, Amelia has been into some different "big girl" toys - pushing her popcorn popper, playing with her Little People, serving yummy meals of play food, tickling the ivories (or actually, the primary colors to distinguish pitch) of her piano, and building with her big Legos.  Note: Papa built the tall tower you see in the background - she's not that adept yet.  But, she can stack them 2-blocks high!
They love each other SO much...and right now, they seem to like each other too!  We hope that you'll always LOVE each other but totally recognize that there will be times (maybe many times according to those who have siblings) when you don't LIKE each other too much!
Amelia's learning to eat with silverware...a very messy process!  But, she's doing great and it's fun to see the sense of accomplishment when she actually gets something stuck to the fork!
"Look at how pretty I am with ALL of my jewelry on!"  Thank goodness for costume jewelry!  Amelia loves to play dress up.  Look out Daddy...she's a girly girl after all!
The 3 best house-mates a Mom could ask for!  I love you guys!
"We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.  How about you, you, you?"  Our kindergarten end-of-year celebration is a trip to the Como Zoo.  Daddy (of course - how wonderful it is to have such a flexible job) came along as a chaperone and because Mommy had so many parents come for her class too, she didn't have a group that she needed to be in charge of.  So, we were all able to hang out together.  Here's Carter with his friend Emil!  It was a fantastic day!