August 1 Already

Man, time goes by much too quickly--in between blog posts and in daily life.

Megan's speech is much clearer these days. I can understand about 75 percent of what she says. My favorite is when I say, "Hey, Megan. Guess what?" She replies, "What?" and then I say, "I love you very much." She then repeats back to me, "Mama, guess what?" and so on. I love hearing that--though, to be honest, the exact words are a little muddled.

She's looking more like a toddler and less like a baby, another benchmark--we no longer have a baby in our home, although I won't tell Megan that. Actually, I keep telling all my girls they are still my babies. Hey, I gave birth to them--I can call them my babies no matter how old they are.

This summer has been a fun one, if a fast one. We've gotten to spend a lot of time together doing some fun things Fairmont has to offer. We've also spent a lot of time together--in the car--driving to the Twin Cities for events like Dan's Grandma's 96th birthday party

and to Lake Beauty Bible Camp to drop Annika off for her first ever summer camp--a two-day event. She loved it! and didn't want to come home. Boo! She brought her doggy with her as did a few of her cabinmates.

Annika and I got to do ceramics together awhile back. I made a princess bank for Emily--I kind of broker her last one when it fell off her dresser. Annika made two cats and then a black horse.

Annika and Lauren also are doing some fun events with the 4H group in town on Mondays. We also bought a pass to the waterpark which is really fun as a family. We've also done road trips like to Blue Earth (home of the giant Green Giant statue) to pick up our Community-Supported Agriculture vegetables at the farmers' market there. They had Giant Days one weekend--complete with kiddy petting zoo.

Annika and Lauren also took swimming lessons and did well. They enjoy practicing--so far Lauren can go a few lengths and is doing well with using both arms and legs to swim. Now those two are playing soccer--but at two different times--aargh. The schedule is tough since Dan has meetings on both nights! Annika's on the purple team; Lauren is on the tangerine!

We've also enjoyed movies at the library and other events the library has hosted like a magician
and a beach party in the basement (the water park got rained out that night).

We've also gotten free bowling from our local bowling alley which all of the kids have loved. Dan and I joined them in a game--doesn't go so fast with six--and most of us being under 10 years of age!

All in all, we're just enjoying exploring our new home town and taking advantage of what it offers. I'm also writing (volunteering) a column occasionally in our local daily paper which is fun--basically summarizing our family adventures in exploring Fairmont.