Tour de Elin

Elin completely took the street by storm late this afternoon!  In just a few minutes Nate had her off and away all by herself - biking like a big girl!

It was very strange to look out the window - and see Elin riding a bike down the street by herself.  She only had a couple of tumbles and just got up and kept going.  I constantly tell the girls they are tough.  I'm so glad that message is sinking in (:

Elin, we are very proud of you! 

Lake Vermilion - 4

I have lake pictures coming out of my ears.

 

So here's some more.

 



 Jojo hunts for crayfish.

Nate and Viggo hoof it out to Blueberry Island.

I know it's an invasive species but I just love the beautiful blue on this crayfish skeleton.

And then everyone went out to Blueberry Island . . .

. . . and then they came back.  First time Elin walked out there by "herself" (:  She is growing up way too quick!

Jojo is pointing at a squirrel.

 Svea and Gig chit-chat on the boat.

The annual open-faced-Swedish-sandwich-making contest.
(A truly genius way to use up leftovers!)

 Viggo begins work on his creation.

Svea worked hard and did a great job!

My favorite was my father-in-law's: Si Robertson!

Lake Vermilion - 3

One week when we went up to the lake this summer, we were greeted with a little surprise:

 



Yes, that is Viggo driving the fishing boat!
Yes, he is old enough to do that, and yes, it is legal.
And yes, we were very proud.
Now that I know he can do this - what's holding me back from putting him on vacuuming duty?

 The girls nap in the loft in the little cabin.
Nate was on nap patrol (those are his feet) to make sure that a nap actually happened.
Because the loft has magical powers and seems to make the girls extremely giggly.

 Svea did clues for everyone one night - even Gig and Doug had clues to point them to hidden treats!
Svea is our faithful clue-maker and her clues are so sweet.  Thank you, Svea!

Coffee on the couch while Elin performs yet another "Peter and the Wolf" show.

After-dinner rides on the four-wheeler.

And this moth Viggo snagged was amazing.  Gray and ORANGE.  Wow!!

 Svea works on making her marshmallow perfectly burnt.

This is what summer tastes like.

Smores for dessert.

Out for a Bamboozler - yes, we ate the whole thing (:

The Barn Dance

Last month we were invited to a barn dance to celebrate Bruce and Debbie's anniversary.

 

There was square dancing.

 

I love Bruce and Debbie.  Just the fact that Bruce and Debbie had square dancing and bandanna décor for their anniversary just makes them that much cooler!

 



Lois and Jim quickly stole Viggo and Svea for dance partners.

Elin ate her cake and watched the first dance.

 Cowgirl boots make for better dancing.

My husband was not so eager to dance.
I was not so surprised.
Actually let's just face some facts:  Nate just doesn't dance at all.

Look at all the FUN they were having!

Bruce and Debbie.

Despite the fact that I knew Nate wouldn't dance there was a teeny-tiny part of me that wanted dancing to happen.

But then reality hit.  Nate wouldn't dance with me, but he would get me extra coffee.
I settled for extra coffee.

 Elin was the shortest partner, and possibly the most enthusiastic.

Svea dances with Gig.

And there was tons of fun stuff for the kids to do.

 Jacks.  Viggo got all the way up to tensies!

Tossing pennies in the muffin cups.

 



It was more fun than - well, you know!

The barn dance was fun.  I can't wait for Bruce and Debbie's anniversary party next year!

Lake Vermilion - 2

Going back in time a couple months . . .

 



 Kayaking with Elin and Nate on a rainy day.

And this is how we find fishing lures. . . kayaking right next to shore.  What lures the fishermen get tangled and have to give up as lost, we find.  When I say "we", I mean, Nate, Viggo and Svea.  Nate spotted one and had to stop and check it out.

 Playing games.

Joe and Christina were incredibly gracious and sat through Elin's entire performance of "Peter and the Wolf" - all 32 minutes of it. 
They had a new baby that might have been keeping them from getting, say, lots of sleep.
To sit through half an hour of Elin dancing without falling asleep - they deserve medals!
What a nice aunt and uncle (:

And Svea and Elin met their new baby cousin, Grace!

Tiny and sweet - just perfect.

Svea - so happy!

 Elin got a turn to hold the baby too.  Grace was so mild-mannered and never complained.

We are so blessed to have baby Grace join our family!

Elin begins ballet (Or, the most adorable blog post ever)

Elin realized her biggest dream today:  ballet class!

 

What Elin was saying all day long before ballet class:

 

"I will be the best ballet-er."

"I will be so good."

"I am the BEST dancer!"

"I will be in every ballet show."

 

There was no need to encourage her or build her up.  Her cup of self-confidence runneth over.

 

 



And her instructor was Carlos Stroia!
He's a legend.
He's from Romania and he is the ballet king.

While we were on our way there, Elin wanted to know what Carlos looks like.

We saw him this spring at the local theater when he did the "Peter and the Wolf" production, but he was on stage and we were in the nosebleed section.  I knew he had hair and that was about it.

 

So I said, "He has dark hair."

Elin said, "What else does he look like?"

Me, inventing wildly:  "And . . . he smiles a lot!"  I was pretty sure that was true.

Elin:  "I think Carlos smiles everywhere!"  She already loved him.

 

Elin decided she wants to give Carlos a Christmas present. This was in the car on the way there; remember, she hadn't actually met him yet.

The one-hour-long class was one of the cutest things I have ever witnessed.
Some parents dropped their kids off - and left.  Another one sat down and read a book.
Confession: I kind of judged them.  How can they not watch this?!

Elin does not have her full ballet apparel yet because Carlos wanted to make sure she liked ballet before we bought more ballet stuff.

There's really no need to wait but I'm just going to do what Carlos says.  He's the boss.

So in the middle of all of this, Svea tells me she wants to do ballet too.
She spent quite a bit of time demonstrating to me in the little waiting/viewing area how incredibly good she was at ballet.

If her resolve lasts . . . we might have to invest in another tutu.

 Then it was time for the splits.

Carlos lowered the girls down one at a time, and I could her him asking each one, "Does it hurt?"
When the girl would say yes (because everyone said yes; how would this not hurt?!), he would say, "I won't push down any more.  Now you count to ten."
Elin counted to ten in record time.

Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineten.

She did a great job!  Didn't quite make it to the splits yet, but now I know she can count to ten in no time flat.

When the class was over, Elin was so proud.  She loved it.  I asked her what her favorite part was, and she said, "Everything!"  I agree - my favorite part was everything too (:  Can't wait to do this again next week!