Blogging

As you can tell by my lack of posting I've been quite busy. Between school, work, swimming, homework and just the regular everyday stuff I don't find the time to sit and write stuff. In all honesty, there really hasn't been much going on here. Ella's enjoying the 3rd grade. She has so much more homework than last year. I think the homework thing is actually harder on the parents than the children at this age at least in my opinion. Sam is doing well in preschool. He loves going to school and has a great time. 

Both the kids are in swimming lessons. Swimming is really Ella's thing; she loves it and would spend all day in the pool if we let her. She has a couple weeks off until she starts twice a week again. That means I'm driving 20 minutes (one-way) for swimming three times a week. But they love it. 

One of the main reasons for not blogging so much is that it's just easier to update on Facebook. Now that grandma is on there I really don't need to be on here so much. I'll probably come back to it again once in a while, but I feel guilty for not updating and I don't want to feel guilty. :)

If you'd like to "friend" me on Facebook (for my normal followers; I know there are a few of you left) feel free to do so. http://www.facebook.com/shannon.silusswanson

Otherwise, I'll update occasionally but at least I won't feel guilty for not doing so.

Bye for now.

Ella's First Race

Ella ran in her first running race on Saturday. It was the kids 1/2 mile "Tickle" race and she had a ton of fun! 

 

Vacation day two (three)?

Technically we're on day three of the vacation, but second full day. Zan had his race this morning and it went well. We were able to walk along the run route and see him three times. It has been a beautiful day with full sunshine and about 80 degrees. We just got back from eating dinner and now. Zan and the kids are in the pool. I took the kids to the rooftop pool this morning and now they are inside. The rooftop pool is more my style. It's heated and so nice and warm. I bet it's really nice in the winter.

Tomorrow we're going hiking at Gooseberry Falls and we're going to Split Rock Lighthouse. It'll be a fun day. I haven't figured how to get a picture from the iPad onto here yet. You'd think that if they were on the same device it would be easy but I haven't figured it out yet. If I do I'll get some photos up.

Vacation day one

Since we have an iPad now I can type on the road. We got into Duluth yesterday evening. There was a traffic jam on the way up where we sat in traffic for almost two hours! Yes, two hours. It was horrible. But we're here and it's great. We walked along the shoreline this morning, over the lift bridge and to the beach and back. We stopped back for a snack and then we're going to do a little shopping. There are some really cute shops around here. Zan is doing a practice ride this morning. Later we're going to go on the Wiliam A. Irwin, the huge ship.

That's it for now. Zan got back and he fell off his bike and has some road rash. He's fine and I'll write more later.

Air Show

A couple/few weeks ago we went to the local air show that's not far from our house. We usually know when they're in town because the planes will be circling around our house before and afterwards. 

It was so hot out but we went and only lasted a couple hours. We did get to see everything and had a good time. Maybe next year it won't be so, so hot.

 

Trip to the Zoo

Last weekend temperatures finally dipped below scorching so we headed to the MN Zoo. They had a dinosaur exhibit there that we wanted to see before it was gone. We haven't been to this particular zoo in quite a few years. 

We ended up spending most of the day there. The dinosaur exhibit was really cool and the kids absolutely loved it!! We'll be heading back soon because we ended up buying a membership. 

I didn't realize how dirty my camera lens was until I saw some of the photos. In the photo with Sam and the T-Rex there's actually mist in the air, but in the other ones it's because my lens was so dirty - sorry. 

Love Sam's pose here - he was trying to be the dinosaur I think.

Little Froggy Friends

Garden Update

I've been meaning to post some pictures of the garden for a while, but I've been forgetting. It's growing so much better than it did last year! 

My gourd and squash plants are threatening to take over the entire garden!! I was out there today prying the gourd plants off the bean fence. I haven't done too much to get them off the back fence, but they're growing over the fence in the back too. Tomato plants are getting huge and the cucumbers are trying to eat the peppers. 

All in all it's growing very well. I just need to rethink my placement for next year. I planted according to how they grew last year and since they're growing three times bigger this year I'm just having space issues. That and Zan won't let me increase the garden size. :)

The top picture is of most the garden. Starting from left to right are peas, green beans, onions (they're under the gourds), gourds, squash, cucumber, peppers, carrots and tomatoes. On the other side of the tomatoes are raspberries and strawberries. (You can see the raspberries in the bottom picture.)

 

My First Trip to the Chiropractor

Well I finally got my butt in to see a chiropractor. I've been meaning to go for a couple years because my back and neck are always sore. When I read that it could help with motion sickness I was hooked and got an appointment. 

I had my second appointment today where we went over my x-rays and plan of treatment. The spine in my lower neck is curving the wrong way and my spine coming out of my hips is coming out crooked. My middle back is suffering because of this. My left side (shoulders, hips) also sit lower than my right. He said it looks kind of like scoliosis.

I had my first adjustment (that was weird) and physical therapy today and will continue for 5 weeks 3 times a week. I'm so excited to not wake up with headaches and not be so sore all the time. I really don't have a reason for all this pain; it's just gotten worse each year. 

It's going to cost a small fortune, but hopefully I'll be feeling great!

New Bed

I finished the bed frame on Tuesday and since we weren't doing anything for the 4th we got the frame attached to the headboard. Only took a few minutes and it was all done. Man it is so sturdy; I did a good job! :)

 

Happy 4th of July

I hope you're all having a great holiday. Man it's so hot outside!! Zan's out there with the kids in the little pool. I just can't sit out there for too long because it's just too hot for me. I'd rather hang out inside doing whatever. I finished up the bed yesterday and we've got it in our bedroom now! Pictures later.

For now I have pictures from our trip to Sioux Falls. We had a great time! Weather was so nice too. 

Other than that there's really not much going on here. I got all of Ella's school supplies yesterday! It can be hard to find some of the exact things you need so since I saw Target put them out I went and got them. All she needs is a couple notebooks and some shoes for gym class. I'm way ahead of the game on this one. :)

Here are pictures from Sioux Falls: Lots of pictures!!

 

Dusting Off The Sawdust

The saw's been working and so has my hammer and paint brush. This morning we moved our new headboard upstairs into the bedroom. I wanted to get it out of the garage even though I still need to make the bed frame. I put this together last week and it took four days to stain it. I always have a picture in my mind of how I want things to turn out and they rarely turn out as lovely as they are in my head but this one did and I'm very pleased!

The bed frame shouldn't take me long and I'm very excited to get it all done and put together!

Weekend Recap

It was a beautiful weekend here! Our old Slip and Slide got a hole in it so off to Target I went to get a new one. I got one that's three people wide and you can race. The kids (and Zan) had a great time. 

Daisy and I took a really long walk today. It was nice to get out and totally wore her out. Ella only has three days of school left for the year. Sam is all done with preschool. I have some cute video from his last day. They were singing songs - I need to sort through the video.

I have some finishing touches to my latest building project. When it's done I'll post pictures. All in all we didn't do a whole lot but we had a great weekend. Looking forward to our upcoming trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Photo Heavy

Happy Memorial Day! We had a great day today. This morning we took a bike ride - I forget how long it was but somewhere between 25 and 30 miles. It was my first time out on the trail on the bike. Rollerblading I'm used to, but I found the muscles that aren't used for rollerblading and they hurt. Zan pulled Sam in the trailer and Ella was attached to my bike on the tag along. Our destination was DQ, so it was worth it. My legs are really sore and I'm sure I won't be able to walk tomorrow, but it was still worth it. 

When we got back this afternoon I got out the pool and Zan got out the slip and slide. Then I got out my camera. 

They had a great time!! 

Here's a photo of my garden and the new bushes and tree I planted by the deck.

Did you see my first little strawberry that's turning red?

I also have a couple clementine orange trees that I have potted. I can't plant them in the ground because obviously the climate won't work for them but they can be outside in the summer and inside in the winter. Can't wait until I have oranges.

So there you go, that's about all that's going on here. Sam has a couple more days of preschool and Ella has a week and a half left of school. Can't wait for summer break!