School Open House

Wednesday night we went to school to meet Benjamin's & Lauren's teachers. We were all very excited to meet them (including Noah). The kids brought all their school supplies to put in their desks, saw their classrooms and found their lockers. Benjamin practiced riding the bus for his big day on Tuesday. Lauren also stopped by her kindergarten & 1st grade teacher's rooms to say "hi". It's funny to think she has been at that school 3 years now. We finished off the evening with an ice cream treat in the cafeteria. Benjamin did ask the next morning if it was the 1st day of school yet. I think he's pretty excited now too.

County Fair Fun

Last week was the Carver County Fair. As a fair junkie, Kelly looks forward to this week all year round. A 2nd generation of fair lovers have been created in the Strei Family, Lauren is in 4-H for the first time this year. She has been working hard on her projects and was very excited to take them to the fair. In addition to the judging experience, she got to work in the 4-H Foodstand which is the annual fundraiser for the Carver County 4-H program.

Benjamin & Noah got into the fair action as well this year by riding on lots of rides and going to the Demolition Derby. We ran into a friend of Benjamin's at the Derby which added to his excitement. Noah wasn't too crazy about the noise so he just covered his ears most of the time.

The fair has now come to a close for another year. We hope you enjoy this link to some pictures from our fun at the fair.

County Fair Fun

Take me out to the ball game

On August 2nd we took the kids to their 1st Twins Game. We took the light rail train from the Mall of America to downtown Mpls to the Metrodome. For some people, that in itself was the highlight. Benjamin got really excited about finally getting to see the Metrodome from the train once we finally got closer.

Waiting for the train.

Look how far away we were from home plate.

Excited fans

We weren't sure how long the kids would last at the game. We figured that if they lasted until the 3rd inning we'd be doing good. The action was a little far away but they managed to keep entertained (snacks and ice cream helped too). We were able to stay until the 7th inning stretch. Then we got back onto the train for the long ride home.

The Combine Crunch

Last year after I was done judging 4-H projects at the Wright County Fair, I noticed that they were having the 1st annual Combine Demolition Derby. I knew that there were several members of my family that would love to go to that.

In case you aren't familiar with the Combine Demolition Derby (or also known as a Combine Crunch), it's essentially an event where they take old combine and smash them into each other. The last one standing is the winner.

In June we ordered our tickets and have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the big day. Kelly's cousin John and his son Trevor joined us. Noah, Grandma and Grandpa Petersen were suppose to come too but Noah got a fever and Grandma offered to stay home with him. Grandpa was on a FEMA trip in Illinois.

We got to the fairgrounds and the stands were packed. They do a parade of all the combines entered 1st so that you can vote on the People's Choice winner. Then they run the combines in several heats of 4 or 5 combines. The top 2 in each category end up championship round. The others in the consolation round. This is all provided that they can get their machines up and running for the 2nd round.

Benjamin LOVED the derby. For 3 hours he sat glued to the events going on in front of him. He screamed and hollered everytime they smashed together. We thought for sure he would get bored and want to leave but that was not the case.

Here are some pictures from the event.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kellystrei/CombineDemolitionDerby

Vacation highlights

July 11-16 we had a chance to go on vacation to a cabin near Pelican Rapids. We went with 2 other families we are friends with. In total there were 9 children under the age of 8 (yes, we are crazy). In theory it was a good idea since everyone would have a playmate. We also knew we would eat very good as our friend the chef was going along too. He even brought his own mixer!

We spent 5 days at the cabin. The first 2 days were basically spent inside due to the rain. Finally on Monday, the sun broke out and we all jumped into the lake. We spent 2 days playing in the water and soaking up the sun (more than enough in some cases). There were only a couple incidents of near panic. Noah ended up in the lake when he leaned over too far on the dock while trying to turn the wheel for the boat lift. I stepped on a bee which stung me between my toes (ouch)

Overall it was relaxing and would definitely go again if invited. Here are some pictures of the fun.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kellystrei/LakeLizzieVacation

The good, the bad and the embarassing

Today all the kids had a long-awaited trip to the dentist. Do you know how long in advance you have to schedule 3 kids' appointments for the same time? Try January....ugh. We almost didn't make it because the battery on the van died last night. There was NO WAY I was going to try and re-schedule it. My very good husband went all over town last night looking for a replacement (Thanks, Dave! You're the best!!)

We made it to the appointment right on time and the kids all waited patiently in the waiting room. Literally, 2 minutes before they called our names Lauren says to me, "Mom, my tummy doesn't feel so good". Yikes, this could be bad! We went back into the room and each kid took a chair to get their teeth cleaned. I warned Lauren's hygienist that she just mentioned her tummy was hurting. I told her that I thought it was nerves so she said she would take it slow. Noah's hygienist got the "you'll need a strap to hold him in the chair" warning. The cleaning took place and the dentist started looking inside their mouths. The GOOD - No cavities for anyone (whew). The BAD - She predicted that probably all 3 of them will need braces at some point. :(
The last thing that needed to be done was the fluoride treatment. They now have this new type of fluoride which they just brush on with a little paintbrush instead of the trays of gooey stuff they put around their teeth like when I was a kid (thank god!). Lauren was done first and I leaned over to say something to Benjamin when suddenly heard Noah's hygienist scream. The EMBARRASSING - Noah had puked all over the hygienist. YUCK! They were really nice about helping him clean-up. They even had a spare shirt for him to wear home. Obviously that was not the first time it has happened. He was the last one I expected that from. Needless to say, I won't let Noah pick the mint flavor fluoride treatment next time.

Happy Birthday who??

Today the kids were so excited to wake up because of the 4th of July. We stopped by the local fireworks stand yesterday for each of them to pick something out...and mom and dad too! They wanted to shoot them off right after breakfast. We were talking to them about what we celebrate on the 4th of July. Benjamin sat and thought about it. I gave him a clue by saying it was a birthday. All of a sudden you saw the light click on in his brain and he said, "I know, I know....it's baby Jesus' birthday!!!" Close baby, but not quite.

Happy 4th of July!!!