swedish for a day

The Brunk Children's Museum of Immigration might be the single worst name for a place trying to get kids to come in for a visit.  Please ignore the name and head to Andersonville.  Your kids just might love this place.

The name of the museum should actually be The Eloise and Harriet Otto Museum of All Our Dreams Coming True.

There is a small and very manageable area containing a wealth of things that my kids, and maybe yours, love to do.  It is set up as sort of a Swedish immigrant's journey to America.  You can play in the replica of a Swedish house and tend to the animals on the Stuga.  There is an assortment of chores that you will witness your children gleefully doing--hanging laundry, milking the cow, feeding the baby, shaking out the rugs.   You'll begin to wonder why it is that, at home, they cry and writhe on the floor every time you ask them to unload the silverware.

When you realize that there might be a better life for you in America, you can swing by the immigration officer, get your passport stamped and board the ship to the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.

On the American side you can pick vegetables from the garden, catch some fish in the stream below a little bridge, and prepare a meal for your new family.

This is a great place for my girls because they love to pretend with old-timey things, they love to dress up, and apparently they would love to leave their homeland.

tickets, please!

setting out on a long voyage

provisions for the trip

working hard on the farm

of course, harriet managed to find some

swedish babies

picking some goodies from the garden

hosting her first meal in america

ballet

Last week Eloise started ballet but she actually talked about starting ballet every day for 3 weeks before her first class.  This kid was seriously excited.  This mom was seriously excited too.

Ballet I can handle.  Soccer, I was not so good with.  I danced ballet for 18 years at a studio similar to the one we found here in town.  The pink tights, the little leotards, the bobby pinned hair, the lingering moms, and the muffled classical music coming from different studios--I feel like I never left.

On her first day of class, Eloise could not contain her excitement.  She rushed home from school, got all suited up and gabbed and gabbed while I brushed her hair into an 'off their face' style.  She was telling me that she would practice really hard at ballet so that she could be in a Company and make some money that she could later use for veterinary school.

I know what you are thinking,  "Why can't this kid get serious about something and lay down some plans for her future?? "

Rest assured she managed to bring out her inner (outer?) 5 year old and had a delightful, fun filled time in her lesson.

Everyone seemed to be aware of the fact that Harriet would not be taking ballet class with Eloise.  Everyone except Harriet.  Ouch.  That was a painful realization.  Mostly for me, and the entire ballet studio and adjacent parking lot, as we had to listen to her scream, "Sissy!  Ballet!" for 20 minutes.

To make up for it we had a little Kitchen Ballet performance when we got home and everyone was permitted to attend.

ready to dance!

(harriet is looking at me and wondering why 

she isn't in the shot as well)

I die.

practicing plies in the kitchen 

harriet's ersatz ballet slippers and moves

 at the kitchen ballet

happy birthday, hattie!

Our little gal turned two last week and we threw her a teeny, tiny party with family and friends from the neighborhood--or as Harriet calls them 'my buddies'.

We made it through the holidays and about 3 days before Harriet's birthday I thought I'd better get some stuff together for a party.  I had no ideas and no plan-- not my usual situation.  I was talking on the phone with Mike and lamenting (screeching about) the fact that I had 'no theme!' and how was that possibly going to work.  He suggested that the theme be 'I'm a two year old and I'm having a birthday'.  He somehow worked his Jedi mind trick magic, I chilled out, and we had our happiest happy birthday party to date.

A few friends, a few kids, family, balloons, yummy soup, bread, cake, ice cream, and presents.  In retrospect, we could have just had an empty room with one balloon in it and Harriet would have been thrilled.

Next year's theme-- balloons.

tentatively checking out her new bike

hmmmmmm...not sure

just noticed the balloons

up, up, and away...

in my beautiful balloon

the morning after.

the balloons followed her all day.

happy new year!

Did you miss me??

So sorry, Internet.  I know I have been neglecting you.  I have really missed blogging and I hope to get back into a regular routine of it.  This is my only resolution for the year--'don't be lazy, write a post'.

We made it through the holidays and had a grand time with both families, the Ottos and the DeBackers.  The girls made out like bandits and I got a new All-Clad pan (!!!) and some warm cozy boots among other things.  The only downside to the whole holiday season is that I lost my camera somewhere along the way.  If anyone finds a camera with images of my family on it please send it my way.  Better yet, send me a new camera and keep the one that you find.

Luckily I had downloaded (uploaded?) some photos before the camera went missing so I'll take you on a little photo journalistic trip down memory lane of some of the stuff we've been up to the last couple months.

went to a super cool superhero party

put up the tree

taught harriet about baby jesus.

she recognized the name right away as the one

mama yells while driving.

drank lots and lots of edzo's milkshakes

both of my children actually ate a dinner that I made for them.

both of them.  they ate it.  all.  

I need a minute.

harriet reluctantly had her last 

wiggleworms class.  

eloise joyfully had her 

lessons and carols show.

we traumatized another child with a visit to santa

visited the botanic garden and wonderland express

we taught harriet how to carry her baby 

'hands free' so she can multitask.

eloise made shirts for christmas 

for her cousins and sister

we taught harriet how to wash the dishes--

shirtless, and in a babushka.

this was going to be the christmas card photo that I never sent out.

so--merry christmas, y'all!

also, please don't ever give my children another stuffed animal.

NOT PICTURED:

us watching all four seasons of Breaking Bad and loving every minute of it.  

us working very hard to get our house ready to go on the market--

god help us.

us recovering from the holidays and accepting that winter is definitely

 here to stay.