Lydia's 8th Birthday

I am not sure where the time went, but Lydia is already eight years old. People always say how fast time goes, but I don't think I really understood that until Lydia announced she halfway to driving. The older she gets, the more parties we have. For a brief second, I thought we could throw her friend and family party together, but I am so glad we didn't and will never do that. Lydia really wanted to make a cake for her friend party. The girls really had fun making and decorating the cake. I decided that ice cream sandwiches would be perfect for this event-less work and clean up. We ordered pizzas from Dominoes, went through almost 40 juice boxes, and realized that we will never have this many girls at our house again. You live and learn.




If you ever meet this crew on the streets of Scandia-run! I think my ears are still ringing from the noise these girls made. The party was supposed to be a swimming party, but the temp never rose to 70 degrees that day. Eight years ago that day it was over 100 degrees and my hospital room was hot!

The next day was the family party. Here's Lydia with her DQ cake. No more princess cakes...she really liked the tie dye look. She also informed me that purple is no longer cool and she loves blue and green. This pic also caught Ava in action.
Lydia and Ava with their cousin Ellie and Great-Grandpa Jim and Great-Grandma Emilie.

Another sign that she's getting older is that people start giving gift cards and money for birthdays. She was in heaven. I knew she could count money-but she's good! Lydia couldn't wait to start shopping. She also got a lot of books that she enjoys reading. I'm glad she still enjoys reading about fairies. She also can't wait to shop at the Limited Too for school clothes - another tall tale sign of growing up...she'll always be my baby.

House & Landscaping

Here's the back yard. We still have a lot of work to do. This corner of the hill we are planning on a stone stair case.
We are currently working on the patio under the back deck.
A side view of the house.
Another back view. We decided to landscape the hill in the back instead of a retaining wall. We'll have a company plan it for us then we can plant it with stuff that will hold back the dirt. I'm really excited to get the patio done, so we can start on this. The little pine tree in the hill is there because we never thought it would make it. It was hit by a tree when we cleared the lot five years ago. It was under attack during the demolition of the cabin and during the excavating. We decided that we have to let it be if it has made it through all of this.
A front view of the house. The driveway and sidewalk still need to be cemented. I'm really sick of sand in the house and everywhere else. The girls & I planted flowers in pots this year since the yard is not finished. Pots and shepherds hooks are movable.

Locks of Love & Como Zoo

Someday I'll figure out the order of uploading pictures onto this blog...Well, here's the after shot of my Locks of Love hair chopping.
I always wondered how they were able to chop off the hair evenly...now I know. Not just one pony tail, but many.
Here's my before shot. I know some very lucky kid is going to have my beautiful curls on top of their head while they get better so they can grow up to be a responsible adult. =)
Jacquie, her sister-in-law Lisa, and myself took the girls to the Como Zoo on a nice cool day in July. It was freezing while we ate our picnic lunch.
Ava, Eleanor, Lydia's friend Peri, and Lydia at the zoo. I took this picture right away just in case I lost someone...then I'd have a recent picture. =-)

The Flood, Beach, and Girls

The first week of summer vacation, I came home from the grocery store and heard an unusual sound in the basement. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I realized the sound was rushing water! A compression fitting from the water heater had come undone and was flooding the basement. I figured out how to shut it off and called for help. The water was over the tops of my shoes. Luckily, most of our stuff is in plastic containers, so no major losses. The sheetrock in the utility room though will need to be replaced. Chad turned on the in-floor heat to help dry out the floor.
While looking for black dirt on Craigs list, Chad came across beach sand. We borrowed the tractor again and spent the good part of a day creating Hansen's Hollow Beach.
After a short time, we realized that this is going to be the perfect place to keep these two busy. Roger came over last weekend with his weed cutting gear and went to town on the lilly pads. I'll have to get more pics because the swimming area looks really great! I didn't think it would shape up so quickly. We have also found that with some life jackets on the girls and floaty toys, we are able to float across the lake to grandma and grandpa's. This could prove to be very useful!
Ava and I made some cookies to send over to Grandpa Jim. Of course we ate some too.
So far summer vacation has been a lot of fun...minus the flood. The girls went to vacation Bible school for the first week and we are taking care of the yearly Dr. appts. right away so they don't cramp our summer fun. Even Ariel went to the vet and then had her teeth cleaned the next week. She smells so much better! Ava is going to see an ENT tomorrow to check out her gigantic tonsils. I think today we'll spend the day down at the beach!

Tractors, Trailers, and Other Fun Stuff

Now that the house is "done", the yard needs a lot of work. We have been working on the grass and getting the yard to the grade we'd like. We borrowed my uncles tractor to help us move the black dirt around the yard. Chad sure seems to enjoy using farm equipment.
Chad came home from work with this new trailer somehow in his car. The guy at Sears told him it would never fit...where there's a will, there's a way. The girls hopped in for a ride before the black dirt went for a ride. I'm sure the trailer will prove to be very useful for years to come.
All four of us participated in the first annual Scandia fun run/walk. It was extremely cold and windy, but we wore hats and gloves and ran to warm up. Lydia took off and ran up front, I ran with my niece Ellie, and Chad carried Ava the first half and then made her run the second half. Next year team Hansen will dominate!
Chad tried bubbles in our bathtub and this is what we get. When I first walked in, the bubbles were overflowing over the tub and onto the floor. After a little clean up and instructions on when to turn it off, I took some pictures.
Eleanor, Ava, and Lydia finishing dinner out on the deck.

Boats, Canoes, & Kayaks

Jacquie & Dan bought kayaks this spring and Lydia wanted to try them out. She was a natural.
She started going pretty far out away from the dock, so Chad decided to hop in the other one and take her for a cruise. She had so much fun that she has recently told us she'd like a kayak for her birthday.
Papa Doug and his three girls cruising Beaver Dam Lake.
Ava is all ready to go canoeing with Nana Nee and Ompa.
With grandma & grandpa across the lake, you never know when you might be picked up for a quick canoe ride. Any time Roger or Renee come outside the girls start screaming across the lake for them to come over.

Lydia's First Communion

Lydia was very excited to make her First Communion. She finally got to wear her new dress and thought the veil was too puffy. ( I agree, but what do you do? ) We were able to take lots of pics on our new deck!
She looked very beautiful. I can't believe how fast time has gone.
Lydia, Ava, and cousin Ellie after church on the deck.
My girls!
Lydia's cake was chocolate with custard filling. It was really good and thank goodness we have leftovers!