End of summer fun

Summer around the twin cities always wraps up with the state fair, and a post about that is coming soon. But, for now, here are some pictures of what ELSE we've been up to these past few weeks.

The girls had their first visit to the dentist and did GREAT! I couldn't believe how well they did. Penelope cried a little at the beginning but then warmed up, and Zahra (in the glasses below) was a total pro from the start.

There's been lots and lots of swimming.

And park going

And book reading - here's Quinn's list of his favorite books he read this summer.

The girls got to go visit their new preschool, and of course Quinn came along to see his old stomping grounds.

 Quinn also had his own school visit - for back to school night. School starts for him next week!

Do you see what was hanging in his classroom? A presidents poster and maps!!! He got all red and flushed when he saw them. 

Finally, we got a new piano in the house! Of course, it's just for Quinn now but the girls are eagerly awaiting their turn. Zahra in particular does some excellent "playing" paired with singing. I hope to get some video of that soon.

Happy Birthday PA!

Grandpa turned 70 last week. Wow! We had Kelly, Anna, and Eli up to celebrate and had a great time.

Grandpa got to spend his birthday with his grandkids. What could be better?

To celebrate, Moin made an Indian feast on the barbeque. Many of the recipes came from his new Hyderbad cookbook from Grandma Amy. There were lots of great ones, but my personal favorite was the corn made with chillies.

Anna, of course, took some great pictures while she was here.

Anna also did a really excellent job babysitting, too :)

Love you Anna!

After his birthday, Grandma scooped Grandpa away to the Duluth for the weekend. We spent the weekend enjoying our absolutely perfect weather.

I love this picture of Penelope and Zahra - sums up their personalities quite well.

Penelope the ham.

Minnehaha falls

Sea salt at Minnehaha falls - our favorite!

Finally, to wrap up this post, here's a picture of Quinn with Jackson's latest kill. A snake left in our backyard.

Duluth trip

We just got back from our annual trip to Duluth with just our big kid. This is probably our last year with just Quinn - the girls really wanted to go, and probably they would love it. Next year.

THIS year, Moin, quinn and I had a great time.

We ate at some of our favorite restaurants: The new Scenic Cafe and Gannucci's Italian Deli.  We also added a new one: The Duluth Grill, which we liked very much.

We of course swam in the lake, which due to our crazy winter and cool summer was FREEZING!

Reading presidents books at Lake Superior

Balmy Duluth morning

Early morning hotel chess

We visited the Duluth children's museum for the first time, as well. 

Quinn was so tired when we got home that he passed out reading his First Ladies book at 4:30pm

The girls, however, we super-excited to see us! These pictures were taken during a pre-bed crazy session.

 Our summer trip to Duluth is a great tradition. We can't wait to go back!

6-year-old facts

Here's Mr. Quinn on his 6th birthday, which was this past Wednesday. On that day Kara happened to be visiting, so he got to go out to breakfast with moin, spend all day with Kara, and then the whole family went to Cosetta's for dinner. It was a fun day.

Some updated facts about Quinn now that he's 6.
Interests: games (connect 4, chess, US states games), reading, and the PRESIDENTS! He knows everything about the presidents, including when they were all born, when they died, the age at their inauguration, state of birth and death, etc. etc.
Favorite book: Bedtime math
Favorite color: Orange
Favorite food: I asked him this the other day. He said his favorite food is still recess peanut butter cups but that his favorite meal is pancakes, eggs, and bacon

Here are the girls on Quinn's birthday, wearing the dresses that were included as their gift in Quinn's birthday package from Grandma Amy.

Haircuts!

Zahra got her first haircut a month or so ago, but over the weekend it was finally Penelope's turn. Poor girl cried through the whole thing.

Afterwards, though, she was VERY pleased with herself and prancing all around the salon. Her favorite part was the glitter they sprayed on her hair at the end.

While I was going, I decided to take Quinn along as well. He's never had a professional haircut before, so he was NOT happy about going. That being said, he was very well behaved throughout the whole thing.

Can you tell that they gave him a "faux hawk"?

Sharp looking kids!