A Classic American Roadtrip

Saturday afternoon (July 3rd) we set out on a Stott Family 2010 Roadtrip. We hit I-90 and all that it has to offer. Highlights of our trip include, but definitely are not limited to:

• The lovely Sioux Falls, SD
• The world's only Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD
• Wall Drug (and it's five cent coffee)

• Not exactly on I-90, but close enough for this roadtrip, is Devil's Tower in Wyoming. President Theodore Roosevelt designated this the first National Monument in the U.S. (And Steven Spielberg immortalized it in Close Encounters.) It's lovely and you really should go there if you haven't already.

• Mt. Rushmore -- this truly is a must see for every law-abiding, Pledge of Allegiance reciting,  American citizen. (And everyone else, too.)

• The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research was a hit with the whole family, especially Abby who still insists she will be a paleontologist someday.

We caught the 1880 Train (with a steam engine) in Hill City bound for Keystone, SD. Chug-a-chug Choo Choo!

Daniel and Abby really liked the parts of the roadtrip where we got off the road and out of the car seats and walked.

And while in the car, Daniel insisted he saw dinosaurs!

And Abby of course liked the parts that involved ice cream (here in the old gold rush town Deadwood, SD).

We saw a GORGEOUS double rainbow and sunset over the Badlands.

We met Noni and Granddad in the Badlands (they were driving east from California for their annual four months in Rochester).

Abby and Noni proved they are definitely not scared of little old rattlesnakes.

And Will proved to be a pest -- sneaking into what could have been a really pretty photo!

Daniel found plenty of time to appreciate the finer things in life like tractor trailers, garbage trucks and diggers.

And at Wall Drug (for a second time with Noni and Granddad) Daniel proved just how blasted cute he can be!

Abby found time to Cannonball over and over and over again in hotel and motel pools.

We gave Noni and Granddad (and Max) a tour of Falls Park in Sioux Falls.

Abby and Daniel gave the trip two (or four) thumbs up! (Actually, they were dancing to Waka Waka by Shakira -- our favorite song on the roadtrip CD Will made for the trip!)

We arrived home late this afternoon, 1600.2 miles after backing out of our driveway and hitting the open road!

Camp Moon Hwa

Last week Abby attended Camp Moon Hwa for the third summer in a row. Camp Moon Hwa is a perfectly WONDERFUL week-long Korean culture camp in Rochester. Abby looks forward to it each summer. Will and I volunteered on Friday (making hundreds of mandu -- Korean dumplings) and Daniel spent the day with other toddlers.

Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt joined us for a delicious Korean feast with about 300 others. (Grandma especially liked the mandu.) At the end of camp, the children perform drumming, dancing and Tae Kwon Do. Aunt Lisa made it in time for the performances.

Daniel had a fun time running around and Abby looked beautiful in her hanbok performing the lovely Korean fan dance.

Abby and her friend Mira are performing the peacock for me in this photo.

The Last Day...

Today is Abby's last day of first grade. She made this card for her teacher, Mrs. Kohlmeyer. She gave a plant to the school nurse Alice (Abby really enjoyed going to the nurse's office this year). She chose a plant for Alice that "looks like helping hands." Alice really liked that and said she was going to write it down to remember it.

She gave Mrs. Hoban (the lunchroom monitor) a plant that "looks like spaghetti." Mrs. Hoban laughed and laughed! And she was going to give a plant to her art teacher, but the art teacher will not be back to school, so Abby decided to give the last plant to Mrs. Hanson who works in the kitchen. Mrs. Hanson gave Abby a big hug!

And not to be outdone, today is Daniel's last day of being one! We'll celebrate his second birthday tomorrow with a wild, animal themed party. (I had to take the day off from work today because Daniel got kicked out of school yesterday with a fever and was not allowed to return today. But he seems to be on the mend.)

Mother's Day in Minneapolis

Mother's Day was rather nice in 2010 -- I got to sleep in and when I woke up I got to drink strong coffee and read the New York Times as Will made crepes! DELICIOUS!!

We then drove to Minneapolis. Abby and Daniel both fell asleep on the way, so I even got a quiet car ride, which allowed me to continue reading the New York Times in peace!

We went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and enjoyed a Mothers' Day music-themed day at the museum. 

We made cool tambourines.

Abby completed a gallery search -- finding music inspired works of art scattered throughout the museum and answering questions about them.

Daniel enjoyed the museum -- especially this great car, which just happens to be one of Granddad's favorites at the MIA.

After the museum we went to Lake Calhoun and enjoyed the water and view of Minneapolis.

Daniel enjoyed wading in the water too.

And all was well until Daniel fell down and got completely soaked!

(I forgot to bring my camera, but thanks to our handy dandy iPhones, we even have photos of our lovely day.)

The Tea Party Invades our Family

This morning Abby came into our room excited that the tooth fairy had brought her Pokemon cards. She said this was her favorite gift thus far. She said, "I like that I don't have to pay taxes for it."

(The night before, the tooth fairy had left her $5. She liked finding the money under her pillow, but was concerned that the tooth fairy didn't give her enough money to cover taxes.)

I immediately launched into an explanation of how wonderful taxes are and listed great things that taxes pay for -- schools, roads, nutrition assistance for low-income people, etc... I told Abby that I like to pay taxes.

Will thought this was all rather amusing and shared his own list of things that taxes pay for -- things like, "the war on terror" (this was said with a bit of a Texas drawl, of course).

And all of this at 6:45 AM before coffee! All I can say is,  if I see the girl forming a militia, I'm out of here!!!!

Tooth Number Five (That Didn't Take Long)

Tooth Number Four

Recently, Abby has really wanted to lose a tooth at school. If you lose your tooth at school, you get to go to the nurse's office and get a treasure box to put the tooth in. Apparently, it's something that happens frequently in first grade.

Take for example, Abby's classmate Bryson. According to Abby, "Bryson is famous for losing teeth at school!" Of the nine that Bryson has lost, Abby thinks eight of them have been lost at school.

Well, Abby's dream came true today. For the last couple of weeks one of Abby's front teeth has been dangling ever so precariously from her gum. Today I went to pick her up and as I was talking with some other moms, Abby went off to play with her friends. All of a sudden I saw her coming toward me with blood on her hands and her mouth. Her friend Nora was on one side and her friend Emory on the other. The girls had their arms around Abby and everyone was talking at once. Apparently, the girls were playing on the bike rack and Nora accidentally pushed Abby. She fell forward and hit her mouth. She started to cry. And then, she "tasted all of this blood" in her mouth and then looked in her hand and "saw this little white tooth!"

What excitement!! The girls insisted we go to the nurse's office. The nurse had already left for the day, but Abby, Emory and Nora made themselves right at home. Nora and Emory thought Abby should sit and rest on the bed. But I insisted that we first clean up some of the blood. Once we'd taken care of that, Abby was determined to get her treasure box with or without Nurse Alice. Abby marched out to the secretary's desk (Nora and Emory dutifully marching behind) and explained the situation. The location of the treasure boxes was disclosed and the girls debated what color Abby should choose. (She went for the green box.)

The girls then returned to the bike rack to see if they could spot any blood

We expect tooth number five to be lost soon. The fall not only knocked out number four, but it pushed number five way out of place!

It's Legal!

It's official!!! This morning we finalized Daniel's adoption! Here are a few pictures and I'll add stories later today. Now we are off to celebrate!

Will takes Abby and Daniel to school Tuesday mornings. This morning Will sent these cute pictures of the bulletin board outside Daniel's classroom.

Easter Eggs, Pokemon Cards, Carrots and Spinach

Will and Abby had to wait for the eggs to cool before they could dye them. So, they read some Harry Potter and then decided to trade Pokemon cards!

And as they do every year, they mixed all of the colors at the end and made the ugly egg!!

Before going to bed, Abby left a plate of organic spinach and carrots out for the Easter Bunny!

Finally Two Smiling Children in the Same Photo!

I find it nearly impossible to get a good picture of both Abby and Daniel in the same frame! By the time I took these photos tonight, Abby, Daniel and I were all grumpy!! (But, I think the photos are pretty good!)

Dancing Stott Children

Abby and Daniel had such a wonderful time dancing tonight to the Carolina Chocolate Drops. I got a little dizzy just watching them!