10 Questions About…

Well, we got our use out of our costumes this year. Lily was a flapper, Kate was Dorothy and Aine was Super Girl. We did well by checking out Good Will early – like 6 weeks early. The Good Will is still the best place to find costumes.

We started the festivities by going to the Zoo Boo at Como Zoo. We had never been. It’s a fundraiser for the zoo. You walk around and collect candy. It was fun. I was surprised that they didn’t incorporate the animals more. Not that I thought they should dress up the elephant as a globe or anything but I was hoping to see the animals at rest. Maybe they decided they wouldn’t pay them the overtime. Aine was a good age for the zoo; the other girls were a little old. But we had fun. I nearly forgot the best part – the girls rode the carousel too. That is fun at night.

Collecting candy in Edina. The Saturday before Halloween was beautiful – too beautiful to sit and work all day. I checked out the various outdoor events and we decided to go to the trick or treating at 50th and France. No we’re not from the area. Yes we were interlopers but it was fun. The kids ate free at Tejas, which is a restaurant I like and rarely visit. Kate won a banana bread, because she is the luckiest little thing in the world. We got tons of candy.

Boo Bash on Grand. This one was close to home. We walked from our house to Dixie’s on Grand Avenue and back collecting candy, face painting, tattoos and more. (I’m going to say that’s at least a 3 mile walk.) The girls were able to get a pair of sunglasses or bracelet from Lillian’s. It was a fun but tiring day!

Highland trick or treat – Halloween day we trekked around Highland for more treats. Mostly we had to do some shopping but we figured we were getting so good at it we might as well join the trick or treaters here too. The kids got to eat at the Highland Grill for free – that’s always fun.

Halloween was last night. We are finally and officially finished with trick or treating. Aine got 54 pieces of candy. Kate got 124. Lily spent the night at Chloe’s so she’ll have to check in with her haul later.

Last weekend was the very big fundraiser for the girls’ school. It’s a very big to do. On Monday I realized that we probably spent 18 hours up at the Fair. There were a ton of fun rides. Kate went on the Zipper!! Aine loved the obstacle course and the bouncy castle.

Lily had a slumber party after the Fair on Friday night. The good news is that we can’t hear a slumber party in the basement when we are upstairs. The other good news was that Lily let Kate hang with her friends too.

By the time Sunday rolled around we were happy to hover around the bingo and Twinkie walk events, which was good since our money had really run out the night before.

Aine and I made it to the Concrete and Grass concert – at least for a short time this weekend. We met Uncle Billy at Barrio for lunch. We liked that restaurant! We especially liked the wrestler masks and the overflowing candelabra.

After lunch Billy had to run to work – but Aine and I hung out and saw Idle Hands. I liked them. Aine liked the stream she could climb on in Mears Park.

Everyone is back to school. The big girls seem pretty happy with their teachers and classmates.

Kate is excited because they will be doing the autobiography right away. It’s a favorite fourth grade assignment that was after Christmas. Since we’ll probably be in Ireland after Christmas she thought she’d miss it.

Lily is excited because fifth grade is the year you move from class to class. So she gets to see a wider variety of her friends, which she will like much more than last year’s setup where all of her friends were in different homerooms.

Aine is the big kindergartener. She has been so excited for school. Unfortunately (for both of us) it was half-days this week – but it will be full days starting on Monday! Her big news is that she made a friend. That and her teacher is OK with either a hat or bandana every day.

I love the Minnesota State Fair! On Wednesday night the girls and I went with Anita and Darla. It was fun to go with Darla because we went to places we never go – like Heritage Square. Turns out Darla buys stuff at the Fair. We never buy anything we can’t consume on the fairgrounds.

On Friday, we went with Anita, Rick, Will and Mary. Our timing was perfect and we got to build things with the Home Depot folks. That was fun. We checked out the Eco Environment building. We saw the parade from our super comfortable seats at the Children’s Hospital area. The kids painted, we ate – all in the comfort of our shaded table.

On Saturday, we did our second annual scavenger hunt with the Lynches.

Here’s the food we ate:

• Sweet Martha’s Cookies
• Tom Thumb Donuts
• French Fries
• Pronto Pups
• Gyros
• Deep Fried Mashed Chick Peas
• Cheese Curds
• Malts
• Hot Dogs
• Chicken Gyro

Rides:

• Ferris Wheel
• Swing-Merry-Go-Round Thing
• Ride Around a Ring
• Giant Slide (even Grandma!)
• River Ride (Patrick got soaked!)

Fun Things We Did:

• Got black eyes from the Roller Girls
• Saw the biggest pig
• Learned who was the best hand-washer at the Ag building (Very cool exhibit!)
• Played in the Arcade
• Went to the International Bazaar (our one activity too much)
• Hung out at the Leinie Lodge
• Got our picture-calendar done in the Education Building
• Picked up school supplies in the Education Building

Can’t wait for next year!!

We celebrated the summer and fall birthdays with the Lynches this weekend.

Better late than never. We had a semi-impromptu tailgate party at the Saints game. We only had about 20 people. We only had brats and stuff – but it was fun.

The advantage of going to the game at the end of the season – it wasn’t a billion degrees. SO that was nice. The advantage of going to the last game was the super amazing fireworks at the end of the game. We have never been so close to fireworks.

Next year I’m hoping to have the regular game closer to my birthday – but I think we might also get a group to go to the final game too.

We had a great day with grandma at Como Zoo. The good news is that it was a beautiful day. The bad news is that it was a weekend and everyone and their brother was there. Usually we go to Como on the fakey Catholic holidays when only the girls’ school is out or at least summer weekdays.

The Japanese Garden was open, which was a treat. We hadn’t been in the garden before and there aren’t a ton of places in Como where we haven’t been!

Yes, we really did have to come home from Ireland for the Irish Fair. No, that wasn’t my call.

As a special treat, we brought the Irish weather home with us. It rained the first three days we were home – and during most of the Irish Fair. In fact the fair had to close early on Saturday night because of tornado warnings! (Since then the girls have asked every night if it seems humid – which is code for – do you think there will be a tornado?)

On Friday night Patrick and I saw the Dropkick Murphy’s. That was fun. Lots of stage diving. Not by me, but others. Here’s a video from that show.

We also entertained one of the speakers from the Fair – Ruan O’Donnell (no relation). He’s a scholar who speaks about Northern Ireland – both as a history lesson and current affair. He was really interesting. He clearly has talked to a ton of very involved people and had some great stories. Also I think he made the presentation interesting for the audience since he talked a lot about the impact of Irish Americans on the situation.

Also the girls and I spent a lot of time cruising the Fair. We saw a fun kids play done by our friend Sarah. The girls saw some friends who do Irish Dancing. Here are the pics.

Tomorrow we’re hitting the State Fair with the Lynches. We’re doing our second annual scavenger hunt. Some folks had asked me to share the hunt in advance.