Girls' Night Out: Imagination Movers Live Edition

Ellie and I hit the big city of Sioux Falls last Friday night to see the Imagination Movers Live show. Now, if you have no idea who the Movers are, you may just want to skip past this post. It involves children's music and grown men dancing around in matching jumpsuits, so consider yourself forewarned. Imagination Movers is a show on Playhouse Disney, and we have long said that if they ever went on tour and came to Sioux Falls, we'd go. We've got two cd's by the Movers, and it's catchy stuff. So catchy that I unfortunately find myself singing songs like "What's In Your Fridge?" and "Please and Thank You" all day long. Anyway, we had some delicious dinner at Famous Dave's before the show (I miss Sioux Falls!) and headed off to the show. Added to the pictures is a little commentary from Ellie.

Ellie: We're going to Imagination Movers and I like them so much.




Ellie: The show is almost beginning. We are just loving it. Some of the people even dressed up like the Movers. It was funny.

Ellie: We love the Movers. This is a picture of them onstage.

Ellie: They were really funny and they sang all of my favorite songs. Mover Scott with the glasses on his head is my favorite.

Ellie: This is Mover Scott and Mover Rich.

We had a great girls night and can't wait to see the Movers the next time they come back to Sioux Falls!

Cage Match, Anyone?

After the boys wake up from their much-needed afternoon nap, it's sometimes fun to plop them both in the same crib and watch the ensuing wrestling and funny interactions.

Hey, when the weather gets cold around here, we get desperate for things to do. Don't judge us.

A Father's Worst Nightmare

Alright...maybe "Worst Nightmare" is a little dramatic, but it's never easy to hear your son say "I wanna Barbie!" Which is what he says in this little video if you couldn't completely understand it. Maguire the other day just belted that out after his big sister was playing with her Barbies at the kitchen table. Carrie says she didn't do anything to encourage the phrase. Except for the fact that after they were crying and pointing to the Barbies, Carrie asked, "Do you want a Barbie?" That's when he said it. Then of course she tried to coax it out of him all day because she thought it was funny. I get home from work that afternoon and Carrie says, "Maguire, say, 'I want a Barbie!" And of course he obliged.

Because the boys have an older sister, I guess it was inevitable that they would play with some girl toys. But for one of them (who is just starting to put two and three words together by the way) to put together four words and say, "I want a Barbie," is a little unsettling to say the least. Why couldn't it have been, "I want a G.I. Joe" or something a little more manly like, "I wanna BB gun!" But no. My son apparently wants a Barbie. But I guess it could be worse. He could be saying, "I want an earring..." or "I hate you, Dad." Those phrases will come soon enough I suppose. So for now I guess I should just shrug it off and laugh. I even have to admit it is a little funny. But if Alex starts saying it I may change my mind...

More Moments from MN

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."

Here are a few more glimpses of our time in MN in August:

We went as a family (Chris was back here in Huron working for a few days) to the fire hall and returned Dad's gear. A pretty heavy task, as you can imagine, but thank goodness for all of the kids. The firefighters working that day let us climb all over the trucks (as they do every time we are there) and take all sorts of pictures. One of them even pulled me aside and told me to bring my kids back anytime we're in town, which of course made me cry a little. Alex and Maguire never went to the fire station with Papa, unless you count this trip back in November 2007 (see belly):

The four-wheeler provided some good stress relief for everyone:

Nate & Lissa

Ben & Ryan (and Laney!)

Chris & Ellie

We spent lots of time being eaten alive by mosquitoes in the backyard, playing on lots of fun toys thoughtfully provided by friends.

Uncle Nate & his Mini-Me

Grammie & her girls




Ellie & Lorna got along so, so well and had lots of fun dressing up in their matchy-match dress-up clothes.





Alex, lovin' the kid-sized dump truck



And we would be remiss to not mention Nate & Alissa's dog, Doug, who also joined us at the Eiesland compound for our time there. This dog has the patience of a saint. Any dog who goes from living alone (well, with two adults) to a house with 7 adults and 4 children for nearly 3 weeks and hardly bats an eye is a winner in my book -- and that is saying a lot, because I am NOT a dog person. Doug worked hard to earn his keep as chief floor-cleaner, scapegoat, dress-up mannequin, grief counselor, and general life of the party.