Renaissance Festival

 We went to the Renaissance Festival a couple weeknds ago.  It was our first time going and it was weird!  I was not expecting to see all the strangely dressed people talking in accents.  I also wasn't expecting to see an actual village set up with tons and tons of vendors. The food was really good and they even had some healthy choices.  We saw elephants, a camel, sword fighters, elves, a centaur, and lots and lots of really strange people.  :)

This man walked around for a very long time balancing the ice sculpture on his head.  It was pretty amazing.

One of the more tastefully dressed participants.

Chickens!

Owen looks at the chickens at the petting zoo, holding his car, of course.

Chase slowly touching the knight.  He was a bit afraid.

This is after touching the knight and he is walking quickly away.  I think he thought someone was in the armor.

Jeff and Owen at the castle.  I think there was a dungeon inside but we didn't go in to see.

Jeff and Owen in front of the water mill

Chase and Owen sharing their yummy yogurt parfet.  It was huge!

Mommy, Chase and Owen in front of the entrance after a fun time at the festival.

Obsession

Chase and Owen have a major major obsession with their Cars 1 and 2 cars.  We go everywhere with them, it's all they want to play with and it's quite funny.  Owen calles them his, "Race cars." said with eye half closed, out of the side of his mouth with a bit of a snarl. 

Owen drives his cars, Shu and Raoul. 

His serious fast car driving face.

Owen's bucket and major source of transportation for his cars.

Chase's cars all lined up.

Chase preparing to race his cars with a fast serious face.

Oh wow-a car flying through the air!

The cars go in the driveway and we race down very quickly, which has resulted in some bumps and bruises to the cars.

Chase points out a cool car to Owen.

"Go Go Cars!"  (That's another thing they say all the time!)

Owen prepares to race a car.

Os.

C-Man.

Then, the boys must retrieve their cars from the end of the driveway.  Owen's doing it all by himself!

 

The bucket swings around and we're off.

At the Renaissance Festival with our cars.

Swimming Lessons

 

Chase swims with Ms. Karen

The first two weeks of August the boys took swimming lessons.  They did great!  We went to a private home and had the best care and lessons ever! They had swimming lessons four days a week at 1:00.  I was a bit nervous about the time because that's prime napping time, however they did great!  The first day we got rained out.  As soon as we got to Karen's (with my parents) it started to storm.  We waited for an hour, but no end was in sight.  The next day Chase and Owen were so excited.  They didn't realize I was not going to get in with them.  So, I had to lift them in to their teachers, which resulted in many tears.  Chase cried for about 10 minutes and Owen cried the entire 30 minutes.  They were allowed to get out and give me a hug a few times but then they had to go right back in.  Owen is so stubborn that he was crying at the end just to prove a point. 

The following day-Wednesday, I bribed them with a Cars 2 car they had been wanting.  I told them there could be no crying and they could earn a car.  Chase did fine with this, Owen had a little whimper and then was done.  They both earned a car.  The next day they had to wear their goggles and then they earned a car.  Owen was resistant, but when the car was put before his eyes, he let his swim teacher, Kelly, put on his goggles.  Chase had no problem putting his on. 

The weather was not the greatest the 2 weeks we had lessons.  It was a little chilly, and despite the pool being 89 degrees, my little Chase had a hard time keeping warm.  He would cry to be "all done" and his teeth would chatter, but he sucked it up and kept going.  Eventually they did lessons in their hot tub which was even warmer and provided a more safe environment.

Chase was a great learner!  He is a good listener and will try whatever is asked of him.  Chase's teacher was a woman , Ms. Karen, with adult children.  She was firm and expected hard work and Chase responded well to this.  He did "blow fish" (holding your breath) and learned to blow bubbles.  He went all the way under the water and swam forward to meet the arms of a teacher.  He floated on his back with buoys and even without for several seconds, although it terrified him.  Even though he was scared he still worked.  It was a good thing he had goggles on because if I had seen his little pleading eyes filled with tears looking at me I probably would have caved.  Jeff came one day to watch, which the boys thought was pretty special.  It was hard for him to see them cry a bit.

Owen did great too, although he was a bit more resistant than Chase.  His teacher was Ms. Karen's daughter who was very good.  On one afternoon Owen had part of his lesson with Ms. Karen (Chase's teacher) and he did much better because of the expectations she had and the way she taught.  He put his face under water, blew bubbles, did blow fish and even floated on his back.  He did not cry or whimper as much as Chase.  Owen was in the pool having fun controlling the situation.  If he didn't want to do something he would give a yelp and typically didn't have to do it-unless Ms. Karen was teaching.  Then he did it whether he wanted to or not and he was fine.  After each immersion in the water he would spit it out in Kelly's face and make a funny sound-each time.  It was so funny we would all laugh. 

There was a little slide they got to go down into the water, which they liked. The last day they had a little party and I held their hands while they jumped off the diving board.  I helped Chase jump, but Owen jumped right in all by himself, almost doing a belly flop.  Then I got in and bounced Owen right off the board-oops. He fell on it and scraped his knee. I don't know what I was thinking.  We spent some time-the 3 of us-playing around in the pool and having so much fun.

Lessons were very beneficial and I think we'll do them again next year.

Chase and Ms. Karen

Owen the first day with Ms. Kelly-he's crying

Chase kicking.

practicing spitting out the water

 

This is Owen's face when he would spit out the water.

Chase learning to float-notice his unhappy face.

Yeah Chase!! Float!

Chase still floating

The day Daddy visited.

Ok, Owen . . .1  . . .2 . . .3 . . .go

going under . . .

and under!

Spitting out the water.

 

Owen's little lip sticking out.

It's That Time Again . . .

This time of year is so difficult for me. As the air starts to change and become more crisp and I start to want to wear socks again it also means I'm back to work. Monday is the day and I must say that it is not nearly as bad as the first time I went back after having a year with the boys. But, it's still bad. It is a dull knot in my stomach, the wondering thought I can't seem to get rid of and the feeling I need to do as many fun activities as possible before summer ends. I call it the, "Back to school crabbies". I think my dad was on to it when he would talk about my mom being "crazy" when she went back to school. I didn't really know what he meant, but now that I have to go back to school I know what he was talking about! It's like my freedom is being taken way. Ok, kinda dramatic, but it's how I feel. It's even worse having Chase and Owen go to daycare. As much as I like our daycare it's still daycare. It's still me away from my boys for most of the day. It still stinks.

We've had such a fun and explorative summer. The boys have loved to play with their Cars 2 cars, play on their new play set, run to the garden with mommy, dig for sssss (worms), bugs, snakes, swim, dig in sand, etc.  And I've loved being by their side doing it all.

On the other hand, the crisp air that blows in always brings with it the excitement of a new school year, which is something I love. I do love to see all the little faces get off the bus, in their new clothes, new backpacks, eager to see their friends and find out if their teacher is really as nice as everyone said. It is exciting, no matter how hard it is.

I still find myself tearing up multiple times a day, having to choke back a small sob, saying a prayer to God to get me through, as he always does.  I still find myself being very selfish with our time, wanting to have enough family time to create memories and just be together.  I'm sure as I drop off the boys on Monday I will cry, and as I walk to my car I will cry, but I guess that's just part of being a Mommy.  Praise God for that!

Dirty

Chase and his self-inflicted messy face!

Just a Typical Day at the Bergers

Annual Tradition-Carver County Fair

The Carver County Fair was a happening place!  We had fun walking around finding lots to eat, seeing the sights, riding rides and finding cool animals.

Nana and her grandchildren walking the fair.

Chase loved to ride the Merry Go Round

Owen and Daddy get ready for their ride.  Owen gets a little sick or scared on some rides so Daddy held him most of the time.  Just as fun.

Mommy and Chase

We got to pet the sheep, my favorite.  Here Owen reaches out.

Nana and Chase pet the sheep too.

Nana and Papa with the boys.

We got to hold the baby chicks, which was a highlight. The boys were so careful and gentle and thought it was really cool.  Owen is clearly very happy about holding the chick.

Chase is so gentle and kind.  Look at that cute chick!

Both boys and the tiny legs of the chicks hanging down.  I love it that their hands are about the same size as the chicks!

 

I took this picture because of Owen's big eyelashes.  I was gazing at his face and the light behind him lit up his eye lashes just beautifully.  What a beauty.  

The boys also got to ride the car ride. Oh boy!  Sandy and Jim said, "I don't think Owen likes the ride, " which was based on his expression.  Jeff and  I both knew he REALLY liked the ride!  This is his race car driver face.  He is very serious and feels he is driving the car! LOVE IT!

Chase smiles and enjoys the ride whereas Owen gets into character in the background.

Chase loves the ride!

There is a great petting zoo at the fair and right beside it are the ponies.  This year the boys wanted to ride the ponies and they did great!  Chase rode by himself and Owen had a little reassurance (help) from Daddy.  They both really liked the ride and were such big boys.  They waved at Nana and Papa and Mommy.

Owen sits nice and still before the ponies start moving.

Chase smiles and is proud.

Owen riding the pony by himself.

Little pony, even littler Chase.

Daddy and Owen

Chase

Yeah Chasey!  Ride 'em cowboy!

Owen's pretty excited about the ride on the pony!  OOOHHHH, he says.