Mieke is now 6!! Hard to believe but true. The celebrations began with Mimi coming for a visit. My mom obliges at just about every request. Playing Mieke's game of "What's the Pasword?" which of course only SHE knows. So we lose every time. And it is usually when we are on the way to the bathroom and she blocks us in the hallway. And we lose again.

Mieke insists that it is not a birthday party unless you play games. So Mimi and she are playing Twister. For real.

Mieke and Addy attended a cheer camp with the Hudson cheerleaders. And now all we heart are "cheers" from the back seat. They did get to "cheer" at a Hudson football game, in the rain. Mieke was so excited for her "first game". 

As story hour reader, I get to do some fun stuff with the kids ....and their stuffed animals. They got to play the piano

 Posed with the pumpkin

And watched a movie.

Sara, Matt's sister came to watch Stephen play college soccer. We took Papa Ulven to dinner at a cook your own steak place. 

On Sunday mornings I get to spend a little time with these kiddos! Great bunch and so well-behaved.

This week is catch up and clean up week. Looking forward to no much on the calendar.

Catching up.

Big sigh. Every time I think about blogging I get a little sad and empty. My Dad was a faithful reader and checker of my previous blog. It's hard to get motivated knowing he won't be checking it every day.

But now my Mom has learned to use email and the internet, so I think that is inspiration enough! So here goes.

Mieke is, at the moment, taking a cheerleader camp at the Hudson High School. A two hour, one session, camp. SO excited she was last night "Tomorrow is my first game, mom." Yes, dear. "Do you think they will give us clothes to wear? Like a sweater with a letter on it and one of those skirts that goes red white red white red?" I think you get a free T-shirt. (didn't mention the pompons)

Of course it is drizzly and cold today. We have to get her dressed and to the field by half-time. Not sure I can sit at the game before that. So more later on that.

We got Mieke's school photos back today. She is almost smiling, like the camera took the photo just a second early before her smile was really there. Hair looks great. We had our family photos taken Tuesday with Ashley Schrage (ashleyschragephotography.com) and Mieke was super cooperative and she should get some good pics out of that. By the time we get done with hers and are ready for the family shots, Mieke is hot and sweaty and silly.  Oh well. At least she has her nice smile and those big blue eyes. Who cares what mom and dad look like!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the Big Day: Kindergarten!

Mieke tossed and turned for about 20 minutes last night too excited to sleep. I told her to take a deep breath and roll over on her side. She was out.

Up at 6:10 a.m., dressed, hair combed and ready to go by 6:30 a.m. Of course she had to wait. We walked to school at 7:55 a.m. and she announced that she could find her locker and her room all by herself. And that's just what she did:

After school I walked up to pick her up at the classroom door, because that's what the principal told me to do. All browned off, Mieke wanted to walk out to the street to meet me. It's usually a good idea to follow the rules. At least I think so.

Mieke says she had a good day. She is tired and cranky and in a pile on the couch. 

Yesterday we celebrated the last day of summer vacation. We painted pottery and Mieke put her "initials" on her plate. Not the right ones but initials nonetheless.

 Then we strolled downtown Cedar Falls and ate Mexican food for lunch.

And working our way back in time, we went to the Iowa State Fair on Friday for the day. Not too crowded and a nice day. And after that we spent the weekend in Lanesboro, Minnesota. Just needed to relax and be somewhere for a while.

Stack of T-shirts from Land's End.         $50.00
Stick of Super Strength Deoderant         $2.50
Water bill for 2 showers a day                $40.00
Two, 11,000 count Perler Beads             $14.00
One Pair Asics Running Shoes               $80.00
Three cans Coppertone SPF 50 Sunscreen $15.00
50 smiling kids and happy parents        PRICELESS

I am sneaking in a moment of blog time quickly while the rest of the family watches TV. Here are some of the things we have been up to since June!

A part of our summer for the last three years has been spending one day a week with our friend Ella Ubben. She and Mieke stopped to say hi to our friend Shari who owns a salon in Hudson. The girls made themselves at home.

The Kids' Adventure program in Hudson has been a great summer job for me. One week we got to meet the major and tour City Hall. The little kids thought they met the president!

We've been to the Youth Pavilion and the last week we will go to Hansen's Dairy. Such a fun group of kids!

 The craft of the summer has been Perler Beads. Little tube-shaped beads are arranged on a grid and then pressed with an iron to melt them together. It takes hours and lots of concentration. Even snacks cannot draw kids away from the lure of Perler Beads! Wha-ha-ha-ha.

 We made a paint pendulum out of a bucket and a dish soap bottle. It's a splatter paint kind of contraption. We hung ours from a tree and painted a banner for the program.

Another wild experiment was melting crayons with a hair dryer onto a piece of paper. They turned out cool but we really needed a stiff art canvas or board to work with as our paper curled when it dried. And it took a long time to melt the crayons.

And another favorite, the Fake Sleepover. We made microwave s'mores and watched a movie.

And of course lots of pool time with Mieke. She has mastered jumping off the board and the high dive. I think my heart is still at the bottom of the pool.

 After arriving in Denver at Aunt Sara's we ventured to Boulder, Co on Saturday. One of my favorite spots in the country. Forgetting that it was Memorial Day weekend, we squeezed through the crowds of folks there for the Boulder Boulder run. They had vendors with running gear and running clubs set up in the mall. It's sort of a runners dream come true and an arthritis sufferer's nightmare. Seriously, I just wanted to weep. If only I could run and buy all that neat gear....someday in heaven I am gonna run like the wind.

The painter above was letting folks try their hand a painting. Mieke got to make flowers on the canvas. These blue sunglasses made her eyes even bluer.

 Trying on head gear.

 And all the Flat Irons in their magnificent glory. We managed about a half hour hike before Mieke wiped out and skinned a knee. Running on the trails is generally not a good idea.

 Cousin Sean had an 8am soccer game. And boy was it windy and cold. We never seem to come prepared no matter how much we pack. Mieke, Jelena and Aunt Sara shivering.
Sean is #19 in the blue jersey.

 I have discovered that Blog Spot only wants to download my horizontal photos and not the verticals.
How to kill time at a soccer game: Cartwheels and backward rolls down the incline.

And pretend you are a fashion model. In the afternoon we headed to Garden of the Gods. Just amazing. The sky was so clear and blue. We could feel just about every UV ray coming down.

 Pike's Peak in the distance.

Next stop, Rapid City, South Dakota.

 It's a good idea, when you are behind on blogging, to start with a photo of cute kids! Weston, Will and baby Carsten came for a visit. We found those "Milk-fed" shirts at Moo-Roo our local dairy's, dairy store. See, the Huenink boys live on a dairy farm now. But they used to live down the street from us and boy, do we miss these boys and their parents.

After breakfast at the AMVETS downtown Hudson, we hit the road for Colorado. The girls and I made a looong road trip West. Matt stayed home with Papa Ulven, who was in the hospital. Papa is now back at the nursing home and doing marvelously well! He is sitting up and eating on his own.

Here are my traveling companions:

 We took off for Colorado (Parker) to see Aunt Sara and her family for Memorial Day weekend. Mieke brought along her grown up reading. She thinks it's cool to pick these books out at the library. I think it is because Jelena is an avid reader and well, we want to be just like her....

Sorry, I have trouble loading from iPhoto sometimes. We stopped at Grand Island, NE to gas up and fell prey to the tacky tourist stuff at the gas station. I am quite certain that real natives used fewer poles on their dwellings.

 Of course, I always miss the turn for the Mormon Island as it is hidden in the trees but totally visible from the interstate. Duh. It's a lovely spot to stop, if you can find it. Of course it has a BIG sign with an arrow, but fighting with you 5 1/2 year old about using the restroom usually distracts one from such obvious signage.

 We spent the night in Kearney, NE. Next morning we visited the Archway to the West or something like that.

 The museum is really not worth the $$ admission price but it gave us the $12 quick history of the American West. Complete with "wild" guys. He is for real, beard is real and yes, he poses for every shot that way. I hope he gets a hefty cut of the admission price.

 We determined that we probably would not have made it very far on the trail and our wagon discards would look a lot like this.

 I am pretty sure others have messed with this gal and she will surely dump the coffee coffee on her foot.

 The next stretch tomorrow......stay tuned.