Sikorski Saga

Luella found her umbrella while Dan and Kyla loaded the van for our trip back to Virginia. She looks like a little Southern Belle.

Our first stop is always the pronto pup stand! Pronto pups are like corn dogs, only made from wheat, not cornmeal. We went on opening day, Thursday August 26, 2010 and had record breaking crowds . Anna, Luella, Kirsten, Maren and Isaac enjoying their pronto pups and our Snickers and Milky Way on a stick! We stopped to watch the parade and the Dairy Princess float. The largest boar is always a site to see - over 1,200 pounds! Skipping too many naps makes a little one sad and the big one irritated. All you can drink chocolate milk will totally help brighten the big one's day, and her little sister finally taking a nap. We met up with George and Dan Danczyk at the fair! Here Kyla and George are talking with a Marine about the difference between an APC (Army's Armored Personnel Carrier, carries people and supplies) and a LAV (Marine Logistic A-something Vehicle, carries supplies only). Kirsten enjoying walleye at our favorite dinner stop. Isaac and Katja trying to figur...

Maren joins Isaac at Black Hawk Middle School. She's posing with her new locker during Back to School Jamboree. (Kirsten calls it "Go Broke Day" as they pay for all the school activities that day.) Katja thought she should try out a locker too. Luella helping Maren figure out the combination on her lock. After Back to School Jamboree, we went to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America. The cousins look good on the carousel! Anna and Luella on the hot air balloon ride. Katja and Kyla on the other side of the balloon ride. When we started to stand in line, Sponge Bob Square Pants and Patrick were there for photos. When we rounded the corner to see Dora and Boots, Katja got mad and started screaming. Sponge Bob is her new favorite since he's on her birthday jammies . So we only got Luella to pose with Dora and Boots. The kids on the carousel and no one is screaming!

Kyla finished Katja's new blanket. Kyla finished Luella's new blanket. Here is Luella's first blanket. She got it from her Great-Grammy Luella Dore for her first birthday. Now nearly three years later, it has been loved to death - or loved to love as Luella describes it. The rips and tears are what motivated Kyla to make the new blankets. Katja found some frosting and couldn't resist! Luella doing one circuit in the small gymnastics room. Luella jumping on the trampoline. Luella doing a circuit in the big gymnastics room. Luella walking on the beam.

Katja swung on the rings, eventually without Kyla holding her. Katja is doing the basket swing on the bar. Her teacher was amazed since most kids are not that fearless on the bars. (Just don't ask Katja to jump into the foam block pit.) Katja spent a little time by herself on the trampoline, but not much, since it still isn't a favorite activity. Katja doing the kitty cat crawl up the beam. She was supposed to do the bear crawl up both beams, oh well. One of Katja's favorite activities is walking on the beam. Back in the small room, they did circuits to include the slide down the big inflatable slide. Definitely a hit! Katja somersaults with a little help from Mommy. Backwards somersault down the ramp with a little help from the teacher. Look at me, I got hand stamps ! Luella's second to last day of gymnastics and she's learning to do the bridge. Katja getting a drink all by herself during Luella's class. Luella likes walking on the beam to...

The Steele County Free Fair in Owatonna is one of the biggest county fairs in Minnesota. Lucky for us, it's only 11 miles away! Our new event was panning for gold! Okay, Maren was panning for fossils . Luella was panning for semi-precious stones. We bought a bag of sand with the stones (or fossils ) in it and used the screens and running water to find the treasures. Kyla helped Luella find some stones using our handy guide. Luella loved dunking the sand and screen in the water. "I found a pacifier! My birthstone!" says Luella. "A s apphire ?" asks Kyla. "YES!" A look at one screen of our semi-precious stones shows off all the pretty rocks. The FFA animal building had Katja's favorite animals - kitties! And puppies! We spent more time checking out campers. This pop-up trailer said it slept 10, so we had to try to see how many we could fit on a mattress. Yes there are five on this side, but do we really all want to sleep together, especiall...