All I Want for Christmas...

It FINALLY happened!!!  I am pretty sure I am the last first grader to lose a tooth.  

The other day I noticed that my tooth was wiggly, and each day it got wigglier.  I really wanted it out, but I just wasn't sure what to do.  Well, after lots of wiggling it with my tongue, I decided to twist it, three times, and pop! Out it came!

It was so exciting, I couldn't wait for Mama and Daddy to get home so I could show them.  I was also so worried about losing it, the tooth fairy would be so disappointed.

Speaking of the tooth fairy, she came!!  She left me a sweet note saying that my tooth was extra clean and, she also left me a special two dollar bill!  It was covered in fairy dust and smelled amazing.

I hope I lose another one at school, I can't wait to go to the office and get a treasure box.

Have a great night, and don't forget to brush!
Linden

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Last week we went on a super fun adventure, we headed to Omaha!!

When Mama told me we were going to Nebraska I wasn't so sure what to think...I mean, nobody talks about going to Nebraska, but she promised me that we would have a great time.  I was skeptical after 5 hours of driving...

Day one we headed to the Omaha Zoo.  It started out a rainy day, but there were plenty of inside places to check out.  Within an hour the sun came out and it was a beautiful day!!  Unfortunately not all of the attractions were open because of the weather, but we made the best of it.

After walking around the entire zoo I think my favorite part was getting to touch the sting rays.  Ellen was pretty skeptical at first, but she warmed up quickly and pretty soon was soaked!!

Mama liked the silly monkeys and gorillas.  The zookeepers gave them newspaper and cardboard boxes and the monkeys and gorillas DESTROYED them!  Mama said that the mama monkeys must not be there today, because they would have made them clean up their room.

Ellen liked the penguins.  We got there right as they were feeding them, and the Omaha Zoo has a special kid area right up by the glass so we could get a great view.  They also had a fun bubble that we could sit in and the penguins swam all around us.

After we had gotten as much zoo as we could handle we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep because we had a big day the next day.  On Monday we headed 90 minutes south to see the solar eclipse!!

Daddy found a workbook put together by the park that taught us all sorts of great things about the eclipse so Mama and I worked on it on the drive down.  We learned that it is VERY important to wear our special sunglasses and to NEVER look directly at the sun.

Ready Jet GO, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and a Scientist from NASA were at the park.  Everybody was kinda bummed because it was so cloudy, but God took care of us and moved the clouds for the main event.

Totality was SO COOL!  I wasn't sure what to expect, but when it got dark we were told we could take our glasses off and it was really neat.  We even got to see a planet during the day (we think it was Venus).  Our picture doesn't do it any justice, it was really amazing to see.

After the eclipse was over everybody headed to line up to get on the shuttles to go back to their car, instead we decided to explore the park.  We met the Park Rangers and handed in our homework and became Junior Park Rangers!

We also went on a quick hike to explore other parts of the park.

NASA had a really neat presentation where they showed us the globe and what Earth looks like from space.  We learned about how the continents moved a long time ago, and learned about how important it is that we take care of Earth.

We also got to do some fun crafts, I learned how to make a dolly out of corn husks like they did a long time ago.  It was fun, but I am glad to have my special dolls.

Of course, no matter how much fun we have on vacation, we have to make sure to get in plenty of pool time.  Ellen has decided that she wants to be a mermaid too, I think she needs to get her own tail.

 Hope you all have a great night,
Linden

Say Cheese!!

Hey Everybody!  Ellen Here!

I know we have neglected the blog this year, but I am going through this thing where I don't want to go to sleep, so I thought a blog post would be a perfect excuse to stay up even later!!  (Mom can't get too mad...right?)

Linden has some pretty exciting news, she finally has her first loose tooth!  She has been waiting for forever for this day.  Tonight I snuck downstairs and saw that the tooth fairy left her a special present to use when it actually falls out.  She is going to love it.

I wonder if the tooth fairy knows Tinkerbell?  Maybe next time I will see her and I will get to ask.

Have a great night,

Ellen

Tennis Love

 Last time I posted I mentioned that I have started Tennis!  I was really excited to get my new racket, but really bummed when my coach told Mama that it was a little too big and suggested that I use one of theirs.

None the less, I was ready!  I was really excited to be able to wear a tank top and shorts, and our coaches are really fun too.

In just a couple of weeks I have learned a ton, I know how to do a backhand, and forehand swing.  The hardest part about tennis is that I still don't know if I am right or left handed.  Well, I do know that when I write I am right handed, but with sports I am all sorts of confused!  

Tennis has been super fun, I can't wait until next week!

Linden

Spring into Sports

Happy Sunday!

Spring is here and that mean Spring Sports!  Last week my cousin Tyler had a Lacrosse game in Northfield so we made the trip to watch him play!  Mama said we were only going to stay for the first half, but because we were in such a great mood we got to stay for the whole game.

My favorite part was at the very end, after they won, when I got to go give my cousin a big hug!  I was worried that he wouldn't see us and come over, but Auntie Wendy said she knew he would come over if he could.

Ellen wasn't so sure about the black stuff on Tyler's cheeks, but she got a smooch from him anyways.

It might have been chilly, but it was a great night!

Tyler isn't the only one playing sports, soccer season has started in Owatonna!  I am on team HyVee and I am having a great time.  Coach Dan and Coach Tolle are a ton of fun and are making sure we learn a little bit about soccer too!

We have had two games so far.  Coach Tolle says that it isn't about winning so we don't keep score, so I don't know if we are winning, but we sure are having the most fun.

Coach Tolle also says that it is important to be a good sport.  That means that we make sure everybody has a chance to play, we make sure our teammates aren't hurt if they fall down, and after the game we give the other team high fives.

The best part of this season is that I get to be on the same team as my best friend Kaiya!  We have been on the same team two years in a row, I don't know if it will happen again, but it is pretty great.

The weather man says we are supposed to get a lot of snow tomorrow, here's hoping that he is wrong, but lucky me, Tennis is inside!

Linden

Swimming Like a Fish

You have all read about the fun that Mom and Sissy had at the Zoo sleeping with the fish. Did you ever wonder where was Ellen? What was she doing? Was she having fun?

Well... I was having fun! Dad and I went to the water park and played on the water slide!

 I really enjoyed playing on the slide and there were plenty of friends to play with at the water park.

 We got hungry and so we had food delivered to the pool and we ate during the pool break, so I didn't have to miss any pool time fun.

 After dinner I found a kickboard and thought it would make the slide more fun, and it did!

 I can't wait for the summer for some more pool time!

Sleepin' with the Fishes

We had the most amazing weekend ever!!  Mama's birthday was last week and for her present I got her a sleepover at the Minnesota Zoo in Discovery Bay.  Ellen was too little she she got to stay home with Daddy which meant mom and I got to hang-out, just the two of us!

Before heading to the zoo Mama and I decided to do some shopping and spend some time at Chuckie Cheese!  Mama and I got really lucky and won a ton of tickets.

Once we got to the zoo we had so much fun.  We decided to sleep by the jellyfish tank because I thought they would make a beautiful night light.  I was mostly right, but the tank was really bright, luckily the zoo keeper turned it off at bedtime.

Enough about the sleeping part.  Our zoo keeper, Max, was a ton of fun and taught us all sorts of great things.  We got to go behind the scenes and see where they keep all of the food, and how they feed each of the animals.  Did you know that turtles know their shapes and colors?  They each have a target that is a certain shape and color and when they touch it with their beak they get food!

We learned about a bunch of different underwater animals.  This was a cold water star fish.  He couldn't be outside of his tank for very long because he doesn't like being warm.  Did you know that star fish have 5 eyes!?!

It was really fun getting to be there after the zoo was closed. Most of the time the touch tanks are really hard to get close to because there are so many people.  The sharks were really active and fun to reach in and touch.  Our zoo keeper suggested that we not sleep by the shark touch tank because every night they have a party and splash around.

My favorite part was getting to go above the big fish tank and look in.  There are so many fish and it was really neat to see.  Mama was not so sure about me getting so close, but Zoo Keeper Max said it was safe as long as we were laying on our tummies.

We had a great time, though Mama said they kept her up too late (bedtime was 10:00!!)