Maya's Vacation

While Brian and I were at camp last week, Maya had a blast hanging out with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Most of the Knutson/Sutter readers have already seen these/taken them, but I thought the rest of you would like to see them too.

Maya spent the first part of the week with Cher, Laur, Jill, Tricia, Tony, and Charlie up in Duluth.

Then she spent a few nights with Mindy, Jon, Natalie, and Harvey.

 

Then, back to grandma and grandpa for a night before we came to pick her up.  She's already looking forward to spending a week with them next year.

You know it's spring in Minnesota when...

you get the first tornado warning of the season.  This one didn't end up touching down, but Brian got some video of the cool clouds that came along with the warning.  I was with a couple hundred students in the basement of the campus center.  Don't ask me what Maya is doing.

Rainy day fun

We've had a cold, wet spring and so Maya has taken it upon herself to create her own swimming experiences.  Here she is on the couch trampoline, jumping into the pool.  Note the two layers of bathing suits.

Maya vs. Bunny

Nothing says Easter like a chocolate bunny. 

I think I know who won this round...

Musician in the Making

Maya is really into making music these days.  Whether it is playing guitar, playing piano, or belting out a tune from Frozen, she just loves to be doing something musical.  I snuck up on her practicing the other day.  See how she moves the "music" around on the stand?  She's got quite a medley going on here...a combination of Bless the Lord, Jesus Loves Me, and the ABC song.

A Visit from Grandma Judy

Grandma Judy spent a week with us in April.  Here she is reading a new book with Maya.

She left before Easter, but was thoughtful enough to leave behind an Easter basket for Maya to open.

Planting

Maya has been helping Brian get the seeds started.  We'll see how many eggplants we end up with this year.

Puzzles

Maya's newest obsession is doing puzzles.  She got these 24-piece wood puzzles for Christmas and she loves to put them together over and over (and over and over) again.  Brian just got her a couple more puzzles with 48 pieces.  She hasn't mastered them yet, but I don't think it will take too long.

and now, a message from Maya, who insists on "taping"...


yhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuhkbkm
mnbvcxzmnbvcxz

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhjhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhkuikmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhuy77777778786uiu
1222jgi9776t98 vfnn  l yu9yojnnnn n              n978n8777796u7

Gourdy

Though we are 'trapped' inside most of this cold winter, Maya and I have found things to do.

Lately we used some gourds that grew in our garden to make birdhouses.  

The gourds have dried for a whole year and now they are ready to be cleaned out.

When I used a power tool to cut the holes, Maya didn't like the sound.  

Thanks to grandpa Tom for sending the perfect gift to protect our ears!

 Once I had a hole made for the wrens and chickadees, Maya helped empty the seeds and 'guts'.

Finally time to do some painting!  

Sorry, we don't have finished product pictures....yet.  We decided to add more paint later.

Though I have been keeping somewhat busy with Maya, the cabin fever is taking it's toll on my wallet.  I've been 'accidentally' finding some great deals on shoes, backpacks, sleeping pads, shoes for Kate, etc.

I hope the warm weather comes soon!  I want to be able to try out some of the new gear I bought, and maybe more important, I want to be so busy outside that I don't have time to shop!

This winter is a true Minnesota winter!

This winter has been snowy and cold.  I have loved winter for the skiing.  I don't ski as much anymore, and with Maya, it's hard to play outside when its sub-zero so often.  

We have had some big storms come through.  I was even snowblowing and had lightning flash overhead!

The cold has been the worst, but the blizzards and wind storms have been pretty bad too.  This video is from a few weeks ago....

 

It is not all bad though.  Maya and I have been out playing in the snow several times.  Maya learned to slide down the hill by herself, climb around in the snow fort I built, and help decorate a snowman.  

Here is a nice day where she helped me shovel snow...

 We don't have a lot of pictures.  Maybe because Maya never looks at the camera, except when she (seemingly) hits me in the face with a shovel!

I've seen snow removal machines used this year that I've never seen used before.  Giant snowblowers like those used in mountain passes have become common this year.  There are snowdrifts along my commute that are easily taller than the Element, and likely 8 feet or more.  

I had put in a fence at the cabin to keep Maya from wandering into the lake.  Last Sunday when I went out to kite ski at the lake, I could almost ski OVER the top of the fence on the snow!

It's been a great snow year.  Unfortunately also a very windy year and unusually cold.  I think we are nearing the top 5 for coldest recorded winters.  We are going to start March in the sub-zero too.  Saturday and Sunday are forecast to be 1 and 3F, overnight lows -13.  I won't even mention the windchill.  

Soon I hope to be out with Maya, breaking in the 'new' tent.

I wanna 'tape"

Well, I wanna tape is what it sounds like when Maya asks to TYPE.

She has been learning to type on the computer.  She loves to do what mama and dada do!

She will sit and just explore what the buttons do and create her own words.  Other times, she will ask me to help her spell a word.  She even knows how to do a '?'.  Hold down the 'shift' button and hit the '?' key.

Brrrrr!

All this cold weather has kept us cooped up for the past few days.  Thankfully, Brian has shifted over to a different job at Menards that lets him stay inside the store.  It's an early morning position that means he leaves for work at about 4:30 am and gets home at 10:00, just in time for me to get to my 10:30 class.  While we both have excuses to get out of the house (even in the POLAR VORTEX), Maya has been home bound.  This leads to a lot of...

Room reorganizing...

Tucking in mama for a nap...

Playing music...

And dress up and dance sessions...

We're looking forward to getting outside this weekend when it warms up a bit.

Maya's new guitar

For Christmas, Kate and I didn't get Maya much as we knew she'd be getting great gifts from everyone else.  We did find a cheap kids guitar for her.  Now I won't have to risk damage when she asks to play my guitar or ukulele.  She likes it, but mostly plays it when I play.  Here she had just opened it on Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house and she already had a song to sing.

I give you "The Harvey Song"

Christmas decorating

We're a little late on this, but my mom asked for pictures/video of Maya decorating the Christmas tree.  Here's the one video I was able to find on the camera.

And here's a few more shots from Christmas, just to close up the season of holiday posts.

Help with Christmas baking (I don't think any drool actually made it into my Christmas cookies this year, despite what you see here!)

 Sugar cookie decorating at Willow Hill...

 
 More gifts to unwrap on Christmas day

 

Elephant Toothpaste

It's been a bit too cold to go outside and play.  We have found a few creative things to do inside instead.  Yesterday while Kate and Heather did a workout video in the living room, Maya and I made Elephant Toothpaste! 

This fun is a slow motion version of the volcanoes you can make out of vinegar and baking soda.  Elephant Toothpaste is made from hydrogen peroxide, soap, yeast, and a little food coloring. 

Here's the project in action....

After the action, we used spoons and measuring cups to scoop and play with the foam.

With the forecast as it is, we are going to have to find some other sub-zero fun...inside.