Under the Sea

Ever since Maggie commissioned Grammy to sew an Ariel costume, Maggie's fascination with The Little Mermaid has grown. Fascination turned to obsession when Grammy and Bapa took Maggie on a very special date to see the musical at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater in August. Therefore, Maggie requested a mermaid-themed party for her birthday this year.

Eight little girls can make a lot of noise and tire a person out! But it sure was fun to see them enjoy themselves. We are so thankful for such wonderful friends for Maggie.

We started with a craft - painting treasure boxes.

After a treasure hunt with clues, the girls were ready to eat.

The hungry crew.

Bode wanted me to take a picture of him, too, but I didn't quite catch a smile.

The princesses and mermaids (minus Lily).

Present time!

And finally, cake!

Five, Family, and Fun

After a breakfast of Pop Tarts (her choice since we never have them) and measuring her current height on the growth chart, I sat down with my sweet girl for a birthday interview:

I am... 5 years old.
The best show on TV is... Sophia the First.
My favorite thing about school is... snack and station time.
The thing I'm best at is... running and doing a somersault.
If I could change my name, it would be... my doll's name, Molly.
My favorite colors are... pink, blue, purple, and red.
My favorite toy is..."I'm thinking on that one..." Molly.
When I grow up, I want to work... at the bank.
I like to take these things to bed with me at night: blankie.
My favorite book is..."I read lots of books, but my favorite book is Cinderella...in my princess book."
My favorite movie is... The Little Mermaid.
My favorite season of the year is... summer.
A food I really like is... Pop-Tarts (her birthday breakfast of choice this morning).
My favorite animals are... bobcats and cats and cute little puppies and cute little kitties.
My favorite sports are... football and basketball and soccer.
My best friends are... all of them - Olivia, Claire, and Josie and Betsy and Abbie and Ari.
My favorite holiday is... Valentine's Day and Thanksgiving and Christmas.
My favorite thing I did while I was 4 was... going to Wisconsin Dells.

The rest of the day consisted of some time with their nanny, a nap, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa complete with ice cream cake, Chuck E Cheese, and presents! 

Maggie's exclamations that it was "the best day ever!" certainly made it special for the rest of us, too.

Breakfast of champions with her Molly doll.

Five!

Grandma and Grandpa brought the fun!

Grammy and Bapa were here the weekend before helping make bunk beds!

DQ princess cake from Grandma and Grandpa.

Thanks, Bode!

Birthday celebration at school on the 22nd.  Maggie got to be calendar helper.  Bode joined right in when we got to Maggie's school, "Hi, everybody!" and was an eager participant (red shirt).

He was starting to get tired and unsure.

The Fourth in Stewie

As mentioned in my previous post, we arrived back in Stewartville at around 11:00 am, just in time to take part in Stewartville's Summerfest (4th of July) activities.

On our list was the carnival, so even though we were travel weary, we walked over to the park to do some rides with the kids.

After a much-needed nap for all of us, we were rested and ready to attend

• The parade.

And to top it all off,

• Fireworks

We only had 4 days before we all took off for our family vacation to Colorado, but we did fit in a few more summer activities during our days of preparation:

• Banana splits.

• Rochester Honkers game (baseball).

I plan to post some photos of our trip to Colorado as soon as I can, but with Steve at Bethel for the next week and a half, I will have to wait until he can send me some of the snapshots from his phone.  Thanks for bearing with my blogging binge after my absence. 

Puerto Rico and Kids with Grandparents

With our 10 year anniversary coming up in August (what - 10 years???), Steve and I had planned for awhile to travel someplace new for a short time this summer.  We had booked a trip to Puerto Rico before Baby #3 took up residence in my belly, but I guess now this vacation doubled as a babymoon, too.

We spent lots of time by the beach and pool, ate delicious food, had a couples massage, hiked in the rainforest, and toured old forts in San Juan.

We did lots of this.  Beach and pool time.

El Yunque Rainforest.

Observation tower in the rainforest.

Old San Juan.

Castillo de San Cristobal in San Juan.

And while we were in the Caribbean, Maggie and Bode had a great time with both sets of grandparents.  They even completed several items on their summer list:

• Visit Grammy and Bapa (my parents).  They also visited Grandma and Grandpa (Steve's parents), but we already checked this off our summer list from an earlier summer trip.
• Bonfire with s'mores.

• Tea party.

• Made homemade pizza.
• Put on a play - "Cinderella."  We saw the video - it was amazing. :)
• Root beer floats.
• Blow bubbles.

We all had a wonderful time in our respective locations, but were extremely pleased to be reunited in time for the Fourth of July.

End of June

With vacations the end of June and beginning of July, I'm just now getting to recording our summer list activities for the end of June:

• Make oobleck.

•  Dance in the rain.

• Paint boxes.

• Oxbow Park and Zollman Zoo (with friends!)

• Make playdough.

• The Zinghoppers.  This was a dance party put on by the Stewartville library. Honestly, though?  it was one cheesy lady interacting with a screen where the rest of the group did science experiments and played music.  The kids had fun.

• Egg carton bugs.

• Mani-pedi.

• The Stewartville library.  We also got to sit in on story time with the kids' ECFE teacher and make vinegar and baking soda volcanoes.

• Thursdays on First and 3rd in Rochester.  Lots of vendors and music.

Peace Plaza in Rochester.

First snow cones.