Happy Father's Day!

I think Mike had a pretty good father's day... and a long celebration of it! The weekend prior to father's day we went to Pops because we knew we couldn't fit it in the weekend of father's day. The kids always enjoy it there & Mike does too. On father's day we had breakfast at home and the kids gave Daddy the book we made for him of pictures of him & the kids throughout the year (they are looking at it in the pic above). Isabella gave him a couple pieces of artwork she made for him at her gymboree art class. Then for lunch we went to another one of Mike's favorite restaurants, Johnny's. Then for dinner we joined my parents, the Polliards, & the Gray's at the Elephant Bar to celebrate with my Dad. It was a busy day but lots of fun. Happy Father's Day, Mike (Daddy) & to my Dad! :)

More Dance

A few more dance recital pictures from my sister, Jennifer's camera. Thanks for taking them, Jenn!

Isabella's Dance Recital- June 2011

After finishing up gymnastics last summer, Isabella really wanted to try out dance classes. We talked to her about what a commitment it would be & about how she'd have to stick with it for a full year. (There are lots of up front costs for the recital & such that we didn't want to invest in & have her quit.) She still wanted to do it so we signed her up at a local dance studio, Karen's Kids. I think she bored fairly quickly of doing the same dances over & over each week (they started practicing their dances for the recital back in August!) & she would sometimes complain & say she wanted to go back to gymnastics. But as we'd said at the beginning, she had to stick with it the full year. So she did. And now finally comes the recital, the culmination of the full years rehearsals! (And the week leading up to the recital she had dance practic Monday-Thursday from 530-7p every night to practice her 2 dances & learn the finale dance!!) I felt almost like it was my recital with all the articles of costumes to gather & bring, the hair to fix, the costume changes, etc, etc! The whole night was an experience!

She did so well & looked so cute on the stage in her costume. We were so proud! We were happy to have lots of family come to see her (& she was excited to know they were in the audience watching her) & to take pictures since my camera battery went dead at the very beginning (thanks Mom & Laura for your contributions to this blog ;o).

You Are My Sunshine ballet dance. (In the bottom left picture she is trying to put her fingers in the "I love you" sign.)

Dinosaur Rock N' Roll tap dance. She does a really cute turn around in this dance where she is tapping her feet all the way around & you can tell she is really enjoying this bit! (When she sat in the audience with us in this costume, Jackson was petting it like it was an animal!)

After the finale, in her finale outfit... Karen's Kids t-shirt.

Raspberry/Blackberry Picking

We visited a local orchard with our MOMS club friend, Ashley & her children, Randy & Ryan. Sunberry Orchard is a Upick orchard with many different kinds of yummy fruits. Last year we picked their sweet cherries & this year we got there just in time for red raspberries (w/ a few black raspberries thrown in) & black berries. The kids had fun & did really well picking the berries! They did get a bit cranky towards the end but they were a bit hot & tired. We've been enjoying the fruit all week long!

Kite Flying @ Hefner

We had a long Memorial weekend so we wanted to think of some fun things to do with the kids. One day we took them out to Lake Hefner for a picnic & kite flying. We also wanted to play on their little beach area but the wind was kicking up too much sand & it was painful on the kid's little legs. So we had lunch & flew the kite. The kids had lots of fun! We went for gelato afterwards & the kids really loved that.

Mother's Day 2011

I had a lovely mother's day with the kiddos & Mike. I didn't cook or clean one single bit & Mike even got the kids dressed first thing in the morning & took them to breakfast out of the house so I could sleep in peace (although I didn't really sleep in very late due to noisy dogs!). We had a nice brunch at Cheever's, spent a little time at the book store, & then had dinner at Upper Crust with family. It was a nice relaxing day. (This was the best picture we managed to get!) Oh & the kids & Mike got me the rest of the stuff I needed to make wine from the kit I got for Christmas so it is on... let the wine making commence!

Dallas Trip - May 2011

Mike had a conference in Dallas (Grapevine), TX for a week so we decided to tag along for a change of pace. (Plus Mike had been in Boston the week before & I didn't want another week of single parenting!) The kids & I did things around Dallas during the day & at the end of our trip we stayed a night at the Great Wolf Lodge b/c the kids loved the place last year.

This is at the Museum of Nature & Science. They had a cow you could milk & other farm type things, dinosaur dig along w/ dino fossils & a bunch of other fun things for kids to do.

Of course the kids love to go eat at the Rainforest Cafe!

This time we stayed in the wolf den suite at Great Wolf Lodge & the kids loved it. (The kids can howl like wolves really well!)

Jackson was actually brave enough to go on the water slides in the baby area & went over & over again. Isabella enjoyed going on nearly all the waterslides in the park once again. She was a bit upset that we didn't stay longer & threw a little fit when it was time to go asking why we couldn't just live there. :)