8!!!!!!!

After a year long countdown (I'm not kidding), Alex turned 8 on May 5. To say that he was looking forward to this birthday is an understatement; he could not wait to turn 8 because 1. he would be getting baptized and 2. he would finally get to go to cub scouts. For his birthday, Ava and I went up to his school and brought him McDonald's for lunch. After school we went to Chuck E Cheeses and Alex brought his friend, Gabe. After pizza and games, we went home and had some ice cream cake and opened presents. It was a great birthday!
Fun facts about Alex: he's thoughtful, helpful, good big brother (most of the time), is good at math, likes to read, loves swimming, is very inquisitive-he wants to know everything-unfortunately, I do not know everything, very into Pokemon cards, and wants to be a scientist when he grows up.

It's Pinkatastic!

Ok-so it's been a few months since my last post. While we have been doing stuff these past 6 months, I've gotten into this bad habit of blogging all of those things pretty much all at the same time. Anyway, a couple months ago while searching for some Pinkalicious books for Ava, I saw that there was a Pinkalicious musical and it was playing in Chicago. I thought it would be a fun mother-daughter outing so I got tickets to the show. My friend, Brandi and her daughter, Sibley came with us and we had a great time. I wasn't sure if Ava would like it or not because the actors did not look like the characters in the book but she loved it!


Waiting for the show to start.


Ava and her friend, Sibley outside the theatre. Of course we went on the coldest and rainiest day in April!

A Disney World Christmas

There is only one word to describe Christmas in Indiana: cold. I do not like cold. Fortunately, Alex thought it would be a great idea to go somewhere fun for Christmas. He told my mom of his wishes and it wasn't too hard to convince her that it would be beneficial to all if we went somewhere warm. We decided on Florida and made plans to visit Disney World, Epcot, Universal Studios, and the Space Center. Alex and Ava had a wonderful time-loved Disney, loved Universal. Alex especially liked the Harry Potter World there. The rides were so much fun (the kids rode on some of them several times) and Alex rode on his first "real" roller coaster ride (meaning he went upside-down). Needless to say, both were worn out by the end of the trip but want to return soon!

The start of our trip. I surprised the kids with a limo ride to the airport. They loved it!


Dumbo ride with Uncle Tristan.


Snow White's Scary Adventure...scary for a 4 year-old, no one else.


Princess dress.


Carousel.


Teacup ride.


Disney at night.


Epcot!




The house we stayed at had a pool. It was actually too cold to swim, but the kids didn't care!


Harry Potter World at Universal. I have to say it was very cool!


Waiting for the Spiderman ride to start.


Jurassic Park.


Dr. Seuss world at Universal-Uncle Tristan was such a good sport!


Space Center.


Worn out by all the fun!

Christmas concerts

One of the things I like best about Christmas time are the school concerts. Who doesn't like seeing their kid up on stage performing? Besides, I think it's very sweet to see children singing songs celebrating this season. Alex's concert was first and we totally scored and got 2nd row seats. I could actually hear Alex singing. The kids had their homemade maracas for the song, "Feliz Navidad" and I think they did a great job!


Can you see Alex? He's in the back row and all the way on the left.

Ava's concert was the following week and there's something about preschoolers performing that makes it so entertaining. It was a very cute concert and Ava did a great job singing all of the songs and doing all of the hand motions.

Snow!

Winter has arrived and with it comes the snow. Actually, the snow usually arrives before winter, much to my chagrin and much to my kids enjoyment. We had a couple of dustings and about an inch or so before we actually got some real snow fall. As always, Alex and Ava could not wait to go outside and play. I stayed indoors and watched from the window...it's way too cold out there for me!

Halloween

Halloween always means lots of kids, lots of parties, and of course, lots of candy. This year Alex was Anakin Skywalker and Ava was a butterfly. They had a great time celebrating at school parties, trunk-or-treating at church, and trick-or-treating with friends.

School parties



Trunk-or-Treating


Trick-or-treating with friends.

We even squeezed in some pumpkin carving. I think next year I will buy a kit!

Autumn

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the crisp weather, leaves changing color, and the anticipation of the holidays. There are so many fun activities to do this time of year, from apple picking to hayrides to picking out pumpkins. However, it is also a very busy time of year with the start of school, homework, and activities that I always feel guilty for not doing more with the kids during this time. This year I was determined to do some fun fall things and so we went to County Line Orchard. We went on a Saturday which meant it was super busy but the kids had a blast going through the corn maze, visiting the farm animals, and riding on the tractor.