Dad's 50th Surprise B-day Party

We pulled it off!  Mom, Michelle, Adam, Christine, and I threw Dad a surprise 50th birthday party.  I can't believe he never figured it out because at one point of another we all would make a slip about the party.  I told him that but he said he never pays attention to what we are all talking about.  haha  We do talk a lot.

We had a tough time getting Dad out of the house.  Finally Mom convinced him to go shopping with her at 12:30pm.  The party was at 2pm!  They leave so Michelle and I get all the food out.  That is when we realized that the meat was all still frozen.  Ahhhh...panic time.  So I decided to boil all the meat before putting it on the grill.  It was a miracle because it worked.   The food tasted great.  Dad was totally surprised when he got home.  It was a great success!

Trip to MN

Alexis, Isabelle, and Great Grandma Betty

Alexis, Isabelle, and Great Grandpa Al and Great Grandma Sue
Grandpa Brian with the girls on his motorcycle.
Grandpa Brian with Izzie just hanging out.  Notice his shirt?  Go Dawgs!
Izzie with Auntie Chelle and Uncle Tommy

We are back!  Alexis, Isabelle, and I went to MN for 5 days.  We were busy from the moment we got there to the moment we left.  Thursday night was dinner at Danita's and the rest of the Walthers' family.  Friday was Christine's graduation.  Saturday was Dad's surprise birthday party. Sunday was a BBQ at Bob's.  Monday was dress shopping at David's Bridal for Michelle's wedding. That was an all day event.  

We had a great time.  The girls did pretty good on the flight considering their age I guess.  On the way home, Isabelle ate a peanut and decided she did not like it after she chewed it up.  She tried to spit it out and in the process she gagged, coughed, and then puked her lunch up on herself.  Think curdled milk...Ewww!!!  It stunk so bad.  In efforts to make the smell go away, I put hand sanitizer on our hands.  Nope...still smells.  So I put hand lotion on all of us and then turned the air on full blast.  That did the trick. It smelled like Bath and Body Works on the plane.

I am hoping to get back to MN in August to attend Michelle and Tommy's engagement party.  I still have to work out those details.  I am hoping to go for the weekend, without kids.  I've got my fingers crossed that that will work out.

Goodbye Niles

Daniel and Teresa sold their camel, Niles to a nice farm in the Carolinas.  They said they could not give Niles the attention he deserved.  He will love his new home and will continue to be trained.  I believe Niles will give rides too.  

We had Christina spend the night.  Alexis always gets so excited whenever Christina sleeps over.  She looks up to her older cousin.  Christina was a huge help with the girls.  They played dress up which was hilarious.  Christina even vacuumed my house!  I am flattered that she loves coming over all the time.

At Daniel's Horse Show

We went to a horse show in Alpharetta, GA because Daniel was showing his horse Bonita Bailey aka Janet.  It was fun to watch him, his horse is absolutely beautiful.  She looks like Black Beauty. Dana and Natalia came to visit us.  Lexie and Izzie spent some great quality time with them.  They got spoiled as usual.

Picking Berries

Notice the sound of the wind...now you know why we had to wear sweaters.  The wind was chilly!  We still had a ton of fun!!

Family Fun Night

After Dane got off of work we got a Papa Johns Pizza ($5. Tuesday...gotta love that!) and went to Memorial Park with a half loaf of stale bread for the ducks.  We had a nice picnic dinner, fed the ducks and geese, and played on the playground.  It was the perfect way to end the day.  I love family fun nights!!  

P.S. Another chuckle for you all in MN...it is 71 degrees out and I am wearing a fleece jacket.  I find that funny myself.  It just goes to show that I would never survive another MN winter!

Strawberry Picking

We took a spontaneous trip to Washington Farms today to pick strawberries which is becoming an annual tradition.  While the strawberries are not necessarily cheaper than the grocery store, they are pesticide free and fun to pick.  Although I did most of the picking and the girls mostly ate the strawberries.  I looked at Alexis' bucket and it was filled with a ton of green leafy stems (the remains of her strawberries).  The biggest sign of fun was the girl's faces were covered in strawberry juice.  On a side note, notice the girls wearing sweaters?  We had unseasonably cool temps for May in Georgia.  The high has been in the low 70s which is kind of chilly for us especially with the wind.  I know more chuckles out of you northerners but I will be happy to see our 80 degree weather back.

Sister Time

The girls love watching movies in Lexie's bed together.  We went to Blockbuster and rented 101 Dalmations.  I think they have watched it at least a half dozen times.

Piano Concert

My Baby Mozart

Isabelle is my "Baby Mozart".  She loves playing on the piano.  She knows to play gently with her little bitty fingers and plays pretty self-composed songs.  Alexis loves to play as well.  She will begin piano lessons soon.  She always remembers where middle C is and loves to compose her own songs too.  They enjoy giving Dane and I concerts.

Sleeping Standing Up

This was hilarious...I had to run get my camera to capture this moment.  The girls were playing in their room.  I went to check on them and Izzie fell asleep standing up while Lexie was playing quietly.  

Marigold Festival

We went to the Winterville Marigold Festival with Katie, Ella and Hank today.  When we first got there we saw what we thought was the parade which was a total of a fire truck and a couple other cars and that was it.  It is a small town but we questioned are you kidding me was that their parade?  We walked into "downtown" Winterville, and snickered as we passed their Police Station and City Hall which consisted of two small houses converted into city buildings.  We were pleased that we saw the tail end of the parade, it was quite long and entertaining.  No marching bands though which was a bummer.  Alexis and Ella got their face painted.  We ate some fair type food including deep fried pickles which are really good!  We saw a kids concert and the kids danced.  They played on the play ground.  We had a picnic lunch and then it was time to go home.  The kids were all tired and crabby.  It took all of 5 minutes in the car and both of my kids were passed out asleep.  It was a fun day!

Reward Time

Alexis decided on her own that she would "take care of it" and go pooh on the toilet after all.  After months of convincing her it is no big deal, she finally said it was easy.  She earned going to Chuck E Cheese for going pooh in the toilet.  What a sigh of relief.  She has been potty trained for a year and a half.  #1 is no big deal.  #2 has been another story.  One trained...only one more to go.  Hopefully, Isabelle will pick it up quickly for my sake and sanity. 

Bunco

I got together with several girl friends tonight to play Bunco.  Kristy made us awesome margarita type drinks.  We had several show up at Laura's...Holly, Kristy, Jessica, Katie, Shannon, Laura, Des, Erika, and myself.  I wasn't the biggest winner or loser so no money for me.  We had so many laughs.  It was a great night!

Superheros

Lexie and Izzie dressed up as Superheros today.  Not sure what their official names are but they are sure cute.  The girls have been playing really well together.  It is fun to watch how Izzie looks up to her sister and wants to be with her all the time.  It reminds me of my little sister, Michelle and I growing up.  

SJS Orientation

We went to St. Joseph's Catholic School for new student orientation.  Alexis met her new teacher, Miss Napoli.  She seems so nice!  Alexis is so excited to begin school and be an official "Big Kid".  

More Zoo Atlanta

A new exhibit was a parakeet aviary that you walk through and hundreds of parakeets are flying freely everywhere.  Alexis fed one of the parakeets.  Isabelle was so exhausted at that point she fell asleep in my arms.  I was carrying her and all of a sudden I feel her head smash into my chest and she was asleep.  Izzie was very cuddly and that just completed my day.