Time to Catch Up!

I just noticed it's been 4 months since I last updated so I figured I better fill you all in on our summer. It has been quite a wild one. We've been staying busy doing lots of things. In June we finally got to go to the Taylor Swift concert. We had such a good time! You can't beat 4th row seats! Well I guess you can, but I'm not complaining. We were literally right next to the stage.

The same week of the concert, Lara had her 3rd dance recital. It was such a busy week for us. I didn't get too many pictures because we couldn't use our flash, and I also wanted to just watch it instead of spending the entire time getting pictures and missing the dances.

She also was in soccer for her 2nd year this spring, and improved a lot from last year.

We also went to the harness races in Forest Lake back in June. That was a lot of fun, and I came out ahead for once.

We got bad news a couple months ago that my dad has cancer so we are all trying to stay busy having fun and staying positive and hopeful but it has been a very emotional summer. Last week the girls and I went to Fargo with my parents for the Pyrotechnics Guild International convention. We saw lots of cool fireworks that you don't get to see anywhere else. This week we are heading down to Milwaukee with them to go to a Brewer game and hopefully to the zoo. My brother, dad, and I also made it to a Twins vs Brewers game last month. That was my first time at Target Field. It was a lot of fun! Of course, we left early because it looked like the Twins had the win but the Brewers came back and won, and we missed all of the excitement!

 We "officially" moved in with Henry the end of April. By officially, I mean got the rest of my crap that I don't use out of my apartment in River Falls, which we hadn't stayed in since last September. Things are going great over here, and we're actually going to be moving again, hopefully soon. Henry is in the process of buying a different house, so we're just waiting for that to all go through. We can't wait to move! He opened another restaurant in Stillwater in the beginning of April, and the new house is MUCH closer. Lara will have to switch schools, but since we're still not living there she will most likely start 1st grade at her old school, which I am kind of happy about. I had a hard time when Kindergarten ended because I loved her school so much. I'm glad she'll be able to see her friends again, and get to say good bye to them once we do move.

I am now sitting on a waiting list for the Medical Assistant program at CVTC in Eau Claire. I will start next fall and be done spring 2013 if all goes as planned. I was bummed at first about having to wait another year to start, but now I am happy that I can spend this time with my family.

I think I covered most of our summer so far. Here are some other pictures from the past few months, in no particular order.

Lara at the beach in Prescott

Ayla at the beach in Siren

One of the polar bears on our trip to Como earlier this summer.

Lara was on the family/neighborhood float in the 4th of July parade in Siren.

Ayla driving the boat with Henry

Float time on the river

My mom and dad came down for a ride too.

Ayla swimming at our hotel in Fargo

That's about all I can think of that we've done so far this summer. I will do my best to update more frequently after this! Have a great rest of the summer! Oh yeah, Henry bought me a snowmobile a couple weeks ago. That kind of scares me. I've never driven one before. I guess I'll have to start! See you soon!

Happy 6th Birthday Lara!!!

Today Lara turns 6! We had her first ever "friend" party last night at St Croix Valley Dance Academy in Baldwin. Seven of her friends came, and they had such a good time. (Of course Ayla was there too, and she fit right in.) They got their hair glittered, nails painted, ran through an obstacle course, learned a dance, ate pizza, and of course had cake and watched Lara open her presents! Lara got a lot of fun things like a jewelry kit, make up set, lots of fun markers and things to draw on, a Bop It, and a few other things. Her BIG gift, which I got her, was kind of over-shadowed by all of the fun toys. We are going to see Taylor Swift in the 4th row in June! I think she will realize how special it is when we go, but it's almost 2 months away still so she seemed more interested in the other presents. Here are some of the highlights of her big day....

They passed around a card for everyone to sign for Lara

Everyone in line for the obstacle course. Lara, Ayla, Alayna, Hanna, Taylor, Lauren, Brenna, Courtney, and Madelyn. They were all so sweet! (My mom made the tutus for the girls!)

Most of the girls

Ayla getting her nails painted

Learning their dance

Time to open her presents!

And yes, Lara loves that Hello Kitty shirt she has on. (As seen in previous post at Ayla's birthday party) I promise she doesn't wear it EVERY day! : )

Happy Birthday Ayla!

Ayla turned 3 on Friday, March 25! We had a party up in Siren on Saturday. We had some neighbors over to help celebrate her big day. Tim, Donna, and Norah, Ken and Sheri, and Doug and Deb joined us. She got some cute outfits, fun toys, and some good things to bake so she could use her new apron. After lunch and presents we ate her princess cake that she talked about quite a bit. She really had wanted Little Mermaid but ended up with Disney Princesses, which was fine with her! What Ayla really wanted for her birthday was a baby sister, but after seeing how she didn't want to share anything with Norah I think maybe she has changed her mind. Ayla was being a stinker, not letting Norah sit in her Dora chair. She carried it all around the house and would sit in random spots so Norah couldn't have it. Somebody needs to work on sharing! Here are some pictures from her day...

I haven't taken any pictures of the girls together since Florida so I had to get a couple.

Lara's new face. Isn't she cute?

Ayla helped peel the eggs for deviled eggs, but I think the only things she ate were black olives, a little jello, cheetos, and cake. 

Here is the Dora chair that she would not share.

Norah!

Time to open presents!

Here is 1 of about 8 "cards" that Lara made for Ayla.

Ayla's Build-a-Bear, who we have yet to name because Lara won't let her name it Flower.

Walt Disney World 2011

A couple weeks ago we packed our bags and boarded a plane to Orlando, Florida. Henry, the girls, and I flew down on Friday, January 7th, and met my parents in Melbourne that evening. We spent the night there and went to a couple beaches and the Ron Jon Surf Shop the next morning.

We walked up and down a couple different beaches near Cocoa Beach and picked up seashells. We found a TON. Lara plans to bring them to school and let the kids in her class each pick out a shell or two to keep. The water was really cold, but it was still very nice out.

Ayla and Papa on the beach

We could do this every day!

Building Cinderella's Castle. Or something like it. 

After the beaches and lunch we drove back to Orlando to check into our home for the week. It was a really nice place! That night we went to Old Town, then back to get ready for the big week ahead of us. On Sunday we went to Animal Kingdom. We went on the safari, Lara rode her first roller coaster (Expedition Everest), which she was terrified of, saw the bird show, met some characters, saw the Bug's Life 3d show, went to the Finding Nemo musical, and saw tons of random animals. 

Ayla and Henry watching the Meerkats

 It's Tough to be a Bug!

We're dorks

Ayla was SOOO happy!

Animal Kingdom closed at 5pm so Henry and I went to eat dinner at a restaurant in Orlando that he had found called Dragonfly. It was so good! We even went back a few days later and brought the whole family.

On Monday we headed to Sea World. I hadn't been there since I was around 2, so I was excited. It didn't look as new and glamorous as they make it look in the commercials, but it was a lot of fun. We got rained out after the Believe show, but we had seen everything we wanted to so that was okay. We went on an awesome roller coaster called Manta. We even got on the very first ride of the day, right in the front row. It was so much fun! We saw a dolphin and whale show, the seal and walrus show, and the Believe show with the orcas. We also saw some really cool aquariums.

Lara loved the shows

We sat in the splash seats for all of the shows but only got a few drops of water on us. 

We spent Tuesday at Magic Kingdom. We rode lots of rides and saw lots of characters. Lara hated the Haunted Mansion, but Ayla didn't mind it. Lara probably doesn't trust us anymore, after making her go on 2 rides that she hated. We had awesome weather all day.

It's a Small World

Cinderella's Castle

We ate at a lunch buffet with characters from Winnie the Pooh. The girls got to meet Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore. They thought it was pretty cool!

Our ears

My 2 favorite mice

One of Disney's best rides

We slept in on Wednesday and hung around the place where we were staying. The boys and the little ladies went swimming. It was way too cold outside for me to swim, but the water was nice so the kids didn't mind.

In the evening we headed to Epcot. We went on the ride in the big ball, the Figment ride, found the leaping water, checked out some of the countries in the World Showcase, and froze while watching the fireworks show.

Thursday was spent at Hollywood Studios. We saw the Indiana Jones stunt show, a couple indoor shows, played in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, rode on some rides, and met some more characters. We once again froze our butts off waiting for a show, Fantasmic. It was pretty cool.

I'm a big fan of Handy Manny!

Lotso

We returned to Epcot on Friday. We went on the rides that we wanted to and visited a few more countries, then got the girls' silhouettes done before leaving. I miss Disney World like crazy! I wish we could go every year!

Hopscotch Disney-style

Alice