On to 1st grade

Erik and I took Elaina out to celebrate her great 1st year of school in Kindergarten.  There isn't anything she likes better than stuffed animals, so a special trip to Build-a-Bear and dinner out at the "fancy" (as she called it) Cheesecake Factory was the perfect date night for her.  She is off to a great start and we are so proud of her!

She chose an adorable panda bear to make.

Getting him all cleaned, dried and fluffed up...

Not surprisingly named "Pandy," Elaina has not let her out of her sight since we brought her home.  Hopefully it will be a  reminder of a fun night out with Dad and Mom, too!

We Love New York!

I took the kids for almost a full week in NY to visit family there, and then Owen stayed an extra 5 nights for some 1:1 time with Nana and Papa.  We had a super time!

Fishing at North Pond's Park

Strawberry pickin'

Zoo fun!

Boatride at the Lake House

She wasn't afraid this year!

Aunt Shawna was a saint to take all of the kids for jet ski rides in the cold lake water!

Wild and crazy tubing behind the paddle boat

Hiking buddies

Wouldn't be a complete trip to visit Nana without some sort of fun, decorated dessert!

Yard stencils

Recital

Elaina had her dance recital last weekend- she did both ballet and tap this year and loved it!  I hope to get videos up soon, but for now here is a picture of her in her outfit:

She did an amazing job remembering the routines, smiling at the audience and moving so beautifully and gracefully.  We are so proud of her!

1st tooth!!

Elaina was so excited to lose her first tooth.  For the last week, she has been having us all guess which day we thought it would come out.  I wun! (won!)

She was so excited that she couldn't sit still- dancing, squealing, shaking... it was a big deal!

We each got a note based on our guesses.  Mine says,
You won.  You guessed when my tooth would fall out.  And you guessed the right day.

This was Audrey's note:
Nice guess.  I'm sorry you lost.  I hope that you win next time.

Family Pictures

We hadn't had a family picture taken at a studio since Audrey was 6 months old, so I thought it was time.  I'm so glad we had them done!

Super Hero!

All of the 2nd grade students at Owen's school just finished a unit studying super heroes.  They talked about real life heroes and what makes a hero.  To culminate the unit, each child got to become their own superhero.  Owen chose to base his off of one of his favorite animals, the pergrine falcon.  Falcon Man's motto:  "It is better to attack from the sky than from the ground."  He can speak all animal languages, can dive at over 200 mph and rescues endangered animals.  They had a parade at school yesterday and today our whole family participated in the "Super Hero 5K"

Flapping his wings- he designed and made the mask, talons, logo and the inside feathers of his wings- it was a fun project!

With his buddy, "Pet Man"

Pinterest is a wonderful, evil thing- grateful for the idea but much more involved than I planned!

Lots of 2nd graders showed up for the race

Our whole family participated in the race- Owen and Erik completed the 5K in 40 minutes.

Pirate Parrot was there to cheer everybody on!

Great job, Owen!!

Easter

Happy Easter!!  As you can see, we enjoyed some tasty treats!

Elaina decorated some adorable bunny cupcakes for us!

Our neighborhood does an egg hunt with a visit from the big bunny. 

Chocolate cake, M&M's and Peeps- a perfectly simple, colorful and delicious Easter Day dessert!

Easter morning!