Turning Eight Is Great

For her birthday party this year Emma wanted to have a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory party, and wanted to actually watch the movie during her party.  Well, since that is just about as easy as it gets as far as planning is concerned, I had no problems with this.

Invitations

After some online inspiration, these golden tickets were inside the invitations.

The girls arrived (because Emma wanted a girls only party this year), and first had to guess how many pieces of candy were in a couple different dishes (the winners were announced at the end).  When everyone had arrived, they watched the movie.  Eric ran to pick up some pizzas, and when he got back we had an intermission for everyone to get their food and drinks.  Everyone loved the popcorn maker we borrowed from a friend, and almost everyone had at least 2 bags of popcorn.  Eric had no problem having this around for a few days.  He now says he must own one.

The table ready for drinks and food, the goody bags above, and the popcorn maker.

After the movie we did presents followed by cake.

The movie was all about chocolate and candy, so I went with this cake.  Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, covered in mini m&ms and surrounded with Kit Kat bars.  The fact that Kit Kats are Emma's favorite candy was just a bonus!

For the rest of the time while waiting to be picked up the kids played chocolate twister (just like regular twister, but with some chocolate perks added), and other games.  At the end of the day, if the birthday girl is happy I know we did our job right, and Emma had a blast.  That's all I wanted.

In the attempt to make it feel more like a candy factory, we made some giant suckers and other large sized candies and had them all around the room.  Emma is posing with a few of her favorite giant suckers.

Renaissance Fair

We went to the Renaissance Fair again this year.  Not much changed from last year of course, but we still had fun.  Here are a few fair moments:

Trying her hand at archery again.

She sped up the 18 foot wall fast and with hardly any effort.  I was impressed.  

So we let her try the 24 foot wall.  As you can see, she mad it up there too!

Just taking a moment to relax.

Some Beach Fun

We went to the beach with some friends and had a ton of fun.  The beach was almost exclusively ours.  This may have had something to do with the very strong wind that day, but we decided to make the best of it and stick it out.  It was too windy for beach umbrellas, which makes this very fair-skinned-and-burns-way-too-easy mom a little worried, but I just kept putting the sunscreen on and everything was alright.  Other than my attempts to thwart sunburns, the day was very relaxing.

Packers Family Night

Okay, so if you know Emma, at all, you must know what an obsessive Green Bay Packers fan she is.  Ever since we moved here she's been this way.  Right after we moved here the Packers played the Bears to see who would move on and play in the Superbowl, which of course the Packers did, so then we saw them win the Superbowl that year too.  And I think all the hype and excitement coupled with the cheesehead hats which she loved turned her into this super fan.  And she's in love with Aaron Rodgers.  She wants to marry someone with the last name of Rodgers just so she can name her son Aaron.  Yup.  Die hard.

She will actually sit and watch an entire football game.  She'll cheer, boo, ask questions, and stay interested the entire time!  I know adults who can't or won't do that.  Myself sometimes included.  And every birthday and Christmas since we moved has included at least one item of Packers paraphernalia.  From stuffed dolls of Aaron Rodgers to shirts to dresses to hats and scarves, to cheeseheads, to nutcrackers, blankets, pajamas, and sleeping bags, she has it all.  I even made a cheesehead ornament for our Christmas tree since I didn't like any of the packer ornaments that were sold anywhere.  Yes, she bleeds green and gold.

So you can imagine her excitement when we told her we were heading to Green Bay for the Packer Family Night.  She was beyond excited.  We had never even been there to see the stadium, let alone go inside.  She looked like this the entire ride there:

We caravanned up with some friends who were also going so we could park by each other and tailgate.  We found out later that we knew several people who went.  Next year maybe we'll all coordinate more so we can hangout.



We got tattoos of course.  Then on to the pro shop for some souvenirs.  I got some earrings and a necklace (and a clear bag to take stuff into the stadium later), Eric got a shirt and a hat, and Emma got some socks and a foam finger.  She's wanted a foam finger for awhile.  We also got something else to hang on our Christmas tree, although as I sit here typing this I can't remember what it is.  I guess I'll be surprised this winter!

There were some students from some college there in the atrium building the stadium out of legos.

Aren't the players cute?

In a replica of Aaron Rodgers' locker.

Ate Brats and grilled corn, some pasta salad and had some chips and cookies (the corn makes this an acceptable and healthy meal don't you know) and enjoyed the company of our friends.  Then it was time to line up to go inside.  We made our way to the gate closest to where our seats were, and were herded inside along with everyone else.  We had some great seats!  And that was just lucky, because you couldn't choose where your seats were.

Enjoying some down time while we got dinner ready.

Our view.  Pretty good huh?  This picture is a little out of order, obviously, as the night lights are on.

Emma was thrilled every moment we were there.  And then when the team finally came out and she saw Aaron Rodgers - well, we could have gone home right then and she would have been satisfied.  We decided to stay though and watch the team warm up and play some scrimmage and have some kicking contests etc.  The fireworks at the end were a nice touch too.

She wanted to wear as much Packer stuff as she could in this picture, which is why she's wearing both her hat and her cheesehead, along with her hoodie around her waste.  Goodness!

I think the most shocking/amazing part of the day was when we were leaving (along with the other 63,000 people) and were trying to make our way out of the parking lot and to the freeway.  EVERYONE was taking their turn, and I didn't hear a single car horn.  Packer fans are the best!  At least my experience is that they are extremely polite.  Maybe things at an actual game would be different...against Bears fans or something...

Attempted Vacation pt.2

We came home along a slightly longer, but more scenic route.  We decided to drive through the night again so we could arrive at Mount Rushmore in the morning when the light hits it the best.  I admit to looking for Cary Grant the entire time we were there.  =)  But even though we didn't see him, it was fun seeing the monument in person.  Very impressive.

Emma enjoyed much more room on the return trip.  She could actually spread out on the back seat!  Much nicer.

The focus is not on her, but this is Emma trying to be a part of the monument.

Then we went to Badlands National Park.  This was fabulous!  So beautiful.  The most amazing part was when we first arrived.  You drive along and all around you as far as you can see is this wonderful prairie grass, like this:

Then suddenly and without warning, you come upon views like these:

I would love to go back when we have more time and do some hiking there.  Also maybe not in the middle of the summer. 

Emma's favorite thing there was seeing all the prairie dogs.  There were so many of them!
We heard them squeaking to each other.  Way too cute!

We drove further and found a place to stay overnight and were very ready to sleep.  The next day we finished our drive without any problems.

On our way, we wandered off the beaten path a little to visit Walnut Grove, MN to see some Laura Ingalls stuff.  On our way there we saw magnificent farmland.  Just amazing. 

Wading in Plum Creek

We finally arrived home late that night, after a long drive, including a quick stop to see our state capitol.  The building is really pretty lit up at night.  

At a rest stop Eric found this little frog and let Emma hold him.

I loved being with my family.  They are amazing.  I always have a good time with them.  Never enough of it though.  And it was wonderful getting together with some of my dear friends.  I hope to come back to visit again soon!

Our Best Attempt at a Family Vacation pt.1

The plan was to go visit my family sometime this past Spring, probably just Emma and me.  I just missed them all and wanted to go.  But by Christmas when we learned that 3 babies would be joining my family in May, June, and July, we decided to push our trip back until the summer so we could meet these new little ones.  I'm so glad we did!  I very nearly "borrowed" them all to bring home with me.  Unfortunately their stupid parents didn't like that idea very much.  Grrr.  But I loved seeing them all (and everyone else in the family, along with some of my dear friends) while we were in town.

I say this was an attempt at a vacation because Eric had to work much of the time we were there.  His job is nightmarishly busy right now, and had there not been an office branch where he could work he might not have been able to come.  Phew!  He did manage to have fun and visit with my family, but just not as much as he would have liked.  

We had a bunch of stuff to take to my sister, so we decided to drive rather than fly.  And because we're stupid we decided to try driving straight through without stopping, and just switch off drivers.  Um, yay!  It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  My family didn't know we were doing that (why make them worry about us staying awake?), so we surprised them when we arrived earlier than expected.  Always a fun thing to do.  

Poor thing, didn't have as much space as she'd like on the way. 

My aunt and uncle have an apartment downtown where they stay whenever they're in town (they live in Hawaii), and they let us stay there while we were in town.  It was really nice having our own place and not feel like we were barging in on anyone in my family.  Eric was able to borrow a car to take to work, so we each had our own set of wheels which was very convenient.

Our view from one of the balconies.

Eric had yet to see the new mall downtown, so we went there with my sister and her daughters and just wandered around.  Emma found an Isabella doll (from Phineas and Ferb) at the Disney store and fell in love.  She couldn't wait to get it home to join the rest of the cast that she has.

Eliza just seemed to adore Eric the entire trip.  She couldn't seem to get enough of him.  He loved it!

Time out.  Here is my sister's new little girl who wasn't in any of the above pictures because she was asleep the entire time we were at the mall.  Can you believe this little face?  It's just not possible to get enough of this face!

Seriously!  It's not possible to get enough of this cute little face!

The evening we arrived in town my little brother's son (the last of the babies to come) was born.  He was a week overdue, and we were so excited to be there when he arrived!  We went to the hospital the next day to meet him.

This cutie is such a mellow little guy.  It was so fun to hold him and just stare at the perfection!

My older brother and family were out of town until Sunday when we all got together, and it was so wonderful to see all of them and meet his new son who was about 2 months old.  

I love the look on Emma's face here.  Luke was crying and she was like, "Uh, little help please."

Ice Cream time!

We just happened to be in town for the Pioneer Day parade.  I am not especially a parade person.  Never have been.  The idea of camping out overnight or standing around in the hot sun trying to see through the crowds just to see some goofy float pass by has never appealed to me, even as a kid.  But, since we were in town, and happened to be staying right along the parade route with a perfect view of everything from one of our balconies, Emma and I decided to just stay and see what the hype was about.  Meh.  I did enjoy cheering along with Emma any time the pooper scooper truck drove past picking up after the horses (not that they could hear us from where we were).  Emma thought that was particularly funny.  We enjoyed dinner that night at my brother's house followed by some fireworks.  

Luke was such a snuggly baby.  I think he napped with Eric for over an hour.  

"Playing" with some ants.  I think I should feel sorry for the ants.

Throwing a ball.  Classic summer activity.

We decided to have my nephew Timothy come stay with us one night.  We picked him up and went to IN-N-OUT for dinner.  Yum!  I love their shakes.  The kids had tons of fun together.

While hanging out on the balcony, we had such a fun talk.  These two were talking about what it would be like to live in a city instead of the burbs,  and it was so fun listening to them.  It was also revealed that Timothy kinda likes torturing his sister.  I think I could've guessed that.  =)  Just an older brother doing his job.

In the morning we took some fun pictures.  My camera has a fishbowl effect, and the kids loved it!

While in town, we all went to have some family pictures taken.  It was well over 100 degrees almost the entire time we were there, with the one exception of the day we went for pictures.  It rained a little that day.  Just our luck.  But the pictures turned out wonderful.  The weather held just long enough.  This photo session was an anniversary present to my parents (they celebrated their 40th anniversary in April this year).  This isn't why we came to town, but it just happened to work out perfectly.  We took many of our own pictures afterwards, and as usual, have way more fabulous pictures of Emma than I know what to do with.  She is just the most photogenic person I've ever known.  If you'll permit me a moment to brag, I just can't get over how gorgeous she is.  I have no idea how she could possibly be mine!  This is why I love that she loves taekwondo so much and is learning how to defend herself and to be able to beat the crap out of people.  

Don't my parents have cute grandkids!

We told the girls to try to scowl for this picture.  I love that Eliza couldn't really stop smiling.

And I love how much they love each other.

Here's my beauty!

Our second Sunday in town we decided to walk over to see Music and the Spoken Word with Emma.  It was nice staying so close we didn't need to drive and worry about parking.  Since you're not allowed in to see the Tabernacle Choir until you're 8 years old, Emma's never seen them live.  Eric and I went many times to their concerts and broadcasts during the years my dad was in the choir, but of course, Emma never went.  And technically she wasn't 8 yet, but I felt okay taking her a month early.  During the summer with all the tourists in town, they do the broadcast from the conference center rather than the tabernacle, so there were tons of seats.  Emma really liked it.  She thought it was cool being in the room where general conference is held and seeing the pulpit in person.  Her expression upon entering the room showed how impressed she was with the size of the place.  You just don't get a feel for that from watching on TV.  

After the broadcast we wandered around Temple Square and enjoyed the grounds.  It's always so beautiful there.

I sure love these two!

Sadly, the time always comes to leave and come home.  Emma was depressed all day.  She cried after saying goodbye to everyone.  She misses my family and her cousins so much.  It's absolutely the hardest thing about having moved.  We love it here, but it kills us that we can't see family whenever we want.

Don't I have a cute family though?

My Parents

My older brother and his family

My sister and crew.

And my little brother with his family.