More April Visitors

Talk about late getting this posted - better late than never I guess.  My sister and her two girls came to visit us, and we were so excited!  We had been looking forward to it for awhile, and when the time finally came we were beyond thrilled.  I couldn't wait to just hold and squeeze and kiss and snuggle and love her two girls.  Because skyping just isn't enough, ya know?

My sister had found a screaming deal to get here.  The only downside was they arrived super late.  Emma had several tests she needed to be in school for while they were here visiting, including their first full day here, so Emma didn't come with me to the airport because she needed to get her sleep.  When I saw them by baggage claim, Eliza just ran to me and gave me a big hug.  It was awesome!

Carrying Eliza in from the car when we finally got home from the airport.

We mostly wanted to work around Abby's nap schedule, Emma's school schedule, and the girls' needs in general, but we didn't care what we did since we'd be able to be together doing it.  And we ended up having lots of fun.

We did get out to do a few things, including story time at the library, going to the museum and taking the girls to the Jelly Belly store and taking the tour there.

Abby kept wanting to climb over the seat to join the girls in front of us, and she wanted to
take her hat off.  But every time the train started moving, she instantly had a huge smile
on her face and was perfectly content.

This was Abby's content face while the train moved.

We went to a smallish nearby zoo (I had never been there) and the weather was perfect!  The girls had so much fun riding the train, seeing the animals ( I was actually impressed with the number of animals they had considering they were rather small), and playing at the two different playgrounds, the second of which was fantastic!

There was a hippo on the ground that kids could climb on.  What did I want?  A picture of Emma
looking like her head was about to be eaten.  Emma was only too happy to oblige.

My sister wanted to stop by the lighthouse.  When we got there Abby was asleep in her seat, so I stayed in the car with her so we wouldn't have to wake her, while Jill took Emma and Eliza with her.

The girls loved dressing up and trying on every hat we could find.  It was not surprising that when we went to Charming Charlie's the girls went nuts with all the hats and scarves and purses and necklaces.

Unfortunately Abby got sick while they were here, and spent a couple days creating quite the mess.  I guess she thought my place was just too clean (ha!).  It was sad seeing her feel bad.  It also made her even more clingy for mom and less her happy self, which was understandable.  Emma and I both became sick after she did.  Luckily it didn't last too long, and no one else got it.

Some of the best times were just spent playing at home.  The girls adored Eric, and enjoyed playing hide and seek with him, and just being silly with him.  They also liked his ukulele.

Eric had been "hiding" under the piano bench.  We obviously had
 to cover him with a blanket to actually hide him.

The day they left we stopped at a huge park I love the play with the girls for awhile and help them expend some energy before getting on their plane.  

It was sad seeing them go.  I love these girls so much (and I'm counting my sister as one of "these girls").  It's sad not seeing them more often.  I look forward to seeing them all again soon!

I think my favorite part of their visit was just seeing how much the three girls love each other.  Everywhere we went they couldn't get enough of each other.  There were so many hugs, and snuggles, and loving moments - more than we could keep track of.  Come visit me again Jill.  You know you want to! :)

Visit From a Friend

In early April my dear friend Sarah came to visit.  I love it when she comes.  We always have so much fun catching up, acting like we're still in high school (much to Eric's displeasure), and of course just hanging out.  We watched movies, explored Lake Geneva, ate yummy food, and explored Milwaukee.  We were walking along the river walk when it decided to rain.  Luckily we had brought a couple umbrellas, but they weren't really enough.  We all got wet, and I discovered that one of my shoes had a hole in the bottom soaking my foot.  We still had fun, and enjoyed some yummy food at Safehouse.  It's always sad to see her go, but we sure love that she comes!

Safety Poster Contest

Emma's school recently participated in a contest sponsored by the county sheriff's department all about safety.  I guess it was just for the 4th graders.  Fifteen schools in the county participated.  Each kid had to draw a poster about some type of safety and write a 50-100 word essay about it.  Emma drew and wrote about car safety.  Her teacher (who had nothing to do with choosing the winners) told me Emma won because her essay had a voice and personality in it.  It wasn't just a list like most of the other kids had done, writing "First, blah blah blah. Second, blah blah blah.  Third, blah blah blah." I think it's fantastic that she won of course, but especially since she wants to be an author, and she won this contest based on her writing.  It makes her extra proud.

She won a bike, helmet, plaque, and target gift card, which the winners were each awarded with at a banquet held in their honor last night.  The winners, parents, and their teachers were all invited to the banquet.  Emma thought it was great being able to have dinner with her teacher and meet her teacher's husband.

It was a fabulous night, and we're very proud of Emma for working so hard in school.  And now she's excited to try out her new bike and figure out what to do with her old one.  =)

The Sheriff and Deputy Friendly teasing Emma while awarding her all the loot.  It's funny, they didn't tease any of the other winners, just Emma.  There is just something about her that makes people want to joke around and mess with her.  =)

A nicer one with them.

Emma with her teacher.

Emma's poster.  The scanner cut a little off the corner.  The sun says "Stay Safe."

Emma's essay.  Of course she used almost the max amount of words allowed.

St. Patrick's Day

Just wanted to share how cute Emma looked on St Patrick's Day.  Sometimes it's the simple things that make a day special.  And something as simple as wearing green can be fun.  I think it's funny how times change though.  When Emma got to school the first thing her teacher said was "No pinching."  When I was in school kids pinched each other all day long!  =)