Girls Night Out

Tonight Audra, Julie and I took a girls night.  With Julie's impending departure to Germany, we decided to go all out.  Once again, we turned to Groupon for a fantastic night out.  We started off our evening with dinner at Carabas and then headed downtown.  The girls and I got tickets for "Girl's Night- the musical" at the 14th Street Theater.  The show was hilarious... but the company was even greater!  It really was a wonderful night!

Off to Kindergarten!!!

 Little milestones.  Big steps.  Sometimes it seems like the years are a blur.  It seems like this time is going too fast.  One minute the kids are home, happy, loud... now our lil boy Will has completed Preschool and is on his way to KINDERGARTEN!  This is the real thing... he's an official school boy come the Fall.  After 3 years of Preschool, he is DONE!  Our little boy is growing up... and growing up into a great, brilliant, inquisitive little boy!

 Isa also completed her first year of Preschool at Avon Village.  She is doing great, her teachers love her, and she is excited for another year.   We were excited to see both kids in their respective ceremonies.  Daddy, Mommy, Gabi, and Gramma were all there to cheer them on!  We loved hearing all their songs and wish we could hold on to these miniature glimpses of their lives forever.  

 Some of the kids best buddies =)

 Will and Luke                      Isa and Ava     

To end off a wonderful year... the kids had their field trip to the Memphis Kiddie Park.  Gramma and cousin Chloe came along for the fun!  This was Chloe's first time, and she had a blast!  The kids had fun on all the rides and sharing time with their friends!

 

And of course... ready for summer vacation!

 

Memorial Day weekend

How do we break up a wonderful weekend packed with excitement and relaxation.  We had it all.  We had fun with family, friends, and time for just us.  Let's start...
With family in town, Saturday was great and relaxing.  Spending time outside with beautiful weather is amazing!  What a great way to start the long weekend...... as the kids love to countdown... "3 days of Daddy... wooohooo!"

 

 

 On Sunday we spent the morning planting our new vegetable garden.  The kids helped and we planted both plants and seeds!  We can't wait for our assortment of fruit and veggies to emerge. 
Then... thanks to another Groupon purchase, we spent a "Day Out with Thomas" for a whopping $36 for our entire family!  Uncle Richie came along for the ride and we spent a great day together! 

 Sunday night ended with a wonderful evening out by the fire. 

 

On Memorial Day, Isa participated in her Very First official parade.  Her dance studio has a float in the Avon Lake parade and she was asked to participate with some of her dear friends!  The girls definitely had a blast on the float and throwing candy out to the children watching the parade! 
We then had a little get together at Gramma and Bapa's for some great food, company and celebrating Evan's graduation! 

Gabi rose

 27 months on the 27th of May.  Our lil Gabi Rose is maturing so much these days.  Most notably is her speech.  We know that we have said that we understand her better... but over the last few weeks she has gone to talking in full blown sentences.  The best part is that she is using most of her words correctly! Her most popular phrases are :
"oh my goodness"
"I don't want to Mommy"
"What is that?"
"Who is that, Mommy?"
and "Where did _insert name__ go?"
Some of the other sentences we have heard from her recently are:  "you scared the puppy dog", "i am all wet again", "I hurt my foot, please may I have a band aid", "Hi Mommy, I love you", "what is that clock for", "I help you too Daddy".

We love the way she kisses each and every one of us goodnight and good bye.  We still love the way she runs to her Daddy with pure joy every time he returns from work.  She is also a little goofball... she learns well from her siblings.  She still keeps up with the older kids with everything they do.

So far this Spring (which has felt like Summer already) she has been out doing what the big kids do.  She enjoys riding her bike, climbing everything, swinging on a regular swing, all water activities, loves the sandbox, and mostly just running around! Her knees are a visual sign that this lil girl will not be left behind!

afternoon in the park

 This afternoon we decided to meet Tobin for lunch.  Since the weather has been on real extremes over here... today it was well in the 80's, but a perfect day for a hike in the shade.  The kids and I met Tobin at Squires Castle and had a little picnic with a great view.  We all explored the grounds for a little while until Tob had to go back to work. 
Then the kids and I went for a little hike.  I marvel at the kids resilience.  They hiked for almost an hour, climbing up steep trails, walking over a fallen tree to cross a little creek, and making it all the way back without a single complaint!  These are the perfect little memories that are oh so meaningful!  what a perfect afternoon.

making lemonade

  The past week and a half sure has been a little crazy for us.  The anticipation and excitement of our new swing-set filled our home.  We opted for the non-installation purchase... Tobin said he has been "dreaming of building our kids swing-set" for a long time.  So needless to say... we were excited to get started on the project.
Well... after a few delivery delays, it finally arrived on Thursday (just in time for a party Mommy was having on Friday).  Friends and neighbors jumped in to help set it up. After 4 hours we threw our hands up and thought we had a lemon.  ugh. We were angry, frustrated, and sad.  What a waste of time.  We thought the whole thing would have to go back, and the worse part, we would have to wait another 4 weeks for an exchange.  double ugh!

Friday and Saturday came and went.  We ignored the pile of wood and half built base in our yard.  Then on Sunday... we decided to step back.  We took our lemon... and made lemonade.  I think Tob and I will always remember this Sunday.  We stepped out of the box and found a way to salvage what we had and together decided to work on the problem.  The weather was beautiful, the kids played around us entertaining themselves with water, sand, and imagination as Tob and I diligently worked on solutions to build the swing-set.  Now, I am glad we didn't pay someone to have it installed.  Now, we will always remember that perfect day when we did it.  Now, we feel like we accomplished a huge undertaking.  We still need to get a new monkey-bar attachment...but everything else is set up and the kids (and Tob & I) are already making memories!

keeping busy while we worked

first playground visitors!