Family Birthday Celebration

I went to Youth Conference this past Friday night/Saturday and when I got home, this is what I found... David and Drew decorating a homemade birthday cake for me. It was very sweet and very tasty! They sang to me, I blew out my candles, we had cake and ice cream, I received some beautiful cards, and was told when we get to MD, I am getting the new iphone 4 for my birthday - yeah!For some reason, we didn't have a #4 candle so David improvised with a 3 and then a 2,2 which was supposed to represent 4. I thought it was better than his original idea of 35-1. No need to put 35 up there yet! :)

34th Birthday

This year my birthday was definitely going to be different. First, I wasn't moving during it which the last two years we've been on the road in a new state at this time so I would actually be here in WI for it. Second, it was a Wednesday which meant David was not going to be here and it meant that my sister and I were not going to be able to spend it together or me with any of my family for that matter.

But with all that being said, it was really such a great birthday this year! First, David took me to PF Changs with a few other couples on a date night the weekend before my birthday. We of course ordered the Great Wall of Chocolate and it was soooo good! We really enjoyed being able to get a babysitter and going for a grownup meal with great friends.Then, after many attempts to see if Keely and I could on the spare of the moment meet up the weekend after our birthday somewhere and realizing it wasn't going to work out, I received these beautiful flowers from her on our birthday. I don't like spending our birthday apart but this was a very thoughtful surprise. :)And some friends and I have been talking about taking an excursion this summer and we picked the Milwaukee Park Conservatory (a.k.a "the Domes") for this week. We went on my birthday which was even more fun! It was definitely worth going, just be prepared for the humidity and the amount of sweating you will do. There are three domes: one is a tropical dome and much like a rain forest, one is an arid dome much like a desert with tons of different cacti and the last one is the show dome which features a theme and lots of beautiful flowers. The theme right now was a celebration of Mark Twain called, Riverboat Tales. (more pics on the Domes to come).

Finally, one of my dearest friends here insisted she take me out to dinner for the night of my birthday. She offered her husband up to babysit all the kids and we could just have girl time. At first, I thought "no way will I let her do this" and then as I thought about it and my impending move and the fact that I won't be seeing anyone here for a long time and that I should just let someone do something nice for me and not feel guilty about it, I decided I was in! And it was so worth it - an hour and a half just to ourselves, talking about anything and everything, and delicious Italian food at a local place neither of us had tried before - it was really a wonderful evening and it meant so much!

As I picked up the kids, they were happy and they had done really well so I took them to Kopp's which is a custard place everyone here raves about. In fact, I discovered many people couldn't believe I hadn't tried it yet and we have lived here a year now. I ordered a pint of chocolate almond and a cone for Drew and we headed home to have our treat. What a fabulous birthday!!! :)

Change of venue...

We had some problems with the last house we were trying to get in MD. Everything was negotiated, all we had to do was sign the lease and then the guy kept trying to change things. (Like a pet deposit that turned into a nonrefundable pet fee, a 2 yr lease instead of 1 yr, and moving in June 21 instead of July 1 just so he could get some more $ out of us). We started to see red flags for sure.

So, a few very stressful weeks later and this is the house we landed on. We actually got this one for $150 cheaper a month, it has an attached garage and beautiful deck and bigger yard, not on a busy street, better school, closer to David's work, and I think better all the way around. The only drawback is the first floor is a bit smaller and the floor plan a bit odd but we can work with that. We are not buying this house, just renting it and it should work out nicely for us. So, our plan of moving the week after July 4th is back on! :)

Boerner Botanical Gardens

Father's Day Weekend we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens in Hales Corners, WI. We only last about an hour, it got kind of hot and the kids grew tired. But there was a beautiful rose garden there and some other neat herb gardens and plants galore to see. Plus, we saw two weddings going on there!

Had a difficult time getting a shot in the rose garden

Biggest leaf plant we saw

pretty waterfall

Drew took this picture of the two of us

this little girl was so tired at the end but I got her smiling as she was playing on the steps

Playgroup Park fun

We have playgroup every Tuesday and this one happened to fall on Drew's birthday. We made chocolate chip cookies for everyone to enjoy and I just had to take some pictures. We have really enjoyed having playgroup to attend this year - I am hoping our Maryland ward has a good playgroup too! :)

Happy Father's Day!!!

To all the Dads out there, especially my own and to my husband, the best father for my children that I could ask for, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! We love you!!!

Milwaukee Air and Water Show

Last weekend we decided to go to the Milwaukee Lake front and check out the air show. David loves planes so we were in, even though it was supposed to rain. Well, it never rained but the fog and clouds were so low that the planes actually never took off. But we were able to walk up and down the waterfront and get a hot dog and just be in the atmosphere of it all. There is something to be said about a city on the water - love it! We eventually reached Bradford Beach where some of our friends were and hung out a bit there, that is, until Dilan started eating the sand. :)

Eating snacks on the beach

Good form, Dilan!

Me and my kiddos

Precious little girl on a bike

Loving Daddy

Playing in the sand, then tasting it and then eating it

It's hard to get a natural smile from Drew these days so when he was cracking up at something David was doing, I got a good one! love this boy!!!

Carnival

I had the bright idea to take Drew to this local carnival right up the road. They had been advertising for weeks and it looked like fun so we were in! Unfortunately, it was really low-grade but we didn't let the kids know that part of it. We bought some tickets to ride some rides and played 'Whack the Mole' twice so Drew could win a stuffed animal. He picked Elmo because he was red but he really doesn't even know who Elmo is. It was kind of a bust but we made the most of it and got some cute pictures while we were there.

Milwaukee Brewers Game

We also went to a Milwaukee Brewers Game Memorial Day Weekend. We were smart and only bought the cheap tickets because with two kids, we weren't going to last through the whole game. We lasted through the fourth inning about 8 p.m. so that was pretty good. It was a beautiful ball park and we actually saw some friends from our ward there too! The highlight of the evening was of course the hot dogs and pretzels enjoyed by us all!

Pewaukee Lake Front

Memorial Day Weekend we went to the Pewaukee Lake Front and had some fun in the water and sand. Both kids wanted to swim even though the water was cold. Luckily, they have a Dad who is willing to go in that kind of water and a mom who does it because I have to. Brrr!

But we also had fun building sand castles and just taking time outside together.

Happy 5th Birthday, DREW!!!

A few weeks ago, we had Drew's 5th birthday party at Pump it Up. It was seriously the easiest party I've done yet. Well worth the money. All I brought was a cake and it was a drop-off party where parents dropped their kids off and now Drew and his friends are old enough to have fun by themselves and I can just enjoy, take pictures and be there. It was only David and I there with a dozen jumping kids and the party assistant who was great. They jumped and played for an hour, then ate cake and Drew opened presents. (I didn't even mess with pizza this year). Drew wanted a chocolate Thomas cake so I got him one and it was the highlight of his party for sure. He doesn't even like cake that much but he loves the blowing out of the candles, everyone singing and making his wish out loud (which was to go to MawMille's house in Texas every day). Poor kid, he really doesn't ask for much.

Anyway, we are so fortunate to have this little boy as our son and he makes us smile each and every day. Our little boy is not so little anymore with turning five (officially yesterday) and going to kindergarten in the fall. He's really become much more independent this year doing a lot of things all by himself. He is a joy to be around and we adore him.

Yesterday on his actual birthday, we were able to meet up with friends at the park for playgroup in which Drew requested chocolate chip cookies, went to the library and checked out some new Thomas movies and played a Clifford phonics game on the computer there, and he chose McDonald's for dinner. It was a fun day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DREW!