The Drive In!

We decided that the perfect way to celebrate the end of school was to go to the drive-in!  I have so many great memories of going with my family as a kid.  We'd put on our jammies, pack the car full of pillows, and buy bags and bags of sugary snacks.  We'd show up early, early and run around; play mini golf or swing on the playground that was up near the screen.  We would all have such a blast!

Annabelle is a bit of a night owl so the drive-in seemed like it would be right up her alley.  Plus Brave opened on Friday and I love, love, love seeing Disney/Pixar movies as soon as they come out.  I know that Annabelle was excited about Brave too.

She's so excited for the movie to start!

Eating candy and still waiting.

Family shot, it took us many, many tries to finally get this one and it's still not great!

The movie has started, the blacked out spot on the right in Annabelle's head:)

It's Officially Over

Friday was Annabelle's last day as a Kindergartner.  She was so ready.  The weather has been hot and humid, nearing the 90 degree mark on quite a few days.  I came up with my new picture taking idea.  I took pictures of her on the first day of school and I decided that I would take pictures on the last day as well.  That way I can look back and see if she looks much different from day one to day one hundred eighty.

The first day photos.

And the last day.

I'm going to first grade!



She still looks so small next to that bus.



Now I'm hoping for a fun and relaxing summer. 

Pool Fun

The weather has been pretty amazing the last few days.  We put up our little pool again this year over the weekend.  It had four small holes that needed patching so this will probably be it for the pool.  We will have some major thinking about what to do next year, buy another one of these smaller pools or spend the cash on getting an actual pool.  At least we have a whole year before we need to make a decision.

Annabelle got in for the first time yesterday after dinner.  She's still afraid to put her face in the water but she's getting better at paddling.  One step at a time, right?

The Perfect Gift

It says- Dad you're sweet and loving and so playful.

Annabelle's been very crafty lately.  As soon as she gets off the bus she's in the family room pulling out paper, markers, glue and glitter, making books, cards, pictures.  So on one of her crafty binges, she decided to make Mark a Father's Day card.  I'm pretty sure it's one of the best Father's Day gifts Mark has ever gotten:) 

 

Fancy Dinners

Or at least fancy according to Annabelle.  Last night I made Caribbean Stir Fry, one of me and Mark's favorites.  But the little girl isn't a huge fan so I planned on giving her some left over pasta and nuke her a turkey meatball from the freezer.  But that is not what she wanted.  She begged for something "fancy", said in a French-ish accent.  Then she decided to make it all on her own.  Here is her Fancy Menu:

1. Half of an apricot jelly sandwich with Cheetos inside.
2. Four dinosaur nuggets with Ranch dressing.
3. A handful of cherries.
4. Five baby carrots with more Ranch dressing.
5. A mini chocolate covered donut.

It may not be the healthiest thing she could have eaten but she got four out of the five food groups.  I'm calling it a win.  She didn't whine or have me have to tell her to start eating fifty gabillion times like every other day and she was happy.  Our ideas of what a fancy dinner should be like may be different but we were all smiling at the end of the night, and that is what counts!

Dance Recital Weekend!

On both Saturday and Sunday, Annabelle and I had our dance recital. 

Here is our class picture this year.  We danced to Barracuda by Fergie.

I know, I'm the last person on the face of the earth without a scanner, so the picture isn't great.  My little girl doesn't look so little to me here. 

Before going on stage.  I told her to pose and this is what I got.

I didn't get many pictures of her on the stage dancing.  I was happy to sit and watch and cry a little bit.  She danced to Dance with My Father.  There were very few dry eyes after watching their performance.

Now I started dancing in 2000 and haven't stopped yet (except the year I had Annabelle, she was born 5 hours before the recital so I wasn't there).  I couldn't wait for Annabelle to start taking lessons too and this is her third year.  She did the best job she had done yet.  She knew about half before she was doing more watching what was next than dancing.  We were immensely proud of her as usual. 

But it will more than likely be her last year dancing, which makes me sad.  She doesn't seem to love it.  I'm thinking it has more to do with the fact that the dance season runs from September to June.  I get burned out near the middle-ish to end myself.  Annabelle's just over it all by the time April comes around.  We'll be spending the summer trying to come up with the activity that sings to her.  You never know though, she may change her mind once the Open House comes along in August.  If not, I'm sure will still have a lot of fun deciding what to try next. 

Friday...

This was the first super busy day of our overly busy weekend.  Annabelle and I went to the zoo in the morning with her class.  It rained... and rained and rained and rained.  After spending as much time as humanly possible in all of the indoor exhibits, the teachers decided to just give up and call the bus garage to send the buses over an hour and a half early.  We were a bunch of little drowned rats even with the rain jackets and umbrellas. 

Once I got home I took a long, hot shower to warm up and then it was about time to start getting ready for my cousin's wedding.  Mark got home, took a quick power nap (he had a golf outing at work, and they played in the rain) and then got ready himself.

Yes, he is ironing his tie while still wearing it.  So resourceful!

 The normally 20 minute drive, took us over an hour to get downtown!  We knew all about the Gus Macker Tournament going on so we made sure to leave about 45 minutes before the wedding was to start.  What we didn't know was that there was also the Taste of Country concert going on as well.  We had to pay $20 for parking which is freaking outrageous and we missed the ceremony.  I know we weren't the only ones to be late but I still felt bad.

We ate so much yummy food and Mark tried a fairly large amount of the micro beers, so he did some dancing as well.  We had a good time seeing and talking to some family members we don't see often.  The grooms 7 year old son was the life of the party, dancing.  He had some moves, let me tell you!  Even my dad danced and he NEVER does that!  All in all, fun.

Me and my hubs.

My mom and dad, still going strong almost 35 years later:)

After all of that, we had to head back towards home to hang out with ours friends for a ten year vow renewal.  I honestly thought, we would have a total blast, hanging out with our friends, dancing, being silly.  Except no one was dancing, no one seemed to be having any fun whatsoever.  I won't lie, I was disappointed.  We left a good party with great music to be the only ones on the dance floor, with everyone staring at us.  Yuck.  But we were troopers and stayed til the end.  It was still nice to see our friends, just not what I expected.

This was only day one of our very busy weekend and I was tired already!

Six Years

It goes by in the blink of an eye.  Six years.  I can remember that first moment after you were born.  My very own Gerber baby.  I remember never wanting to let you go, and you didn't seem to want me too either. And now... you are six years old.

You light up my life every day with love and laughter. Watching you grow up is the most amazing thing I will ever get to do.

You have learned and grown so much in just one year.  You can read and do simple math.  You've learned about animals and insects, when and how to dial 9-1-1.  You have learned how to navigate your full, full day at school and that routine is down to  a science for us both.  I see that you are getting braver, making new friends every single place we go, even riding the Maid of the Mist.  You stand up for yourself and what you think is right and you do not waver.  You grow more and more independent every day but when you are scared or hurt or confused, it's mommy's arms that you run to.  You are trying on new persona's- the diva, the flirt, the brainiac, the adult.  You love to tell rambling stories that often times have no clear idea or intent, but we let you go on and on about them anyways just to hear you.  Your sense of humor is strange.  You can laugh uncontrollably if we mention anything being made of monkeys but you still have not grasped the concept of a knock knock joke.

All of these things make you my very best girl.  I think the New Kids on the Block said it best-

She's my favorite girl, oh oh oh oh, she's my favorite girl.

You went from this...

to this, so much faster than I thought possible.

I love you more than my heart ever thought was possible.  Happy Birthday Annabelle Rae!