The Baier Blog

8/14/14

Madison Getaway

We packed in lots of fun activities for our family in 2 days on our trip to Madison. The highlights were the Zoo, our hotel which was a watermark and the girls had their own bunk beds, fun restaurants, the Capitol and the Children's Museum. The weather was picture perfect and we got to catch up with friends as well. We are lucky there are so many family friendly places to visit in our own state...Just wish we could have warm weather for more than just our short summer months:)

Henry Villas Zoo

The petting zoo...(Ella overcame her lifelong fear of feeding goats!)

Riding the train at the zoo

The girls couldn't get over this restaurant where they got to write with permanent markers
on the walls, benches, tables etc...!!!! They kept asking us if we'd get in trouble after reassuring them that's why they gave us the markers and that's what the signs indicate:)

Checking out the Wisconsin Capitol

Another fun restaurant - a little overstimulating but fun for the girls

We got to meet up at Union Square with our friends and their kiddos for ice-cream

Our hotel waterpark that was SUPER fun for the girls

We think they probably went down this water slide a minimum of 50 times in a row

Gorgeous views from the capitol

Such a fun Children's Museum...lots of things to "SEE"

7/27/14

Ella's Birthday Weekend Fun

Ella was so excited about her Olaf cake!

Claudia building her snowman

Piñata fun for the kids (and Uncle Rick got a turn too) but Ella shared her candy with all the adults too!

Candy, candy, candy...Ella said this was her favorite part of the party!

Grandma Baier and our cousin Preston cheered us on at the Packer 5K!

And Grandpa and Grandma Mauk too!

Aunt Kristin and Uncle Rick and Claudia got to race and Craig video taped and photographed us on the
jumbotron during the Packer 5K!

Our little runners in the Packer 1K...they did awesome! I wasn't sure they'd be able to run the whole race (as it is a little under 1 mile) but they LOVED it. A highlight was running around Lambeau Field and being on the Jumbotron!

Taking in all the sights of the renovated Lambeau!

So proud of Dad! He did his first 5K in 28 minutes (and only ran a few runs before this race!!!) I still beat him though...:) Barely...next year I think he'll pass me up if he practices a bit more!
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She thanked us at the end of the night for the "best party ever" and also after running the Packer 1K...
Ella is sure is one independent, strong willed, swimming suit wearing, dancing always, loving and determined girl. So thankful for all of our family who was able to celebrate this weekend with Ella and our family.
It made it the perfect birthday weekend for all of us!

Ella also had a fun birthday playdate with our friends at a fun park!

6/19/14

Strawberry Season...Mmmmm:)

Not sure but I do believe the girls (esp. Lauren) may have eaten more than she picked. The best part was she picked them out of the container instead of picking them from the plant! She was very cooperative and enjoyed the outing however.

The tractor ride was fun - as well as watching the tractors pass by...

I should have took a photo of our fingers...they were completely red!

Look at all those strawberries...I see lots of jelly and pies in our future!

6/9/14

WI Dells Fun

Summer is here! It was a great time to visit the Dells and hang out with the Schunk and Mauk families. The weather was so nice. Addison was just barely clearing the 4'2" mark which meant she could go on MANY of the slides/rides that were a bit extreme (for me). She never feared any of them and was so happy to go with her older nieces!

Where are Larry and Addison?

Addison went down this crazy drop you can't even see with her cousin!

Lauren's 2nd Birthday Week

Lauren had a week of celebrations for her 2nd birthday. One party with the Grandparents and the Baier aunts and uncle. On her actual birthday we went to Applebees where she was treated to singing and a BIG sundae! The last celebration was with Karla's sister and brother in the Dells to also celebrate Claudia's (our niece's birthday). She will tell you if you ask, she had a GREAT birthday week!

I included a clip of her singing "Happy Birthday"! Over the past few months she has been learning how to sing songs and express her fun-loving personality. In a nutshell, she loves making people laugh, cuddling and talking-oh, and LOVES eating sweets:)

Lauren sneaking a lick of the cake prior to blowing out candles...Ella giggling about Lauren!

Looking like a BIG 2 year old here (with her little ponytail!)

Lauren below in video: SOOOOO embarrassed in public...poor girl:) Listen for Ella belly laughing in background!

Camera family paparazzi

Silly family photo

5/23/14

Who needs a "Gardener" anyway...

Spring is indeed here and with the warm weather, Memorial Day weekend is sure feeling like the kick off of Summer (actually). Yeah!!!

I couldn't resist capturing this moment of all three girls having fun helping plant the flowers. Let's just say I should have perhaps taken an "after" photo - there was quite a bit of potting soil on the front porch (thanks to Lauren "helping out"). But...we had fun and the flowers are all set to grow!

Sidenote: While planting, (Larry was out and about, not at home) and so I was supervising this project until Lauren ran into the garage. There was way too much trouble in there for her so I was closely watching her yet trying to multi-task/clean up.

I grabbed the broom and looked back. To my surprise Lauren had grabbed a can of Diet Coke (which was in a case laying in our garage). As I was asking her to put it back she said, "Mommy-a beer open!" I did a double take and here she actually OPENED up the can of Diet Coke (which is funny she was referring to as beer!) We aren't huge soda drinkers however not huge beer drinkers either...Very interesting viewpoint that she thought she'd open up a beer for me.

Maybe she thought I needed it after planting the flowers mess?!? Too funny....Then Addison and Ella walked into the garage and Addison strangely asked, "Mom-why is Lauren holding a can of Diet Coke and how did she open it?!?"

5/18/14

13.1 miles - I survived!

I ran my first half marathon today. It was a great experience some of my friends and I talked ourselves into after running the marathon relay together last year. While I foresee no full marathon in my future (ever)...I was hoping to run this 13.1 miles in under 2 hours. I came pretty close, 2 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds. I was tired by the end though-whew but overall felt pretty good.

Many thoughts cross your mind in those 13 miles...I just kept telling myself, "I've got this" as people would yell, "Your half way!" and I'd think- "Only half way?" Then by 10 miles people would say, "You're almost there!" Well, not quite but it's a good positive mental building activity as physical activity. The streets were lined with cheering fans with noise makers and all sort of signs and music.

The best part was running into Lambeau Field and taking a lap around my family and friends. I got to high five Addison and Larry (who made it down to the first row.) Thanks to my cheerleading section - Larry and my girls, my parents, Tom and Jenny Baier it made the experience even better:)