Celebrating 6 years Hawaiian Style...

Addison has been "planning" her birthday for the past 10 months. She wanted to have grass skirts, a beach cake, tropical music, the limbo and drinks with umbrellas...

She had lots of fun and everyone experienced a little bit of Hawaii...the weather was perfect during the afternoon, so it even felt like Hawaii for a few hours.

In her words, "That was THE most awesome birthday ever!"

 

A New Chapter Begins...

KiNdErGaRtEn!!!!!

Addison was pretty excited to head off to Kindergarten. She met her teacher at Open House and Ms. Schumacher hit it off!

Fast Forward to today...
I dropped Addison off at her before school care site (Little Inspirations daycare) and Addison "reminded" me to give her a hug (like I needed a reminder or something:) From that point, she had a 30 min or so bus ride to school.

Larry made my day when he said he would be able to drop off Lauren and Ella and then head to her school to take pictures and videotape Addison getting off her bus. He said Addison looked a little embarrassed he was there (like paparazzi) but Larry said he was so glad he got to be a part of her day (and saw lots of neighbors there too!)

The best part was Addison filling me in on ALL the details...My personal favorite "story" was...

"Mom-I met this boy and got to help him. He speaks another language-Spanish I think. Well, his Dad speaks Spanish but his Mom speaks English so he can speak BOTH!" Well - I spoke with him in SPANISH to help him."

Me: "Really? What did you say?"

Addison: "Hola! Como estas? Then I counted up to 20 - (uno, dos, tres, etc...)"

This story makes me giggle because she thought she was "helping him" and because I'm really hoping he was indeed speaking Spanish. Last time she overhead someone talking with an accent, she assumed it was a different language and thought it was Spanish!

Looking forward to many, many more stories and fun ahead this year!

Open House night - Ms. Schumacher had a hopscotch  for the kids!

Ms. Schumacher and Addison 

A little treat from her teacher!

Opening her "Jitter Glitter" the night before Kindergarten...

Ella was SO excited so Addison shared the glitter and they sprinkled some under her pillow too:) 

There's no looking back....a new chapter begins!

Go PACK Go!

Larry's friend Tory generously asked if he and Addison wanted to join him to go to the Packer pre-season game. Of course Addison would go-no doubt about it so he "Yes!" I have always said I don't know why someone would ever take a child to a game but when it's "free"-why not!

Addison got to experience her first tailgating experience with her Grandpa and Grandma Baier AND Grandpa and Grandma Mauk! Everyone had tickets (all sitting in different spots and without knowing the other were going until 2 days prior). Addison enjoying that time with them eating cheese curds and burgers at one of favorite spots, Krolls!

She LOVED it. She spotted her Grandma and Grandpa Mauk across the stadium with her binoculars! Larry said she enjoyed taking in all the sights-If you ask her she'll tell you about the players coming out of tunnel, cheerleaders, dancing, cheering, doing the wave and much more! She loved it SO much when it rained, she didn't have any interest in leaving early. She said after arriving home, "Mom-and then it rained and I even got to watch the game in this poncho and EVERYONE else had on! It was SO fun!!!" She even got to see our Packers win their last pre-season game! 

In the 4th quarter Addison and Larry scored a special "icing on the top" treat...The usher asked them if they wanted the "Best Seats in the House" which are recliners at Lambeau! They indeed had then Best Seats! 

It will be a day Addison will remember...her first Packers game.

Tailgating at Krolls...Grandpa Baier photobombing our picture! 

Best Seats in the House!!!

Swimming

The girls had such a fun day on their last day of swimming. They went on the same night but were in two different classes at the Menasha pool at Jefferson Park. Addison (to my surprise) and Ella both passed and moved onto the next class for next year.  I really didn't think Addison would do to well early on but I think she saw her little sister progressing and her competitive side kicked in for the better in this case.

In the past few weeks, Addison really got "into" it and her confidence soared. To the point of the last day being the only one who wanted to go off the diving board in her class. Then she asked if she could try this tunnel slide (which Ella saw her do and asked her teacher to try it then). And then-Addison asked to jump off the high dive (with a life jacket as she can't officially "swim" yet!!! She was the only one who thought this was a good idea!

When these girls get an idea in their heads, there's no stopping them. I love that about their personalities-well, most of the time it's a good thing (not always-). Ella has no fear when it comes to swimming. She just LOVES it!

This was her first jump, but she did it again, and again and again...

Ella loved the blue tube slide which shot her down very fast! 

And this sweet little one always is making us laugh! She has the funniest personality....

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"

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!