week in review

Playing dress up with her friends

Tricycling in 70 degree weather in January

13 in 2013

Our first 13 in '13 date night was a success!  We went ice skating in Kirkwood and it was all kinds of fun.  Neither of us had been skating in over 15 years!  It was fun to try something we've never done together.  Nate schooled me in skating, but I looked cuter.  So, it's a tie.

It took a while to get my bearings before we did the quintessential holding hands skate around the circle!

We headed to Kaldi's in Kirkwood after skating for a treat and to do some more questions in these awesome trivia books.  So far I am beating him 19 to 16!  We got these books from Amazon and they are awesome and so fun for married couples who think they know everything about each other.  Hilarious!

Elmo!

So excited to be at Elmo!  Grammy and I took Violet to the Peabody Opera House to see Elmo the Musical Can't Stop Signing over the weekend and it was so fun.  I wasn't sure how she would do since she's never been to something like this, but she LOVED it!!

Elmo outfit, socks, and her LOL Elmo came along!

Before she show we took a few pictures at the Fun Zone.  She almost loves Abby as much as Elmo - hence the two ponies just like Abby!

Grammy treated her to a new pink Abby shirt and she wanted to wear it right away!

The show!

Watching with rapt attention during the first half...

The Elmo balloons came out at intermission and of course we needed one!

And dancing in the aisle for the second half!

We came home and turned our living room into a dueling piano bar.  It was a lot of fun!

Check out the jumping, dancing, and singing at the end of the show! 

Oh, hey vacation!

Our annual trip to Kalahari Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells was amazing!  We got to catch up with some old friends and see all of our growing kiddos. 

4 big kids being crazy

We stopped in Madison, Wisconsin at the Great Dane Pub a.k.a. Nate's happy place.

Cheeseballs on vacation!

Having fun together!

Relaxing in our hotel room

Time for the waterpark!!

Check out those new goggles!

She loved to jump over the waves!

Team "tween annihilators" for laser tag.  We were amazing!

Some sister shenanigans...

Some Grammy and Vi Vi shenanigans...

So many shenanigans!

Vi was an excellent traveler.  She listed to the Fresh Beat Band on her headphones most of the time!

And dozed a little...

Relaxed sisters

Super amazing fun times!!!

Transportation Museum

Meg summed this up perfectly: Sneezing dog and meow-ing kitty cat (in jail)  It was a fun morning!

Catching Up

We had a friend stay the day with us on Monday and Violet had so much fun!  As soon as Aden arrived, Violet gave her a tutu and asked to try her shoes on.

Next was teaching her how to twirl like a ballerina

There's something refreshing about raising a child who is not afraid to stand out and be different from everyone else.  She is definitely not a follower and not easily swayed by peer pressure.  This can be tricky as it's not easy for her to follow directions without asking "why?" and she doesn't easily conform to her peers.  But, as a life skill, it ROCKS.  Not worrying about what everyone thinks about you = amazing. Note the outfit above. 

I took the girls to the library for music & movement and again this girl was doing her own thing.

A little ring around the rosie...

Aprons for s'more waffle making

Giving her baby a bath in the sink

Another interesting outfit choice! She rarely leaves the house without a tutu!

Her new cool headphones

Enjoying a picnic lunch on a warm January day

She took this picture of me and I love it!

Learning to lace shoes at the science center

Going for a ride with her friends at the park

She loves listening the Fresh Beat band on these speakers!

Upside down and very strong

Check out their matching backpacks!