Jenna's Birthday

This is a bit late, but oh well...... 

 Way back in March, we celebrated Jenna's 29th birthday at Buffalo Wild Wings, and then had Dairy Queen cake (of course) back at Jenna and Andy's house.  Since we were in the middle of a very strange heat wave, we were all dressed in summer clothes, very unusual since Jenna was born in a snowstorm way back in 1983.

 Looks like Charlie is thinking about his own birthday, coming up in May!

Good job on the candles, Jenna!  

For some reason, I didn't take very many pictures, which actually makes the blogging a lot easier - fewer shots to choose from and less time to upload.  :-)

Happy Birthday, Jenna!  We'll really have a party next year when you turn...30!!!

We love you - you're a great daughter, and a great mom!

Teddy's 10th (X 4) Birthday

My brother's son, Ted, was born on February 29, 1972 - a Leap Year baby! - so he just celebrated his 10th birthday (actually 40th) on February 29, 2012. What a great reason for a party! The whole family (well, most of us), plus friends, gathered at the party room at his apartment complex to help him celebrate. His wife, Angie, and son, Matthew, were great hosts!

Looking pretty mature for a 10-year old!

The cake was awesome!

Chuck and the crew.

Since we were all hanging out, I took the opportunity to shoot a few family pictures.

Me and my three.

Charlie was like a little bird with the cake.

Maddox and Matthew were either running around or playing electronic games.

Corey had me snap a few of him and Maddox. They turned out great, except for Maddox's red mustache!

Matthew helped with the gifts.

Great garage sign!!

Happy Birthday, Teddy! We probably won't all be around to help you celebrate when you turn 20. :-)

Florida Spring Break

We actually had a Spring Break this year! Since it was right after President's Day, I guess it was really a late winter break, but I'll take it whenever it comes. I took advantage of the time off by using some frequent flyer miles and going down to Florida for the last part of my break, first to visit the Dawson's in Ft. Myers, and then to see Phebe in West Palm Beach.

John and Kathy bought a boat after my visit last winter, so a boat ride was on our list of things to do (along with playng tennis, swimming, playing duets, and relaxing).

"Happy Ours" is docked at a marina on the river in downtown Ft. Myers.

It's quite a process getting a 42' boat out of a small marina slip.

Kathy and son, Ryan (former 1st grader of mine, a few years back)

John at the helm

Jane, Kathy, and Heather, Ryan's girlfriend.

Ryan and Heather were also visiting from Minnesota.

I left Friday afternoon and drove straight across the whole state of Florida to West Palm Beach, where Phebe lives. Dawson's let me use their car for the weekend, and since it's only a little over a 2-hour drive, I got there in time for dinner with Phebe.

It was SO good to see her again!

The weather was a little cool, but that didn't stop Phebe from using the hotel pool. I think she went swimming at least 4 times from Friday night to Sunday morning

Jump, Phebe!

I brought along her Valentine's present from Kyle, a new outfit for her American Girl doll

Phebe and her doll look amazingly alike!

We decided to go to the W. Palm Beach Science Museum on Saturday morning.

Yikes!

Phebe made a pretty cute paleontologist!

After touring the museum, we went to a local shopping mall to a Build-a-Bear Workshop

After much debating, Phebe decided on an off-white bear,

and she made some good wishes for it before she added the heart.

There, ready for the final stitching.

Isn't she cute?

Now to name it, register it,

pick out an outfit, and get her dressed.

All decked out and ready for a party!

Next on our list was some shoe shopping.

The bear got new shoes, and so did Phebe!

Then, it was back to the hotel, out for dinner, and a little swimming (again).

Our weekend time went by so fast! On Sunday morning, Phebe went for another swim (it was very cool and windy, but that didn't stop her), worked out a bit, and then, after we checked out from the hotel, we drove to the coast to check out the local beaches. Phebe really wanted to make a sand castle, but it wasn't really beach-going weather.

We walked along the shore (on the sidewalk - no sandy shoes in my borrowed car!).

The waves were really crashing in!

Wild hair!!!

After a little shopping in some of the designer shops and lunch at Starbuck's, we went to a movie and then it was time for me to go. It was really hard to leave our little Phebe once again, but I'm so glad I had the chance to see her. She is growing into such a beautiful young lady! We love you, Phebe!

I drove back to Ft. Myers Sunday night and then spent Monday hanging out with Kathy before catching a 5:45 flight back to Minnesota. It was after midnight when I finally got home, and I'm afraid Tuesday morning and school came WAY too fast!

Charlie at the Children's Museum

I've been a little "0ff" with blogging lately, but we've still been very busy!

Way back on President's Day, since Jenna had to work and her daycare was closed, I spent my day off hanging out with Charlie. We got an early start for the Children's Museum (along with every other parent and toddler who had the day off). Charlie is very serious about his play, and although he wanted to try everything, he did so with a very thoughtful attitude.

He found these discs very interesting,

and he loved loading and unloading the grocery cart. He was pretty good at sorting everything back to the right places.

He was very comfortable in the doghouse, probably because he likes to hang out in Crosby's kennel.

He was a pro at doing the dishes (child labor at home??)

And I finally got a smile when he was playing with a lizard in the water!

We had lunch at the nearby McDonald's (again with a million other parents and toddlers), and then headed home for a nap. We take our first graders to the Children's Museum every May, and I think I was more tired following a toddler around than a whole class of 6 and 7 year olds!

Indoor Miniature Golf

Our PTO is awesome! Every year, as one of their major fund-raisers, they sponsor an indoor miniature golf course that winds it's way for 18 holes throughout the halls of the elementary school. The staff goes all out designing creative and challenging holes for the kids to try out their putting skills. The course is open both Saturday and Sunday, and this year over 500 people came each day to do a little golfing. My class actually won a pizza party for having the most students from a class in attendance - 14 out of 21 kids!

The first grade theme this year was "Love Makes the World Go Around." We had the kids decorate cereal boxes for Valentine's Day and then used them as obstacles and edging - it was great because not only did we have a colorful golf hole, but we were also done with our Valentine decorating! Nothing like double duty! :-)

I took Charlie golfing on Saturday. He had a great time checking out all the holes, but he didn't really hit the ball very many times.

He actually tried to hit it on our hole (interesting grip, Charlie),

but then he picked up the ball and walked it down the "fairway,"

and placed the ball in the hole.

The theme of the kindergarten hole was "Angry Birds."

Needless to say, we didn't keep score!

He LOVED the red carpet from the Cheerleader's hole,

and he had fun crawling upstream with the fishies at the 3rd grade hole.

Where did that ball go?

Fortunately, we were there early on Saturday morning so we missed all the crowds and could take our time. I think we'll have to try this again next year!