Great Wolf Lodge

We finally made it to Great Wolf Lodge. {{LOVED}} the Howlin' Tornado!! Sweet Pea and Reed tried out all the slides, wave pool and other water parts and came to the conclusion, they {{LOVED}} the Howlin' Tornado!!

We also purchased a wand to go on quests. This year, we just lit up the crystals, pointed at the "animals" to make them move and opened the different boxes. It was a great getaway that we will be repeating next year!!

The water park wasn't conducive to photo taking, but we did take pictures around the lodge.

Violet the Wolf. She wanted to hold Cutie Pie, but she was asleep.

Using a little magic on the animals.

The Bear's eyes glowed

I love Sweet Pea's stance and showing off her goodies.

Happy Sixth Birthday SWEETPEA!

Ms A had her sixth birthday a couple of weeks ago. She was counting the days until her swimming pool party with some of her friends. Apparently she couldn't be six until the party.

Here are a few pictures of her fun day!

The Birthday Girl

Blowing out the CANDLES

Guests

Happy Birthday my sweet one! Love you!!!

Transportation

These past couple of weeks, Ms A's preschool has been learning about transportation. This week was pretty full. A neighbor to Ms A's teacher offered to cut and sand 50 paddle boats for all of the Preschool classes. WOW!!!! They painted and raced their boats on Wednesday. She won her race with another classmate, which she excitedly told me as soon as I picked her up. Thursday we raced the boat in her tub. (a great activity for her to do while I was getting ready, a bit wet, but great)

Friday was the day the children had been waiting for since they started learning about transportation - A BIKE RODEO. They closed off part of the parking lot at her school and let the them ride their bikes or scooters. Ms A was so excited, she asked Reed to take of her training wheels the week before so she could be a BIG kid at school. She and Reed practiced and practiced. When I came that afternoon, Reed was there holding my crying little one, apparently she went around TEN times and wanted to stop but couldn't so she fell. We were only able to get her back on her bike with the promise of putting the video and pictures on the blog so her cousins and could see her. :)

Airshows and Waterslides

Reed had a Group Party across from the airport near our home. We were so excited to see the jets and watch Ms. A play.

She was very excited to go down the waterslide. We were very impressed that she climb up the tall slide and actually went down. The look of terror on the way down was priceless. She also didn't know about the wave of water that would hit. Poor Girl! Reed got her out and when we asked if she wanted to try again, she said "No." She changed her mind a few minutes later. When she climbed up to the top, she remembered and panicked. We talked her down the back and quickly dried her off. I think she was the youngest one to go down the slide. :)

We also enjoyed watching the Thunderbirds practice for the airshow! I was like a kid getting so excited with each pass. {Yes, I'm an airshow geek and proud of it :)}

This weekend we enjoyed watching the airshow from our backfield. Sara and her children came to visit, so we enjoyed watching the show with them. Mr. P, Sara and Ms. A were ecstatic to watch. It was FABULOUS!!! :)

Swimming Lessons

Ms A loves the water, she'd love to be in a tub playing or have some container full of water to play with. The only thing she doesn't like is water in her face (which I have to agree - no fun!). So when we decided to enroll her in her first swimming lessons, she was ECSTATIC, until they started splashing. Today was Life Jacket Day! She was thrilled to go into the deeper portion of the pool. Not too excited to jump in, but she had a GREAT time! Here are a couple of videos. The first one she had to jump in twice! (He promised Ms A only two jumps to get her in the pool.) Then the instructor had them practice floating and kicking while spinning them around. Ms A is much better at kicking than I am.

This video is what they do at the end of their lesson. The children pretend they are a seed and they have to ask for water to help them grow into a tree. Then the instructor asks them to pat out the butterflies in their tummies and on their heads. Next, they get to be silly. The last thing is *ONE MORE JUMP* in the pool.

I WANT CANDY!!!

Ms. A and I went downstairs this morning to discover our candy dish on Reed's desk. Ms. A exclaimed rather excitedly, "I want candy!" Much to her dismay, it was peanuts, not daddy's candy. I forgot something upstairs. As I was going, Ms. A started to do one of the things children are known for doing - whining. I reminded her that it was my birthday, so she had to be nice and she immediately stopped. (I'll have to remember that trick.) When I came back downstairs, the first thing out of her mouth was "I want candy," then she ran to the cupboard where that candy is stored. I called Reed at work to tell him about his little candy monster, when Ms. A stated that I had moved the candy. I gave the phone to her to talk to daddy while I checked out the cupboard. Apparently the candy had been eaten. When I told Ms. A she said to Reed, "Look at my sad face, daddy." We said goodbye to Reed and I explained to her that candy is not a something to eat when we first wake up. She was finally happy when I offered her some Dibs Ice Cream.

On another note, I've been kicked out of Ms. A's presence. She was eating breakfast this morning and had a cup of with a little bit of water. She loves to play in water and knows that I'm not a big fan of her watery messes. At least water dries and doesn't leave a sticky residue. Apparently, she wants to play with the water so she told me to, "Go, go, go!" Whenever I check on her I hear that same response. :)

At the Car Wash

Yesterday, Sara washed her car with the assistance of her children, Ms. A and Ms. A's friend, Mr. A. It was so fun watching two three-year olds wash the car. Ms. A would wiggle her little bum as she washed the front of the car. CUTE!!! Sara mentioned afterwards that the car was especially clean at Ms. A and Mr. A's level. :)

Today when Reed decided to wash his car, Ms. A excitedly said "YES!" and ran to get her shoes. As she was leaving, she asked if her clothes could get wet, a criteria Sara mentioned yesterday. She had a great time turning on the hose and got Reed and I wet. It was fun watching her help daddy.

After the car was washed and dried, Reed detached the sprayer from the hose. Ms. A was a bit confused why the sprayer didn't work. :)