Thursday, May 13, 2010

Pam's Bachelorette Weekend

As I write this post, I am gearing up for Pam and Ryan's wedding extravaganza and can hardly wait for their wedding and the celebration afterwards.  However, there of course was some preliminary celebrating with Pam's Bachelorette weekend.  A group of 12 girls headed up to Galena for a weekend of fun, relaxation, and many, many laughs and good times.  We rented a beautiful 6-bedroom house and went on a fun wine tour of the Galena area courtesy of Iowa Wine Tours.  The rest of the time was spent back at the house, hot tubbing, eating, and celebrating Pam.  Here are some pics of the weekend.

Getting ready to go-Rebecca and Pam with A LOT of stuff
Packing up Venessa's minivan (which she was so nice to drive us in!!)
The beautiful house
The view from the deck
Pam posing before the wine tour
HS buddies!
At Rocky Waters Winery-this place was AMAZING!
My little Pampers :)
Out in the Vineyard
The bachelorette with some wine and cheese
Our whole group out in the vineyard
And in front of our bus, flashing our light-up bling rings
The table set for a nice dinner
Our on the deck
All of us again
Dinner!

Practice Pics

I was practicing some pictures of Mia with a new background and fake floor and even though she is looking a little disheveled, I still thought she looked pretty cute.  I want to use this set-up for Cole, ut figured I would practice with her first to see how it looked since she is a much more willing subject. :)


Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Claire's 2nd Birthday

I cannot believe it, but my niece Claire just turned 2. What makes it scarier is that Cole is not far behind-aahhhh!!  They are growing up too fast! :)  Claire's party was Wiggles-themed and super-cute!

Mia being silly with her hat
Cole in the middle of the action-check out the look he is giving me
(thanks Jen for this pic and the next one!)
Cole was loving the balloons!
Love this of Claire-so cute!

Mia having a blast playing balloons with Grandma and Papa B.
The Cake
The Bday Girl
Cousins enjoying cake outside
(I love that Cole isn't even taking a break for the picture, he is just digging right in)
An arial view :)

Happy Birthday Claire!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Baskin Robbins $0.31 Scoop Night!

Last week we hit up Baskin Robbins for their $0.31 Scoop Night.  We got there and it wasn't too crowded,  but within minutes there was a line out the door.  :)  However, we got our scoops, found a table and the kids couldn't be happier (and me too!)

Cole really enjoying his ice cream
Mia holding up her 2nd scoop

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Samantha's Bday Party

The same day that we had everyone over to meet Braiden, Mia also had Samantha's birthday party at Petland.  This had to be the coolest bday party ever and we are seriously considering doing the kids' bday party there this summer.  Also, kudos to Andy and Shannon for having 20 little girls there-wow!  It started with the kids getting tour of all the aquatic animals/tanks, even getting to touch some of the creatures.

Mia learning about a horseshoe crab
And brave enough to touch it
Wasn't so sure about the frog that Sarah was brave enough to hold, but she did end up touching it
We then went to the party room where Sam blew out her candles and the kids enjoyed some yummy treats.

And then the BEST part-Sam got to pick out the animals she wanted to have brought out and the kids got to sit in a circle and hold/pet them.  As a kid, my dad and I used to go to Petland and take out the different puppies, even though we knew we wouldn't be bringing any home (allergies in the fam).  This totally reminded me of that.  The kids were sooooo excited and the animals were very good with them.

Sam with one of her picks
Stephanie and Mia proudly holding one of the puppies
I love how happy she looks here
There were tons of squeals when he walked in!
They even got to hold a bird
This one cracks me up!!!

It really was a great party-thanks to Sammy for inviting Mia!  Maybe we will be seeing you there again sometime in July/August! :)

Dave and Liz: Part II

As is the story of my life, I am once again WAY behind on my blogging-blah!  Anyhow, as I mentioned in my last post, Dave and Liz came in for Dave's sister's wedding and we really enjoyed seeing them.  However, we couldn't hog them all to ourselves, so on Sunday, we invited the gang over to meet Braiden.  Here is what that looked like in our living room...



Wow!  That is a lot of kids, and that isn't even everyone!  My favorite part of that first picture is Cole.  I'm not quite sure what he is doing, but it makes me laugh. :)  Here are a couple of other shots...


Cole LOVING his juicebox
(after everyone else finished, he also proceeded to eat any leftover food and drink any leftover juiceboxes-ha, ha!)
Miss Mia-french braids courtesy of Liz
Braiden hanging with the big kids
And here are a couple of cute ones I stole off of Dave and Liz's blog

I love this pic of the 3 of them.  I cannot believe how big Mia and Cole look!

  Mia chatting with Braiden

 2 boys causing trouble :)  And yes, those are Halloween PJs