Classroom Vistor

Mom had the honor of visiting Dakota & Bailey's classroom when they celebrated their birthdays!  The class is currently talking about taking care of the environment and recycling.  Mom read the story This Tree Counts to the class which is about a tree that is home to many different animals and tells about its importance.  Then we did some bird fingerplays and finally we each made a pinecone bird feeder.

GIve Me Five!

Grandpa & Grandma Carter treated us to breakfast for Dakota & Bailey's 5th birthday then we headed to their house to open presents!

So happy to be FIVE!

"Egg"cellent Easter

Bunny cookies YUM!

 Making beautiful eggs!

 So kind of Great Uncle Terry and Aunt Carol to think of us on Easter!

Thanks Easter Bunny....

 HMMMMM - where ARE those eggs?

 Falling eggs!

St. Patty's Day Parade

We headed to the Madison square on a beautiful St. Patrick's Day afternoon to see the parade!

A fireman picked Dakota out of a crowd of kids and shook his hand and patted his head - Dakota was so proud!

Lots of green and LOTS of candy!

Enjoying this Weather

With the weather in the 80's the last few days we have enjoyed being outside!

Picnicking

 The chef making grilled cheeses over the fire!

 Riding our new "Big" bikes!

WInter-Fest Fun

We are always looking for an excuse to get outdoors in the winter!  With the beautiful weather we've been having we decided to head to downtown Madison for Winter-fest.

 They had to haul in the snow because the weather has been so mild!  It is hard to do winter activities without snow!  Below is a picture of RyAnne snowshoeing.

 There was a little hill for the little ones to sled down.  Even the big kids (aka RyAnne and her friend) gave it a go.

The tubing hill was everyones favorite!

That's little Miss Bailey behind that cup of hot chocolate.

Ice sculptures melting in the sun!

Daddy Daughter Dance

RyAnne and her Daddy attended the Daddy Daughter Dance at her school on Friday.  RyAnne was excited all week long.  On Friday, when Mom picked her up from school, she was jumping up and down and filled with anticipation for her "date" with Dad!

Practicing their dance moves.

Posing before their big night out.

Dancing the night away.

Fun photocam moment with some of her friends....

.....and with Dad.

She came home and said it was the best night EVER!   AWW!

Our Dog, Breeze

We had to put our dog to rest.  Breeze was 12 years old and could no longer get up and down the stairs without help.  She was a GREAT dog......a loyal companion, who loved to go to the cottage and be outside.  We called her Zachary's dog because he was very young when we got her and he took care of (and adored) her - feeding, watering, and letting her outside.  Young man's best friend!

We will miss her so much!

Slipin' & Slidin'

We were finally able to dust off our sleds and hit the slopes Sunday after the first significant snow hit Wisconsin on Thursday.

We took the kids to Heistand Park in Madison.  Dakota was a hoot!  On the way to the park he kept saying, "I am so scared!  I am SO scared!"  Once he went down - he was unstoppable .... even going down the BIG hill!

 RyAnne was a daredevil wanting to be pushed and spun around and she would SCREAM and laugh.

Zach was such a sport - dragging the sleds back up the hill (a lot of times with Dakota or Bailey still in them) for his little brother and sister!

Even Dad and Mom got in on the action.

Then there is little Bailey who giggled and giggled and giggled!

Cheers to 2012

We started our New Year's Eve celebration by enjoying king crab legs and steak -yummy!

 We watched the ball drop in New York City (on You Tube) at 8:00 p.m.  I think it was the 2011 broadcast - hey, the kids didn't know the difference :-)!

 Ready to enjoy some sparkly and fireworks!

 Cheers to 2012 (with sparkling grape juice of course)!