Roberts' Water Day

Remember when the "last day of school parties" were on the LAST DAY!?! Well, they start things earlier nowadays. Abby's "Water Day" was LAST monday at Roberts (and school doesn't end until this coming Friday) ... fun, fun! Fortunately, I got to be there to help out ... and peek in on the action! There were water balloon fights ...

and a super duper water slide (which Tyler got to try too, since he was home "sick"!) So, I wonder how they will top this for the real year-end party!?

Abby's End-of-the-Year Party

Abby had a great end-of-the-year party with her class on Friday. It was actually more of a field trip ... a walking one ... to her friend Mary Leah's house. Fortunately, a few parents (including myself) walked with the class, as Mrs. McGrane would have had her hands full otherwise! Two plus hours of jumping around on an obstacle course bouncer results in a bunch of hot and sweaty ... but happy first graders! Thank goodness for popsicles!

Ladies Lunchdate

Abby and I started a new spring tradition this weekend ... a birthday lunchdate with Emily and Lorie Smith. This year, we met at On The Border.Seven years ago, while both Lorie and I were on maternity leave, we got together a few times to help each other cope with becoming new mothers. Now look at our babies! It's hard to believe so many years have passed, and that we are now able to treat them to a big girl lunch (and actually carry on adult conversation at the same time)!

Can't wait to do it again next year!

Abby's "Not-Quite-Slumber" Party

Abby decided LONG ago that she wanted to host a slumber party for her 7th birthday.

Dennis and I said, "No way! Are you nuts?"
She said, "Pleeeeaasse!?!"
We said, "They can't sleep over, but we'll play games, etc. and they can stay until 8:00 p.m."
She said, "Can they stay until 10:00?"
We said, "9:00 p.m. and that's our final offer!"
Then, of course, we caved and made it 9:30!

But we never caved on the sleepOVER part ... and thank goodness! Six 7-year olds at our house for four hours this past Saturday was plenty crazy ... but also plenty of fun!

I'm getting ahead of myself though. Back several months ago, Abby and I jumped online to research slumber party games, and we found all kinds of fun stuff. We also discovered an adorable sleepover cake. On Saturday morning, Abby and I set to work on our masterpiece ... and according to Dennis, we spent WAY too much time on it. But, boy did we have fun!

Each girl on the cake represented one of Abby's party guests. They were delighted to see themselves in cake form that night, and because we ate so much other junkfood, we were able to serve them a small portion of their "feet" and send most of their slice home. They also got to take home a butterfly net that we used for our "catching Zs" game. Earlier in the day, Grandan and Abby hid seven letter Zs (thanks Auntie Jenn for diecutting those for us!) around the front yard so the girls could search for them that evening. They looked so cute running around the yard in their PJs!
Grandan actually made Abby go inside while he hid her Zs. And he left me a "key" so I could guide her to them if she got frustrated. Grandan is a VERY good hider!

Inside, we fashioned the dining room table to look like a bed (another idea stolen from the internet!). And we had lots of party snacks for the girls to munch on. Here's a cute shot of the group once all of the guests arrived. From left to right are: Mary Leah Yearty, Abby, Anabelle Peoples, Kyndall Macey Dickinson, Emily Fogleman, and Nya Roney. After "Catching Zs," we moved inside to cool off, and played "Spin the Bottle." With bottles of nail polish! Everyone had to paint two nails (opposite hands) the color that landed on them. Let me tell you - I picked out an array of heinous colors (orange, hot pink, green, etc.) which they LOVED!Then, we did "makeUNDERs!" Using a little makeup tip book, they plopped down in a circle and sketched out the "look" they were hoping for. But, my resources were limited, so I basically gave them bright lips, bright cheeks and lots of eyeshadow! We played a game with gummie bears (had to wait to eat them until you picked two of the same ... and you were selecting them with your eyes closed!). Anabelle and Nya both had VERY full mouths, so we cut the game short! Then we kicked on the music, played freeze dance and made costumes out of aluminum foil. This was the hit of the evening! First we dressed the birthday girl...

...then decorated everyone else with a few customized accessories!

Before they settled down for a movie (well, SORT of settled down!) the girls used some of their foil creations (Nya made a microphone ... and I truly don't know what Mary Leah is sporting) to help sing "Happy Birthday" to Abby!

We drove everyone home a bit later, wishing them "Happy Summer" with some cute flip flops... It truly was a fun party ... Dennis and I both said so. While we love big shindigs with family, friends and long-time playmates, this time around, we were able to get to know the smaller group of cute friends Abby made in class and at after-school activities this year. But ... that said ... we were quite glad to send those cute friends home at the end of the evening! A faux sleepover is the way to go!

May 2010 Disney Days

Everyone looks really bummed in the photo above, because we got to The Magic Kingdom that day ... but didn't stay! In May, we had two more days on our FL Resident Play 4 Days passes, so we decided to use them while down in Orlando for Abby's birthday/Atlantis shuttle launch. However, we couldn't believe the CROWDS that Saturday (we waited 30 minutes for the monorail to the front gate and hadn't even boarded YET!). So, we opted to hit the movies and Grammy and Grandan's pool instead ... and extend our trip by a day to do Disney on Sunday and Monday.
As you can see, some parties (Abby) couldn't be appeased by a "fun ride" on the resorts monorail and an extra tram ride! Tyler meanwhile thought that was great. Of course, we started Sunday off early to beat the crowds, and were one of the first families through the gate at Hollywood Studios. We did all of our favorite things ... And tried some new ones too, like this backlot tour and trip to "Catastrophe Canyon." Tyler was a fan and wanted to do the tram tour again. I think it had something to do with the mode of transportation!Took this photo for HR Dude Grandan as we were waiting to meet Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc.We were SO proud of Tyler, and Abby of course. Both of them faced their fears and went on the Tower of Terror. Abby wanted to go again (and did, I think!) but Tyler felt once was enough. When asked what part was his favorite, he said: "when it was over!"On Monday, we hit The Magic Kingdom, to use the last day on our pass. And, who should we meet first, but Aladdin and Jasmine. Dennis was flirting with Princess Jasmine big time when I made my way over after fastpassing a ride. Good thing I got there when I did. She was cute. Carricatos: doesn't she look like Aishia Werber?!?

Tyler and Dennis rode Pirates of the Caribbean a second time after we all rode as a family, while Abby and I met Tiana and Naveen from "The Princess and the Frog." I don't know if Abby was proud or mortified when I did my Lottie impression for them. But, the characters thought it was great. Hey! Maybe I'll get a job at Disney! While Abby and Dennis went on Haunted Mansion (Dennis was scared of this ride as a child, so he and Abby both put on a brave face during our March trip there, and this time Abby WANTED to ride it!), Tyler and I took a cruise on the riverboat. And we all enjoyed touring Tom Sawyer's Island and the fort there. I mean, who DOESN'T love a chance to teach their child how to shoot guns from the "Crow's Nest?!?"

Atlantis Shuttle Launch

Bet you had no idea Astronaut Abby was aboard Atlantis for one of the final shuttle launches!
Going to a shuttle launch has been on Dennis' "list" for some time, and with just a couple launches left in the space shuttle program, we decided we could help him check off this life-long dream. On a VERY warm day in May, we all headed to Cape Canaveral for the launch of Atlantis. Little did we know how crowded it would be though, as the launch was billed as Atlantis' last! We worked our way through the crowd to take these photos with the Cape in the background.
We actually had tickets to watch the launch from the Astronaut Hall of Fame, just about a mile or so away from Kennedy Space Center. Look at the crowd! And, check out the traffic on the road leading across the bridge. We still don't know where those people thought they were going! On the left side of the photo below you can see the Vehicle Assembly Building (did I get that right, Dennis?). The shuttle launched to the left of that, so we saw it once it cleared the trees. But ... it was pretty hot outside, so we spent SEVERAL hours touring the museum inside, learning about the space program, and watching the pre-launch preparations on a big screen.Needless to say, once launch time came at 2:30ish, we were tired. We got to the Astronaut Hall of Fame around 10 a.m. But Dennis said it was worth it ... watching a historic event with your children by your side, err ... on your shoulders!I was SO nervous about getting the launch on video for Dennis, and taking photos as well ... but after it made its way up into the clouds, I jumped out from behind the camera to take a photo with my space-loving honey! Great photography Abby!