A Go-Go Gadget Shoe, A Zipline, and Other President's Day Weekend Highlights

As usual, I'm at least a weekend behind in sharing photos, but we had a fun President's Day weekend. It was a four day weekend for the girls, and such a nice break. We read some of our favorite books about Presidents, I recommend any of them:
Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers, George Washington's Teeth, ...If You Grew Up With George Washington, Abraham Lincoln Will You Ever Give Up?, Lincoln and His Boys.

I need to look for some new president books, geared more towards Alyssa's reading level, she has probably read each of these except Lincoln and His Boys, hundreds of times, but they are so good and great for reading out loud as a family!!

We also made Cracker Bread from a recipe Emma brought home from school in an issue of Time for Kids. It is a recipe from George and Martha Washington's kitchen. The biscuits were a lot of fun to make!

And they turned out really, really yummy, fluffy and buttery. Before I even had a chance to suggest that we make this a President's Day breakfast tradition the girls said, "We have to do this next year too!"

Every February there is a fun lego day at Mount Mary College. What is really cool about it is that it was started several years ago by a foundation that wanted to show the need for women workers and their influence in the construction industry. They host a small contest each year that is open to both boys and girls in 1st through 6th grades. The children have about 40 minutes to build whatever they want out of 100 legos, and they also have additional building supplies like string and foil available for their use. The only requirement is that you cannot build a person or an animal, it has to be an invention, building or machine of some sort.

Alyssa designed a Go-Go Gadget shoe. And it won 2nd Place!! The shoe had built in air conditioners, air fresheners and inflatable sides for added comfort. Our girls have never approached this as an actual contest, probably because we don't own any legos and building stuff like this is so outside their natural skill set. Alyssa was so excited to be given one of the prizes, and the woman who nominated her design was excited to come up and tell us how intrigued she was with the explanation Alyssa provided about her shoe and how the other judges thought this was an invention that she needed to "make happen."

Little Emma and her zipline creation inspired by the one in G&G's backyard. Emma decided on our drive to Mount Mary that morning what she was going to build, and she was very secretive about it...she wouldn't tell us anything about her plans. She knew exactly what she wanted to build and was one of the first kids done. I thought her zipline was super cool!

A super silly little girl playing with Dad's sunglasses as she waited for her sisters. They serve the kids what are seriously the most delicious rice krispy treats while the judging is going on. We couldn't wait to get our hands on those!

We now own some legos because Emma won a hula hoop contest and came home with a set of zoo legos. I just saw a commercial on tv for some girly looking sets and think that at least one or two of the girls may get some in their Easter basket this year.

We also went hiking in a park near our house. It was a beautiful and chilly, but not too cold winter day.

We took this hike that brings you over seven small bridges on the way out to Lake Michigan. At the first bridge Emma had the idea to re-enact the story, The 3 Billy Goats Gruff as we went over the bridge. It funny and cute ~ on the first bridge. We had to do this on every single bridge, some of which we crossed more than the necessary once there and back, making for over 14 re-enactments of the story. She made Dave be the troll under the bridge, and Alyssa had to be the middle sized goat so that Emma herself could be the biggest, fiercest Billy Goat Gruff, and I ended up filling in for Rebekah as the baby goat once she got bored with the repeated story line.

The glittery, icy stream leading out to the lake. We crossed this on some dangerously slippery rocks.

All 3 Billy Goats Gruff did make it successfully to the lake with no falls or even wet feet.

Other than the bare tree branches, I thought this photo looked more like summery blues than the wintry gray we often see around here at this time of year. It was a very nice long weekend.

Alyssa also started a pinata project this weekend. As far as we can tell, this is going to take several layers of mess to complete, and lots of a homemade goo that Alyssa refers to as "camel snot." She's trying to turn this into a lion. I'll have to post a pic of the final project.

Our Sweet Pirate, Hook In Junie B. Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

Between Halloween and New Years, Alyssa was kept very busy in her first ever performance in a First Stage Children's Theater production. Rehearsals ran from the weekend before Halloween until the weekend of Thanksgiving, when they opened. The play was supposed to close on Christmas Eve, but there was enough interest in tickets that they extended until December 28th.

This was her third time auditioning, and each time she was called back for the possibility of being cast in one of a few roles, but she had never gotten the part until this year. She learned SO MUCH and had such a fantastic time, there is no way I could sum up the whole experience in just a few sentences or paragraphs. She came home from each rehearsal so excited about what they practiced and performed that day and she started speaking using all these very proper and technical theater terms. Before my eyes I saw her transform from a dramatic little girl who loves and is intrigued by anything theatrical to a real theater artist herself, and it was just amazing!

Here with her whole cast, the Bell Cast. First Stage double casts each show so the kids miss a minimal amount of school, and if someone becomes ill, they have an immediate actor to fill the role. Even with the double casting, I think both casts performed the show about 30 times. It was an intense schedule, but so much fun.

Alyssa as Hook, and her fellow pirates, Popeye and Sinbad. Alyssa's role was rather small and it was a perfect way to introduce her to being a part of a production this big without overwhelming her. I remember the day she realized that people would be paying to see the play, her eyes got huge and she said , "Yikes, we better not mess this up." She usually does not have any hesitation to be on stage, but for one reason or another the fact that this would be a paying audience seemed to add some pressure. Each and every performance of the show went off without a hitch, she never had anything to worry about.

During the running of the shows, one of the things that Alyssa was insistent upon was taking us for a backstage tour as a family. It ended up being what she gave Emma and Rebekah for a Christmas present. Here, Alyssa is hugging her favorite robe that she always wore backstage while she was eating. The kids weren't allowed to eat in costume unless they wore one over their clothes.

Showing her little sisters where she hung her Hook costume in between shows. I later saw the dress part of her Hook costume on clearance in Crazy 8, but didn't buy it, and now I'm kicking myself for that. I would love to have that dress, just as a keepsake, if nothing else, and now I can't find it.

First Stage is a very family friendly and family oriented theater company. I tried to help in the lobby during as many shows as I could, and Emma was even able to volunteer with me during one of the shows. She handed out programs to the guests as they entered the theater, and she felt really cool, like she was part of the show as well, finally being involved in this place she had visited so many times as a guest to see cool plays.

Rebekah getting comfortable in the Green Room during our backstage tour.

On this night we saw the show as a family and two of Emma's friends also came with their families. The number of shows in which Alyssa had friends, family or classmates in the audience was just astounding. Many times she knew to be expecting them out there that night, and other times it was a complete surprise to see them and it was so special for her!

One of Alyssa's favorite things about the performances was the "Talk Back" sessions that directly follow each show. After the curtain call, the audience has a chance to ask the cast any questions about the show, and before the play opened Alyssa told me she was nervous to offer an answer to the questions. But in her very first show, she did, and I think in almost every show after that she answered a question. She was the Stage Manager's go-to person when no one else wanted to answer {she loves to talk and explain things, let me tell you...}


Alyssa quickly made friends with her cast-mates! Being the second oldest of the group definitely earned her the position of little cast mother. It was interesting to discover that this mothering tendency of hers does not pertain to her sisters alone. She's very watchful, careful, over protective and I hesitate to say she's a worrier {but it is quite accurate} and always kept tabs on everyone backstage and felt very responsible for monitoring all unruly behavior.

Way too much silliness and fun was had by all! One of the things we have always loved about Alyssa's First Stage experiences is how much they focus on teaching the kids life skills, through stage skills. That is in fact one of the mottos that is printed on their t-shirts. Alyssa loved and appreciated very much how each of the kids was treated just like a professional actor who was a vital part of the production. She is so excited to audition for future shows!

Not a Fan

What's a girl who is not a Packer fan to do on Green and Gold Packer Spirit Day at school?

Wear her cousin's school t-shirt, that just happens to be the right colors, of course!! Thank you, sweet Ki'inani for giving the girls such cute shirts!!

On one of the Fridays when the Packers were still in the playoffs, Emma and Rebekah had Packer Spirit Day at school.

Emma, who I never got a photo of wearing Ki'inani's shirt took the Spirit Day very seriously and somehow got the impression during the planning for the special day that she would be penalized for not owning and wearing a Packer shirt. Her teacher is as fair as fair can be, and would have never held it against her! It was just a funny discussion to have with her and find out that she knew exactly who the other non-Packer fans in her class are, and how they formed an allegiance. Funny 3rd graders...and our choice of green and gold shirts was a perfect fit! Rebekah didn't understand the whole conflict, she was just proud to wear something her cousin had given her!!

Butterflies and Bugs

We visited the museum with some friends the day right before school resumed from Christmas break. It was a fun trip, and we always see other areas of the museum too, but it seems we take the most pictures by the butterflies :-)




Concentration!



Sometimes the museum is just such hard work!!

Telling me all about the huge hissing beetles she was looking at.

Alyssa enjoying the bargain of 5 cent admission to the movie theater and Rebekah by the Pfister hotel in the Streets of Old Milwaukee, and blue butterfly Emma.


I had to make comment here for Dave about the bears enjoying their honey tree...on one of our very first trips to this museum when the girls were very tiny, without even thinking about what I was saying, I said something to them about "Oh look how the bears love the honey tree!" Even though the girls were so little at the time that they probably wouldn't remember my misinformation, it has become a family joke and now every time we see this scene we have to discuss that honey does not come from a tree and does in fact, require bees.

Sweet friends. I laughed looking at this picture, we of course had our three girls and our friends have five girls, and together they are quite the handful. It was a busy day of running through the museum trying to keep up with all eight of them! These four look so happy here, and I wasn't able to get a picture of everyone together all day, so this one definitely begs the question: where are the other four?!

Winter Fun

We had just enough snow to enjoy a little bit of winter last weekend. I don't love the cold weather, but the girls sure like a good snowfall every now and then, so we were happy to have the chance to head outdoors for some sledding.

Poor Emma kept picking the sunny side of the photos all weekend long...

Definitely one of the best parts of the day was seeing this team of sled dogs. They are really amazing and beautiful animals!!

Emma loved this dog named Bob!

I have always thought that being a sled dog would be really hard work for an animal, and I'm sure to some degree that is accurate. But, I could just see with these dogs how well cared for and loved they were, and when they began the demonstration the dogs were all calling out for a turn to run with the sled. They seemed to love the excitement of it all. And you'll probably think I'm crazy, but one of the dogs could bark "I love you." It sounded a bit Scooby-ish, but it was clear what he was barking.


The girls pretended to ice fish for a little while.

We thought it was neat how this fallen tree trunk was way taller than Rebekah. After stopping for a pic, the girls had a blast sledding down an icy hill. I was surprised because Rebekah really had to be talked into sledding last winter, and she didn't love it then, but she laughed all the way down the hill several times this day. Alyssa flew down the hill at top speed, just loving it, and she's usually my girl who can spend just a short amount time outside in the cold, then she's had enough and would prefer to move on to the hot cocoa part of the fun.

The little bit of snow that fell over the weekend has promptly melted as we had a few days this week that felt a lot more like Spring than the end of January. I'm not complaining, it's been very pleasant, I'm just worried that if winter doesn't actually hit us sometime soon, it will be lingering long into the months that we would love to see warm weather. I'm also worried that our flower bulbs won't have enough freezing cold rest this winter to bloom brightly later this spring.

How Rebekah feels about the melting snow.

My snow loving sweeties. Emma wanted me to add to this post that the girls watched the movie, Mr. Popper's Penguins over the weekend with their friends. All five girls laughed throughout the entire movie, and I've heard the book is even better. Emma is the only one of us who has read it, as her whole second grade class read it together last year. It would definitely be a fun winter read!