The girls with me and my mom on Mother's Day.
Sweet Alyssa.
Emma was not super excited to have pictures taken this morning, even though she looked so cutey in her Neopolitan dress.
Bekah on the other hand couldn't take enough pictures today!
By the daffodils on a chilly morning.
Emma and her little pony.
A second pic with my happy little Kamele.
With all three of my princesses. What a nice Mother's Day!
Last Friday, on my Dad's birthday, we went to a Brewers/Cubs game at Miller Park. Here, American Idol Star, Danny Gokey throws out the first pitch of the game.
Friday was declared "Danny Gokey Day" in Milwaukee. He's from Milwaukee and he's currently my parent's favorite on American Idol, so it was really cool that they could be up here to see him sing the National Anthem and throw out the first pitch.
Danny Gokey on the big screen, singing the National Anthem. The Brewers ended up winning the game, and while we are trying to embrace being Brewer fans (there is absolutely NO OTHER Wisconsin sports team we could ever cheer for) it wasn't so exciting to see them beat the Cubbies.
Prince Fielder up to bat. He has such a nice baseball player name, his parents must have planned that one out carefully.
The Famous Racing Sausages. Klement's Hot Dog won this day, I was pulling for the Chorizo.
At our school, the Kindergarten students complete all their work in class so there is no need for homework, but Emma's teacher started giving out weekly homework assignments right after Spring Break, as a way to prepare the children for a greater and more challenging work load in 1st grade. This is actually one of the week 3 assignements, I completely forgot to take pics of her doing her 1st ever homework. What made me think of it, was that she was sitting at the table doing her work with a GIANT pencil, and she looked so funny, I wanted to document it. I missed that pic, of course, but got a photo of the final product.
Alyssa with a daffodil in her hair.
Pinky Pie Emma. She loved the little pink flowers!
Kamele enjoying the slide.
She kept getting sand in her shoes at the park, and she did not like the feeling at all!
Rebekah stopped playing every few minutes to dump the sand out of her shoes, saying, "This bothers me!" Here she's wiping the sand off the foot of her tights. There was a grandmother there watching her granddaughter play and she thought Bekah was hilarious.
Earlier this week, we had Meatball Monday which was inspired by the Disney Channel show, Sonny With a Chance. If you haven't seen it, the main character is a girl named Sonny who's from Wisconsin, she dreams of being a "star," and finally she gets her big break when she's offered a part on an under-rated, under-appreciated kid comedy show. When we watch the show, Dave always lovingly teases Alyssa, "So what's her chance? I don't get it?" Alyssa LOVES the show and it's main character, Demi Lovato. After seeing the show for the first time she said, "See...I KNEW I could be a STAR!" 
Alyssa was so excited about the special meal, she couldn't stop hugging me and screaming. When she walked in and saw the table set, with the sign on it, she was in shock, and of course HAPPY. She ran out to the backyard where all the neighbor children were playing and told them repeatedly, "We are having Meatball Monday!" They were like, "Oh, Great?!?" The show obviously doesn't mean as much to them as it does her :)
Emma pleased about Meatball Monday, although not as enthusiastic as her sister, she doesn't eat meatballs. I made her a little mini cheese pizza on french bread, in place of the meatball sub.
Sweetie smiles from the baby, who tried, but spit out the meatball.
Big bite! YUM! She said it was the best meal ever! She also politely requested that every Monday should be Meatball Monday, and every Saturday can be Sausage Saturday. After a little more thought she decided each day of the week needs to have a corresponding meal. "Wow, Thursday's gonna be a tough one," she told me.
I think we have finally stumbled upon beautiful Spring weather that isn't going away! Last weekend was perfect, all the kids in the neighborhood were playing between all the backyards, having lots of fun. Dave and I cleaned out the garage, because that's a lot of fun too :)
I took a few cleaning breaks to take pictures of the kids, and the flowers that can now finally bloom in the yard. They bloomed just in time to be cut for Teacher Appreciation Week, this one was for Frau Braun.
Emma and Jaydon being silly.
Rebekah and Jaydon's little sister Skylar. It's perfect because all the little ones have a playmate that is pretty close to their age. It appears that Bekah and Skylar brought out every Pony we own to play with on the patio.
Pretty yellow tulip that we cut for Frau Strahan.
On our way to Charlotte, North Carolina for Jones' wedding, we drove all day, and arrived in Gatlinburg, Tennessee just in time for their annual Rib and Wing Fest. The food was great, prepared and served by many local restaurants and the police and fire departments. We walked from booth to booth through the downtown area and they just kept piling food on our plates. Gatlinburg is a touristy town right near the entrance to the Smoky Mountain National Park. I visited several times with my family when I was growing up. Much of the town is still the same as when I was a kid. It is maybe a little bit more commercial, but I immediately recognized many places that brought back great memories as we drove into the area.
Gatlinburg's observation tower is lit in blue behind me. I remember going up there, along with the Sky Lift up the mountain as being highlights of the trip when I was younger.
There was live entertainment with the Rib and Wing Fest, and this group called The Tams was excellent! The older man who is second from the right in this photo was 82 years old and the father of one of the other band members. They were very entertaining dancing around the stage as they sang many classic hits from the 60's (I think). One of the younger guys who sang lead for many of their songs had a great voice, overall we were pretty surprised at how much fun their show was. 
This picture was taken right outside the entrance to our hotel, and it's for Alyssa because every time we called her she greeted us with a "Howdy Y'all!!"
Dave's friend, Brian got married in North Carolina in April, and his wedding was a great excuse to drive through some scenic areas of Tennessee and North Carolina that Dave had never visited before. We drove all these crazy winding roads through the Smoky Mountain National Park. There were a lot of very beautiful views.
The mountains have a really pretty blue mist/fog, that hovers there almost all the time. It looks very majestic, almost too perfect, like someone painted it.
We visited the farmstead at Smoky Mountain National Park, and I thought this picture looked very peaceful.
Dave at the State Line between Tennessee and North Carolina.
The USNWC, in Charlotte, North Carolina is the Olympic Training Center for Whitewater rafting and kayaking, but they offer day passes for all their cool rafting, climbing, and zipline activities. We spent the day of Jones' wedding here, and started the morning with their "Climb to Zip." If you're up for a challenge and a good scare, this is the place to go! The surroundings are beautiful there, very scenic.
Mike ready to climb.
It was a pretty challenging climb, there are a few spots on the pole that don't seem to have grips or foot holds where you would expect them.
The scariest part of the climb to zip for me, was sitting on the edge of the platform and having the guide tell us that it is possible to hit your head on the platform if you don't pitch forward far enough. The best part of this picture though is Mike's expression.
Mike on the platform, right before his turn. Mike took the best zipline pictures out of all of us, that's why he appears here so many times.
Go Hawks!!
I think Dave surprised Mike and Andy with how quickly he flew up the climbing pole. They kept telling Dave he looked like a panda bear climbing up the tree after a coconut.
Little did Mike and Andy know that they were describing a scene from one of our girls' most beloved Hawaiian children's book, in which ALOHA BEAR goes in search of his lost Guava Jelly Sandwich.
Dave and I climbing together.
Dave and I having a mini-celebration as we share the zip line platform.
In mid-air.
Happy to be back on the ground.
This was definately the more relaxing of the two ziplines. For the Mega Zip, you just step off the platform and enjoy the view as you zip across the entire park.
We were told to put our arms out like this because there was very little wind this day. Having your arms out, would eventually slow your speed a bit, allowing the breaking system to catch you at the end of your zip. 
I think Mike and I are somewhere above the rapids in this picture. At one point I tucked up my legs because I felt like I might kick someone in a raft below me, I don't think we were ever even nearly that close, it just seemed that way. It was a lot of fun.
Brian and the ring bearer, his nephew.
Brian and Renee getting married.
Mike, Dave, Brian, Andy.
The guys were all speculating as to who would be going into the pool behind us before the night was over. All I could think of was all the swimming that had already taken place earlier in the day :)