She's With the Band

Monday night we went to a kids folk concert at the library by Fox & Branch, and check out who was chosen to play the washboard for one of the songs (must have been the missing front teeth!) It was the coolest washboard with a bell, a pot and other percussion sounds, and Brenin was totally feeling the bluegrass vibe. The music was great, and we all had a blast. On the way home, Brenin said her dream had come true...she was in a band.

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p.s. I forgot my camera Monday night (gasp!), so I stole this picture from the library blog. CLICK ON THE PICTURE to see it enlarged...you have to check out the expression on my girl's face - she's into it!

One of the Many Reasons I Love Brenin...

If you're looking for Brenin, you usually first have to find a book because her nose is almost always in one. Here's how I found her in bed last night, and I have to say I loved it.

What's she reading? "Not One Damsel In Distress," a book recommended to me by a friend (hi Kristen W.!) when our babies were, well, babies. In each of the fairy tales, it is the GIRL who is the strong and courageous HERO who saves the day!

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Luca on the other hand has been having trouble calming herself for bedtime, so my sister recommended a nightly "Goodnight Moon" read. I'm telling you, the book casts a spell on my little fusser and sends her to instant yawning. There's just something to the rhythm of the book that almost requires you to rock while you read, and the last word of each sentence seems to end in a soft "shhhh." It's magical and definitely doing the trick!

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Sweet dreams, my angels...

Weekend Catch-Up

Danny took a kamikaze trip to Arkansas this weekend to move his dad from Arkansas to Illinois, so the girls and I were on our own. I didn't take a ton of pictures because I was busy, well, surviving (hehe), but here are a few...

Perpetual motion...love those little piggies!

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And a face I once dreamed of...
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On Thursday nights, concerts are held in the town square, and we walk down to as many as we can manage. There's just something about the sun setting, a warm breeze, kids dancing around..."Life in a Northern Town" plays through my head and all is well.
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This picture is so summer...all about the bare toes!

(Her father will probably have a heart attack when he sees these dirty toes and give me yet another warning about catching "chiggers." We've been having a 16 year discussion that chiggers are only in the south...please no one tell me if I'm wrong (which I know I'm not.) :-)

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Notice the exhaustion on her sweat glistened,

under-napped face...drunk on summer.

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Picnic at Devils' Lake before cooling off in the water.
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Bliss!

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We're preparing the house for company coming in from Texas next week, so it's a good excuse to get some much-needed "freshening up" done. Also in the works...a Dora the Explorer birthday party for Miss Luca (her first celebrated birthday EVER July 7!) The girl loves her some Dora, and since I can go to Party City and pick up ALL my party preparations in one aisle, I'm kinda lovin' me some Dora too!

Dancy Pants

I told the girls they could go outside and spray each other with the hose while I finished my work inside. Luca decided to put on a little show for me outside my window by doing a little dance. As I watched her move, I was reminded once again of her roots as she pulled out some moves reminiscent of those we saw in a traditional dance while in Ethiopia.

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Sometimes I look at Luca and just have to smile because I think how awesome it is that we have TWO beautiful cultures to celebrate, and I just love it when I see Africa in her.

Here are the traditional dancers we saw in Ethiopia.

Sorry it's a little blurry...it's a still shot from a video.

Summer Fun

We started our day with some good old fashioned strawberry

picking. We've been snacking on the fruits of our labor ever since!

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Boy, do I love these girls!

After the berry picking, we stopped at a gas station for a cold treat (it was SOOO hot out). Luca generally picks the "fruity" flavored treats, so I wasn't surprised when she picked the orange Push-Up. As we were pulling away, I glanced back at her, and the expression of sheer joy on her face reminded me that this little 4 year old girl has NEVER experienced a Push-Up or anything resembling it before! Luckily I had my camera handy to snap a picture of her enjoying the moment (no, she's not blinking...eyes were closed in complete and utter satisfaction!)

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Then we headed to the waterpark to cool off some more.
(I guess we Wisconsin-ites just can't handle our heat!
Luca even told me at the park yesterday, "I like to be cold, not hot."
You moved to the right place, sweetheart!)
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All in all, it was a FABULOUS summer day with my girls!

Barnyard to Big City - Weekend Pictures

With Danny's birthday, our anniversary and the end of the school year all occuring this last week, we had lots to celebrate, so we had a busy weekend.

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The girls and I started the festivities by spending the day at a waterpark on Friday, and then our friends Rachel & Eric came over in the evening to play.

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Saturday morning we went to the annual dairy breakfast, a celebration of everything dairy...breakfast in the barn, animals to pet, ice cream in the morning...what more could you ask for?

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From the dairy breakfast, we headed for Chicago. I'm posting pictures in multiple posts because Blogger will only let me post 5 at a time and I haven't quite figured out how to post from Flickr yet (bear with me!)

This is where we started our day on Saturday.

By nightfall, we were enjoying the city life!

Luca

Brenin


Cute blonde babies I want to kiss.


Do you smell something?

We met our friends, Jim & Nyad, for a service at their quaint little church (Willow Creek) and then for dinner at Rainforest Cafe! It was so fun to catch up with them and experience such a fun restaurant with the girls. Nyad & Jim surprised Danny with HUGE desserts with sparklers on them for his birthday. We were kind enough to help him finish them.

Brenin and "Dory."

Amazons.

More amazons.

Zoo Carousel

We had perfect weather for our trip to the zoo.

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The butterfly exhibit was a highlight for all of us.

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This year's main attraction is life-size robotic dinosaurs which were so fun to see...can you imagine running into this guy while walking through the woods?

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Brenin & Luca at the zoo.

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Monkeys at the zoo.

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(Okay, the captions for the last 2 photos are reversed.........or are they?)

M-E-O-W

The girls are at Grandma & O'Poopa's house for the day.

I just received an email from there that read

"While the cat's away, the mice will play"

along with pictures / evidence.

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This one was included and too cute not to post.

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(Yep, that's eyeshadow AND lipstick on this blonde bombshell!)

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I'm just not sure if she's comfortable

in their care...what do you think?

Guess what I was doing

12 years ago today????

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(Happy anniversary, my handsome prince!)

Happy Birthday, Handsome!

p.s. He didn't want anyone to know, so I'm just

telling a few people on the Internet...hehe.

Eggs and Airplanes

We went to the Fly-In/Drive-In breakfast today in Reedsburg and showed what die-hard Reedsburgers we are (it was FREEZING and a little bit drizzly, but it is a tradition which can NOT be broken!) Poor Luca and her Ethiopian blood was literally shaking from the cold, but she toughed it out and ate her breakfast in the airplane hanger. We all got so chilled, we came home, put our jammies on and snuggled on the couch with a fire, hot chocolate and some Kung Fu Panda!

Brenin, Tucker & Luca

Oh my goodness...is she cute or what?!?

FYI: The hot chocolate was PINK!!! (yes, pink!!!)

Friday Night Movie Night

We spent last evening with our friends, Shannon & Jake. They treated us to a wonderful dinner and campfire with s'mores (and pina coladas!), and as a really special treat set up their projector they use for teaching first aid classes for an outdoor movie! We all had an absolute wonderful time!

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Max had on extra special "gear" in case the dreaded Junebug

appeared out of the night...jammies, red mittens, a doo-rag,

sunglasses and of course a bug net! Too cute!