Spring Break

It has been a little while since I have posted. It seems like we have been busy, but I can't really tell you what we have been doing.
Our Spring Break trip was great! We did a little Midwest touring. First, we started in Chicago where Landon and Laurel and I went shopping for my birthday while Kyle was in meetings. We went to the Lego store for Landon, and there happened to be a Hello Kitty store next door for Laurel. The next day we went to Medieval Times on Sunday night. For those of you who don't know...This is a castle that is a dinner and show theatre. There were Knights on horses fighting, and we got to eat dinner with our hands!
Next on the tour was the Jelly Belly factory just south of Milwaukee, WI. This was a short, sweet stop on the tour. Our next stop was Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI. Landon was really excited. He has become a huge Green Bay fan! The history of this team is very interesting. The city still owns the team! That night we we stayed at a hotel with an indoor waterpark in Green Bay. Mom and Dad enjoyed the down time as much as the kids!
The next day we headed to Bloomington, MN. This is where the Mall of America is located. That night, we somehow got free tickets to the Minnesota Timberwolves Basketball game. And we had so much fun. Landon was ecstatic. And Laurel was excited to meet the dancers. (We weren't really sure who to root for since they were playing Memphis, but we ultimately decided to go for Minneapolis, and they won in the last 2 minutes!)
The last two days of the trip we hit the Mall of America! And we needed 2 days to do it all. It is huge! It took us that long to ride the all the rides and to just walk the entire mall. (This is not a good place to go for a serious shopper...it is just too big!)
After the MOA, we headed to Cedar Falls to Lance and Jen's for Easter. Big Pop and Meme came up too. After a visit to see the Easter Bunny on Saturday evening, we woke on Easter morning to...SNOW, what else! We had a really good weekend and visit with the Family. We were not ready to head back to work on Monday.

Here are some pictures of the trip and Easter morning.

Spring Break and Easter

Birthday and Anniversary!

I am not trying to advertise my birthday, but on Saturday, there will be two occasions to reflect on. The first will be my 32nd Birthday. For some reason, I am not particularly excited about this event, but it is inevitable! Laurel wanted to make sure that I invited her to my party (like I would have left her out!) She also gave me some ideas for a "theme" such as Barbie and Princess. I was also told that Chuck-E-Cheese would be a good location! Instead of Chuck-E-Cheese we are going to Chicago for a seminar that Kyle has for work. He will be working all day so I have decided that I am going to take my parent's approach for their birthdays as adults (they would take my brothers and I shopping, and instead of us buying gifts for them for their birthday, we would get to pick out something for ourselves!) We loved it as kids! So I am going to do just that for Landon and Laurel. I will have to tell them to thank Nonna and Pop for the idea!

Saturday also marks another occasion that should be mentioned....March 15th, 2006 (my 30th Birthday!), we packed up our home in MS and headed for Iowa! We have been Midwesterners now for 2 full years. Sometimes it seems like an eternity ago, and other times it feels like our time here has flown! It seems very strange to me that my children have started their school days somewhere other than MS and that they are accustomed to seeing snow on the ground pretty much all winter! Anyway, Iowa is now part of our history as a family, and the new experiences and people we have met have made it much easier to cope with the change!

Kindergarten Roundup!

Okay, so yes, Laurel will be in kindergarten next year! She had been so excited about going to roundup all week! For those of you who are not from Iowa, and have no clue what Kindergarten Roundup is, I will explain. Every year in March, each school holds a "round-up" for children who will be entering Kindergarten the next year. They get to go to a kindergarten classroom at the school and meet the teachers. They also get to take a ride on the school bus! (That was Laurel's favorite part!) Then they come back and have a snack. While the kids are enjoying the fun activities, the parents get to hear that their little baby is part of the "Class of 2021!" Yes, I said 2021! My heart sunk! I have never felt so old in my life! I want so bad for them to be 3yrs old and 2yrs old again!

Although I was hyperventilating, she had such a good time, and is very excited that she will be at school with Landon. There were also a couple of other children there that she already knew, our neighbor being one of them. She is ready to go! I am just not so sure I am ready for her to go.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Kyle's Birthday! We won't be telling how old he is since I will be there next month! He told me to enjoy my month of being younger than he is. We started with breakfast and gifts then he wanted his Cake. If most of you don't already know, Kyle is partial to desserts in the morning. So he, Laurel, and Landon ate some of his ice cream cake from ColdStone. (I just couldn't bring myself to eat it; althouh Laurel did decide that she would let me have a bite of hers.) Then Laurel said we needed music for Daddy's Birthday party so she went and turned on Hannah Montana for him!!
Thanks for all of the cards and calls from home!