This is my favorite picture, but the sun was directly behind them which made the camera quite mad.

Here’s a better view of the dresses from top to bottom.

I’m happy to report that the girls absolutely love these dresses (they never seemed much interested in the other dresses I’ve made). It really was an easy dress to sew up, and I’d like to make more of them with different color schemes/patterns. We’ll see if I can find another group of cute fabrics and find the time.

Unfortunately, the girls woke up to cloudy skies and drizzly rain, but since the forecast showed no rain for the rest of the day I didn’t send them off in rain gear.

The bus stop is so much smaller compared to Annie’s first two years in school. Many of those kids are now middle schoolers, but at least Annie and Mimi’s two best neighbor friends are still there for them.

It seems so strange to me to have sent Mimi off on the bus today, but off she went. Just like preschool she showed no anxiety for the unknown or about not being at home with me anymore. Mimi was ready to take on the world.

Annie loved being the expert about elementary school and tried to tell Mimi all there is to know about how the school day will go. Poor Mimi did look a little overwhelmed with all the information being shot at her, but she didn’t let it scare her.

After school today there were still smiles on the girls’ faces, so that must mean all went well. However, it was reported to me that Mimi did cry after being officially separated from Annie (remember how I’ve said in the past that Mimi is obsessed not with her mother or father but with Annie), but she prevailed and seemed to get through the rest of her day happily. Annie returned home with a new object, a school planner. I think she feels so grown up with it.

It looks like it was a great day for the cul-de-sac girls.

And Violet couldn’t have been more thrilled to get Momma all to her self again.

In other news, you may notice a few red marks on Violet’s nose and upper lip. That would be my fault. While picking tomatoes with Mike the other night I unwisely thought Vi could hang out in one of the girls’ folding chairs. I mean, c’mon, it’s only 4 inches from the ground. Nope, Vi took a nose-dive into the stone patio floor and scraped up her lip and nose. Chalk this one up as realizing a 1-year-old is not coordinated enough to sit in a big kid chair yet.

The other tooth made it’s way to being so loose to the point of just hanging on by a thread, but Annie refused to let Daddy talk her into another torture experiment. I kept telling her it was going to come out any day on its own, but she wasn’t convinced. Then on our way to Legoland, Annie declared that her tooth was on backwards. I told her it would definitely be coming out any second. Annie proceeded to get herself into hysterics and insisting that it wouldn’t. Not more than a minute later Annie screamed, “My tooth came out! My tooth came out!” I think it was worth it to finally let Annie experience a tooth coming out all by itself this time.

Anyway, back to Legoland. We decided Wednesday was our last chance to make it happen, so we arrived at opening time and played up until lunch. The lunch offerings were not appetizing to Julie and I, so we opted for the Chipotle across the street. Good thing because it turns out Vi loves black beans and rice. The girls and I needed to head home after lunch to make it back in time for Mike to load up and drive off with Annie and Mimi. The Johnsons went back and stuck around until 3:15.

There were lots of photo ops, and Julie and I looked like 2 freaky moms who had to take a picture of every moment. There was just so much to see and do, and we didn’t want to miss a second of documentation.

Couldn’t resist this shot especially since Annie lost her 2nd front tooth on the way there. That tooth was so loose, and we kept telling a reluctant Annie that that tooth was coming out any day. During the car ride Annie declared that her tooth was backwards. I told her it would probably come out any minute. After many objections from Annie the tooth came out, and Annie couldn’t have been more thrilled. I almost forgot to post about Annie’s first front tooth loss. I’ll be sure to do that soon. BTW, Einstein was a little creepy in the background with his moving eyes.

This was a display of Chicago. It was very detailed and thorough with the Navy Pier, Sears Tower, Water Tower and so much more. The lighting would switch back and forth between night and day.

Like I said, multiple photo ops with so many life-size figurines.

This particular Legoland isn’t as large as the one in California (or so I’ve heard), but it did have a couple of rides that were age-appropriate for our kids. One ride was a medieval dragon adventure. Julie and I got suckered into purchasing a picture magnet of the kids on the ride. Luckily, they sold them in sets of 2, so that we could split the price in half.

The other ride was a flying bike ride? How else would you describe it.

Fortunately for Violet, they also had a toddler section with these foam legos. Violet loved it.

She wasn’t as excited about the duplos though and climbed out about as fast as she was dropped in.

The kids signed up for the workshop which had an instructor walk them through building a gecko. Sadly, the lizard was $5 and was not coming home with us.

Is it me or is Mimi looking way too grown up these days?

After a day full of fun it was time to head out. I’m glad we made the quick decision to make this field trip happen.

It was time to say good-bye, and the kids opted for a group hug. I don’t know what those hooligans are going to do without each other and their play dates each week.

I was waiting with Vi on a park bench because she wasn’t big enough to go into the free-flying bird zone, and it occurred to me that I could get a cute shot of her on the bench. Glad I tried it.

When the guests first arrived Annie and Mimi insisted on giving the birthday girl a princess treatment.

We made the kids all eat outside for dinner. They weren’t that thrilled because it was quite balmy that day.

Vi watched from afar and daydreamed about being big enough to sit at the kids’ table one day.

I couldn’t resist offering Violet some violet cupcakes. I figured I’d keep it girly with the pink and purple theme.

Vi got her own cupcake and was unsure about it at first until I rubbed a taste into her mouth. Once she figured out that she kind of liked it, then she began to explore. Violet got bored after a few minutes though and demanded that the cupcake be removed (or thrown) off her tray.

Vi was quite ecstatic to open and receive her presents. And played with them so nicely afterward.

Later on that night Violet and Seth played “give me that dang tiara back”, and Violet was the most excited I’ve ever seen her.

As another birthday present to herself Violet is working on weaning. She went to bed that night with only drinking a cup of milk and no demands for Mama’s milk. She’s now down to just a quick feeding in the morning when she wakes up. I’m hoping she’ll be done by the end of the week. Yay, Vi!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, VIOLET! You are so loved by your Daddy, Mommy, and 2 big sisters!!

When the Johnsons mentioned that they planned a camping trip with Mike up in Door County without my knowing I acted all surprised and as if I dreaded the camping experience. In reality though, I looked forward to the adventure. Someone had told me about Door County before, and I have wanted to go since then. It was decided that camping up there would be a money saver but also fun for the kids. We arrived Thursday night. The men immediately started a fire and set up camp while the ladies got dinner going. The next morning we got up and made doughnuts and then ventured our way over to our first stop at Cave Point Park. We were amazed at how crystal clear the water was there, and the rock walls and shore were stunning. We spent a good chunk of time just frolicking and exploring.

Next on our agenda was to visit the Cana Island Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1869 and boasts 96 steps up to the top. They restricted access to 42 inchers or taller, so we had to leave the babies behind which meant splitting our group up into 2. It was pretty spooky going up to the top and seeing how steep the steps were, but we made it up without any drama and got to experience such the beautiful view up at the tippy top. The Johnsons have a different story to tell with Julie and the kids scaling the walls and fearing for their lives. Wimps!

Violet decided she would stand up for a few nanoseconds.
”

The last part of our day was spent exploring the shops of Fish Creek and attending the traditional fish boil. Julie and I were skeptical about the fish boil, but it was actually quite delicious and provided an entertaining show.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwwq63rNN-U

Of course, we couldn’t leave without getting the kids a wearable souvenir and even more fun to match your best friends.

We had to head out a little earlier than originally planned because of the funeral, but we did manage to squeeze in some fun in the morning. The Johnsons were able to spend the rest of the day in Door County exploring some other sites and also made it for tailgating in Green Bay for the Packers’ Game.

I’m so glad we did this before we move away next year. It would even be fun to make this a yearly or every-other-yearly thing to do.

Tomorrow come back to meet Russell.

I thought it would be fun for the girls to each have their own fancy, dinner plates, so I “forced” them to paint a plate. Annie was really drawn to the fairy, princess, and animal figurines, but I vetoed all those **hideous** ideas and stuck to my guns to have the girls paint those durn plates. Mimi could have cared less what I gave her to paint, so no arguments with her (yet).

After many re-do’s (thank heavens that you can wipe those plates off to a clean slate which we did numerous times) the girls finally decided what designs they wanted on their plates. Annie wanted to do something French/Paris-themed, so we came up with the poodle idea for her plate. Mimi agonized over what she wanted, and after I suggested the princess crown idea a dozen or more times Mimi finally gave in to that concept. All in all, I think the plates turned out darling and will be even cuter once the bright colors show through. It was a very chaotic afternoon with a squirmy baby and toddler, but the kids still had a lot of fun and will certainly be pleased once they get their projects back.

The artistes.

The artwork. Julie and I ended up having to commandeer Alex and Mimi’s plates because they both kind of gave up and the work involved was a little too intricate for their chubby fingers.

Chloe did surprisingly well considering she was made to sit in her stroller much of the time. She got to paint two magnets, an ice-cream cone and a puppy dog.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and yes, I gave Violet her own lollipop. Poor Violet had nothing to do other than be patient for 2 hours. When she’s old enough I’ll take her to make a project.

Good times!

E.T.A.: The girls insisted on wearing their crocheted hats after they dug them up from the basement. And they also kept saying they wanted to be twins today.