Little Fishy

So it's official. We have three little swimmers. Hattie swam in her first meet this weekend. It was just a little dual meet here in Decatur, but she was excited to get in the pool and show us what she can do. It was pretty cute because when she finished she got out and said she thinks every one in her race tied because they all got out of the pool at the same time. So funny!

The big girls did great. They dropped a lot of time in some races and you can tell that summer swim and some more individualized time with the coaches is paying off. Excited to see what the next season has in store for us. 

Orff the Record

This week Hattie had her chance to attend a Music Camp at Millikin. The name of her program was Orff the Record, named for Carl Orff and his method of music. Orff instruments include anythingn with removable bars and using a mallet...think xylophone. She really enjoyed it. They used boom whackers and drums too.

At the informance...an informational performance, they got to show us what they worked on all week. They read/sang a story called "Follow the Drinking Gourd" about the underground railroad and how they followed the constellation the Big Dipper. They did a train making different sounds and every kid got to perform their own piece on their instrument of choice. Hattie was fond of the gong/cymbal. She's already asking to go to camp again next year. 

Hattie is 6!!!

This girl has had quite the birthday week. A party with her friends. A dinner at Gigi's. And today on her birthday she got a donut for breakfast and our traditional ice cream cone for lunch. We've had so much fun celebrating our sweet girl. When Gigi asked her what she wanted for dinner she asked for Spaghetti, mashed potatoes, chips, garlic bread, a fruit salad, a regular salad and a vegetable table (veggie tray). She cracks me up. When I told her she couldn't have all that she said "yes, I can. It's my birthday!" And gigi agreed. Thankfully she changed her mind and went with cheeseburgers and mashed potatoes and she wanted a red velvet cake. What Hattie wants, Hattie gets. So thankful she is ours!

Father's Day 2018

Happy Father's Day to a few of our favorite dads...Mitch, Papa and Grandpa Dave!

There are so many things we could say about Mitch. Most of all I love the way he loves all his girls. He is a wonderful provider and does it with a smile. He always encourages us to go after our dreams and is always up for an adventure.

Papa is something else. We appreciate all that he does for his family. Always cheering from the sidelines and always up for a good time. He makes us laugh with the silly songs he makes up on his guitar and we really love that he's always down for a game of Pie Face!

Grandpa Dave does the outdoors right. These girls love to go fishing with him and that he will always take them out to Rylee's farm. Not to mention he makes the absolute Best Chocolate Chip cookies EVER!

We spent this Father's Day in Charleston celebrating birthdays and dads at Gigi's house. We were thrilled to gift Mitch a new bike so he can get back to cycling and the girls wasted no time asking dad to go for a ride. We are blessed!

Hattie's Arty Party

Somehow, despite my insistence, time has not slowed down and in just a few days my little Hattiecakes is going to be 6. Today we celebrated with her first official Friends Party at the Decatur Arts Council. We went with a super hero theme and I think everyone had a great time. They spent the first hour with an instructor and for the second hour they got some time for free play/art, we had delicious cupcakes made by our babysitter, Emma...and of course she opened her gifts. The instructor commented what a nice, respectful group of kids they were. It made me feel good that my kids are good at finding nice friends. Everyone ended the party picking a mask and a few superhero bracelets and we snapped a few pics in front of the city scape. Bring on 6!

Music Alive

Leah participated in Music Alive at Millikin this week. She came out of day one and said “this is AWESOME!” They learned all about music technology. They learned about different apps and programs they could use to do things with music on their computers and iPads. She created a few of her own tracks. The spy song and hip-hop were awesome as well as a video and storytelling.

Summer Sing: Music in the Movies

We decided to try something different this summer. All three of the girls signed up for music camp at Millikin. And of course they all picked a different camp. Kiersten was up first with Summer Sing! The theme was music from the movies.They even had themed dress up days! I totally forgot to get a picture of her the first day. She was Wonder Woman...her favorite super hero. On Wednesday she asked me to braid her hair, and she went as Anna from Frozen. On Thursday we went all out!!! We had just finished watching My Fair Lady, so she went as Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's! 

On the last day of camp they had a concert. They sang You’ve got a friend in me, Be our guest, Step in Time, Spoonful of Sugar, Happy and Hair up! They learned a lot in one week. She celebrated with Nachos from Donnie’s!

Pure Michigan

So I did a thing this weekend. A few weeks back I told Mitch that I wanted to get my tabata certification and I'm so lucky that I have a husband that supports me and my goals. He didn't miss a beat. I signed up, he found the hotel and we went. We went, even though we'd had a crazy week of dance. The recital ended around 4 pm and we were on the road to Michigan by 5pm. It was after 10 when we checked into the hotel. But no one seemed to mind.

That morning we got up and had breakfast. They dropped me off and went out to do some exploring of their own. They started the day at North Ottawa Dunes where they got in some hiking. They had lunch at a wonderful sandwhich shop (or so I'm told) and then they hit up Grand Haven State Park so they could check out Lake Michigan. The girls said the water was COLD! They loved the light house and were thrilled to knock another state off of their travel list. When I finished up around 4PM they were waiting for me in the parking lot and we made the trip back home. I'm a lucky girl.