Maple Month

Happy St Patrick's Day!

 Lydia caught a leprechaun at school with her pit trap, 

and we toasted with an Irish meal at home, "Slainte!" 

Abigail exhibiting some Irish flair! ;)

 March also stands for maple tapping time!

 This nice lady guided us in a nature walk and taught us a song about the Maple trees.

We caught the last day of tapping at Hawthorne Hallow. (boo-no more sap, but yay-that's because temps won't fall below freezing any more!)

More magic happens here in the sugar shack. 34 gallons of sap boils down to 1 gallon of syrup.

We left with puddle-splashed boots and 2 bottles of real maple syrup; 1 rich dark amber for pancakes and 1 creamy light golden for topping ice cream, delish!

SPY-TACULAR FUN

Lydia had an operation: birthday party at the Safe House in Milwaukee. Ben and I have been wanting to go there sometime, so here was our chance to access! Without the secret password, we proved we were friendly spies by jumping like Mexican jumping beans. The whole restaurant/bar is Safe House/Spy themed and really interesting! The birthday party had two covert missions to complete. There was also a StealthySelfie booth right next to the party table, and the kids were all over it! 

Agent Lydia & Agent Abby

(the provided mustaches were not as popular)

Ben and I went undercover (not so undercover) in Dubai!

 The most memorable part was probably leaving through the escape route.

After the party, me made it our mission to find the Bronze Fonz on the Riverfront. (and we found out that one of Lydia's friend's great uncle made it!!)

...and Gertie the duck and her ducklings.

Mission: Complete

SNOW BALL FIGHT!

We're knee-deep in snow

 and loving it!

The snow was clumpy, but wouldn't hold for a snowman. 

Still, it was good for making snow angels and...

 having Snow Ball Fights! (started by audacious Lydia, can you believe that?)

Uh oh, here comes a Big One!

 

Gotcha in the leg!

Hit-and-Run! See ya!

Great Wolf Lodge

With no snow days this year, the girls got a vacation day this Friday. We took off after lunch on Thursday for a 2-day, 1-night stay at Great Wolf Lodge Resort. It really is a resort in that it caters only to lodgers (no day-passes to the water park) and is full of activities perfect for young families. We arrived at the start of Spring-a-Palooza! (spring-colored wolf ears, fresh spring decorations, I Spy and Spring Sprint scavenger hunts, and Spring Picnics in addition to the yoga, crafts, clock tower shows, story time, Wolf Walks, Jammie Jamborees, Hustle and Howls--the Ambassadors of Fun were busy!)

BINGO

Hopscotch in lobby

More space and money saved when you stay on Thursday vs. Friday ;)

Photo Ops:

unintentional Twinning

 The girls were super comfortable in this area by themselves.

But the most fun was us all going down the raceway together (4 slides next to each other, head-first on rugs), thanks to Abigail reaching the 42'' mark!

Spent a lot of time in the wave pool.

Next time, we could stay longer and get the Paw Pass, or check out Kalahari! We love the Dells!

 Two goofballs in the water!

Gymnastics Party with Friends

Gymnastics Party!!!

Abigail was a little shy about greeting her friends, but you could tell she really enjoyed having them all there for her!

They jumped. (Abigail's favorite,...just straight jumping :)

They climbed and dropped into a pit.

Parachute games... my favorite...while in the tent, we all screamed "Happy Birthday" and the parachute magically flew away!

They tired themselves out going through the obstacle course 8 times!

(Even Ben and I couldn't resist the chance do it and swim through the foam pit once.)

Lydia's favorite: bucket rides!

Giant cookie and ice cream and presents with: Ainslee, Autumn, Coleton, Logan, Marissa, Ayla (Abby just went to her party-Abby's 1st drop-off-and had a blast), Lydia.

What a fun way to have a party! Easy going for the parents!

Family Party

On Saturday we had family over to celebrate Abigail's birthday!

Will and Aubrey came and had fun with balls and balloons.

We did 5 parachute games with a big sheet downstairs, ending with a birthday girl hammock :)

Grandpa Pulley was our mad scientist and did some cool experiments. The birthday girls is helping with the lava lamp!

Then there was slime and a dry ice bubble...

Look at those reactions! This was the fan favorite!!

Outside, he even did a Coke & Mentos explosion!

Aubrey at 7 months is sitting up and eating sweet potatoes-so adorable!

And this here is so Abby!

Little ones eyeing those m&m's.

Can you see me over my BIG chocolate cake?

Abigail is 5!

Time to Celebrate! Abigail is 5!!!!!

I love to see the confidence she's gained this year at school. She's a hard worker and loves to read. I love to see her assemble her outfits from headbands to shoes. 

She can keep calm; "Tickle me. I won't laugh." But her giggle is stinkin' cute!

She's also at an age when she will say or do at least 3 hilarious things a day! Are you kidding me?!

She could have had a Paczki with her birthday falling on Fat Tuesday, but she'd rather have a plain pink-frosted donut from Dunkin Donuts

 I love to see her take care of her troop of babies, what she does with nearly all of her waking hours! She still sees Mickeys wherever there are three circles. She still enjoys lullabies and being rocked at night.

We love our Big 5 Year Old!

Meeting at McD's for lunch with the birthday girl!