Dance extravaganza!

Two weekends ago was the girls' dance recital! They both love dance so much and did wonderfully in their recitals! The videos are from their dress rehearsals...they did much better in the real thing! We were so lucky to have Uncle John and Grandma here to visit that weekend!

Cara is in the middle!

Diana's ballet...she is in the the middle!

Diana's jazz...she is off to the right for most of the performance!

We are going all in on dance next year...Diana is participating in her studio's production of the Nutcracker as well as taking her regular ballet class (she is going to be a mouse and an angel) and she will be a part of their youngest jazz competition team, for which she had to audition!  Cara will continue to take a tap/ballet combo class!  Can't wait to see how much they progress next year!

She made it!

After many attempts, the big one finally made it to the top of the rock wall!  We are so proud of our big little monkey!

No fear...to a point

One of D's new favorite activities is going to the gym on base and climbing the 2 story rock wall.  She asked on Wednesday this week if we could go this weekend.  As you can see, she loves to climb and isn't afraid of being high off the ground...to a point.  Despite getting through the trickiest part of this path (the big gap that forces her to shift to the left side of the wall), she always seems to let go at the same point.  I think after she's finished focusing on the tricky part, she has time to think about how high off the ground she is and decides to just enjoy the ride back down instead of continuing to climb.

There's an app for that!

I discovered an app for Blogger...so now I can post while sitting in the carpool line! Some catch-up pics from my phone...

Ok it's kind of a pain...but here are some pics from our summer vacation! I'll work on more...

First two in...

...first two out!  Diana lost her first tooth at school on Tuesday and followed it up with loosing another one tonight while brushing her teeth!  I can't decide when I was more sad...seeing the gummy smile destroyed when she got teeth, or now, having a baby big enough to lose her teeth!  

Happy Mother's Day to me!

After brunch at the club...I have a similar picture from 4 years ago...the girls are just a bit bigger...sadly, so am I!  :)

Diana presented me with a coupon book that she made in school.  I think the one that made us crack up was the one for "11 days of going to the movies."  Of course, I have to take her with!  

Girlies

Daddy took them to a pottery painting store where they painted a tile that fits in a metal trivet!  They each painted one of the sunflowers, and in the corners are fingerprint hearts!  I am very impressed with their artwork (and with their Daddy thinking so far in advance!)  :)

Cara's Birthday, Part 2

I've had these pictures loaded forever, just haven't written the captions...sorry!

Our birthday girl with her special '4' pancake breakfast

Wearing her birthday shirt again, opening presents with sister

Clothes from Nana and Papa

A book (that she can already read much of...)

An Anna dress and doll from Mommy and Daddy

A swimsuit that Sissy picked out!

Sissy's other big gift...a Brave bow and arrow set!

Practicing with Daddio

Diana with (their new favorite movie) Mary Poppins from Grandma B

Cara's favorite!  Daniel Tiger!

One big surprise from Mommy and Daddy...a big girl bike!

The first time around the neighborhood and she was already a pro!

Ready for cake!

Yum!

Got them all!

Happy Birthday to me!

With her hat from Firehouse Subs (her choice of restaurant for her birthday dinner!)

We can't believe we already have a 4 year old girl!  Where did my baby go?



Take me out to the ballgame!

What's this?  Is that Diana playing a sport again?  Wait a second.  Is she wearing a hat?  And what's that on her hand?  Is that a glove?  Hang on...soccer players don't wear hats and gloves and they tend to play on fields with a lot more grass.  What's going on here?  

Is it possible that our little girl has seen the light?  Is it possible that she has finally succumbed to her dad's overwhelming propaganda?  Has she finally found her inner "American" and agreed to take on America's pastime?

That's right, sports fans!!  The boys (and girls) of summer have finally arrived!!  Ah...baseball.  The editor must have cut the wonderful moment where dad wiped a small tear from his eye as his eldest took the field for the first time...Hello Kitty glove and all.

It only got better... 

Who rears back that much in tee ball?...Someone whose first hit doesn't just dribble 3 feet in front of the plate.  

Look at that blazing speed down the line.  Pay attention Robinson Cano.  This is how you should run to first...like you're 6...every time.  

Of course, make sure you don't lose your helmet.  

Gotta look good when you cross the plate for the first time.

Alright, enough batting.  Playing defense is where it's at.  Check out the first Red Wings out of the year presented by the one and only Diana Benninghoff. (You may want to mute or turn down your computer volume.  There's a lot of background support from excited fans.)

One more swing for good measure.

A picture Daddy will treasure forever...



Go Cubbies!!

Happy Birthday Cara!

This year, we had a Dora-themed party for Cara, where we put together an adventure for the kids to go on, culminating in snacks and cake.

 

Here is Diana and Cara prepping to make Explorer Star Jello jigglers.

 

 

We discovered that if you spray the silicone mold, the jigglers pop out much more easily...

 

Our birthday girl with her Cara-sized Dora balloon

 

After all the kiddos arrived, we discovered that Swiper had stolen the birthday cake and we needed to go on an adventure to find it!  Who do you ask for help when you don't know which way to go? The Map!  The kids all got a map and a backpack to help them with their adventure.  First, we had to go to the Troll Bridge.

 

Look!  It's the Grumpy Old Troll!

 

He gave us a riddle to solve: "To cross my bridge, you won't need your magic capes.  All you need to find are the missing ______"

 

"Shapes!" 

 Each kid had a shape cut-out in their backpack that they had to match up with the masking tape outline on the stairs.

 

Bye bye Grumpy Troll!  Cara was afraid of the Grumpy Troll until I whispered to her that it was just Daddy!  :)

 

Trent placing his shape

 

The next stop was the fishing pond.  Here they had to cast a line into the "pond"...

 

...to catch some "fish!" Swedish Fish candy, that is!  Diana and her friends Olivia and Isabelle were our secret helpers in the fishing pond.

 

Next stop, the soccer field!

 

In the basement, they each had a ball in their backpack to kick into the soccer net.  Then they got a sheet of stickers. 

 

We also took a coloring break in the basement using crayons from the backpack.

 

Last stop, Swiper's house!

 

Here they had to play "Pin the Tail on Swiper" in order to be able to enter Swiper's house and find the birthday cake.

 

Each kiddo had a Swiper tail in their backpack

 

 

Then we found the cake!

 

We had lots of yummy snacks first...Tico's taco dip, Map string cheese, Isa's veggies, Explorer Star jello stars, Papi's pinwheels, and Boots' bananas!

 

Then we went outside for a piñata!  It didn't work quite as planned, but the kids still got candy and had fun!

 

Birthday cake!

 

 

 

 

Yummy!

 

Cara with Trent (a school friend)

 

Cara and Mara Jade (a neighbor)

 

Cara and Brady (a school friend)

 

Cara and Savannah (a school friend)

 

Cara and Isabella (a school friend)

 

The kids all had lots of fun...I was worried they wouldn't get into it, but they all loved the adventure.  Happy Birthday to our Care-Bear!