Technology

Last night Ryan and Leah were looking through the basket of old photos. It was fun look back at when they were little. Leah opened a packet of pictures and pulled out the negatives and asked "Mom, what are these?". I had to explain to the kids that they are from when we used cameras with a roll of film. They are so used to everyone using a digital camera that they had no idea what a negative was. I am sure I will come across many other things that are now "old fashioned".

It was cute to listen to them looking at the pictures. Leah kept saying -look at this cute picture of Claire and I would look and say - that was you when you were little. Or Ryan would have a picture and ask who it was and I would tell him it was him.

Always fun to look back at how we have changed.

School lunch?? Yummy!

On Monday Lisa and I decided to go back to school for lunch. Ok - we did bring in Jimmy Johns, but we did have to sit at the tables and eat with the kids. Although none of them wanted to sit by us. Leah had been asking when I would be able to come to school for lunch. It is a treat for them to have their parents come and eat with them -especially if they bring something and they don't have to eat the school lunch.

Here is Aunt Lisa and Leah eathing their subs.

And me and Leah..
and Ryan and I. It was fun to do and the kids were happy to see us.

The Safehouse!

This past weekend Ryan had his birthday party with his friend at the Safehouse in Milwaukee. The kids were really excited about it. Since none of them knew the secret password they had to do something silly to get in. Then they got to run around and explore and find all the secret things - like the moving wall puzzle, the two way mirror and spy tv.

Here they are sitting in front of the large moving puzzle.
They loved the secret exit. I found it to be a little creepy and dirty. They are crowding into the secret exit closet.
The Safehouse was even nice enough to provide trick candles for the cake. Overall everyone had a great time and they all want to go back.

Family comes to town.

This weekend Stephanie, Ethan, Claire and Ava ...and Aunt Lisa all came to visit. Saturday morning we went to Ryan's football game. The girls had fun making mud in the park by the field.

Ethan had to try out the Wii. He claims to be undefeated in boxing. Now that he found out how much fun they are he has to get one.
The girls also had fun playing in the "fort" that dad built. Claire found it to be a great place to work on her art. Leah was busy doing science experiments.
Lisa and I met Stephanie and Nicole out for some tapas and then had to go to Alterra for some coffee (or tea). Lisa is wearing an old dress of Stephanies that she used to wear when she was dating Ethan. She got it in the clothes swap last Christmas.
Is that wine???? Non-alcoholic of course!
It was great to see my sisters and nieces (and brother-in-law). We had a great time at dinner catching up and having fun.

Ryan turns 10!

Wow! Double didgets!! Ryan turned 10 yesterday. We went to Koyoto - our favorite sushi place. They played the birthday song for Ryan and he got to bang on the drum.

Then they brought him this dessert plate. It had a sparkler going in the middle for some added fun. He enjoyed the dinner and got his picture taken and put up on the wall.
At home we surprised him with a cake. Even though he is having his party on Sunday I though he still needed a cake on his birthday.
He brought m&m cookies to school for a treat and shared them with the kids and lots of teachers. He is looking forward to celebrating with his friends.

George

This year for school, Leah's class gets to take turns taking George home. They have a camera and get to take two photos of George doing something and then have to write in a journal about what George got to do. Leah was very excited to get to take him home and read a book with him and play.

Gymnastics

This year Leah is taking gymnastics. She is really enjoying it and has learned some new skills. She likes having a real balance beam and tumbling floor to practice on. Here she is at her lesson working on the balance beam.

They learned the proper way to mount the beam and were working on dismounts.