Off to Moravia for the weekend

so Jamie could attend his 20 year high school reunion. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins and picking apples at Grandpas but not so much fun riding in the car for a total of 15 hours to and from! EEEK! It is a long trip, but worth it to spend time with family.


apples are fun to throw...





Juliette adores dogs and really loved playing with Karlie (her aunt, uncle and cousins golden retriever).

Haircuts!

5 inches for Allie
1 inch for Juliette

10 plus inches for Isabelle!

Isabelle also wanted to donate her thick beautiful hair to locks of love!

UH-OH

Iowa VS Pitt

What a game!!!! What a come-back!!!!

Juliette at 14 1/2 months

Juliette loves to play at the playground and her favorite hangout is the bottom of the slide. She tries really hard to stay there regardless of the line of the kids that want to go down and she is in their way! She also enjoys swinging and climbing where she can. My friend said that they need a slide to go "down" and a slide to climb "up" at the playground and I agree! She now has her top molars and one of her bottom ones is coming through. She is cruising around, pulling herself up everywhere. She likes to push her toys around on her knees, play with the magnets on the refrigerator, empty out cupboards and color on the floor if she finds a stray marker. She absolutely adores her pink blankie and pacifier although she usually only gets them at nap and bedtime. She can tolerate a nap a day...usually from 12 to 3 depending on if I have to get a sister from school. She takes kindermusik on Fridays and really enjoys it. MDO is going as well as expected and I like having a free day to get errands and appointments done. I have even gotten to volunteer in Isabelle's classroom and go on a field trip with Allie next week! Juliette still manages to make us scratch our heads on certain behaviors and how to correct them...namely gagging herself for attention and her aggressive nature to her siblings when she is overstimulated. Always something to keep us on our toes! Her favorite word is "uh-oh" which she has been saying for months now as she throws, flings, crashes sippy cups, food or whatever is in the cupboard to the floor. She is a big pointer and has a gift of jabber jabber which is super cute seeing that little chubby finger in the air as she turns to you and "talks".

My Iowa cheerleaders...

This game is terrible...I am putting in a DVD.

Jamie and his mini-me. Jamie just didn't have the legs to pull off the cheerleading outfit.

adorable!

So fun! All 3 girls in their outfits...ready to cheer on the Hawkeyes!

Having fun in the hotel bathtub

Juliette looks at the scene from the 5th story window. We had a nice view of Lake Michigan and could see Navy Pier in the distance.

Walking over a bridge on Michigan Ave.

View from our window.

One lucky little girl finally gets a Kanani doll.

The American Girl store at the Water Tower Place.

Warren Dunes State Park

On Sunday we ventured to the Warren Dunes State Park. The weather had changed from sunny, warm and calm waves to chilly, windy and a red flag which indicates no swimming (although plenty of people were). The girls just could stay out of the wet sand and shallow water though and were one big sandy drenched mess by the time we left. They loved scampering up the dunes and running back down or sliding on their rear like Allie did.

St. Joe, Michigan

After a much needed shower, we all drove to St. Joseph which is about 30 miles or so north of New Buffalo. We really liked this town...lots of little shops, a great beach and lake front and an amazing water park feature. They were finishing up a craft show when we were there.



The super cool water park





Juliette loves ice cream and freaked when she got the remnants of Allie's cone all to herself! And she freaked some more when I took it away at the end not wanting her to chew on sharp bottom! Kilwin's Chocolates had amazing ice cream and I bought some fudge (also delicious) to take home with us.