Daddy's Little Michigan Fan

Upon our return from Chicago, and completely unsolicited, Megan (aka Kyle Junior) changed into this get-up to help cheer the Wolverines on to the Final Four.  Though the outfit is cleary fantastic, it unfortunately wasn't enough to help the Wolverines get the win.

 

The Magnificent Mile

With our close proximity to Chicago for the weekend, I thought it was the perfect excuse to swing downtown and enjoy the American Girl store - a surprise for the ladies.

 

It was a good surprise!

 

Aunt Becky gave them some birthday money to spend while we were there shopping - Megan picked a pony with her funds. 

 

Do you think they could have given her a larger bag to tote the new horse?

 

I can't say enough about what a great gluten-free experience we had at the Cafe.  Kudos to American Girl!  They had so many great options and served them in a way that our girl felt totally special.

 

Enjoying lunch with our new best friend.

 

And some of our old ones, too.  (Saige)

Hannah was not the biggest fan of her crudites, opting to share them with her doll, Claire

 

Please note Claire did not get any of her gluten-free pizza

 

Bye Bye American Girl!

 

We hit the Disney Store while we were in town too, another rare treat!

 

The girls enjoyed this gigantic Olaf

 

My big girl in the big city

I don't know, I just get the feeling this won't be the last time I take this picture.

Happy birthday, Gabby!

We had the honor of attending Gabby's 4th birthday party, a legendary bash featuring a personal appearance by Sofia the First herself!  Since Gabby lives outside of Chicago, and her momma happens to be my bestest friend in the world, one Rebecca Couri, we used the party invite as an excuse to crash at their house for a couple of nights and spend some quality time with their wonderful family. 

 

Party time!
 

Making crowns with the birthday girl

Hannah's custom crown

Sofia's here!!
 

...and we got to meet her!

Just a tad excited to be sitting next to royalty

The princess crew

Gabby patiently opens our gifts

Post-party - three silly girls on a trip to the park

Twin Day!

One of Megan's theme days at school this year was Twin Day, where you pick a friend to dress alike for the day.  This is precisely her FAVORITE thing in the world, and no surprise, she and her BFF Mckenna elected to be twins.  (We did not have the heart to tell them that their brown-hair/brown-eyed vs blond-hair/blue-eyed complexions were a dead giveaway that they were, in fact, not twins). 

 

McKenna's Mom and I sat out to coordinate their outfits to the best of our abilities, resulting in one cute little pair of lookalikes.

First Grade Musical - Hats!

We returned from Florida just in time for Megan's first grade musical.  The school music teacher puts on a different musical for grades 1-4 each year - and I am talking no repeats.  This is a fresh set of four musicals every. single. year.  It is seriously impressive (if not a little crazy).



The actress - in costume (the hat) and ready for showtime!

Posing with McKenna (and little sister Lyla)

Posing with classmates

All the kids made a hat, which the art teacher blew up to magnificent proportions and volunteers decorated the auditorium with.  (I told you this was crazy, didn't I?)

On stage and ready to begin.  She did such a great job!  No stage fright at all - not when surrounded by friends.

The main chorus of the show:

Megan's pivotal one-liner:



Post performance, standing by her hat.



"Yeah, I made that"

Little Sister was having a rough night, to say the least.  By some miracle, she made it through the play.



Post-performance celebration at Spoonlickers

Florida - Day 7: Adios, Florida!

We had a late afternoon flight out of Tampa, meaning we didn't need to rush off the island in the morning.  We used the opportunity to soak up a few last rays of sun before our return to Michigan (aka Arctic Wasteland)

 

Chillin'

Not only did we catch a few rays, but we got to play duck, duck, goose too

Grandma's girls

We enjoyed a few puddles leftover from Monday's rainstorm

Relaxing on the flight home - they were both wonderful little travelers!

Despite Southwest's best efforts to delay us both ways, we made it home in time have a Frozen dance party before bed!

Florida - Day 6: RAIN on vacation?!

 

The crazy winds from Sunday continued into Monday, bringing with them the threat of rain...well, more like imminent promise of rain - definitely beyond "threat" level.  

 

It was also slightly humid, if you couldn't tell from Curly here



With the hopes of a day at the beach dashed, we set out to have a little indoor fun for the day, visiting the South Florida Museum in downtown Brandenton.  The museum is the home of Snooty, the world's oldest known manatee (he's 65 old!!)

Fun at the museum

Things started getting a little silly

 

There's Snooty!  He seems a bit lazy, doing nothing but slowly eating lettuce while we watched him, but at the age of 65, he's probably earned the right to slow things down a little.

Snooty viewing

We also caught a show at the museum's planetarium - the girls' first ever visit to a planetarium, and I'd say it's been a good couple of decades since I've been on the inside of one.  It was a good way to spend the morning, and we got in the car just as it started to rain.  We headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's for a quiet afternoon inside.  After all of the go-go-go, fresh air, and extremely late bedtimes from the week, it wasn't all bad to be stuck inside relaxing.

We did venture out a little later for ice cream - it was, after all, our last day of vacation

Florida - Day 5: St. Patrick's Day on the Island

Sunday brought wind - lots and lots of wind.  BUT, we Michiganders are tough, and stubborn, and really, really sun-deprived, so we ventured over to the beach in the morning in these less than ideal conditions.

Toting our new best friend

We aren't deterred by any stinking wind

Megan found the wind and waves to be excellent conditions for riding Shamu

Shamu was killed the next day by strong winds (we failed to secure him properly on Grandma's deck).  It is still too painful to talk about.

The wind started bugging Hannah after awhile.  Grandma got the tough job of hanging out with her.

We quit the beach early and got suited up to enjoy the Anna Maria St Patrick's Day Parade later in the day.

Let's party

Found a great seat on the parade route - ready to go.

This silly little leprachaun...

...was fast asleep before the parade started!

Camels!  (On the island?)

Parade-goer in action - her loot bag got heavy quickly

Grandma shamelessly used the sleeping child to collect beads and candy from the people in the parade.  She was remarkably successful.

And an Irish Elephant?!?

After enjoying the parade (or for some of us, an afternoon nap), we had dinner at Grandma's and then set off for a trolley-riding, miniature-golfing, ice-cream eating extravaganza.

Trolley time!

Our first ride of the trip

Megan had been begging to go mini-golfing since we deplaned.  It was important that we deliver on this one!

She got more out of the fish pond than the golf experience.

Needs a little work on her stroke, this one...