Road Trip to Wisconsin to See Our Friends

Chloe had a lot of fun on our trip to Madison, WI last weekend! We did too. It was so great to see our friends. We hadn't had fun staying up late like that with these friends since Chloe was born! The trip out there was 7 hrs, so we listened to George Orwell's "Animal Farm." Zach had always told me about it, so when I saw it at the library, I decided it was time.

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

We had so much fun with our friends, and it was all over the best little road trip vacation we have ever taken as a family. We hope to see them again soon.

In front of the biggest frozen lake I have ever seen

Zachary and Mike... good little buddies.

Athena, Charles, and Lucy

Then we went to the Madison Zoo. It was free!!

Our only family picture this year... well almost.

The purple Disneyland shades are still rockin' after all of these years! I thought those would break in the first month.

And what about the R.O.U.S. 'es........

Arm span of a bald eagle.

The whole group... minus me. From left to right: Mike, Bonnie (holding baby Vivian), Zachary (holding Chloe), and then the children are Athena, Charles, and Lucy.

We took this picture of Chloe with Charlie's Buzz Lightyear doll because when Charlie held that doll up to Chloe when she was only a month or so old, it was the same size as her! See how she has grown!

Coco Keys

We got to spend some time with Uncle Jason, Aunt Meggin, Eden, and Amara unexpectedly last week! They came to town to work on their house they are selling, and we went to Coco Keys water resort! Fun!

Monokini's

I had never heard this word. I bought this swimsuit for Chloe because of the fish and the cuteness, but when I visited the Target website, I realized that the 80's are in fact returning to the fashion world, and they have named those swimsuits with holes in them "monokini's." Weird.

It's ok for a kid, but I think that's silly, and a little skanky for anyone over 8 or 9. I guess it goes without saying that I also find bikini's skanky... maybe not so much for babies, up to 2-3. A grown woman in those silly 80's suits is annoying. It's like tight ankle jeans to me. I hope those don't come back!

And what's with the name??

My New Favorite Hairdo!

Zachary's 30th Birthday

For Zachary's big 30th birthday, we visited the Durham museum. The museum used to be Omaha's train station, and was built in 1929. It is a great building. Zachary really enjoyed learning about Omaha's history, trains, and chocolate (as those were the main exhibits at the museum that day).

Zachary and Chloe

Snack time again!
One happy guy!

I love this picture. I don't know why Zachary looked so sad... he was not sad that day. I just caught him at the right moment. I love how happy Chloe looks and the lighting is interesting. I am funny with my camera. I have no clue what most of the things do. I sometimes just try every setting and snap random pictures. I don't know what I did to make the picture look like this.

Chloe didn't enjoy the museum. She was pretty confused when we told her we were going to the museum and then took her here. This is more what she had in mind. She was ready for a nap, so I rocked her in the little rocker in the museum.

PART TWO: Zachary's surprise 30th birthday party!

I baked that naughty German chocolate cake from scratch again, and told Zachary we had to wait until after work to eat it. I thought that would give it away, but he never suspected a thing. Our cute friends Ray and Rachel came over and brought birthday hats, little silly blow things, and even pin the tail on the donkey! When Zachary walked in, I hugged him and greeted him, while Ray and Rachel hid behind the couch. After a couple minutes, they started blowing their little blower things (see three pictures down) over the ledge of the couch. Zach FREAKED! They scared him good, and it was pretty funny.

Zachary enjoyed his birthday thoroughly. Would you believe it's Sunday night, and there is hardly any cake left! I am just glad we invited friends over to share it. That cake is so good, it's evil!!

A Trip to the Zoo, a Walk in the Snow, and a Short Lived French Braid

Chloe has been sporting a pretty prominent under bite whenever she gets really excited. She has also taken to pinching herself a lot when she is excited too. The flamingos made her quite excited!

Showing off her snack. We had snack time by the gorillas. Chloe was so cute trying over and over again to say 'gorilla' and thump her chest- like the gorilla does in her book. Chloe has started getting excited and expectant when she hears the words: zoo, museum, and doggies. For some reason, she calls the museum "UM EEEE." (All in caps because she usually screams it).

Lately, whenever we get within a couple blocks of her favorite pet store she starts shrieking and clapping and saying "daaaa... arf arf!"

Last week I actually stopped there just because she asked. She has me wrapped around her little finger already.
Walking down the path by herself. Cute.

I french braided Chloe's hair the other day!! It was so cute, but sadly, it only lasted about 15 mins. Once she got in her car seat, she shook her head around and it was all over.
Here is a picture from the front (how debonair!)

and the braids...

Too cute. I can't wait to play more with her hair!