Tiny Dancer

Caroline had her first dance class today!! She has been begging for months to go to "ballerina class, " so I finally made the move and signed her up for the summer session at Dancing Feet Academy. The class is one hour -- 30 minutes of tap, 30 minutes of ballet. Chloe and Tessa, her best friends from school, are also in the class! They were precious in their leotards and tap shoes!!

Caroline seemed to enjoy the class -- she came out with a gigantic smile on her face -- and she told me she wanted to go back "five more times." Lucky for her, she's signed up for 8 more weeks!!!

Loving the noise the tap shoes make!

Chloe, Tess, and Caroline

Bedtime Pals

Of all the millions of stuffed animals and dolls Caroline has, she has shown a wee bit of favoritism to a giant pink/red caterpillar and a white unicorn (whose legs are much longer than its body), whose names are Cheese and Dooga, respectively.

Here is a picture of Caroline sleeping soundly with Cheese and Pink Blanket (the most sacred off all of C's possessions).

Super Bulldog Weekend

Baseball, football, and fanfare, oh my!!

Caroline and I took in the sites and sounds (and smells -- the BBQ smelled fantastic) of Super Bulldog Weekend, and we had a blast! And although rain and cooler weather caused a little revamping of our agenda, we still got to enjoy most of the activities this weekend, and spend some fun time with friends. We made two of the three baseball games, and of course Caroline made a beeline for the diamond girls! She just makes herself a seat right in the middle of the girls that aren't on duty and is truly becoming one of them! Of course, we are partial to Jessica, as she is one of Aunt Nat's good friends. Caroline just HAS to get her face painted, and is on pins and needles until it's time to stand on the dugout and do the chicken dance!

We also went to the Bulldog Fanfare and had all the inflatable fun we could stand, and followed that with the spring football game, where we met up with Vic, Robin, and Mac Parker. Mac and Caroline had more fun with the Magna Doodle and eating popcorn.

As a parent there are a lot of strong morals and values you want to instill in your child -- being a die-hard Bulldog fan is one of them!! I think I'm off to a good start ;-)

Caroline and Jessica

Caroline and her captivated audience

Caroline and Jessica sporting their paw prints!

Bully

Fun at the Park

We've been trying to take advantage of the sporadic nice spring weather by going to McKee Park. Caroline loves the slides and has even mastered the climbing wall!! There is a short tunnel that she loves to crawl through, and she calls it her 'office.' Her imagination really comes to life out there!! (You should be able to click this smaller image to link to a larger one.)

Hail, Dear Old State!

I know, I know. Been a long time since the last post! Sorry -- I'm going to make an effort to do better!

Since Christmas, Caroline and I have taken in several men's and women's basketball games. Caroline has had a blast cheering on the Bulldogs! No matter what she is doing, when the band starts playing, she starts dancing! And she loves to do the chicken dance!! I just know I will be on the jumbotron one day as my child's chicken dance is featured!

And of course, no trip to the ballgame is complete without popcorn! The pleas for popcorn start the minute we pull into the parking lot!

This particular day, she wore her Miss. State t-shirt, although most game days, she demands to wear her "ballgame dress" which is an MSU jumper we bought for football season, and luckily, it's had just enough wear left in it to get us through basketball, too!

As basketball season comes to a close, we are looking forward to the spring weather and baseball games! Go Dogs!

Happy Holidays!

Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday and a happy new year!!

Changes in Latitude...Changes in Attitude...

Jenny and I have instituted an annual Labor Day beach trip (2007 was the inaugural trip), but Hurricane Gustav forced us to postpone this year's trip by two weeks. Nonetheless, we loaded up the kids and headed to Destin for several days of fun and sun. By the time September rolls around, the crowd has gone home, and Destin is much more manageable! We can go to dinner at 6:00 and never wait for a table, and with a 3 yr old and a 2 yr old, that seals the deal! We pretty much had the kiddie pool area to ourselves each day, and the only thing bothering us at the beach were the seagulls that were attracted to the myriad of snacks that were mandatory items in the beach bag! I mean, that 100 yard hike from the condo to the sand just drains you of all your breakfast calories :-). Anyway -- it was a blast as usual and we are already geared up for next year!!

Last year, Caroline and Sutton were both a little water-shy. It took them up until the last day of the trip to even touch the ocean water and the kiddie pool was a feet-only venture for the most part. This year, they were all about the pool. The ocean was a little dirty and still rough from the storms, so it wasn't much fun for anybody, but the kids enjoyed the sand and all the millions of beach toys we hauled down there!!

"Cooking" at the pool

Beach Bunny

Trekking from the water fountain back to the pool

No matter the location, there's always time for Dora and Diego!