Five ... Yes, I said FIVE

Today, you turned Five.  Today, mommy and daddy no longer have babies or toddlers or even little girls ... we have two beautiful young ladies.  How exactly we made it to this point remains a mystery to us.  We have moved well past night feedings, long ago left those dreaded diapers behind, replaced the toddler beds with bunk beds and are finally the "big" kids in the ECFE classes just waiting for our turn to be the little ones again when we look toward kindergarten next year.

So much has changed over this past year and yet so much has stayed the same.  Mommy hasn't been working for nearly two years now after her company's buyout and I can't honestly remember how I had the energy to take care of both of you all day and yet work 40 hours a week from home on top of  it, because I am one tired mommy by the end of the day.  During this past year, you both started swimming lessons and quickly moved through the first three classes with flying colors and are currently just starting level four, you both just LOVE the water!   You also made it through your first official dance classes with Miss Lori at her home "studio" and are now excitedly  in your second year of lessons with her and her partner Miss Whitney.

This year also marks the beginning of our last year as part of the ECFE family as you are both second year pre-schoolers now.  Mommy and daddy are excited for you to start Kindergarten next year, but will also miss the wonderful teachers and staff that we have grown so fondly of over the past four years.

MADISON:

You are our comedian.  You can make anyone smile without really trying at all.  You are opinionated and often those opinions make your mother blush when you inform strangers of them.  You are a creative soul with an imagination that never stops and that we hope never will.  You dance to your own music and often have a hard time following the "rules" ... but just when all hope is getting lost, you amazingly prove to everyone that you actually have been paying attention the entire time.   You ask questions and then ask more questions about your questions.  You push limits like no other child before you and your stubbornness can often lead you to problems.  You are a charmer.  You love art and excel at drawing, especially when you sit quietly by yourself and take your time.  You are still our more accident prone daughter, often falling down our staircase several times a month and typically scaring your mommy and daddy to death while it happens in front of us.  You absolutely love your sister ... telling us that we should call you "little buddy" because you are Alyssa's little buddy.

You love horses, unicorns and Pegasus horses.  You love dragons, princesses and fairies.  Right now your favorite movies are "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue".   You also very much love "Willy Wonka" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".   Your favorite TV shows are "My Little Pony" and "Maggie and the Ferocious Beast".  "The Last Unicorn" also remains one of your favorite movies.   You love music and love to dance.   "The Last Unicorn" and "What a Wild Tune" are two of your favorite songs.  Your favorite color is LIGHT pink but you will settle for dark pink in a pinch.

Bunny still is a must have at bedtime and Goldie the Unicorn is definitely a favorite toy.  Bloom the bear is a must have for you at bedtime as well.  You love your unicorn costume and your unicorn on a stick.  You also keep your pet shop butterfly close by at most times as well.

Your favorite foods are cheese pizza, chicken nuggets, ice cream, salad and almost any veggie and all fruit.  You still prefer milk and water over juice and the few tastes of lemonade or "soda" that you have had have all left you not wanting another taste.   You are a great eater trying most anything once and often twice.

You are a very social child and will approach anybody but you also often drift off by yourself.  You love hands on activities, especially painting.  Making mud pies is a fun activity for you as well.   Swimming is your favorite activity with dance a close second.

You are our "toothless", our "princess" and our Maddie Moo all rolled into one and we couldn't love you more.

ALYSSA:

You are our sensitive one.   You are the one who will take someones hand so they will not have to walk alone and be lonely.  You are always looking after others.   You wear your emotions on your sleeve and easily get frustrated.  You are the first one to give up the information Mommy is looking for when "nobody" makes things happen around the house.   You love being around people, especially after your sister breaks the ice for you both.  You are creative and artistic.  You love to draw pictures.   You love to "read" books and often try to remember the stories just so you can turn the pages and tell the story to others.  You absolutely love music and to dance, dance, dance. You are a pleaser.  You generally try your hardest to follow the rules but are easily frustrated if you do not get it right on the first try.   You do not like to "lose" ... something that we are working on gradually.   Your sister is your best friend and we hope that never ever changes.

You love horses, unicorns, Pegasus horses, fairies, princesses and mermaids.  Right now your favorite movies are "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue".   You also very much love "Barbie and the Mermaid Tale" and "The Little Mermaid Trilogy".  Your favorite TV shows are "My Little Pony" and "Maggie and the Ferocious Beast".  You love music and love to dance.   "Fly to Your Heart" and "7, 8, 9" are two of your favorite songs.  Your favorite color was pink but now is purple.

You still need your bunny at bedtime and any time of stress or unhappiness.   Goldie the Unicorn is a favorite toy.  Every night at bedtime mommy and daddy have to clear your bed of all your hidden treasures, mostly jewelry and your pet shop seahorses from under your pillow.  You also very much treasure your Tinkerbell Music box.

Your favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, orzo pasta, chicken nuggets, ice cream and almost any fruit.  You have your daddy's sweet tooth and love anything with sugar in it.   You have improved so much with your eating this past year and we are very proud to say that you reluctantly try almost anything once ... yes once ... and even that makes us happy.

You are a very social child once your sister starts the conversation with the other people.   If you already know the other children, you are ready and happy to play along with them.  You love books and love to dress up as princesses.  Hair accessories and jewelry are a must!  Dancing is your favorite activity with swimming a close second. 

You are our "pumpkin bum", our "princess" and our Alyssa all rolled into one and we couldn't love you more.

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Mommy and daddy couldn't be more proud of you both.  Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined having twins ... and now we would never ever have it any other way.   You are the lights of our lives and we look forward to seeing what the next year brings our way because every day of lives is better because you are both a part of it ... thank you for choosing us for your parents ... we couldn't be any luckier.  

Happy Birthday Babies (because yes, you will ALWAYS be our babies) ... you are loved more than you will ever know!

Mommy & Daddy

Birthday Day Party Day #2 ... The Family!

We survived the kid birthday party and today we are set to enjoy a day with the family.  It is a day of relaxing without the efforts of a full blown birthday bash.   We prepared all the fixings for tacos and told everyone to help themselves.

The girls were thrilled to be able to wear their pink hair and were all smiles for everyone!

 Again, our family and friends were very generous to our little ones and although we are not posting pictures of everything ... be assured they loved every single item they received ... Thank you for making our little ones day so much fun for them!!

Birthday Day Party Day #1 ... The Kids Party!

Today kicks of three days of birthday celebrations for the girls.  Since their birthday lands on a Monday this year, we opted to have a birthday party with their friends today and then a family get together tomorrow ... so two parties before they even get to their birthday ... oh to be FIVE again!

Our birthday girls had a party scheduled at Bauer Dance Studios from 10:00 am to 11:30 am.   We arrived about five minutes early and were able to get the cake set up just in time for their little guests to start arriving.  We had a total of 11 little friends who came to help us celebrate their special day.

The party started with 30 minutes of dancing and games lead by the Bauer Dance Team.  The kids had a great time dancing in front of the floor to ceiling mirrors.  

After the activity time, we opened gifts while daddy helped to get the cake and ice cream served.

The girls receive so many nice gifts from everyone!

When the gifts were finished and the cake and ice cream gobbled up, the children all headed back to the dance studio for more fun and games.  The ribbons were a HUGE hit with all.

It was a GREAT party and it was so much fun to hear all the positive feedback from the kids and parents, will definitely consider this as a great option again next year!!!!!

A Fall Day At The Minnesota Zoo

Mommy and daddy decided at the last minute to jump in the car with the girls and head to the Minnesota Zoo.  It was a chilly day and mommy thought it was actually warmer than it turned out to be and our first stop at the zoo was the gift shop to buy two overpriced but very cute pink sweatshirts to keep the young ones from complaining too much.

After we settled in for a quick lunch, we headed off to Discovery Cove to spend time exploring the world of dolphins, sharks and seahorses.   Alyssa has a particularly strong attraction to seahorses and both girls spent a lot of time trying to take pictures of them through the aquarium walls with their digital cameras.  Unfortunately, they mostly just looked liked blurs on the camera.

 Mommy had a little better luck capturing a sea dragon and several seahorses clumped together, although the clump of them wouldn't hold still for me and even mine is a bit blurry.  The sea dragon on the other hand, was quite content to float peacefully for its picture.

We also opted to catch a ride on the monorail to try get a glimpse of a few animals from a bird's eye view.  The girls and daddy enjoyed the monorail ride (this was daddy's first at the zoo) and a highlight of the ride was actually a large gaggle of wild turkeys which decided to hang out right along part of the monorail tracks.

Before heading home, we spent some time playing in one of the outdoor play areas found inside the zoo itself. The girls had a blast running and climbing.

Alyssa got a BIG kick out of the giant mosquito.  She climbed on him and decided to pretend it actually got her!

 Madison enjoyed just hanging out in the giant spider web!

And, of course, our little bird Alyssa had to try and hatch an egg of her own in the giant bird nest.

The slides, rope climbs and bridges kept the girls busy for a long time, until they finally decided they were tired and ready to head home.

Snapshots in the Park

5 Year Photos taken by AngBarclay Photography

Heimetfest ... Marching for ECFE in the Parade!

Today was quite the experience for the girls and mommy and daddy.  We were on hand to march in the Heimetfest Day parade to represent the Jordan Area ECFE (which is the girls' preschool).   Our jobs were too look cute (the kids all took care of that part) and handout candy, fliers and magnets to advertise our annual craft show which is really our only big fundraiser each year.

The girls got a sneak peek and a meet and greet from Ronald McDonald behind the scenes while waiting for the parade to begin.

Getting our candy buckets and magnets to hand out before the parade.

Lining up as the parade is about to begin!

The group in action ... after this initial picture it was all a very fast paced blur!  The parade was moving much too fast for our little legged kids to keep up ... soon there was a block or better gap in the parade waiting for our group to catch up and we were running most of the time ... like I said ... quite an experience!!!

Afternoon At Como Zoo

Well, the weather was overcast and slightly chilly and although it is late in the summer to be heading to Como for our first visit this year, we did it today.   Most of the outdoor vendors were closed for the season and the always fun Como Town was shut down, but we were able to enjoy actually seeing the animals as the crowds were absent as well, so that is a big perk to being late for this must do summer activity.  

None of us seemed to mind the coolness today, we just enjoyed our leisurely walk around the zoo and wandered in and out of the animal buildings.  The primate building was lots of fun for us as we got to see up close a mommy and her baby orangutan.

The girls also really enjoyed watching the baby giraffe and its mommy enjoying some of the outdoor air.  Ever since watching the movie Madagascar, all giraffes are named Melman and all zebras are named Marty.  So, we watched Melman and Marty for a bit before heading over the Melman statue to take our annual picture which has become somewhat of a tradition for us and the girls, one I am sure they will very much appreciate around age 16, 17 and 18 ... :)

The new polar bear exhibit was open and we finally got our chance to check it out and boy was it worth waiting for ... I bet the bears probably think that more than we did!!!  Their new home is much larger and much more realistic to a good environment.   Daddy took turns lifting them up on his shoulders in front of the water windows to get a better peek at the bear walking above them.

The turtle statue was a big hit and we had to stop for a "ride" before heading inside to walk through the Arboretum and the tropics trail.

There were lots of wonderful spots to stop and take a few pictures, which we all know mommy loves to do!

We had some fun walking the indoor trails and exploring the coy ponds.   The girls had fun trying to "catch" a fish as they swam past them or when she popped their heads out of the water for a gulp of air!

They even found some time to stop and smell the roses.

On our way home from the visit at Como Zoo, we made a rather big detour to Wayzata to enjoy a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone!!!  We really enjoyed our day together and the stop in Wayzata was a perfect ending!!