Girlfriends Party ... Build A Bear & Crave!

Last night we took the girls and four friends to the Mall of America to celebrate their birthdays.  Everyone needed to be picked up right after school at 3 pm, so we ended up having two hours to spend before our 5 pm party at Build A Bear.  We decided to stop for an after-school treat at Dairy Queen in Burnsville on our way to the Mall of America.

The girls all had Blizzards and Alyssa and Madison used this time to open gifts, which worked well and we didn't have to carry them through the Mall with us.  Alyssa invited Mia and McKenzie.  Madison invited Tawnie and Kyline.

After opening gifts we headed outside and goofed around for a bit taking silly pictures of the girls having fun with the goofy face sticks we brought with us.

They even managed to get daddy in on the fun ...

After the Dairy Queen, we were off once again to the Mall of America.  It didn't take us long to get there and to park, so we decided to head to Lego Land and use out imagination until Build A Bear was ready for us.  We were lucky and the play table was wide open when we arrived!

It was finally time for the party at Build A Bear!  The girls were ready and we headed down the hallway in the mall to the store!

The team at Build A Bear was great and the girls seemed to have a great time and everyone loved their final selections once they were stuffed and dressed.

Playing games while each animal is stuffed ... definitely did the trick to entertain the kids as they waited for their turn.

Giving the animals an air shower and a good brushing before heading over to dress them.

The final products and lots of smiles from the girls:

 Singing Happy Birthday to the girls and playing a few games to finish up our time at Build A Bear.

Finally it was time to eat and all the girls agreed that they were HUNGRY!  We headed over to Crave for dinner before taking all the girls back home.

Dinner went well although we were a little surprised when we had to share our calamari appetizer with four out of the six girls ... we only got a few bites ourselves ... LOL  Crave even brought out birthday cake and ice cream for the girls.

Happy 8th Birthdays!

I am not sure where all the time went, but suddenly we have two 8-year-old girls ... I swear it was just yesterday daddy and I were lugging around a truckload of "stuff" with us and our babies just to go visit someone!

Madison, you are our little comedian.  You are put a smile on the saddest persons face just by looking at them.  You have a hard time being serious because you continually "crack yourself up".  You love unicorns, pegasus unicorns, horses, dragons, bugs, frogs, your horse "Cookie" and anything Monster High.   You like to draw and color.  You still have your "bunny".  You love your sister endlessly.  You are our cuddler and I hope that doesn't change for a long time.  Your energy is endless just like your smile.  You have an imagination that never sleeps.  Your favorite foods are pasta, kid sushi, pizza and chocolate sundaes.

Alyssa, you are our loving, caring and emotional one.  You are always worried about others and you also love your sister to pieces.  You like being silly with your sister and your friends.  You are kind and thoughtful and are always so grateful.  You love Monster High, wolves, horses, you try to love bugs as much as your sister, you love clothes and style.  You like to color and draw.  You are a natural at running and swimming.  You still have your "bunny".  You are a pleaser and love to give hugs and cuddle on laps.  Your eyes and smile always make everyone forget their worries.  You like your sleep but do a great job keeping up with your energizer bunny sister.  Your favorite foods are pasta, daddy's special cheese sandwiches and anything with sugar!

We love you girls more than you will ever likely understand ... until one day you may or may not have a child of your own ... you make our hearts swell with pride, love and admiration ... we wonder what this next year will bring us ... Love mommy and daddy.

Family Birthday Party

Today the girls celebrated their 8th birthday one day early with Grandma, Grandpa and Granny M. Tomorrow they have their party with their friends, which they are super excited for!

The girls asked for a cake that would accommodate dolphins and a pegasus unicorn ... well it wasn't perfect by any means,but we managed to get the job done and the girls loved it.

It was pretty warm today at 80+ degrees and the cake had more than an ample supply of frosting on it, so we opted to blow out candles right away as the Pegasus was sinking.

The girls loved all their gifts!  First they opened the gifts from Aunt Carrie and Uncle Kory and they loved Twyla and Catty Noir!

Next they opened the gifts from Granny M ... a walking unicorn and walking kitty!

Farmor's was equally well received and they were so happy to get Heath Burns and Abbey!

Grandma and Grandpa gave the girls curtains, accessories and a big pillow for their new rooms, oh and horse and unicorn wind chimes ... they loved them all too!

They also got a few Monster High dolls from mommy and daddy and $10 each from Granny B.  They had a great pre-birthday birthday!!!

Welcome to 2nd Grade!

The girls were excited and nervous as they were getting ready for the first day of second grade.  This is a big day for the girls as this is the first year of school that they will not be in the same home room and doing the same things.  It is also our first time having to drop off and pick up instead of taking the bus to school.

Drop off went well and pick up was a little slow but manageable for sure.  The girls were very talkative upon getting in the car and both love their new teachers.  We are off to a great start to the new year and hope the challenges will be easy for us to work through as they come up with all the new schedules.