Haunted Trail

Our community has a bonfire and haunted trail for the Halloween season.  My girl scout troop wanted to participate in it this year so we volunteered to take a spot on the trail to "scare" or entertain trail walkers.  Of course, most of the troop did not want to be real scary so we pitched them some ideas and they picked Dia de los Muertos which to them was an adequate theme since skull faces were involved.  We got a professional to do our make up (Fabulous Faces by Brooke!) and it was quite the success!  We got a lot of compliments on the make up and costumes (I got ponchos from Goodwill).  Next year the girls want to do it again only be scary!  Sigh....

Chica Kitty

Steve and I had been thinking that if we want another cat (our Lolo passed away in March) that we should do it while the Carlos is still a puppy and not full grown.  The pet store had a female kitten who was fostered in a home with dogs and was used to them.  We put in for adoption of her and was able to bring her home this week.  We named her Chica which is in line with Spanish names that all of our pets have had.  Other names we considered was Montse (mon-say) or Paloma but Chica was easier for the kids to say and so it stuck.  She is a sweet little kitty who reminds us a lot of our Pepa kitty who died five years ago.  She is curious and brave and may be messing with the dog a little.  He's been chasing her so we're hoping that he calms down soon and gets used to her.  Quique, our old man kitty (he's 17) is indifferent but she doesn't love him too much.  She avoids him more than the dog.  With 2 cats, a dog and a fish, it is quite the zoo in our house!

First Day of School

Our school district is K-6 so this is like Gretchen's senior year of high school only it's elementary. It's probably better for her in terms of maturity since she's a young 11....  She's excited to go back to school except as she stated: doing math....

Right Dog at the Right Time

So we got a puppy.... yep a puppy!  A lot of friends and family said the same thing to us about the dog as they did about us having kids:  I didn't think you guys were ever going to!  His name is Carlos (don't judge the name - the kids picked it out) and he's a 9 week old sack of boxer sugar!

Camping at Devil's Lake!

This year for our annual camp trip to Devil's Lake Steve rented a pop up so we could see how we like it.  It was a lot of fun and different for sure.  It had air conditioning so I can't really complaining about "glamping" it for the week.  Since it was the week of the boys' birthday, we hit Noah's Ark in the Dells and that was a blast (and exhausting!).

Birthday Presents

She's still pretty easy when it comes to finding her presents... This year was fish themed with a fish tank and a mermaid tale blanket!

Birthday Girl is 11!!!

Happy 4th of July Fishies!

We went to the Shedd for the 4th of July.  We had to get out of the house... Now that the kids are older, they have the patience to watch the fish! 

Whale Watching

Summer Camp

The girl loves overnight camp.  Two weeks this year she'll go to Girl Scout Camp and one week at church camp.  I'm relieved that she is able to make friends and adapt and not worry about us at home. 

The first camp this year is Harry Potter themed so I'm hoping she enjoys it. 

Baseball is not supposed to be cold!

However, here in Chi-town, the temperature can change on a dime...

Pinkie Tuscadero!

 

Go ahead and admit it:  I'm the coolest!

Choir!

I don't expect her to follow in my footsteps.  In high school, I did dance, choir, theater, etc.  She hasn't proved to be a dancer yet (she did one year of it in Kindergarten or first grade) but she does seem to like choir.  I suspect it's because her best friend is also doing choir (this is the 2nd year in the row the girls are doing this...).  Anyhow, she did practice at home which is a first for her so I think she must like it a little bit.  She performed with a community wide group of 750 singers from the local school districts.  It was pretty cool!

We take on the Capitol for Spring Break!

Steve and decided to pile in the car and drive to Washington DC for spring break. Once we told the kids, Gretchen wanted to visit Jamestown since it's something she studied in school.  Steve was happy to oblige for her!  It was quite the trip.  We drove to Pittsburgh and spent the night before rolling into our Nation's capitol.  We spent three action packed days in DC checking out the Air & Space Museum, the National Natural History Museum, the US Capitol where we met our congressman, the National Zoo and as many monuments as we could see.  Then we drove to Virginia and spent one very lovely weather day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  We spent our last day at Jamestown seeing both the historic site and the living museum where the kids could go back in time to that era. They we stopped on the way home for a visit with our friend who lives near Cincinnati (perfect resting spot before the last six hours home).  I think the girl like Jamestown the best!

Bridge to Cadettes

I thought she might not make it this far since we're in the age where girls start to quit scouts to do other activities.  My troop bridge to Cadettes and I am so so proud of them.  Especially of my girl, who despite all of our ups and downs, loves girl scouts especially the time she spends at camp.  We're already signed up for 2 girl scout camps this summer plus I'm sure we'll camp with the troop as well.  In this picture she is holding up the key each girl received when they bridge symbolizing their venture into "older girl" scouting where they can do more mature things... now they want to go sky diving!  Yikes!

Blow that Horn!!

Gretchen is doing band this year and so far has had two concerts.  The second concert was considerably better than the first.  What a patient teacher her band teacher must be!  Anyhow, it sounds like she likes it even though she finds it challenging!