Swimming Lessons

This year's swimming lessons with Aunt Nunu were an amazing success. It was nearly shocking to watch her little 3 year old self jumping in and swimming through the water.

Wisconsin Dells - Clocktower Show

Olivia's favorite part of our trip to Wisconsin Dells was the Clocktower Show at Great Wolf Lodge. It ran nightly at 8:00pm. The children were invited to the main lobby in their pajamas to watch the clock tower come to life and perform a sweet story. Then a staff member brought Wiley the Wolf out and read a bedtime story after which Wiley taught the kids the Great Wolf Lodge cheer (or something like that) and they all lined up to say goodnight to Wiley before heading back to the room for bed. To say she loved this nightly event would be the understatement of the day!

CNY 2010

On Monday, we went to Emperor's Palace for our Chinese New Year celebration. We had a wonderful meal and lots of fun. This culminated a week of preparations, including a whole lot of house cleaning, hair cuts for everyone, decorating the clean house, setting out a big bowl of oranges and giving Olivia and her cousin's red envelops for the big day.

Eagle Days

Today we went on the first of what usually turns out to be two trips to Clarksville to check out the eagles. Dad and Jeri went with us on a sunny day. I would say more about the weather, but if you can't say something nice.... :)

We saw lots of eagles below the lock and dam, above it there were none because the river is ice jammed. That too was pretty cool to see. Olivia really got into seeing the eagles this year.

Snow

A new, old friend

I would guess that sometime in early 2006 I signed up to participate in a book swap and was paired up with Kathy. We were both waiting to adopt from China and logged in just two days apart in early November. And both from the Midwest. The children's book swap was to last a few months, maybe 5 or 6. I do not remember, but Kathy and I quickly decided to keep our swap going until we got our referrals long after the official swap ended. This gave our friendship a much greater opportunity to grow as well.

We received our referrals about a month apart in the spring of 2007 and traveled a little later - and in all that time have never had the opportunity to meet until today! Kathy and her daughter had a layover in St. Louis and Olivia and I picked them up and we went to the Mills for some playtime. The girls and moms had a great time hanging out and visiting. It was a ton of fun for everyone! :)

Christmas Tree 2009

We headed to Pumpkin and Pines for our Christmas tree again this year. Olivia was initially not so much into the hike we had to make to get to the field of trees we were looking for, the Norway Spruces, but eventually she decided to come along.

Finally, the perfect tree was located.

And removed.

Since she didn't feel like walking back out, I carried her on my shoulders.

And then, it was time to ride the train!!!!!

How cool am I now!!!

Once we got to the train part, it was a really fun day. No go with wanting to visit with Santa other than to see from afar. We stopped at Cliff and Ella's in Hawk Point on the way home for lunch, brought the tree in and started setting it up.

I met The Pioneer Woman

Yesterday, mom and I left on a fun-filled, whirlwind trip to Country Club Plaza in Kansas City for a book signing by the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond for her new book The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Our day began with a drive to Columbia and lunch at Roly Poly. Have you tried this place? OMG, seriously yummy. Then on to Kansas City, checked into my favorite hotel, perhaps in the world, the Sheraton Suites on the Plaza, then out for some shopping. We wandered about for a while then headed to Brio Tuscan Grille for dinner before the question and answer session and book signing.

Ree was awesome, charming, and very funny. Her boys were adorable and her husband was well, adorable too. Every bit the Marlboro Man she describes him as. Every attendee received a cool Pioneer Woman t-shirt!


We headed home today after a lazy morning and a slow drive back and another stop in Columbia for lunch.

Birthday Parties!

We had two parties for Olivia's Birthday - a family party on Sunday, Nov. 1st, the day before her birthday - all the grandparents, godparents, a bunch of cousins and a few Aunts and Uncles enjoyed tacos, corn pudding, cake and ice cream. Some even had margaritas.

Olivia got TONS of stuff and loved every bit of it. Some of the highlights were gobs of Little People princess stuff, a cash register, a voice command dump truck, two tea sets, Clifford and Dr. Seuss Books and a bouncy house:






Then on Monday, the big day we had a kid party at Monkey Joe's. Friends arrived and we played and played and played. After we were almost worn out, we drove the short trip to Aunt Julie's house for more playing, pizza, cake and ice cream.





I requested "no gifts" for the second party and suggested donations for the food pantry, which Olivia collected and will deliver to the food pantry soon.