The Salmon Family: April 2012

Monday, April 23, 2012

Disney Vacation: Part III

After we checked in to the condo, ate some lunch, and got settled.... we just HAD to head back out and see SOMETHING Disney... so Downtown Disney it was!

The best part? The girls TOTALLY didn't understand that Downtown Disney was NOT actually Disney World. They thought it was the coolest place ever.... they had no idea what they were in for in the days to come!

Changed into our first of many Disney-themed clothes... Ready to head out!

Cool Mickey Pumpkin!

Checkin' out the sights with Papa...

Lego family

Maggie was so excited to see "Sleeping Beauty." She had no idea...

Maggie's new Ariel doll!

My girls and I!

Disney Vacation: Part II

Good news. Maggie came around. :)

Along with Gramma, Papa, Ant Jood, and Gary, we rented a 15 passenger van, packed up, and headed off early on a Friday morning. Everyone was a little excited!

With 6 adult drivers, we were able to drive straight through the night, and we made it to sunny Orlando before noon on Saturday.... Believe it or not- we only used the portable DVD player to watch ONE movie on the way down!

Maggie and Lucy were ROCKSTAR travellers!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Disney Vacation: Part I

Back in October, we headed down to Orlando for a week with Mickey. We had been secretly planning the trip for almost a year and were so excited to tell the girls. As anyone with small children knows, we wanted to keep the trip a secret until the last possible minute- to avoid the inevitable "Are we going to Disney World TODAY?" for as long as possible. Thank goodness for the naivete of four and two year olds- because I was able to (not so secretly) pack suitcases and plan for a week away from home without them questioning (too!) much. Plus, it helped that we had always told Maggie that you had to be AT LEAST seven years old to go to Disney World.

That plan backfired a bit:

(ignore the disastrous mess that was our spare bedroom while I packed...)

Let me backtrack a bit....

Thursday nights are Lucy and Maggie's nights with "Gramma and Papa." Well, unbeknownst to the girls, Gramma and Papa (and Ant Jood and Uncle Gary) were coming to Disney with us. We were leaving early on a Friday morning, so the girls werent' going to be staying at Gramma and Papa's the night before. Gramma explained to Maggie that she (Gramma) was going on a vacation and, therefore, wouldn't be able to have a sleepover that week. That SHOULD have been the end of story. If you know Maggie and the way her mind works, she then got overly concerned with where/who they would be staying with on Friday while mom was at work. Gramma went on to tell her that her good friend Laurie (who the girls ADORE) would be babysitting instead. Obviously, hanging out with Laurie was WAAAAY more exciting than Disney World.

So..... here is the video of what happened when we FINALLY told the girls we were going to Disney World:

(Not quite the climactic "You're Going to Disney World" videos they show in the commercials, huh? God forbid we miss a day of school....)

At least Lucy was excited.....

Friday, April 6, 2012

Random Fall 2012

No rhyme or reason for any of these pictures...

Just some of my favorites from this past fall!

Our first "drive in" movie experience to see Smurfs! It was a blast!

Helping Ant Jood blow out birthday candles...

Plumber butt... and backwards pants.

Maggie

Taking a bath with cousin Milan

Amy, me, and Katie. 3 preggo bellies! Lots of new Sichmeller grandbabies in the works!

Look at the fancy Ryan Braun t-shirt I got! Looks even better on a pregnant belly!

Don't You Just Hate....

...when you put your underpants on sideways?

School!

August was Maggie's first day of SCHOOL! She is attending the 4K program at the same school where I work. She goes half days, Monday through Thursday. Here are pictures from her first day of school. She was SOOOO excited to be a "big" school kid - and probably the most excited kid in the entire world to be able to wear a uniform! After lots of tears (moms, not Maggie's) she was off on the start of her "school" journey.

As she walked into her classroom, very excited with her brand new Olivia backpack, I realized just how "grown up" she really is becoming. This is the first of many, many more "first days" of school- but also the end of lots of "little girl" things that come with starting school. Boo Hoo..... Needless to say, I DID NOT get much work done on the first day of school- I bet I walked past her classroom 40 times in the 3 hours she was in school that morning!

Snoozin' at the Zoo

Remember that zoo pass I mentioned in an earlier post? Another perk is the opportunity to "Snooze at the Zoo" in August. For those of you who know me, sleeping in a tent, in August, among zoo animals does not, in the least, sound like fun. My children, however, thought it sounded amazing. And, being the AWESOME mom that I am, I caved (it helped that my 2 good girlfriends were also going with their families)

You know what? It wasn't too bad! The weather was a cool 65ish... so sleeping wasn't so bad. It poured during the night, but held off long enough for us to roast marshmallows and play a bit. The girls loved it... and I, well, I'd do it again, I suppose.

Lucy and Maggie hanging out by the tent.

All the kiddos!

Lucy... being Lucy.

Roasting marshmallows with Dad.

Getting ready to go home...

Josh....

For Mother's Day, I bought my mom tickets to see Josh Groban in Milwaukee in August. Awesome gift- for both of us! See how that works? :)

Anyway- it was an EXCELLENT concert. He had a "mini stage" set up about 10 rows behind our seats. It was so great- especially when he ran up the aisle from the mini stage to the main stage.... Thank goodness for aisle seats! I think, however, if I hadn't been pregnant, my mom would have climbed right over me to grab at poor Josh!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Great America

Last year, Ant Jood and Uncle Gary took Maggie and her cousins, Emme and Davan to Great America for the day. This year, cousin Everett joined us, and we had such a great time! I think the most difficult part of the day (again) was keeping the fact that I was pregnant (and trying NOT to throw up all day!) a secret! EXHAUSTING!

Heading into the park!

Kids + Ant Jood + Gary

One of my favorite pictures of Maggie. Ever.

On the carousel!

Teacups with Emme!

Whoa! What a wild ride!

Drying off with Gary after (several) rounds on the Pirate ride!

4th of July Goodness

4th of July was a ton of fun. Papa's birthday is on July 6, so we always take the long weekend to celebrate both!

Gramma and Papa had a cookout- and Doug and Katie broke the news that they were expecting! So exciting! (even more exciting was that Dan and I had found out we were pregnant earlier that week- it was just tricky avoiding all the alcohol that comes along with summer cookouts without arousing suspicion from the family!) Lots of fun!

At the parade with Aunt Jude, Uncle Gary, and cousins Grace and Paige!

All 5 Sichmeller grandkids (trying to get them all to look in the same direction at the same time was IMPOSSIBLE!)

Maggie and Lucy

Lucy helps Papa blow out his candles

Misc Summer Stuff

Here are some random summer shots with my best recollection of what each one is about!

We splurged and bought a family zoo pass this year. One of the perks is discounted admission to some of the classes they offer. Maggie took a "bug class" one morning- and this was what she created!