From cold snow to warm sun...

It's springbreak and we needed to get away from the snow and head south. We were beach bound! Off to Florida we went. We were there last year but, this year was much different. I have a child that is running in and out of the water shouting, "I'm so happy mom!" She has endless energy and loves, loves, loves the sand, the water, the pool and life! She's going to wear me out before this trip is over!

Maple Sugaring

It was a beautiful day to head out for some maple sugaring. We hooked up with our good friends Mayna and Grace for some pancakes, sausage and real maple syrup this morning. We live close to an old village that has demonstrations of how times "used to be." We really just walked around, discovered and explored. The girls really did show an interest in what was going on. I really enjoyed watching the three girls interact, play and love life on a beautiful spring day! We are looking forward to the warm days to come!

Mayna and Dawson peeking in on the maple sap. I didn't know it looked like water with some dead bugs floating in it. I'm thinking I prefer Mrs. Butterworths!

I took the bucket down off the tree so Dawson, Grace and Mayna could really see! The other two had no problem! I better get used to that or start carrying a step stool with me! Haha!

Taking a closer look.

The three girls spent a lot of time running up this ramp and jumping down. I love the the way Mayna and Dawson are laughing at Grace's jump. They were so happy for her!

Next comes a Dawson jump!!!!

Three friends just hanging out...you can almost tell how unique each of their personalities are from this shot.

Did some one hear Madonna singing, "Strike a Pose?" This made me laugh!

Having a short chat on the park bench...wonder what they are talking about?

The three girls kept running up to the church door to see if anyone would answer. No luck!

Amy took this picture of Dawson looking at the cow and sheep in the fields. This is one I'm going to frame!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! With a name like Dawson O'Hara, one couldn't be more Irish! (not really but, we will always pretend she is a little!) After work today, we came home and went right to the garage to get out our toys. Dawson was like a kid in a candy store. She looked in and said, "my bike, my scooter, my water table, my wagon, my stroller!" You should have seen the smile on her face! So what did we do? We did everything you could imagine with all of the toys. Here are a few of our afternoon activities.....

By far the most used toy in our life...the water table. She has used this since the day she came home! A great investment for us!!!

Time to take Strawberry Shortcake for a ride!

Time for a scooter ride! I had someone cut the handle bars down and reconstruct this scooter so she could reach! Works perfectly!!!

She can really make herself go on this scooter!

Rock climbing....

And a little ride on turtle...What a fun afternoon. We are anxiously awaiting more of these beautiful spring days!

Fancy Nancy

Have you ever been to a Children's ballet about Fancy Nancy? Our Children's Theater Company put on a Children's ballet show of Fancy Nancy this weekend. It was so popular it sold out for two days and nights in a row! If you don't know who Fancy Nancy is, here's a little background. She is a girl that believes that MORE is always better when it comes to being fancy! Nancy believes French words sound so fancy that she loves to use them. She even has a dog named FRENCHY! From the top of her tiara down to her sparkly studded shoes, Nancy is always fancy!

Here we are, Fancy Dawson...dressed and ready to go to the ballet. Notice our dog Frenchy and our cool shades.

We met our friends Lynn and Grace at the ballet and they gave us a new Nancy book. We are looking forward to reading it tonight. I wonder how Fancy Nancy is going to make Easter fancy?

Dawson and her Posh pup Frenchy reading our new Fancy Nancy Easter book.

Taking an intermission walk.....I think Dawson really enjoyed Fancy Nancy. She never took her eyes off the stage the entire time! I love my Fancy DAWSON!

Feeding the Birds...

We took advantage of one of the Spring like days last week to go to a newly renovated park to feed the birds. Yes, it's a well known place that you just bring your own bird food, put your hand out and the chickadees come and eat right from your hand. I have been to this park a million times and didn't know you could do this until I made friends with this avid bird watcher who so kindly showed us what to do and shared his food with us. He also happens to be employed photographer for all of the National Parks...as you can see, he took this picture of the Cardinal that was right in front of us! Beautiful!

The park created new walkways with lots of animals, plants and flowers molded into them. We stopped at each one and talked about what they were. The great thing about them is that they repeated as we walked and so we were learning along the way.

Dawson would walk past each one and tell me what they were. I was impressed when she told me "fern." One time she came across a chipmunk and said "Chipmunk." and then she continued, "that must be Alvin!" I got a good laugh out of that one!

Feeding the birds...or at least waiting. They didn't land on Dawson's hand because she would not keep her hand flat. I would put my hand near hers and they would land on mine.

On our way back home!

Roadtrip

We headed up to Ann Arbor this weekend to catch another couple of my nephew's hockey games. It's so nice when he is playing so close, only three hours away! Well, as you can see, Dawson is getting the idea of these games and the snack bar. She wants popcorn EVERY time! What's better than a bag of popcorn and a great hockey game!

YUM! YUM! YUM!

Snowy Day AGAIN!

No school again last Friday...oh do I love to have a Friday off! We really just laid low all weekend playing, drawing and eating a little Dora ice cream. Nothing too exciting but, the two of us had a lot of fun.

Eating some Dora ice cream....

These are the Crayola window crayons. They are awesome like all of the Crayola products. It only takes a wet paper towel to clean them off. Just so you know..it's very easy to get off!

Hard at work!

Just my happy, smiling girl!