Biking Day and Night

 Biking, biking, biking...what we do in our pajamas until we need flashlights.  Dawson LOVES her new bike.  We hit the bike trail a few days ago with Aunt Beth, Uncle Mike and Papa.  Her little legs biked 2 and 1/2 miles after she had done a mile hike with nature camp. I have to say she was tired after that ride.  

 Dawson is following Aunt Beth on the trail!

Often times, she would stop to get a drink from her water bottle.  Sometimes she would just stop and forget to tell the rest of us she was stopping.  Good thing we had quick reactions!

And when we are not on a trail, we are riding on the sidewalks and in the cal-de-sac.

We can never get enough of our family bike rides....Hopefully we will have a few more good months of bike riding before winter hits us!

Kidz Day

Grace and Lynn joined us for some Kidz Day fun over the weekend.  This was a day filled with many hands on kids things to do and experience.  Grace and Dawson are both filled with independence and 6 year old attitude.....I have to admit, it's extremely funny!

 Can you see the attitude when we asked them for a picture together?

 A flower by the balloon guy!

 Decorating a Smiley cookie by Eat and Park.

The two largest snow cones I have ever seen!
(Thanks for the  pictures Lynn.  I forgot my camera!)

Orlando Business Trip....

 Daddy had an important business trip to Orlando and invited us to go along.  Of course we couldn't say NO!  We did not want it to be a total Disney trip, more of a relax and swim trip to beat the rainy weather we have been having this summer in Ohio.  

 We did hit The Magic Kingdom one day from morning until the Electrical parade.  Our friends happened to be visiting relatives in Florida at the same time so we met up for the day!  Nothing beats a Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwich!

 The three girls waiting patiently for the Electric Parade!

 The next day we his Sea World.  As many people know, we used to go to Sea World ALL the time when it was in Aurora.  It was a school fieldtrip also!  Here is a pic of a mama and her baby dolphin.  It was fun to watch the baby swim all around her mama!

 And lastly, the Shamu show!  These animals never cease to amaze me.  There were five of them and their trainers doing some amazing things.  Unfortunately, two years ago a trainer was killed so the trainers are no longer allowed in the water.

Look at this JUMP!

Welcome to Columbus American Girl

Aunt Kim and Breea invited us down to Columbus to spend the day with them and to visit the new American Girl doll store.  Breea grew up loving these dolls and even brought her favorite one with her. (She is going to be a freshman in high school but, I couldn't believe the amount of "older girls" in that store buying new dolls.)  

After saving money for the past 6 months, Dawson picked her doll and paid for it.  She was all smiles!

Meet Saige....she is the American Girl doll of the year.  She is from New Mexico and loves art and horses. 

Breea brought an old doll with her...one of her favorites named "Marisol."  She was girl of the year in 2005.

Dawson's old doll Caroline and her new doll Saige joined us for lunch in the store cafe.  The store had a hair salon also.  You can pick and pay for whatever hairstyle you choose.  Marisol had a little styling done today! 

At the end of our shopping, we ate lunch with our girls in the cafe.  It was fun to have them join us at our table in their birthday hats!  

Flower Girl For the FIRST and LAST Time!

My very good friends Keri and Chad were married this past weekend in Mexico.  Dawson was so lucky to be asked to be the flower girl in the wedding many months ago.  At the time when she was asked, Dawson was pretty sure she was not interested in doing this job. But, as time got closer, she thought she MIGHT be interested!

Daddy and Dawson are off to the 5:00 beach ceremony.  Was it ever hot!

Dawson and Keri right before it was time to walk down the aisle.  

 Dawson became very serious and nervous about walking down the aisle.  She was really not sure about what was going to happen!

Everyone was ready to go!

Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of her walking down the aisle because I was staying with her until the last minute.  She did a PERFECT job!  When she came back to her seat, she whispered to me "I will never do that again mom.  It was the most embarrassing moment of my life with everyone staring at me."  It was very cute!

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Kralik

 Just waiting for the group pictures to start.

 Time for a little dancing with the bride!

Admiring the first dance from a far.

And we ended our stay in Mexico with some swimming and playing in the sand!

Skating Time!

It's not quite her birthday but, we always try and fit in Dawson's birthday party a little bit early before all the families hit the road for their summer vacations!

If you remember last year, we had the exact same skating party.  I tried to convince Dawson to do something different this year but, she was really in love with doing the same thing again.  Her decision goes along her personality....she likes repetition.

This year's theme was Strawberry Shortcake!

Can you believe she's really turning six already?

All smiles when it came to blowing out the candles.  

This year seemed to be a lot easier for most of the kids.  It's amazing how their coordination changed in one year.  In fact, they wanted to skate the whole time!

 After a little encouragement, I did get them off for some pizza and cake.   A few girls mentioned to me they don't like white cake and they would rather skate!  How funny was that!!!

 I love how Grace was all smiles when she opened her treat bag!

A few friends stopped by for a picture!

 Look at that balance!

Grace looks like she's having fun! 

 One of Dawson's favorite parts was using two cones and skating very fast!  I did get some good video of her doing this!

 

 Karli and Dawson took time off the ice to pose for a quick smile!

 Next came the gifts....She loved every part of opening them and she couldn't wait to really dig into them when we got home!

I loved how all the girls were interested in the presents and giving Dawson her gift.  In fact, they were pushing each other to pass the gifts because they were so excited.  It was very cute!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!!

Summer Birthday Treat for School

Having a summer birthday myself, I knew how important it was to get to celebrate in school with your friends.  I always had the chance to bring in a treat at the end of the school year.  Well, Dawson is following in my tracks with a summer birthday so here is her treat for school tomorrow.  

She wanted it to be chocolate, summer like and some how include her love for her "Teddy."

 It was the perfect birthday treat!