Weeeeeee!!!!! Weeeeeee!!!

Okay, I just had to share this video of the girls riding the carousel while we were at Dutch Village the other week.  (You can read my post all about that trip here.)

This was Dani's second ride on the carousel that day and I was laughing so hard when she started to squeal with delight, "Weeeeeee!!!!! Weeeeeee!!! Weeeeeee!!!!"

Tulip Time... Dutch Village style

I took the girls out to Nelis' Dutch Village during the Tulip Time Festival in Holland.  I think it turned out to be an easier trip than trying to take them to a Tulip Time parade on my own, and we all had a fun day together. 

*Please excuse all photos, as I took them with my phone camera since this was a completely LAST minute trip decided on while we were already out of the house.*

I'm not sure if Dani was EVER happy that day when I strapped her into the stroller.

 

Michaela spent the day walking up and kissing the tulips "So they don't die, Mom."  She also decided that these little ducklings thought she was their momma since they followed her about three feet when she walked past their enclosed swimming pond.  She's since reminded me we have to go back to see her baby ducks.

We went into the workshop where they make the wooden shoes and Michaela was absolutely fascinated with them. When I pointed out the "Giant shoes" that were on the floor I mentioned that they were so big she could fit right in one!  I turned around for one second to check on Dani and then Michaela piped up behind me, "Mom!  Look at me!"  I turned around to this...  There was a busload of grandparent aged tourists in the shop with us and they all started giggling at her antics.

Michaela, Dani & I all learned how to do a Dutch Dance and proudly wore our sticker home to brag. :)

And what trip to Dutch Village would be complete without a couple rides on the carousel.  I was very surprised how much Dani LOVED riding on the carousel.  I guess I should have known better, she is our little daredevil after all.

Bunny Destruction

Michaela was exceedingly excited about getting a chocolate bunny for Easter this year, talking it up to me every chance she got when we saw one at the store.  Of course, good ol' EB left a hollow chocolate bunny for the girls on Easter morning.  This is the documentation of said bunny's destruction at the hands of one very excited 3 year old girl...

Vera Bradley Outlet Sale 2011

The day before Chris left for Vegas I went on a little road trip with my friends Shannon, Kim and Lisa to Ft. Wayne, IN.  Not your typical mid-week overnight trip.  That is, unless you're Vera Bradley fans heading to their annual Outlet Sale. :)

With a $3000 (yes, three thousand dollar) limit on purchases you definitely get some crazies out to buy for their eBay shops, but for those of us who are buying for our own use or gifts it's just fun (and slightly overwhelming).

I figure you should all start your trip to the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale just like we did.  Standing in line people watching.  This lady with the rainbow hair was right behind us.  That is her actual hair and not a wig. :)

 This sale is set up in an arena with all the merchandise piled up on tables that run the length of the floor.  They give you a guide before you go in to help you navigate.

 Here we are, sorting through our stash!

With an hour to spare in our allotted 2 1/2 hour shopping time we were done!

Thanks again to Shannon for getting us the tickets and hotel room & to Lisa for being our super fab driver!

Huffman Family Christmas

We had the Huffman Family Christmas party last weekend in Kalamazoo.  It was great seeing everyone and watching all the crazy kid run around!  Thanks to Ed & Jill for planning everything this year and finding a gymnasium to help give the kids some room to play!

 

Summer Fun with the Williams Family

This past weekend we were able to get together with the Williams family for a grill out/pool party.  Here's a few photos from our fun day with the Williamses.  Unfortunately, my camera battery died before their kids came back outside so I couldn't get any pictures of the kids, just Ed and Jill.

Jill and Dani

Michaela in her 'fort' of a hammock swing and towels.

Uncle Eddie got to hold the sleepy baby until she fell asleep in his arms.  Dani is such a little cuddler!

Princess Eddie - Michaela's crown had to be worn to visit, so why not share? ;)

Thanks Ed & Jill for having us over that day - I only wish the first camera I had outside had been working when Chris had both our screaming girls in the pool all by himself. :)

Boat Parade 2010

Well, they've done it again... Here is the latest Rasch cousins' Pickerel/Kimbal Lake Association boat parade entry.  This year's theme was "Christmas in July" and the boat was themed more specifically to be "Grandpa's Misfits" (based on the Island of Misfit Toys) from the old "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" movie.

Michaela is the little one in the far back of the boat.

And yes, there is a dog on the roof.  Jack the dog was dressed the part complete with bells on his collar and a red nose thanks to Emily and a tube of red lipstick.

Strawberries

Oh, how I love strawberry season!  I was able to take Michaela with me yesterday to Morse Brothers Farm to do some U-Pick.  We managed to pick 30 pounds of berries in about an hour and a half and were back to my Mom's to get Dani by 11:30 am. (Thanks Grandma for having baby duty while we were in the field!)

Super CHEESE!

Michaela and her 'strawberry facial'

She did a pretty good job of staying in our row. Running back and forth was SO much fun!

After working for the Morse's for about 4 summers during strawberry season, I could not imagine going to pick anywhere else and was really glad to share this experience with Michaela.  Maybe next year Dani will make the excursion with us? :)

Rockford Summer Celebration

We went to the Rockford Start of Summer Celebration last weekend and had some fun.  Michaela was thrilled to try her first Elephant Ear... oh, that poor elephant who can't hear anymore. ;)  We also were able to get some more use out of our new Baby Jogger double stroller - quite the garage sale deal for me this year!

Chris took this picture of me and the girls (at my request) to prove that I do actually go on family outings. ;)

Start to Summer Fun

Here's some pictures from the start to our summer fun.  Thanks to our friends the Higleys we were able to spend a day last week out at their family cottage.  Michaela had tons of fun with her 'buddy' Owen and was nice and tired out for us that night.

 

 Owen and Michaela hugging their cups.

Making sure Dani had her toys to play with.

Easter

Here's a few highlights from Easter weekend.  Being that Michaela is only two I explained why we celebrate Easter very simply for her.  I think she kinda got it being that every time we talked about why we were celebrating Easter and having parties it was, "because Jesus is alive!" :)

Easter egg hunt in Caledonia

So excited about coloring eggs for the first time!

Easter egg hunt at home on Easter morning.  For that first dozen or so eggs she'd open it as soon as she found it and eat one of the candies.  We had to put a stop to that before she filled up on jelly beans and whopper eggs!

So proud of her new Easter dress!

Dani's first Easter (and first holiday)

They love each other SOOO much! :)

Holiday Fun

We've had a busy few weeks here at the Hall household.  Where to start?

Michaela and I were the lucky beneficiaries of 4 tickets to see the CARE Ballet performance of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas (Thanks Shannon!).  With our last minute receipt of the tickets we were glad that our friends Sarah and Owen were able to come along when we invited them.  Sarah and I were leery of how the night would go (two pregnant women towing along two 2 year olds... you get the picture), but we were both pleasantly surprised with how well-behaved our kids were with the new experience.  Owen & Michaela were able to be more quiet and have better manners than the older kids seated in front of and behind us!

Michaela LOVED the ballet, and spent the next day twirling around the house saying, "I'm a ballerina!"

She wouldn't go near Santa, but enjoyed meeting one of the little mice afterwards.

Horrible picture of Michaela, but I couldn't get her to stand next to Owen afterwards for a nice picture... We have to work with what we've got. ;)

All right, our next adventures included decorating our Christmas Tree.  Michaela LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the tree!  Every day when I turn the lights on she climbs on the couch and watches.  As soon as they're plugged in and shining she breaks out into the hugest grin and usually claps her hands as well.  While we were assembling (yes, it's fake) and decorating the tree, we'd keep asking her what she thought of the tree.  Her response was (and still is) consistently, "I love it so very much!"  She likes to tell it good night and even give it kisses and hugs.

Saying "cheese."  I'm not sure who told her to put the extra "cheese" into it, but she does this every time you tell her to smile lately... :D

"I love it so very much!"

And lastly, here's a cute shot of Michaela "hiding" from Mommy with a little help from Daddy one day.  She was having so much fun in there with all her friends she didn't want to come out for over 10 minutes.

Hockey, Hot Chocolate & Potty Training

Well, since it's been a while since I've posted any updates (due to the last of the three items listed in the title) I thought it was about time I caught everyone up on our lives...

On November 11 the Grand Rapids Griffins (our local AHL Hockey team) had a matinee game at 12 p.m.  Michaela and I made the trek down to see them with all the local school kids who went that day and we had a great time.  On our way Michaela tells me, "I wanna bang on the glass, Mommy."  She has begun her hockey training early and so we bought a ticket on the glass to watch the Griffins pull out a win on the last shooter of a shoot out.  With their Winning Wednesday program, we also won a free ticket to the next Wednesday game because the Griffins won on a Wednesday.  We'll be back with Daddy in tow for the December 9 game...

Micheala holding her hockey puck from Finn.  Micheala made a "Hi Griff" sign before we left, and it helped her get the attention of Griff & Finn, the mascots, during period breaks.

As one of her birthday presents, Michaela received a pair of PJs from her Aunt Gigi (aka Jamie), that say "I Love Hot Cocoa."  Michaela hadn't had any hot chocolate before that and a few weeks ago she decided it was about time she tried it.  She started informing me she wanted to "drink some real hot chocolate, not (the ones) on my pants." So, I got some packets and we had popcorn and hot chocolate for our girl's night while Chris was gone hunting.

And lastly (but most definitely not least), we have POTTY TRAINED!!!!! Yippee!!!! WOO HOO!!!!  I cannot express my excitement over not having to change dirty or stinky diapers for a couple months. :) We started potty training last Sunday the 15th and viola, 3 days later we had a potty trained 2 year old.  By day 4 we only had one accident and after that we even had a couple days of no accidents (until she figured out she technically could go in her underwear without the world ending).  We're back on the no accident train and loving it.  She'll even use the public toilets when I take her places, which is great since we do like to leave the house regularly.

Here is Michaela rocking out her 3 days of potty training outfit.  Socks, underwear, and a long sleeve shirt was all she wore. After we were ready to start wearing clothes again it took a little convincing to get her back into pants, especially since she liked being able to see her big girl underwear all the time. :)

For anyone who wants to know what we did to train her so quickly I recommend buying the e-book from 3daypottytraining.com.  It was the method we used, although I did do a modified training of her for nights and naptime since she is still in a crib and can't get out on her own.