Vacation

We were on vacation all week. Here's some preview pics. Maybe we will add more as we get unpackedOur family on the beach
Evie loved the ocean

Annalise didn't want to get near the water, but was happy to pick up purple shells all week.

GREATEST. DAY. EVER.

I have an unnatural fondness for the Indy 500. It's kind of a big deal here and there is stuff to celebrate it all month long. For the second year in a row, we are unable to go to the race. (Listen up families---we are not leaving town next Memorial Day weekend. We are going to the race!) Today is community day where they open up the track and anyone can take a loop. I have planned to do this for a long time. My plans were put in jeopardy yesterday as the car had some unscheduled maintenance. I didn't feel that I could go to the track without my station wagon and we almost didn't go. But, the service shop came through in the nick of time and we got to drive the world's most famous oval!Here we are coming out of turn four in hot pursuit of that gray mini van.
And here's the start finish line. The yard of bricks. They took your picture when you crossed. I will be buying that one. I also got an official card signed by Mari George that says I have driven on the IMS. Awesome.

Since it was a family day, they had some inflatable stuff to jump around on.

And the 500 Festival Princesses were on hand to make every little girl a princess. I'm priming Evie to grow up to be a princess. Don't worry it's not a pageant thing, more of a community service thing.

Here I am on the line of bricks in the pit area.

Jim takes a self portrait in front of the pagoda.

The prettiest little girl on pit row.

Those are some big tires on that truck

The Firestone mascot took a picture with us. The girls were really afraid. Looks like we don't have to take them to Disney any time soon. After this things went south. We promised Annalise popcorn, but they didn't sell any at the track. We settled for a family ice cream to spilt. That did not suit her and she threw a giant tantrum. Fortunately, all the people around us had equally tired kids or were sympathetic grandpas. We sat and talked to a guy who is a spotter for one of the race teams. It was an interesting conversation that was interrupted by screams of terror.

It was a long, miserable ride home. If only they had popcorn, this day could have been even better.

Annalise's last day of school

Tradition has it that at the girls' preschool, the last day is celebrated with a bike rally, singing and a picnic. Most of the little 2 year olds could ride a bike with pedals, but they didn't go very fast.
Annalise was a pro. Here she is in a way too small helmet. That's not going to protect her giant forehead!

This was the singing part. They did really well. Look for a video at the end of this post.

The teacher brought little gifts for each kid. She made a special effort to find these classy glasses in purple--Annalise's favorite color.

Annalise with her teachers, Miss Kate and Miss Bethany.

Grandma and Grandpa Seibert's 60th Anniversary

We traveled back to Northwest Ohio again this weekend to celebrate my Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. Here's the happy couple. Congratulations! We love you!

Grandpa and Grandma have 6 children--Here they are with all their spouses.It's been a while since we took a Doug Seibert family picture. June's baptism to be exact. Well, that doesn't count the picture we took at the Czartorski pool on Saturday but Grandpa and Aunt Elizabeth were still in their swimsuits. Not really what they wanted posted on the blog. So we all got cleaned up and stood together for someone to take the picture. No one is crying and almost everyone is looking in the right direction...And if you are wondering, this is as current as they get. Until Becky or Elizabeth come down pregnant again....By the way, who put the tallest and shortest people standing next to one another?

The handsome Turner family from North Carolina

June has started to walk. It takes some coaxing, but she will take a few steps. Now, in this dress, it was another story. This dress was so big that she had to get dressed at church because it didn't fit in the car seat with her.

It was a long day for our sweet baby Juner. She was up late the night before, up early, and missed a nap.

The Jim Taller family of Indiana looking clean.

We didn't get one of the Kevin Seiberts of Archbold. You will have to check their blog.

We did get a picture of Oliver. I had the honor of helping him choose his food at lunchtime. I made sure he got a big cinnamon roll and some blue jello salad.

Tessa was harrassed but never lost her smile.

Annalise managed to eat some real food before digging into her powdered donut.

After all the excitement, you think they would sleep, but they stayed awake the whole ride home.

The dual screen DVD player may be the greatest thing to happen to family road trips since McDonald's.

Annalise's fashion show.

With summer and vacation coming up, it was time to take stock of what we have and what we may need to get. I thought everyone needed swimsuits until I started digging into the bag from Aunt Elizabeth. Annalise put this on all herself. It didn't matter that it was backwards.
This one fits her shapely body too.

This was a handme down from Evie that Evie didn't like to wear because it showed her belly. Annalise doesn't seem to have a problem with it.

Preschool wrap up

Last week, I was invited to Mother's Day Tea with all the other moms who have kids in Evie's classHere are some of the cuties singing songs about mom
Each kid answered questions about Mom. This is ours:
My mom's name is Jenni
Her hair is the color of mine and her eyes are blue.
She weighs 18 pounds and is 5 feet tall.
She is 31 years old.
Her favorite food is pizza.
While I am at school she goes grocery shopping.
My favorite thing to do with her is arts and crafts.
My mom looks beautiful when she is in a dress.
My mom is special because she stays home with me.

Made mom tear up. I also got lots of lovely cards and handprint art that I will have to hang on to because I can't throw away anything with their handprints.


Annalise's theme this week was beach party. They made these great sun visors. She has been wearing it a lot.

Art

Evie has developed into quite the artist. When left on her own, she works at her desk on her latest masterpieces. Here's one that she made at school today. It was a dark and stormy night last night. That may have been her inspiration.
This one depicts animals at our zoo. She started with the elephant, zebra and monkey and then filled in with the smaller animals--merkats,snake, otters, and fish. In the upper right hand corner is the walrus.

Happy Mother's Day

I just uploaded pictures and these are the only ones on the camera since 4/26! Wow. Well, we have been busy. First, we had a big "Going out of the Baby Business" garage sale this weekend. Most of the stuff is gone. There are a few boxes and a little bit of gear left. That remaining stuff is going to my friend's garage sale in June. Whatever is left after that goes to the Goodwill. Shlee had a rough end of the week. On Thursday night she woke up with that horrible croupy cough. She was up about 10 times that night and no one slept. Since the garage sale was on Friday, I wasn't planning on a sick kid. She and Evie were supposed to go to the neighbor's for the day. Instead, Annalise took Dad to the doctor with her. She got the normal diagonis of "something viral". Friday night wasn't much better so we filled the Rx for steroids for her. It has helped her cough, but she has more mood swings than a professional athlete. At least she was only up one time last night. Hopefully we all sleep through the night tonight.
Happy Mother's Day everyone! I got to read the paper on the couch this morning. I was also the lucky receipient of SHAMWOW. I just can't wait for someone to spill a can of pop on the carpet.

And finally, this picture is pretty old. When Dad went to TX, he brought back some shirts for all of us. Here are the girls modeling their shirts.

Andy and Christina's wedding

Today, Annalise and I left Evie and Dad to their own devises to attend the wedding blessing of my cousin, Andy and his lovely wife, Christina. They were married in November and this is their third party. man, they must really like each other. Here is the bride and groom sharing a piece of cake

Grandma and Grandpa at the party.

The happy couple. They still have one more celebration. What a way to spend your first year of marriage, partying it up.

And the next up for the march down the aisle, Heidi and Woody.

John entertained all the little kids. Annalise wouldn't kiss him though, because of his beard.
Annalise was worn out from no nap and running around with the little kids, as we said our goodbyes, Grandma snapped this picture of the Wagner family.