Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this picture of Tessa looking to see what else is in the bag.

Thank you all so much for the presents. She loves every one of them. She has been very occupied these last couple of days playing or reading. Wants to put the money in the bank. I'm wondering if this is really my kid?!!

The kids patiently waiting for the life guard.

The kids had such a great time!!!!!!!!!!

And I mean all the kids. I love this one of Bill in mid action. No wonder he was sore the next day.

Ashley showing off her diving skills.

Jackson is a huge daredevil. He amazed me with his fearlessness. By the end of the day Ashley was jumping off too. She was scared,but she did it several times. Tessa even "jumped" with Bill's help,whileLaura and I tried to catch her below. Don't have any of those pictures to blog unfortunatly.

Dana looking cute in her swimgear.

Tim too!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still cracking up at this picture.

 Everyone had so much fun. I'm still smiling with all the good memories. It was a perfect day.

Ashley wanted to go to Chuckey Cheese to celebrate her Birthday today. Mom and Dave met us there and we all played  games and had so much fun. I can't believe she is 9 yrs old!!!! Where has time gone? I swear I only blinked a few times.

Singing Happy Birthday

We'll probably be comming here for the next 50 years.

Deal or No Deal. just like the TV show. I went first and chose case #9 since Ashley is 9 today. I ended up winning 50 tickets!!!!!!! Mom won 25, and Bill won 16. It was a lot of fun.

Bill is awesome at this game.

Ski Ball is another favorite.

After visiting Chucky Cheese we took Ashley shoping at her favorite store, Justice. She walked out with some cool boots, jeans,a CD, and some school supplies. They had cute lunch boxes and binders that had an A on them. Course we just had to get those. Shopping is her favorite thing to do. I love hearing her squeel with delight. She has us so wrapped around her little finger.

Swim Lessons

Last week we went for swim lessons with Mark and Bob. I was surprised how much Ashley learned in just one week. Her confidence was soaring by Friday. She learned how to freestyle, the backstroke, and how to dive. She will show off her moves for you next week at the party.

All the kids did a really great job and were swimming ten times better at the end of class. I was so proud of them and Terri treated us all to Chinease food to celebrate.

This is a pic of the kids streaching.Bob is in the American flag swim trunks.

Too cute!!!

Bob actually in the deep end swimming!!!

 

On Friday Ashley shocked me when she asked me if she could go off the diving board. It took lots of coaxing once she got up there, but she did it, and I was glad I captured the moment.

A few pictures of our trip to Wisconsin Dells

Here we are at Tommy Bartlet Exploratory. Inside you shoot off in space via elavator.

 There are robots and cool effects. There are lots of hands on science experiments/activities.

At the end you walk a narrow bridge surronded by stars and it feels like you are in outter space.

Really glad we went here.

Space capsule and REAL MIR space station core

We visited Circus World, the origional Ringling Brothers main hub. There were circus acts, magic shows,and lots of history preserved there. You go through the different barns and buildings to learn about the Ringling Brothers, famous clowns,horses and elephants, and the like. Cool posters everwhere. Not to mention restored Circus wagons. The detail is amazing.

Below Bill and Ashley cruising around on an elephant.

 Ashley performed as a tiger for the kid circus. She jumped through a fake ring of fire. Here she is taking a bow for her performance. All the kids were so cute.

 

Duck Tour. Highly recomend. Corny jokes, but very fun

The thing I wanted to see the most was the Tommy Bartlett Water ski show. We went in the evening so we could see the light show afterwards. The downside was pictures didn't turn out well. This was very fun and more then just waterskiing. I wish there had been more of that and less corny skit that went along with it. After the skiing was over there were jugglers,acrobats, and comedians,then cool light show. I was absoulty freezing. I felt bad for the skiers in their teeny tiny bathing suits cause it was like 60 deg and went down as the night wore on. I'm wearing 2 shirts and 3 lightweight coats to try and stay warm. Ashley had a coat,Bill just t-shirt. They were totaly fine. Must be hormones.

Many years ago when Ashley was 2 we stopped at this Diner. It was cool to be able to eat there again ,cause it brought back memories of when she shoved tinker toys up her coat sleeve, so she could take them home. We made her go back in and appologize for stealing them.

Lost Canyon was another really fun adventure. We pet the horses while waiting our turn to go through the canyon.The walls are so close it looks like there's no way to go through. Driver says we had an inch on each side. Some blue paint is seen  along parts of the wall. OOPS.

We took another boat tour for the upper dells. It was really neat. Lots of cool rock formations and scenery. We docked at a couple of places and walked the trailes.

There is a dog that jumps across and back. Of course I missed it ,but bought a postcard. It's a Germon Shepard and he's really fast.

We drove about an hour to a Cheese Factory. I swear this is some of the best cheese you have ever eaten. Especially squeeky cheese curds. I must admit I was schoked to see how little this place was. We watched a video and were able to view them working in a vat.

Finished our trip off going to Minasota to hang out with, Dwight, Melissa and Annie. Ashley couldn't get enough of Annie. We had a faboulous time.