Once Upon A Dream

It has been cold and rainy here, but today it was warm and sunny. We found another great playground straight down the road....which is great for us. The playgrounds today have such interesting features. Gabby really enjoyed the huge spiderweb, and Gillian just loved everything!

Well....slowly the swing set is built...
Dave told me today that he has worked on it about 24 hours so far. We just haven't had a lot of time all in one shot. We spent some time on it this evening before dark. We got the swing side up and the monkey bars....The girls were so excited that we had to pry them off the swings to go inside. Gabby said that it was the best day of her life.

May is extraordinarily busy. We are getting ready for a trip to SI for Isabella's birthday party. We also have gymnastic and dance recitals. We are trying to make up all of our missed classes before the end of the school year. So...if you haven't seen us on the blog as much...it's because we're cartwheeling away. Other than that...we can't pry the two girls off the swing set. We are still not finished!

Gabriella completed 500 or the 1000 books that she is currently reading in the 1000 book club. She was very happy to go to the elementary school today to collect her accolades. Mrs. Sogoian made a really big deal, and so did the class and teacher that were in the library at the time. Gabby's face was lit like a million light bulbs. Dave was off today, so he was able to come and enjoy the award, too. We are planning to get the swing set done today...if it will only stay dry!

We are finally finished with the swing set. It took between 30-35 hours for Dave to set it up mostly alone. Lou helped at the beginning, and I even used the power drill a few times, but the girls love it....They even helped to dig the hole for the slide!

Gabby had a little visit with her penpal yesterday before we celebrated Isabella's birthday! What a blast. The girls were exhausted on the ride home. There was face painting, making their own pizza, balloon creations, dancing, parachutes, and much much more. Happy Birthday, Bella!

Mostly we played outside for Gillian's birthday. Later in the evening, we tried out a new (to us) restaurant. It was great...a new favorite. It is called the Lighthouse, and it is right on the Mowhawk river. The girls had so much fun eating outside and watching the crew teams row by as we ate outside.

Our town had a celebration on Saturday. There was a parade in the morning. The girls loved it...there were children and dogs everywhere???? The girls liked the bag pipes, antique fire engine, and candy (thrown from all the floats) the best. There were all kinds of rides, food, petting zoo animals, and games at the festival....and an outstanding fireworks display later in the evening...sorry no pictures. We were home and ready to go to bed. We got lucky and were able to see the whole show from our upstairs window!

The girls participated in a Gymnastics meet at Spendwood School of Dance and Gymnastics. It was Gillian's first gymnastics event and Gabby's second. It was so cute. It was really well run. Classes were broken into different groupings and each child had an opportunity to showcase his or her skills. There were even judges that scored them.....and they all got little evaluation sheets, medals, and ribbons. It was so funny that we had to create this little arrangement.....

G'pa Mike, G'ma Cathy, Uncle Chris, and Aunt Lauren sent a birthday package in the mail to Gillian. She loved all the gifts especially the Little Mermaid undies and bug catching equipment. Thanks to Aunt Lauren for passing on all of her cool hand bags...the girls love them!
xoxoxoxo

We had dance class rehearsals yesterday. The students went through their routines one time, and they received their ribbons for the year. Dress rehearsal is on Thursday!

Gabby fell and really ripped up her hands. It looks lovely. She asked me to put this on the blog. She tried to be brave.

"The Cuddly Duck Song"
Here are shots from the dance that Gillian learned in Mommy/Daddy and Me ballet this year.

Gabby had a tap rehearsal for "Showbiz Kid".

Last, there was the rehearsal for Gabby's ballet class. We snapped a picture of Miss Morgan (Gabby and Gillian's dance teacher).

Happy Memorial Day!