Happy 4th to my big girl

Sierra's birthday was the day after my sister's wedding.  Since we were in Illinois, away from Sierra's friends at home, I put together a little birthday gathering with two of my friends who still live in the area and have children Sierra's age.  It was a hot day, and we had a great time playing in the yard with the sprinkler, buckets, and water toys.  We followed up our playtimes with Sierra's choice of birthday cake: an icecream cake, a great choice indeed!

Kaia is chasing me with a water squirter and loving it!

Sierra's buddy Colton brought her a little something and Casey said she couldn't help it: she was excited for the chance to shop for a girl.  Sparkly headbands were in order.  She wears one almost every day!

How can tell a daddy of a little girl?  He wears the sparkly headbands, too!

A few more presents from mom and dad.

And finally, a birthday interview in pajamas. 

Congratulations Christine + Patrick

On Saturday, June 9th, my little sister Christine celebrated her marriage to her beau, Patrick with cupcakes and lots of fun!

Here is the bride and the matron of honor.  I'm a matron.  (insert eye roll here.)

The wedding was outdoors on a hillside above Apple Canyon Lake.

Here is my Gram, with some of her granddaughters and great-granddaughters.

My cousin captured a great shot of our family.

After the ceremony, we headed down the hill to explore the lake.

I love when these girls are being so sweet to each other!

The happy couple!

At the reception, my mom and presented Christine and Patrick with the Civil War Love Letter quilt we had spent the last year making.  They were thrilled with the gift, which makes me very, very happy.

Kaia looks pretty pleased with herself that she managed to get her hands on a pink cupcake.

She only ate the frosting, though.

Sierra's 4th birthday was the day after Christine's wedding, so Christine asked the person who did her cake to make a little birthday cake for Sierra to share at the reception.

Sierra found a friend in Patrick's niece Rachel and they spent most of the afternoon dancing together.

Kaia wanted to dance, too, but apparently her shoes were impeding her moves.

This one looks like she's up to no good.

We ended the day with the sunset.  Congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law!

The 9th

Jason and I celebrated 9 years of marriage on May 31st, before we left Virginia.

However, because of the chaos of the end of the year and packing and getting ready to be away for two months, we saved our major celebrating until we arrived in Galena.  Last fall, I ran in the Galena Half Marathon and my 2nd place finish won me a 2 night stay in a Galena bed and breakfast.  Since my parents were available to keep our children overnight, Jason and I took advantage of one of those nights and had an evening all to ourselves.

We enjoyed dinner at Cannova's, which has an amazing shrimp pesto pizza.

But that night, I had penne genovese, and Jason had the lobster ravioli special.  Yum!

We wandered through town for awhile before stopping at the Galena Brewing Company for a night cap.

I had a stout float.  Seriously.  Oatmeal stout and vanilla ice cream.  Unique?  Yes!

The Hellman House was lovely and we enjoyed a quiet night to ourselves.

In the morning, Jason and I enjoyed coffee on the porch overlooking Galena, and I wandered around the house a bit to check out the details a little more closely.

Fun pictures of me in Jason's glasses with Galena in the background.

For breakfast?  A German pancake and sausage.  I had never heard of such a thing, but it was delicious!

The first long layover

After two long days of driving, the girls (and mom and dad!) were thrilled to arrive at my parents' in Galena, where we stayed for the next two weeks.

Grandma's house is always fun because there is big cousin Harmony to entertain!

Jason and I were fortunate to meet up with some friend from New Hampshire who were passing through Galena on their way back from a wedding in Iowa.  Friday, right before we left from Virginia, Becca sent me a text with a picture of Galena saying, "Galena says hi."  We learned Mike and Becca would be coming back that way Monday, so we met them for lunch.

The girls took full advantage of having Grandma around to read stories.

Grandma and Grandpa's house sure is exhausting!

We went for a girls lunch at Durty Gurt's with my sisters, mom, niece, and the girls.

Harmony loved being "big cousin" to Sierra and Kaia.

Thursday night is Taco Thursday in New Diggins, a town in Wisconsin, which you get to by driving a half hour on windy back roads.  The town itself consists of not much more than a tavern on each side of the road, but one of them has a Thursday night special of 2 tacos for $1.  We go regularly when visiting my parents.

Sierra stayed up late to catch fireflies with her cousin.

And my sisters and I went out to celebrate Christine's impending marriage.  (Do we look related?)