Go Ask Alice

I am a little bit late on posting the Halloween pics, but thought I would share them anyway. I convinced Dad an Mom to dress up JUST THIS ONCE. I picked out all of the costumes. I was very concerned with staying in character and gave Dad and Mom lines to recite from the movie.

Alice with the mean Queen of Hearts and the very silly Mad Hatter

Ella was the Cheshire Cat and I had a white rabbit purse

Leaving the house to start trick or treating
First stop was Great Grandma's...While there we ran into Daddy's cousin Jason, his wife Dana, and little Grant, their adorable cowboy

After Aunt Nancy's I went to Granny and Great Grandpa's

Next I went to Grandma Bonnie and Papa's house

After going to see our friends John and Ruth, I ended the night at Grandma Pam's

Hi 5!

I am finally 5! 5 is my favorite number so I was extra excited for this birthday. I had a great day including taking a special snack to school, choclate chip cookies. Then it was a fun but low key night at home with Mom and Dad on the big day. I had a great swimming party with my cousins and school friends, and had family over for a pizza party the Saturday after my birthday. I am still loving school and especially love going every day this year. I had the chance to go with Daddy a few times in the combine, and am happy to report that the harvest is complete! I also went on a really fantastic shopping trip with Grandma and Mom last month where we shopped til we very nearly dropped. Last weekend I spent the night with Aunt Amy and we went to a pumpkin farm which I really enjoyed. Here at home I am still very much in love with Ben and want to help Mom with him all the time and play with him every minute he is here. I am also learning knew things everyday with Mom when we do our "pretend" school. We have a lot of fun fall activities coming up like wiener roasts and helping at the church pumpkin patch. I am very much looking forward to Halloween too. This year it is going to be SUPER fun!

My friend Lakin and me before the swimming party started

Blowing out candles for the second of three times...this was also at the swimming party
Jaycie gave me a big kiss when she left the party at my house...we love each other so much
Daddy and me in the combineWorking at the pumpkin patch with Mommy Mommy and I out together this candy haunted house kit on Monday and it is still standing!

Memo

Just a quick little update this time:

Leaving for my first day of school. I am going five afternoons a week this year and loving it! We had a teddy bear party on Friday.

Here are some comparison pics for you.....Here are Jake and me last year on our first day...
...And here are my main man and me going into school a week ago

Don't we look so grown up? I went straight to the classroom library & strarted reading books when I arrived. No big surprise there!

Daddy and I are still doing our running. Here we are at the Waverly picnic kids run. I am getting faster and so is Daddy!

Mom wondered if I would be less interested in my favorite little buddy Ben after a little while. NO! I am so excited to see him each time he comes to our house and want to help do anything Mom does to take care of him. I even want to look at pictures of him when he isn't here. I just can't get enough of him.

Isn't he so cute! I like to call him Little Bean. He is rolling over now and has started his own really funny, loud "talking".

Today was my first day back at dance. Once again I am taking tap and tumbling. I am one of the oldest ones in the class now after being a shrimp for the past two years. I even got to be the leader in class today.

Here I am practicing my curtsey with Mrs. Stevens and Miss Amy. Mommy loves this so much she just HAD to share it! They were her dance teachers when she was a litte girl too.

Marching out of the studio

Another comparison...Here I am at my very first dance class in 2008...

...And here I am today

Also, the harvest is officially under way. We will keep everyone updated on the progress. Mommy, Grandma Pam, and I are headed to the Ozarks next weekend for some serious power shopping. I am sure I will have an update when we get back. Enjoy the rest of the long weekend everybody.

Vacation

It has been almost a week since we returned from our vacation to Jamaica, and I thought I would share some photos. We had a great time, but we always do when we're together. For those curious, we flew into Montego Bay and stayed at the Beaches Resort in Negril on Seven Mile Beach.

This was the view from our table one morning at breakfast. Four of the five restaraunts, including this one, were open air. There was another pool with a swim-up bar too. I loved getting Sprites to drink without having to get out of the pool.

This is a small part of the beach as seen from one of the pool decks.
There was a small water park area. Here are Dad and me on the lazy river. This was one of my favorite things to do. We were on it for at least an hour everyday.

I thought the beach needed watering! The water was beautiful, warm, calm, and shallow for a good ways out which was perfect for littler beach goers like me. Of course we had plenty of beach time each day.

The weather was great! It was about 85 every day, but there were island rains every afternoon. Mommy and I took advantage of the rainy times to do other fun activities like decorating this shell and bug at a craft class.

I also went to the spa and had my fingernails and toenails painted while it was raining. Mom and Dad each went to the spa for a massage too.

Beaches partners with Sesame Street for their kid's club program. On Thursday afternoon all of the Sesame gang led a parade through the resort that ended on the beach. I danced with all of them and of course wanted my picture with all of them. (My face is pianted like a butterfly in this picture).

I had been talking about building this sand castle for months. Dad, Mom, and I all worked togehter on it. Daddy built a moat around it that would fill with water when the water came close enough. He has such good ideas.

I am having a sunset snack here in a lounging area. We also went to tea at this spot one afternoon. The tea was essential as so many of the guests were British. It was neat to meet other kids from different places, not just Jamaica.

This Poster changed every day according to the event being held in the ampitheatre. I was very happy when I saw what was coming up on this day. The show was When I Grow Up and all of the kids were asked to come out on the floor to sing and dance along. Fun stuff! On Saturday morning we went on a Cattamaran trip. Daddy and I are checking out the water. Even farther out like this we could still see to the bottom. The water was just so pretty. Mommy and I saw quite a few stingrays on the boat ride.

We stopped to snorkel which was an experience. I do NOT like to have salt water in my mouth so I wouldn't put my face in to see all of the sea life. Mommy took me with the slower beginner group, and luckily we had the best group leader ever! He held me almost the whole time while Mommy enjoyed the snorkeling. He also dove down several times and picked up things for me to hold like sea urchins and a starfish. So cool!

Mom and I went to lots of activities at the kid camp. Here I am making cookies with Cookie Monster. We also went to storytime with Elmo, treasure hunting with Abby Cadabby, and exploring with Grover among other things.

On Sunday we had breakfast with all of the Sesame Street characters. Here I am with Zoe. My favorite of course was Abby Cadabby who made a big deal all week when she would see me and hear that my name was Abby too.

Wasting away in Margaritaville in this last picture. We went on a long walk down the beach on Sunday morning to see something outside of our resort, and Margaritaville was the only place Mom was willing to stop. We saw some interesting (questionable) places on that walk, but Mom and Dad were glad we ventured out at least a very little bit. While we were stopped here, Mom and I decided to swim out a litle distance to the trampolines and do some jumping. Glad we did!

We had so many terrific experiences there! Also, the food was great, our room was really nice, and we learned a lot about the customs and people in Jamaica. Even without all of this great stuff, as Daddy says, "The bus ride was worth the whole trip!"

On the Go

Holding Baby Ben...Can you tell how happy I am?
Ella turned 4 last month.

Walking down the streets of the Windy City

At American Girl Place shopping for Ella

Brookfield Zoo

Lunch with the Coon Kids

I have been a busy girl this past month. I finished my second session of swimming lessons, and am now swimming without my water wings most of the time. I also finished the library summer reading program having made a lot of craft projects and hearing a lot of stories. I have also been enjoying going to the park and to Aunt Nancy's house. Most of all I am loving hanging out with the crazy Bangert boys. I have so enjoyed having Baby Ben in our house a couple of days a week and having Jake here again to play with.

Besides my everyday fun, I also spent a quick overnight at Aunt Amy's. She took my four year pictures and you can see them at http://www.amycoonphotography.printroom.com/. Click on Abby and the pasword is my last name. She did a wonderful job! I also spent a quick night with my other cousins. We went to Edwardsville where Daddy and Aunt Sissy ran the Mud Mountain 5K that Uncle George's running boys put on. Kira, Geordan, and I ran the 1 mile fun run. Thank goodenss Aunt Sissy was nice enough to run the slowest mile of her life (about 18:20) alongside me. This was my second race this summer and Daddy's 4th 5K so far.

Two weeks ago we went to Chicago with Daddy's family where Aunt Amy had a convention to go to. We did lots of fun things there. We went to the zoo (my first time), took the train downtown where we went to American Girl Place, the Disney Store, and the Rainforest Cafe, swam at the hotel, and went to a party Aunt Amy hosted.

This weekend we had a two day pool party with Daddy's family at Grandma Pam's. I had THE most fun! There were lots of kids there to play with, and of course I loved being in the pool.

Wednesday we are going on vacation. All three of us are so ready to go!!! I hope to have lots of great pictures to share very soon.

Happy Summer

Here is what's new in my life:

First things first, I am way overdue in introducing my newest little friend..........Benjiman Matthew was born May 7 at 4:29 p.m., 6lbs. 14oz., 20 in. long. He is OH SO SWEET! We have had great fun spending time with him these last several weeks. I love to hold him, but have a little trouble wrestling him away from my mom. She is such a baby hog. Ben and big brother Jake will be coming to our house regularly staring next week, and we are VERY excited! Check out the adorable smile he debuted a couple of weeks ago!

Dad has decided to start doing road races. I like to go and watch, and plan on doing my frist .5 mile fun run this Saturday following Daddy's 5K.

My dance recital was held over Memorial Day weekend. Mom says I did a good job, and improved a lot from last year. I did a tap dance to "Splish Splash". Here are a few shots of me in my costume.

We had the rare delight of having twin calves born on our farm. I named them Frank and Dave. Daddy found out a couple of weeks later that he made a little mistake, so Dave was renamed Anastasia.

I have been fully enjoying being outside. My favorites this summer are riding my bike and scooter, playing baseball, and of course swimming.

I took swimming lessons for two weeks, and had the same teacher that I had last summer. Her name is Abby too! I was comfortable with her which helped me be a little more willing to try new things. I start another two week session on Tuesday.

Here I am doing Daddy's hair. I have enjoyed having him around a little more the last couple of weeks. He had a very long, wet spring, and we are so glad that things are looking up for him now. We know it was very stressful for you, good job Daddy.

My counsins and me getting ready to take a dip at Grandma Pam's.