Cousin Photo Shoot 2012 and Grandma Mickow's 95th

We attempted to do a summer photo shoot at my mom's house again this year.  It was a lot trickier getting all five cousins to cooperate than in the past when there were just two.  We got some cute expressions, but unfortunately, we didn't realize that we had my dad's camera on the wrong setting the whole time.  So, the quality of the pictures are not good.  Despite being fuzzy and washed out, I thought I'd post some of the cute ones anyway.

Tessa, Aubry, Grady, Kyri, and Morgyn

And last weekend, we celebrated Kyle's grandma's 95th birthday.  It was a surprise, and she seemed so happy to have all of her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids with her.

Here was an attempt to get all five great-grandkids in a picture with the birthday girl.

 The whole family

Kyle's mom, two uncles, and grandma

Roommate Reunion

I'm so happy that my Purdue girls are still all able to get together every few months.  It's getting harder and harder now that there are seven kids in the group, but it's great that we're all still willing to make it work!  This time we stayed at Kelly and Pat's house in Naperville, so it wasn't too far for me.  Half of our group came in from Indiana, and Divya and her family came all the way from Houston.  We really appreciate Kel putting up with all of us and our little rug-rats in her new house.  We made quite a mess! 

I posted all of these pictures on Facebook already, but I wanted to blog about it, too, so I wouldn't forget...

Here is Kel trying to get Tessa to color on paper instead of her table.

Hannah (Martha's daughter) and Annika (Divya's daughter)

The three youngest playing together

Hannah, Lucy (Amy's daughter), and Annika

Kyri and Connor (Martha's son)

Kyri was in charge of pushing everyone on the swing and kept looking for volunteers...

We went to a nice place for lunch that had good food but bad service.  The kids were great for the first hour and a half, but they got pretty restless as the meal approached two hours.  I was happy for the YouTube version of Baby Einstein on my phone to calm Tess down!

Beth and Tessa

Kelly and Kyri

After the long lunch, we attempted to do a little shopping...

All the kids wanted to do was run around and get their energy out after sitting for so long.

Kyri and Connor hiding under a clothes rack...

So we gave up on shopping and decided to head back to Kelly's backyard for some outdoor fun.

Connor, Kyri, and Tessa

Tessa never really got into the pool.  She just wanted to drink from the fountains!

 Erin let Annika take a little dip, too.

Some group shots...

While we were together, everyone got to see the many faces of Tessa B.  She can be quite the character these days.  She changes moods in a split second, and Erin summed it up by comparing her to a commercial for Sour Patch Kids.  The commercial says, "First they're sour, then they're sweet."  That's so Tess!  She switches back and forth all day long depending on if she's getting her way or not!  After Erin joked about this, Kyle and I have been calling out her moods in the same voice the commercial uses.  

Sour...

Sweet!

 Posing for a pic

Kyri entertained the group by performing on her "stage".

Sunday was Father's Day, so we spent the afternoon at Morton Arboretum's BBQ.

Kyri and her daddy - We couldn't get Tess to sit with them for a picture.

But as soon as Kelly and Pat sat down for a picture, Tessa put her arms up to sit with them.  What??

Divya, Annika, and Alex 

(Alex's first Father's Day!!)

 Waiting for lunch

Tessa kept pointing to the flowers and saying "wowers". 

My girls

Family shot

Beautiful Annika

The rest of our group had to leave to get the Houston crew to the airport, but we stayed for a little while longer.  After playing in the pond, the girls needed an outfit change and then a snack.

I caught a special moment while Kyle was telling Kyri a story.

We played in some of the other areas.

And then headed home.  Kyri, Tessa, and I all fell asleep in the car!  We had a fun weekend.  Can't wait to see everyone again soon.  Miss you guys already!

A Visit from Cousin Kate and Patrick....And The Big Recital!

 A few weeks ago, Kate and Patrick, our cousins from South Carolina came to visit.  Kate is my mom's cousin's daughter.  Kyri called them my mom's girl cousin and my mom's boy cousin.  : )

Kate and Kyri at the Morton Arboretum

Patrick, Kate, and Tessa B. 

(Tessa's first train ride!)

Splashing in the fountain at Millennium Park

Playing with Patrick

Tessa felt like such a big girl when she got to get out of the stroller and walk with Kate.

My attempt at a group shot at the bean...

Tessa B. and Grandma Nancy

And watch out... A star is born!!!

Our little honey bee

Showing off her wings

Waiting backstage with Miss Emma

K.J. was so excited that Aubry came to watch!

This was a pretty special day for me.  It was really cool to be back at the same place I performed at year after year for about 10 years.  Some of the girls that I used to dance with also have their daughters in classes at our old studio, so we got a little emotional when we were all standing backstage together!

The Grandmas

The song was from the Winnie the Pooh movie.  So, Pooh and Piglet were out there with them.

When Kyri went back out for the finale, she became awe struck by the crowd and left the line she was supposed to be in.  She walked right to the front middle of the stage and started bowing, curtsying, and waving.  It was priceless!  Miss Emma had to go fetch her and bring her back to the line.

The star with her flowers

 Aunt Sherry gave her a special pin that used to be Grandma Joan's ballerina pin.  

It was a sweet moment.

Here is a weak video from dress rehearsal.  You can't really see the girls' faces, but Kyri is the third honey bee from the left.  (We weren't allowed to video during the actual recital.)

 Taking time to smell the roses...