Safety Village

Because of her mid-August birthday, Brigitta missed the cut-off for Safety Village last summer so she was pretty excited when her turn finally rolled around. Both Liesel and Ireland were in the green groups so everyone was curious to find out if that's where Brigitta would go as well. The girls stayed in the car while I ran to the front of the school. I opened the manila envelope and pulled out that green t-shirt and a cheer was heard across the parking lot. Brigitta was so nervous on her first day, which isn't like her at all, but she quickly found a groove and ended up loving Safety Village as much as her sisters did.

She learned when to stop...

...and when to go.

She made lots of cool friends and got to sing songs and learn to "drive" the little cars in the village.

The actual village is so dang cute, I love how the buildings mimic actual buildings in Iowa City. Like the mini Old Capitol...

...which is modeled after the actual Old Capitol.

After Safety Village graduation, we packed up and headed back home. The girls were excited to see Brent and I was more than ready to have a tag-team partner again. These girls are fun, but man are they exhausting!

Iowa City

Due to pump repairs (or was it heater?), swim lessons were moved from Mercer to City Park. As a kid, we always preferred City over Mercer because it was outdoors and there was a high dive. 

One or two of those first swim lessons were a bit on the cool side, so I wasn't sure if the girls would ever warm to City Park. By the end of our two weeks, they were all begging to return to City Park next summer.

After all, it has a high dive!

Ireland's annual appointment with her asthma specialist went extremely well. I don't want to jinx it and say we are out of the woods yet but the last couple of years have definitely been much, much smoother.

Walking around that hospital gave me a new appreciation for the health we have. If you ever want to feel better about your lot in life, visit a hospital. If you really want to feel better about your lot in life, visit a children's hospital. Although I think it's sweet that the fans at Kinnick Stadium wave to the children at the hospital, I'm deeply grateful Ireland isn't sick enough to be one of them. 

It took us a long time to find her specialist, Dr. Randak, and I'm so grateful for him and the support staff at the hospital. Our lives changed drastically for the better once he entered the picture.

The girls rocked their penny grabs when we made deposits at the bank. The oldest three get a little competitive about how much money they're able to pack into their little fists.

We made sure to stop at Z'mariks.

I think I could live off of their z'fajita for the rest of my life. Even looking at this picture makes me happy!

Before leaving town to go on tour, Dad treated us to a ride in the Model A.

Glad my old man is still around to school me on the art of double-clutching. I almost got it... almost.

The t-shirts at Scheels are hilarious. Well, they are hilarious if you are from the area and get the jokes. I splurged on one that says, "Iowa City: Chicago's favorite suburb." 

Even though it is small, the Children's Museum is so well done! It's a great place to explore possible careers:

A place to let your imagination take flight:

A place to express yourself (in Legos, no less!).

And a place to create:

Another great thing about being in Iowa City is the girls get to be around Dakota. Sometimes only a dog can point out going for a run isn't as much fun as rolling around in the cool grass.

She's happy to keep you company if you just want to sit under the shade of a giant oak tree.

Dakota can also teach you a thing or two about a sassy walk.

Brigitta really cracks me up in that video!

Dakota's pretty darn patient with these girls, who I'm pretty sure wear her out with all their energy.

Another great visit to Iowa City in the books!

2018 Spring Dance Recital

The usual recital rigamarole was amped up quite a bit by the fact that Liesel was taking additional classes. She used her chocolate money to pay for jazz/hip hop. Since I'm so handy with braids, my friend Lindsey volunteered me to help out with hair and then I got roped into helping out with makeup as well. Of course I'm happy to help out and make the recital a success! No complaints, but man alive life got busy in a hurry!

The photographer graciously did sister photos on picture day:

Brent came to grab Sydney after her photos were done and since they were headed to the grocery store, he changed her back into her regular clothes. I wasn't actually around to see it or hear it, but several amused parents related the particulars to me later. Apparently Sydney thought she'd get to wear her costume all day and there was quite the uh, "negotiation" happening in the restroom. She emerged all dressed but in tears along with a very huffy and disheveled Brent, who had a fistful of tulle in his hand.

She really loved her costume!

There was a clip of flowers that was supposed to go in her hair and in spite of my careful organization of the costumes, it was lost. I could just kick myself because it was so cute!

As you may have guessed, the little boy in their class doesn't seem to like dance much.

I love how she looks at her toes when she points them.

Brigitta was also pretty wild about her costume (ha! PUN).

Gold is her favorite color and she kept smoothing the velvet overlay on top of her tutu.

For this number, I was asked to do their makeup and turn them into lions. They were all so excited, they held perfectly still for me and they ended up looking dang cute!

I'm really proud of Brigitta for picking up her mane and popping it back on her head when it fell off. It didn't phase her one bit.

Ireland was in a class all by herself. 

Her routine was one of my favorites because it was really elegant and beautiful. Her nerves got the better of her a bit during the actual performance but it's really hard to be on stage alone!

Lindsey teased me because I usually iron out the tulle in the costumes to make the skirts extra fluffy but this year I just did not have the time. Thank goodness you really can't tell in the photos!

Liesel really loved her hip hop classes so it was a good investment for her to make.

Her teacher was impressed she picked up the "baby freeze" so quickly. It was like she was born to dance hip hop!

This is a really cool class of kids that got along really well. They're all a bit more serious about dance than the average student.

Liesel really loved that she got to act in her routine. There's a part where they break into rival dance groups and bait each other. Her "come at me" move is pretty authentic, I have to say.



The studio director likes to do occasional numbers that are dark or weird; she doesn't want all the dances to be prissy and cute. Liesel's jazz number was a dark piece- if you didn't gather that by the photo!

For some reason this routine makes me smile. When Liesel throws that rose over her shoulder it makes me laugh every time. She's kind of good at the dark stuff.

We had a lot of fun watching these girls put their heart and soul out there onstage!

They loved having one more fan in the crowd too.

Cousin Abigail

We were all pretty excited when we found out Abigail would be able to spend a few days with us while she did some college tours here in the Midwest. The girls rarely get to see their Utah cousins so we were ready to show off the Windy City. Abigail has 3 little brothers so she was pretty excited too.

A long plane ride can work up an appetite so we whisked her over to Ditka's for their famous pot roast nachos. 

The American Girl Store is only a block away so we had to stop in and see what is new. Abigail is fond of horses so she liked the stable set complete with hay bales and chicken coop.

We headed to Millenium Park to take some fun photos.

Brigitta was already chatting her ear off...

We did Lou Malnati's for deep dish pizza on another day. Abigail was definitely a fan. Having her with us was a crash course in teenage appetites! 

The Museum of Science and Industry had a Pixar exhibit and Abigail is an avid artist so we made sure to see that while she was in town as well. 

There are lots of parallels between my red-headed niece and the rebel princess Merida from Brave. We had some fun taking these photos.

The girls enjoyed putting together their own models.

I wish we could have spent just a little more time at the exhibit because it was really cool to see how Pixar movies are put together. Animation has come such a long way and the details are so sophisticated! However, Abigail had a campus tour at the University of Chicago and I needed to drop the girls off at Brent's work so we had to breeze through.

I'm glad we were able to see what we did though.

We've watched some of these Pixar movies so many times, the characters are like old friends.

We stopped at just a couple of favorite spots in the museum like this one before hitting the road

Brent and I agreed to divide and conquer so Ireland, Abigail and I headed to the University of Chicago while the rest of the girls were treated to an early commute home. We've been to the campus dozens of times so the girls can earn a little money participating in studies. It was really interesting to find out a little more about the programs and such. For example, the incoming class is divided into houses, like Hogwarts! We skipped the tour because Abigail instantly felt it wasn't the right fit but the few buildings we did see were gorgeous. Carved stone with big, solid wood doors and stained glass. I know you shouldn't attend a college just based on cosmetics but sitting in those rooms made me want to crack a book, for sure!

Abigail was a dear to the girls and a big help to me, especially during the dance recital and I'm so glad we could host her for a little while!