Jessica's wedding

On May 30th, we were excited to celebrate my cousin Jessica at her wedding.  Abby was especially excited, since Jessica had asked her to be her flower girl!  Since school ended on May 21st for Abby, she was able to head down to Iowa early with my mom to help decorate for the reception and go to the dress rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  Dave, Norah, and I drove down on Saturday morning, stopping in Webster City to have lunch with my grandma, dad, sister, and brother.  Later that afternoon, we headed to Story City for the traditional Carlson cousin wedding picture before the wedding started.  The wedding was beautiful, and Abby did a great job standing up front and holding my cousin Erin's bouquet during the vows/unity candle lighting.  After the wedding, Abby was most excited for the limo ride.  It was just a short couple of blocks to the antique carousel, where both Abby and Norah got to ride with the wedding party and had a few pictures taken.  The wedding party (including Abby) then took another short ride to a nearby bridge for a few more pictures.  We drove Abby to the reception so the wedding party could pop the champagne for the rest of the limo ride.  The girls had a blast at the reception--Abby loved being able to sit up front at the head table and Norah started dancing the night away during dinner.  Both girls lasted quite awhile on the dance floor before we called it a night and went to the hotel we were staying at for the night in Ames.  The girls slept in (!) and we had fun swimming at the hotel pool before heading home.  The memories of the wedding are still strong as the girls have an obsession with playing wedding...acting it out with everyone on our fishing trip at any down time, at the state park we stopped at on the way home, and now with their Barbies nonstop!

Field trip and end of 1st grade!

Dave was able to join Abby for a field trip to the zoo during the last week of school.  He was definitely worn out at the end of the day, but they had a good time.

Above is Abby and her teacher, Mrs. Fischer--Abby's regular teacher took a medical leave at the end of January due to some issues related to mold allergies, so Mrs. Fischer was there from February on.  Abby's a pretty flexible kid, so she didn't seem too affected by the change.

Abby ended her school year a couple of days later, on May 21st this year.  They got out early because of construction at the middle school.  Abby was excited to be able to spend a couple of weeks at daycare since I was still in school.

Dance

Our spring weekends ended up being a little busier than expected this May due to dance.  Abby isn't in a pre-competition or competition group, but her teacher saw some potential in their group and thought it might be fun for them to try a competition with their tap routine, "Rockin' Little Angel."  The week before the competition, several of the studio's younger groups performed at a local assisted living center/nursing home for the residents.  They loved it, and it was a great practice for the kids, too.  The next weekend was the competition.  It was interesting experiencing a competition in person, and fun to see everyone perform.  I can't imagine spending an entire weekend there, though!  The girls ended up doing great--they earned two awards for first place, a high point, and a judge's choice award.  I'm not sure how all of the scoring works, but it was fun for the group to get a trophy and certificate and each of the girls to get a star pin.

The dance recital was the following weekend, and that was fun and went well, too.  I volunteered Friday night, and then my parents and sister, Dave's parents and sister, Dave, Norah, and I all watched the show on Saturday night.

It's nice to have the summer to take a little break from it all--Abby did decide she wants to keep dancing next year, and Norah is old enough to start next year, too.  We also found out that Abby's group is going to perform their tap dance at the Dozinky Days variety show in September...hopefully she will remember the routine!

Hello Kitty party and egg hunt

The weekend after Easter, we went down to Albert Lea to celebrate the girls' birthday with Dave's family.  Several aunts/uncles/cousins came for cake and ice cream, then we went to his aunt's house for an Easter egg hunt.  Perfect weather for hunting outside!

Frozen on Ice

Dave's mom bought tickets to "Frozen on Ice" for the girls' birthday present this year.  We met up with Dave's sister at the Target Center.  The show was lots of fun!  It's always nice to have "experience" birthday presents since the girls already have so many toys.  Abby and I also got tickets to see Mary Poppins at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater in July for our birthdays from my parents--we are looking forward to that!

Abby's 7-year-old interview

Favorite food:  mac & cheese
Favorite color:  pink and purple
Least favorite color:  gray
Favorite toy:  Barbies
Favorite fruit:  peaches
Favorite TV show:  My Little Pony
Favorite movie:  Monkey Kingdom
Favorite lunch:  Lunchable
Favorite thing to wear:  long dresses
Favorite game:  Scrabble Soup
Favorite snack:  Goldfish
Favorite zoo (fair) animal:  baby kitties/dogs
Favorite song:  Kids Bop "Prayer in C"
Favorite book:  Barbie
Best friend:  Avery, Olivia, Haley, McKenna, Kadence
Favorite cereal:  Honey Nut Cheerios
Favorite thing to do outside:  play with friends
Favorite drink:  strawberry milk
Favorite holiday:  Christmas
What I want to be when I grow up:  teacher
Favorite thing to do with Mommy:  play Scrabble Soup
Favorite thing to do with Daddy:  play outside
Favorite store:  American Girl
What makes me happy:  Going in the pool
What makes me sad:  when I fall
What I like about Daddy:  he's nice
What I like about Mommy:  she's nice
What I like about Norah:  playing hide and seek with her at daycare
What I like about Sadie:  she's soft
Now that I'm 7:  I will be in 2nd grade

Seven!

Abby turned seven on April 2--I know it's cliche, but those seven years have really gone SO fast!  I was off for spring break, but Abby still had school.  She brought Gushers to share with the kids in her class for her birthday treat, then I picked her up from school and we headed to Chuck E. Cheese in Burnsville to meet up with my parents for a birthday supper.  The girls had a blast and we also enjoyed the "zebra" cake that I had made for Abby's birthday.

We didn't do a big friend party this year, but Abby had her friend Olivia over for a sleepover one night.  The girls had such a great time playing and watching a movie, and went to bed so nicely.

Here are Abby's stats from her 7-year checkup with Dr. Mark:  weight--43 pounds (30th percentile) and height--47.5 inches (50th percentile).

At age 7, Abby is doing well in school, loves to read, gets along with Norah...sometimes :/, but still is pretty cautious about lots of things (riding a bike, heights, etc.).  So thankful for our sweet girl!