Kite Festival

The kite festival was rained out last year, so we were really looking forward to it this year.  Plus we brought Marissa and Casey because they were in town for Olive's birthday.  Olive thought it was pretty special to have a kite festival on her birthday weekend.  

This is the last known picture of our fairy kite before Olive let go of the handle and Steve chased it across the field.  It got caught on a power line and might still be flying there.  Oh well, we wanted to pick out a new kite anyway.

Casey was very attached to the butterfly kite.

We had a picnic lunch and then got some cotton candy for dessert.

Our favorite kites were the whale, horse, and trick kite with a little man on the end of the tail.

It got a little chilly when the sun was behind clouds and Olive decided to snuggle up on Uncle Casey's jacket.

Marissa and I wore matching shirts (unplanned) so we had to document it.

Animal Tales and Trails

Olive chose to eat at McDonald's for her birthday (for breakfast) and then go to Crown Center.  We actually went the day after her birthday because Hannah had the day off school. Animal Tales and Trails was the special exhibit at Crown Center, which was the same one we went to when Hannah turned 3.  They rotate exhibits every three months or so, but I guess the same ones come back after a few years.

And 4 years ago...

And 4 years ago..

And 4 years ago...

They talked me into lunch at Fritz's before we had to take Olive to pre-K

Q and U Get Married

Olive was very excited to attend the wedding of Q and U at preschool.  I love their letter curriculum and all of the cute things they do with it!  Of course Olive wanted to wear her old flower girl dress for the occasion. They started with day with all the girls in one room getting Q ready for the wedding while the boys were in another room decorating U with bow ties.  They celebrated with cake and punch and bubbles.  And it was also the day she brought her birthday treats to hand out.  It was a big day in pre-K!  

Learning Tree 20th Birthday

Our neighborhood toy store had a 20th birthday party.  We got free prizes, suckers, cupcakes, cotton candy and face painting.  The girls had a blast!

Mess

Lest I only remember the good times or only take pictures when things are clean...here is the usual state of Olive's room:

Hannah usually tries to keep her floor clean....but I found all of these things in her bed when I was changing her sheets.  At least she likes to read. :)

Daisy Scouts

So we are almost done with the school year and I never did a post about Daisy Scouts.  Oops.  Since Hannah didn't do soccer in the fall we were looking for an extra-curricular.  Daisy Scouts seemed like a good option.  And instead of taking up every Saturday morning for six weeks like soccer, it met just once a month after school. :)  Plus most of the girls in her class were joining the troop.  It was an easy decision.  

Hannah has loved everything about it: hanging out with friends after school, eating snacks, doing crafts, earning badges, and selling cookies.  We only sold to family, but she did it all herself: asking for the sale, sorting boxes, adding up the cost and making change.  It was a great learning experience.  The other big thing she did in scouts was the international fair.  The girls picked a country and made a trinket to represent that country.  Then they got together with a bunch of other troops and bought each other's trinkets.  When we walked into the gym and saw all the booths set up Hannah said, "Wow!  This is going to be so fun!"  I like looking at the world through her eyes.  Spending the morning in a school gym selling bookmarks and buying bracelets/magnets/flowers seems like the coolest thing in the world when you are six.

Face Swap

Here are the wonderful Face Swaps we did on Easter weekend.  Becky has it on her phone and entertained us for hours.  I knew about it before but it was my first time doing it.  Basically you look at the phone and the camera switches parts of your face with someone else in real time.  So you can talk and make funny faces as the other person.  You can also take a picture and here they are...

I was doing it with Olive and then Hannah walked in the background and somehow it switched all three of our faces!

This is what it looks like when you already have the same face:

And we found out Justin and Becky basically have the same face, too!

This is where it starts to get good!  These two do not have the same face and it is pretty creepy.  I laugh every time I see this.

But then there is this.  Mom is Burt Reynolds and Dad is my great uncle Dale.

But this one takes the cake!  Steve actually ran away in horror when it came on the screen.  Prepare yourself.  Once you see it, you can't un-see it.  We make the ugliest couple ever. This is what happens when you look nothing alike, folks.  I'm a troll.

Happy April Fool's Day!  You're welcome.

Easter

We went to Marissa and Casey's house in Omaha for Easter weekend.  We had a great time playing games and doing hilarious Face Swaps (that deserves its own post).  Grandma and Grandpa were also there, but not in this picture.

The girls were very excited to meet Marissa's new cat Eddie.  They spent a lot of time setting up a "cat play place" and even playing it in themselves.  I could not believe Olive could fit in the cat house.

And of course Hannah had to try it, too.

Marissa and Casey and their fur babies: Eddie and Jules

 Easter morning we did our traditional scavenger hunt for Easter basket goodies.

And we went to Casey and Marissa's church.  The girls were excited because they heard there were doughnuts.  They also wanted to hand out egg crafts to all of her friends.

Hunting eggs in the Prewitt's backyard

Somehow it was snowing in KC, but sunny in Omaha!

The neighborhood egg hunt was in the park right next to Marissa and Casey's house.  We even got to meet a (not scary) Easter bunny.

It was Olive's first real egg hunt.  I can't believe the last time we did one, Hannah was only two years old.  Both girls filled their baskets and Hannah even found a sparkling egg that won an extra prize.

Hannah Stats- 7 years

Hannah is now 52 pounds (55th percentile) and 4 feet 5 inches tall (99th percentile).  In the past year she gained 2 pounds and grew 3 inches.  Here are her stats from year one, two, three, four, five and six.

Hannah is a first grader this year.  It was an adjustment to go from half-day kindergarten to full-day first grade (and with two teachers!)  She doesn't love school as much as last year because it is so much longer and more work, too.  But she is still an excellent student.  It's been amazing to listen to her reading go from sounding out every syllable (and making random guesses when she didn't feel like sounding it out) to reading new books fluently.  In January she started taking AR tests (for reading comprehension) and she hasn't missed one question yet!  Of course her favorite subjects are math and science.  She still doesn't like making mistakes or getting in trouble.

Hannah has always looked and acted older, but she REALLY seems mature now.  I'm not sure how to describe it.  She talks differently (saying "like" a lot) and she is quieter in class this year.  I can see the influence of friends, but she doesn't care too much what everyone else is doing.  She signed up to be in Lego Club at school even though she doesn't know anyone else in it.  I asked how she would feel if she ended up being the only girl.  She said, "So what?  I like legos."  I hope she always has that attitude.

I used to say Hannah is a lot like me, and even more like Steve.  The older she gets, the more she becomes his Mini Me.  She looks like Steve. She likes science, math, and engineering.   And she loves being outside and doing anything athletic.  Just about anything he is interested in, she is interested in it, too.

What I love about Hannah:
I love her enthusiasm for life.  When she is interested in something, she is ALL IN!  It is fun to be around someone having so much fun.  I am proud that she is such a good student, but I am more proud that she is kind.  She always includes Olive when she is playing with her friends.  She cheers for Olive and helps her learn new things.

What Steve loves about Hannah:
I love her competitive spirit and our shared interested in all things sports.  I love her independence and initiative.

What Olive loves about Hannah:
She gives love and she's nice.  She's a good sister.  

What Hannah thinks about herself:
I'm a great climber.  I can also ride bikes and skateboard very well.  I look on the bright side.


Hannah's Favorites as a Seven-Year-Old:
restaurants: Panera and Fritz's
place: Silver Dollar City
color: pink
animal: horse
food: Velveeta shells and cheese
drinks: grape juice and chocolate milk
song: Roar by Katy Perry
books: Berenstain Bear series, Elephant and Piggie series, non-fiction animal books
TV show: Strawberry Shortcake
toys: horses, legos, roller blades, helicopter, fairy flyer
activities: nature walks, bird watching, crafts, biking, skating, swimming, sledding, flying kites
games: Hullabaloo, Monopoly Jr, Station Celebration
subject in school: science
special in school: pe
job when she grows up: design engineer or teacher

dislikes: scary movies (just about any movie), writing