The Suitcase Pool (July 11, 2012)

Today Annaliese played in the suitcase that we had used over the weekend.  She decided that it was her pool so when Boo came to pick us up for dinner (because my car is in the shop) she told Boo, "so these are my toys and this is my pool."  Boo just cracked up at her because she's so matter of fact with everything.  Annaliese played in this suitcase all day.  Tonight we went to Bravo's for Aunt Linda and Uncle Harold's anniversary.  Annaliese ate her first calamari and loved it along with chicken marsala, and a rich piece of chocolate cake!  Annaliese informed us at the table that if she ate too much chocolate cake, "I might get diarrhea."  I guess I have to work on the do's and don'ts of what you say while at a dinner table!  It was a nice evening and dinner.

This is what our family does after every dinner...hangs out in front of the restaurant and says good-by for a half hour.

Car Trouble and Kriss' Movie (July 10, 2012)

Today Annaliese successfully memorized her phone number.  She has such a good memory...you really don't have to tell her too many times at all and she's got it!  Tonight we went to Little Gym and Annaliese did great.  She is so successful with her forward rolls now and will hold the bar and put her feet up and hang.  She also likes to get up on her hands and feet on the parallel bars and walk across!  After gym we went to Aunt Linda's.  On the way there my car started acting up.  As Annaliese was walking she fell and then got up and said, "I lost my balance."  I love to hear her use big words in the right context.  I had my cousin Troy look at my car and determine that I should not drive it home.  So we left it and Kriss gave us a ride.  Kriss has a DVD player in her car and she was going to put on a movie for Annaliese to watch.  She had Monsters Inc. in there and so she started playing that.  Annaliese immediately started saying, "I don't like that movie, I don't want that movie, all done."  She has never seen that movie and because she doesn't watch a lot of things like that she was not fond of it at all.  So now she just keeps saying and telling everyone, "I don't like Kriss' movie."  Poor Kriss...she didn't know and either did I!  

Dance Camp (July 9, 2012)

Today we slept in and then ran some errands.  We stopped at Baba's so she could sew new elastic in my old dance shoes because Annaliese was going to wear them this evening.  We are so excited for the start of Dance Camp for Annaliese tonight.  I'm even more excited that she fit into my old shoes...so special!  The dance class was with Mrs. Mary Ann, who I talked about in a previous blog post.  The camp was really to get Annaliese ready for starting dance in the fall.  She did amazing for her first night.  Since she had already seen the studio before she felt pretty comfortable.  I walked right in with her and sat her down by the others around the parachute and then walked back out.  She stayed in the dance studio then entire hour without needing me, wanting me, or anything.  I stayed out in the waiting room and was just so proud of her for being so independent!  There are 3 girls total in her class along with Mrs. Mary Ann and 2 high school students, Miss Carly and Miss Paige.  You can't ask for a much better ratio: 3 teachers to 3 students.  Annaliese loved all of her teachers and did great with the other girls as well.  She is the youngest in the class and did awesome!  Mrs. Mary Anne said that we had to take our first picture at the bar so that years from now we can look back and she how much she's grown!

Mrs. Mary Ann helping Annaliese hold the bar properly.

First pose at the bar.

Annaliese and her first dance teacher, Mrs. Mary Anne.

Hanging with the girls after dance.

Showing off her moves that she learned.

"Pointing her toes."

When I said, "Annaliese point your toes," she did this...so adorable!

First bun for ballet!

First attempts at an arabesque...beautiful!

Baby Eddie does everything she does!

Wearing my dance shoes...so cool!

My dance shoes fit her perfectly...awwwwe!

A Great Anniversary Weekend (July 8, 2012)

It was nice to celebrate our anniversary weekend with our family.  Today we got up and had breakfast with everyone before they all went home.  We decided to go to the high-end area of Richmond and do some shopping.  We had  a great time walking around at all of the shops and making a few purchases along the way!  On our way home we took the route by our church as a reminder of our special day there 7 years ago!  Back in Va. Beach, Annaliese went with Gammy and Ganddaddy, and Quila to the pet store.  She thought it was so cool that Quila got to go inside with her and ride in the cart too!  Then they played in Gammy's backyard pool and had an anniversary dinner ready for Eric and I when we got there!  When we were cleaning up Annaliese set up all the salad dressings and then started singing Happy Birthday and was blowing out her "candles."  She's got such an imagination!  Thanks Gammy and Ganddaddy for watching Annaliese!

My bellhop!

The place where we made it all come true!