Alex's Birthday Party

This year, Alex had her 7th birthday at Incredible Pizza, which is an arcade type pizza place with go-karts, bumper cars, and mini golf.  Alex invited all the girls and one boy in her class to go and had a great turn out!  She said it was the best day ever!

She and her friends had a private room to eat pizza and have fun.  They were really loud (for me), but they were having fun!

I have to wonder where some of her gifts she received came from because this year she did receive some odd gifts.  I wonder if the parents just dig out old gifts or things they bought and never used.  Some of the odd gifts she received was a pair of underwear about 3 sizes too big (well, I guess I can keep them for her to use when she is about 12 years old) and about a big pack of hot chocolate (about 100 packets worth).  I guess she will have enough hot chocolate to drink for the next couple winters.  Of course, she received some cute toys too, including one of her favorites:  Lalaloopsy!

Halloween

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would catch up.  For Halloween, Alex was a friendly devil.  Here she is:

We walked around a nearby neighborhood and Alex saw a few of her classmates while out trick-or-treating.  She had so much fun!

World Food Festival

Last weekend, we heard there was a World Food Festival going on in the west village of downtown Des Moines.  We decided to check it out, because we seem to always complain that there isn't as much going on here as there is in Atlanta and the twin cities.  Apparently this food festival has grown over the years and is now very large.  Keith and I tried a pupusa from an El Salvadoran restaurant.  It was our first time trying this and it was so delicious!  I am going to have to try and find an recipe online and try to make it myself.  We also tried food from an Ethiopian place which was OK, but we have had better Ethiopian food elsewhere.  Alex wouldn't give any of it a try, but she did enjoy the ice cream and making some crafts!

Blank Park Zoo

Alex and I went to Blank Park Zoo a few weeks ago.  I am student teaching at a school in Des Moines, and they had a family day at the zoo that we were able to go to.  The last time we were at this zoo was last November when we came here for Keith's interview.  This time was a little better because they had more animals to look at.  The Australian animals were our favorite part because the animals were not enclosed and we could see them up close.  Alex was so excited to see the wallaby's and emus roaming around with no fence keeping us from seeing them up close. 

Birthday Party

Here is Alex with her friend, Alma, at Alma's birthday party.  Alma is the one with the red hat.  The other kids are Alma's cousins and Alex didn't know any of them.  Alma is the first friend Alex made in Des Moines.  She has made lots of friends since starting first grade, but I still have yet to meet some parents.  She starts girl scouts this month, so hopefully I will get to meet some more parents and set up some play dates for Alex.

Alex's New Kitty

Meet the newest member to the family:  Whiskers, as Alex likes to call him (or Neo, which Keith likes to call him).  He is a cute, fun little guy, but he does try to keep us awake at night, which is a little annoying, so we usually lock him out of the room.  Fluffy isn't so sure what to think about Whiskers though.  Fluffy usually spends his day sleeping in his wheel and Whiskers has figured out how to knock the wheel off the cage so we have to separate the two. 

First Day of First Grade

Last Thursday was Alex's first day of first grade!  She loved it!  Here is she is after getting off the school bus.  She says she has made lots of new friends and really likes her teacher.  She should meet even more friends when I sign her up for girl scouts next week.

Iowa State Fair

We decided to check out the Iowa State Fair yesterday because we heard it was such a great fair.  Unfortunately, we were a little disappointed.  The Minnesota State Fair, we believe, is much better!  I really missed the all you can drink milk to go along with the chocolate chip cookies they have at the Minnesota State Fair.  We walked through the different barns and enjoyed seeing the animals, but were disappointed we didn't see more fried foods on a stick.  We did see deep friend twinkies, oreos, and candy bars, but that was about it.  The most excited part was a visit from vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.  We had no idea he would be there until we noticed a large group of people huddled around a stage with a lot of television cameras.  We watched him walk in but didn't stay around to listen to him because there were too many people and we couldn't hear what he was saying anyway.  As we were leaving we saw him again and tried to get a few more pictures but again, there were too many people and security not letting us get too close.  Check out the pictures on my facebook page.

Terrace Hill

A few days ago my parents came to visit and we decided to tour the governors mansion, also known as Terrace Hill.  We got to tour the first two floors of the mansion, as the third floor is currently occupied by the governor and his family.  The home was beautiful and the tour was really informative.  This was really the first time I have done much sight seeing here and will have to get out more and find out what there is to do in this town.

Click here for pictures:

Terrace Hill

Swimming

This summer, Alex has been swimming a lot!  She has learned to swim on her own and open her eyes under water-- she is not afraid to do it in a lake or pool.  Yesterday she swam on her own in the deep end.  She has always been scared of water before.  When we lived in Dominica and Miami she was terrified of the waves and the ocean.  She must be over that fear now because she wants to go swimming everyday!  Here she is at Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines, IA.  She loves this beach!

Jester Park, Iowa

On one of Keith's days off we decided to check out a nearby park, north of Des Moines, called Jester Park.  It is near Saylorville Lake, which is a big lake run by the US Army Corp of Engineers.  The park and Saylorville Lake has lots of camping areas, equestrian, hiking, bike paths, etc.  We are just getting used to the area and are checking out different areas every so often.  We really like the Saylorville Lake area because it isn't too far from where we live and there is a great bike path that runs from downtown Des Moines to the north side of Saylorville Lake.

Check out a few pictures:

Jester Park, Iowa

Alex's new school

We drove by Alex's new elementary school today.  It is just about the nicest elementary school I have ever seen and Alex was very excited!  She wishes she could start school tomorrow.

The name of the school she will be going to is Horizon Elementary.  It looks like it is somewhat a new school.

We found three different gardens. A vegetable, butterfly, and not sure what the third garden is, maybe a memorial garden.  This one is a vegetable garden.

Alex starts school in mid August and will get done in May.  I am excited for her to start and to meet new friends.  I know she will love her new school.

We are now living in Des Moines

Here is Alex swimming in the pool where we live.  We have been here a week now and so far like it, but we really wish we knew people.  We have gone to the pool almost everyday this week and haven't seen too many other kids.  She is really missing her friends in Atlanta and Minnesota! 

Keith finished his first week of orientation at Mercy.  He thinks he is really going to like it.  He has orientation again next week and then starts officially on July 1st.

Minnesota

After leaving Atlanta, we spent about two weeks in the twin cities.  We spent a lot of time with friends and family and relaxing before moving to Des Moines.  I took quite a few pictures but my picasaweb page does not have anymore room for photos, so I will have to try and figure out where else to put my photos.  As of right now, I am downloading them to facebook and seeing if I can fit more pictures into my Flickr account.

Anyway, while in Minnesota we took Alex to the Mall of America to go on rides at Nickelodeon Universe, the Minnesota Zoo, Grand Ol' Days Parade in St. Paul, down to Mankato to visit with friends, and a few different parks around the twin cities.

Check out some of the pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bratulich/

Chattahoochee Nature Center

The weekend before leaving Atlanta we decided to check out the Chattahoochee Nature Center.  Alex had been there for a school field trip and really liked it so we brought her back to check it out.  They had quite a few owls, hawks, and other fowl.  I loved seeing the owls, they are so cute!  Unfortunately, they were contained in a cage and the pictures didn't look to good, otherwise I would post them.

We are back in the cities now and have a lot of catching up to do on the blog!  I will post more later.

Last Kindergarten Daisy Meeting

This past Monday the girls in Alex's Daisy group were invited to a garden party held by another Daisy girl scout group.  The girls had fun enjoying cupcakes, singing songs, and planting some flowers in a garden.  This was great because a few of the girls in the other girl scout troop were Alex's preschool friends that she doesn't get to see very often and this was the last time she got to see them before moving.  She made so many good friends in Atlanta, we are sad to leave them, but know she will make some good new friends in Des Moines.

Click below for girl scout daisy pictures:

Girl Scout Daisies

Appalachian Trail

One of the areas Keith and I wanted to check out before leaving Georgia was the southern most point of the Appalachian Trail.  The trail head is kind of hard to get to: located at the top of Springer Mountain.  We drove through some windy dirt roads to get to a parking spot and walked the mile up the mountain to where we found the trail head along with some markers.  We walked for about ten miles before heading home.  We would of loved to of spent more time there, but we had packing to do for our move!  We would love to check out some other points along the trail, which runs from Georgia to Maine.  Check out some of the pictures we took:

Appalachian Trail

Field Day at Chesnut

This past Friday was Field Day at Chesnut.  I spent a few hours with Alex's kindergarten class and took quite a few pictures!  Alex had so much fun and she said it was her best day of school.  Alex is really going to miss all the friends she has made.  Me too!

Click below for pictures:

Field Day at Chesnut

Lemonade Days

Last weekend, Alex and I met up with some friends at Lemonade Days in Dunwoody, GA.  Alex even met up with some of her preschool friends that she went to Lemonade Days last year with and met up with some new friends.  She is really going to miss all of her friends when we move, which is only a month away!

Click below for pictures:

Lemonade Days- Dunwoody, GA

Red Top Mountain State Park

On Easter we decided to go hiking since it was such a nice day.  We chose Red Top Mountain State Park because it wasn't too far away and we had not been there before.  There is so much to do there; camp, hike, rent boats, water skiing, they have cabins to rent.  We decided to hike the Homestead Trail and did not realize it was going to be as long of a hike as it was.  We hiked a total of 7.5 miles with Alex with us.  Luckily, she was a trooper and didn't complain at all.  We saw quite a few snakes.  I took a picture of one of them, which you can check out at the link below.   Someone told us they thought it was a King Snake, but after looking it up I don't think so.  I think it is a Common Garter Snake.  You can check out the picture and let me know what you think.  We also so a baby snake that had a diamond mark on its head.  Not sure what kind that was, but figured it may have been poisonous.  I think the snakes may have freaked Alex out a bit.  We almost stepped on two of them and the talk of poisonous snakes made Alex just want to get out of there!

Click below for pictures:

Red Top Mountain State Park- Georgia

Stone Mountain

We went to Stone Mountain on Monday with some friends.  Usually we just go to climb up the mountain but a friend had a friend pass to go on the rides, so Alex went along and had a blast.

Alex's kindergarten concert

Yesterday, Alex's school had a little kindergarten concert.  It was super cute.  I've attached a few videos for you all to check out:

Another Weekend with Larry the Lion

Larry the Lion Weekend 2

Alex brought home Larry the Lion from school last Friday.  Larry the Lion goes home every weekend with one child in Alex's kindergarten class.  I took a few pictures of Larry's weekend with us and Alex's teacher shared them with the class on Monday.  Click above to check out the pictures.  Alex was so happy to have him for the weekend and brought him with us everywhere!

Kolb's Farm

The other day, while Alex was at school, Keith and I hiked 12 miles around the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield area.  There are so many trails in this area that we still have not covered them all.  Last week we went to Kolb Farm, a restored farmhouse build in 1836 and is the last standing building from the civil war.

Unfortunately, the home is not open to look, but there was a family cemetery right on the front lawn. After spending a few minutes walking around the area we walked back to our car.  I think we were pretty sore after walking 12 miles.

Keith matched.

We found out today that we are moving to Des Moines, Iowa.  Keith will start his residency on June 18th.  We are so excited to explore a new city.

Girl Scout Smores

This past weekend Alex had a fun girl scouts activity put together by the Dunwoody Nature Center.  Alex and her friends had so much fun!  One of her favorite parts was making smores in the sun. 

I have never done this and it is such a cute idea.  The only materials they needed were:
cup, rocks (to keep the cup from flying away in the wind), paper, aluminum foil, graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate.  The aluminum foil was placed over the paper and then folded like a funnel with the aluminum foil on in the inside of the funnel and taped at the bottom  Then the girls placed a graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate on top and waited for the chocolate to melt.  It really only took a few minutes before the chocolate was melted.

Here is Alex enjoying her yummy smore!  I am going to try this again at another girl scout meeting since a few of the girls couldn't make it.  It was a it with the kids!

Michael C Carlos Museum

Since Alex had the day off yesterday we decided to visit the Michael C Carlos Museum on the Emory University campus.  I really enjoyed it and wished we could of stayed longer, but the girls (Sarah and Alex) just didn't seem too interested in anything other than the mummies.  Click below for the couple of pics I took.

Michael C Carlos Museum

Big flower hair clip

Alex has really been into hair accessories lately, especially the big flower kind.  So I decided to make one myself. It is surprisingly very easy and required no sewing.   I just bought one of those flowers from Michael's and took the flower off the stem.  Then glued it to an alligator clip using a glue gun and viola!  She loves this! 

Alex lost her first tooth!

Last week Alex lost her first tooth.  It was wiggly for a few days and then at school her teacher pulled the tooth out.  She was beyond excited for the tooth fairy to come!  Here she is sleeping with her note and tooth under her pillow.  She told the tooth fairy she wanted to keep the tooth for awhile and the tooth fairy wrote back that it was ok to keep your first tooth so it can go in the baby album. :)

Little River Canyon National Preserve

Yesterday, for my birthday, I wanted to go to a national park in Alabama, Little River Canyon because I have never been to Alabama and it's only two hours from where we live.  I had read online that some call it the "Grand Canyon of the East".  It was very beautiful, but not really comparable to the Grand Canyon.  When we first got there we stopped by the Little River Falls and watched a few people kayak down the waterfall.  Below is a video of the second guy going down the falls:



I stopped the video before you see the guy come up.  I was a little worried but he did come up behind the waterfall, we just didn't see it.  It was pretty neat and I wouldn't mind trying this some day.

There were other falls along the river that we saw.   We stopped at all the lookouts that we could see and saw quite a few hawks gliding around the canyon.  It really was a beautiful area and I am glad we went.  I took a few pictures along the way but I feel the pictures really don't capture the beauty of the area.  Check them out below:

Little River Canyon National Nature Preserve

Sweetwater Creek State Park in Georgia

The next day, after hiking Arabia Mountain, we decided to check out Sweetwater Creek State Park in Lithia Springs, GA.  We really liked this park and Keith thought this was the best hiking out of all the places we have been in Georgia.  We hiked the trails in the park for about 6 miles.  Inside the park, right next to the creek, we saw an old mill that used to be used to make clothing for confederate soldiers.  The name of the mill used to be New Manchester Manufacturing Company.  The area was fenced in so we didn't walk around inside of the structure, but we wanted to.  There is so much history here!  The views were really beautiful and we would love to go back.  Click below for more pictures:

Sweetwater Creek State Park- Georgia

Arabia Mountain

Keith has had a lot of time off this week.  He started a new rotation on Monday and had a few days off this week so we decided to head to Arabia Mountain, located in the southeast corner of Dekalb County.  We walked around the mountain, which was basically a big slab of granite rock.  There were occasional spots nestled in between the granite with a small plant with bright red leaves, called Diamorpha.  We also found some areas with Cacti.  After walking around the mountain area we headed over to the Lyon Farmhouse, possibly the oldest standing farmhouse in Dekalb County.  The farmhouse was all boarded up so we couldn't get inside, but we could see the inside of the basement.  It sounds like from a news article I read online that a Lyon family member lived in the house until 2006, when he moved to Tennessee.

Click below for pictures.

Arabia Mountain

Spring Weather

Even though it's still February, the weather here in Atlanta has been beautiful.  This past weekend, we took one of Alex's little friend and walked up Stone Mountain.  It was still a little chilly (low 60's) but we all had to take our coats off because we were so warm.  As soon as we got to the top and stopped moving we got chilly again and put our coats back on. 

Today the temperature was in the mid 70's.  Since Keith doesn't go in to work until 9pm tonight (He is doing an ER rotation) and was home all day today we decided to go for a long walk in the morning.  Then, after picking Alex up from school, we decided to take Alex out for a bike ride.  She hasn't been on her bike since the fall and was a little scared to go down hills, so daddy had to show her how it's done.  It's a good thing Alex's bike had training wheels!

Swaps

Yesterday, Alex had a Girl Scout Daisy Meeting and then went to a Super Swap Saturday Event put on by another Girl Scout troop.    Swaps are little pins that girl scouts make to give to each other.  Swaps is an acronym which stands for: Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere.

Alex and her friends had a lot of fun and I got a few craft ideas for later in the year.  Click below for pictures:

Girl Scout Daisies

Marietta Confederate Cemetery

Marietta Confederate Cemetery

This past week we decided to visit the Marietta Confederate Cemetery after hiking up Kennesaw Mountain.  Some friends of ours who recently moved to Atlanta had gone here so we decided to check it out on our way home.  It looks like there are confederate soldiers buried from all of the southern states in this cemetery.  There is one section of the cemetery called the Slave Lot.  In this spot 19 slaves were buried in unmarked graves and only four have been identified.  This is a great place to visit if you come to the area, there are lots of statues, a cannon, and beautiful grave markers.  Click the picture above to see some more pictures.

Making Chocolate Chip Cookies with Alex

This past weekend while Keith was on his last interview I discovered a chocolate chip recipe that looked really delicious and it was!  The recipe calls for sprinkling sea salt on top of them before cooking which I tried with one batch and left it off with another.  The sea salt really makes a difference.  I love the taste of salt and sugar together!  Keith also thought the cookies were probably the best he has ever had! :)

Birthday Parties and Ice Skating

 Alex as been busy these past few weeks.  Since Christmas, she has been to two birthday parties.  Both of them at Snip-It's- a hair salon.  The girls get to dress up like princess, get their hair done, put on make-up, and have a fashion show.  At the first birthday party, Alex put on the eye make up kind of thick, making her look like a raccoon.  At the second party, she toned it down a little.  I wish I had more pictures but I didn't bring my camera to the second party and didn't take very many of the first.

A few weekends ago, Alex and I went ice skating at the Centennial Olympic Park.  It was a little warm making the rink a little wet but we still had fun.  Alex is looking a little scared in this picture because she was.  The ice was really slippery.