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.

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/

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

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

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:

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

Alex's 6th Birthday

Alexandra's 6th Birthday

Alex's 6th Birthday was on December 20th.  Here are some pictures from her sleepover party.  She had a lot of fun and made a mess of her room.  :)  Click above to check out pictures.

Weekend with Larry

Alex was so happy to spend a weekend with Larry the Lion. Larry the Lion is a stuffed animal that goes home with kids on the weekend.  Alex has been waiting anxiously for her name to be drawn!  I took some pictures of herself with Larry over the weekend and shared the pictures with her class on Monday.

Weekend with Larry the Lion

Alex's Early Birthday with Friends in Minnesota

Alex celebrated her birthday with family and friends while we visited Minnesota.  Here she is with her friend Megan.  They had a little play date at Haylie's house.  Unfortunately, I could not get them all in the picture.

Today is Alex's 6th birthday.  She was born six years ago today at 1:45 in the afternoon.  She is so excited to have a sleepover party tonight!  I am sure I will be taking many pictures so check back.

Halloween 2011

This past Halloween Alex dressed as a "pretty kitty" and she went trick or treating in a fun Dunwoody neighborhood filled with decorated houses.  The neighborhood is called Briars North and is not too far from where we live.  Alex was scared at one point but had so much fun trick or treating with her friends and seeing some school friends along the way.  I wish I had gotten more pictures of Alex in front of the houses but she was way too scared!  Click below for pictures:

Halloween 2011

Kaya's Birthday Party

Kaya's Birthday Party

Last weekend Alex went to her friend, Kaya's, birthday party.  It was at Lifetime Fitness and full of fun.  Alex loves spending time with her friends, Kara and Kaya.  Click above to see pictures.  Alex met Kara and Kaya while living in Dominica and we were reunited when we moved to Miami.  We are so happy they are in Atlanta with us.

Yogli Mogli

Yogli Mogli is Alex's new favorite place for ice cream.  Ok, it's really frozen yogurt, but she doesn't know the difference.  Here is Alex with her friend, Sarah, who she met while living in Dominica.  They moved to the area a few months ago so now the girls are having fun being friends again.

Atlanta Zoo x12

Today Alex and I went to the Atlanta Zoo with her friend, Ellie, Ellie's sister, Lonnie, and their mom, Cindy.  Cindy had bought the girls matching lalaloopsy shirts and both girls brought their lalaloopsy dolls (which we ended up carrying after the first five minutes).  The girls had a fun time, but most of all they just wanted to play at the naked mole rat playground.  Click below for some more Atlanta Zoo pictures:

Atlanta Zoo

Friend's Birthday Party

Juhee's 4th Birthday Party

Alex got invited to a birthday party on Sunday.  It was at a crossfit gym with a clown, food, games for the kids, etc.  Alex's favorite part was getting a balloon hat and puppy on a leash.  Unfortunately, the balloons all popped as soon as we got home and Alex cried her heart out!  Oh well, one less piece of junk around the house.  Click on the picture above to see the pictures.

Soccer

While we were here I decided to sign up Alex for a soccer camp for a week with her friend, Haylie.  At first she was really apprehensive about going.  She was told by a little boy in Karate that she didn't run very fast.  So when I brought up soccer she cried her eyes out.  I still told her she still had to go, but she cried every time I brought it up.  In the end she ended up loving it and wants to do more soccer.

Swimming with Haylie

Here is Alex and Haylie having a fun time in the pool.  Alex loves hanging out with Haylie and will miss her very much when we head back to Atlanta.

Zoe joined in on the fun!  The girls had fun pretending to run a restaurant.  They served many delicious drinks decorated with umbrellas.  I felt like I was sitting on the beach in Mexico! :)

More pics from Minnesota Visit

I got to visit with my friend, Shelly, that I have not seen in a long time.  We went to high school together and even worked at the local McDonald's together when we were teenagers.  She has two girls who have grown so much since I last saw them.  They were great with Alex and showed her how to play "dead mummy" on the trampoline.

We also met up with our friends Jim and Becky and their daughter Beth in Mankato.  We visited Sibley park which has also changed so much since we were last there.  The park has been redone in a farm theme.  The girls got to pet and feed horses, ducks, and fish.  We later stopped at Coldstone Creamery for some yummy ice cream!

Alex got some more playtime with her friends Megan and Sarah.  Here are the girls having a fairy tea party.  My friend, Sarah took some great photos of them and posted them on her photography blog.  The girls had a blast dressing up like fairies and running around the park.

I have so many more pictures to post.  We are staying in Minneapolis until July 4th and then we will back to Atlanta to enjoy the fireworks.

Visiting the Twin Cities

Alex and I are now in Minnesota visiting family.  I never realized how much I missed it here until now!  So far we have been very busy.  We went to the Pinkalicious Musical at the Stages Theatre in Hopkins for Alex's friend, Haylie's birthday party.  The girls had a blast!  The picture below is of Alex and her other friend Megan with the pink flowers!  Afterward, we had lunch at my favorite sub place in the cities, called Big 10.  I met Becky, her mom, and daughter, Beth at Big 10 the next day.  I just cannot get sick of that place and am now having a craving just thinking about it.

Alex has gotten to spend a lot of time with her cousin Zoe and has already had two sleepovers!  The girls have so much fun together!  Alex can't wait until she has another sleepover with Zoe.

The picture above is Alex and Zoe at a park near my parents house in Apple Valley.

Above is Alex with her other cousin, Kaylee.  Alex had a sleepover with Kaylee at Keith's mom's house in Woodbury this past week.  The girls of course had a blast and Alex can't wait until her next sleepover with Kaylee.  Our trip is full of sleepovers!

Today we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum with Haylie and her mom.  The girls had so much fun, especially in the Lego section.  I think we must of spent over an hour in the lego section alone.  When it was time to go, Alex was very upset.  She definitely wants to go back again before we head back to Atlanta.

Yesterday (yes, I know the pictures are out of order) Alex and I met Megan and her mom Haylie at Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis.  I just love the Minneapolis lakes.  We met at Tin Fish, a restaurant right on the lake and had lunch, then headed to the playground for about three hours.  The weather has been in the 70's which is perfect for sitting at the park all day.  Sure beats the 90+ degree weather in Atlanta!

Frosty Caboose

A few weeks ago I took Alex to the Frosty Caboose with some of her preschool friends.  She is pictured here with her friend, Ayuka.  The Frosty Caboose is an old caboose turned into an ice cream joint.  There is no place to eat inside, you just walk up to the window and order.  The kids loved it and loved playing around outside the caboose.

Click below to see more pictures from our ice cream stop at the Frosty Caboose in Chamblee, Ga.

Frosty Caboose