Idol Girl

Most of you probably know by now that Abby was on American Idol! She is in the video montage of Danny Gokey's visit to Milwaukee! You can get a couple second peek at her with this link. You'll see Abby roughly 1 min. 50 seconds into it after the running girl in plaid pants tries to catch up to Danny's limo. Poor thing.

Enjoy!

It was pretty hilarious right after the clip aired. I had 4 friends call me within thirty seconds--bam. bam. bam. bam. I was dying of laughter. I hadn't even seen it yet--we were just getting pjs on and were going to start it (was recording) in a few minutes. Then I got a call from Utahans who saw it the next hour, then Washingtonians who called us at 11:30pm they were so excited! Abby had loads of friends and teachers telling her "I saw you last night!!" the next day at school. Too much fun.

It's been a fun 2 seconds of fame for the whole family! (Does that mean she has 14:58 minutes left? Sweet.)

At school with Abby

Friday was "Family Appreciation Day" in Abby's kindergarten class. With Mother's Day and Father's day around the corner, they invited any family members to come see the classroom and pick up a gift from their child. We were lucky to have Daniel squeeze it into his work-day!

Abby with the class The fam (minus Andrew who was in his own classroom)

Danny Gokey Day

If you follow American Idol you might remember that Mr. Danny Gokey is from Milwaukee! Yesterday was declared Danny Gokey Day, and who was I not to participate!!?

Danny was scheduled to sing early Friday evening at the Summer Fest grounds. Upon hearing the news Thursday, a couple friends and I tried to finagle a way to get there AND keep our double date plans that were already set. That just wasn't working out. I was a little bummed. The New Yorker in me wanted to be a part of the crowd and the craze! Well, Friday rolled around, and I wasn't about to quit. Megan and I were able to drop everything (including her yard sale), grab the kids and a load of junk food and snacks, and head out to see Danny on one of his Milwaukee tour stops. The kids had a half day at school and it worked out perfectly! We even made it home just in time to keep our previous engagements.

Word was that Danny would be stopping at any of four possible locations within an hour and a half slot. So we took a gamble and waited at a museum called Discovery World. There was a group gathering there, but it wasn't overwhelming in size. We staked out our spot right up front. Just before time was up, Danny came rolling in in a nice black limo! It was too much fun!! We were so excited all the waiting paid off! It was pretty cool to see our Idol star up close--really close! After watching the news following the whole day I could tell that they were really rushing Danny in order to get back onto schedule. His earlier stops he was able to spend a lot more time with the fans. Nonetheless, he paused at Andrew and gave him a little hug and a "Hey, what's up buddy?" on his way. You can tell he's a good guy, and we like his singing! Check it out:

no zoom necessary

While he was briefly in the museum we got a pic with the Idol limo

After the crowd left...

What's life without a little excitement?

Opera

Daniel had a really great annual review with his boss a week or two ago. We'd been vacillating about buying tickets to see "The Magic Flute" and decided with a recent 25% off coupon, and this good news from work, that we'd celebrate and go for it! So, after our Chicago weekend we had a night out together to see the Opera. I got to wear my red dress from Brian and Amanda's wedding again, which was a treat. :) The opera was beautiful--we loved it. So much so, that we sang most conversations opera style on the drive home. All fun and games until your babysitter picks up the phone (and you don't hear the click) and overhears you singing to your husband about how you should learn to use the shortcuts on your cell phone. Nice.

My kind of town, Chicago is...

Spring break was soon to be upon us so Daniel and I thought it'd be fun to cook up a little surprise for the kids. I left the kids notes, treasure hunt fashion, that said--I have a secret...it's about tonight...we're going somewhere fun... and the last note was on top of a duffel bag. It said "Pack me! We're staying at a hotel in Chicago tonight!" The news was met with much screaming and jumping. They were excited to say the least.

Stop one: The hotel, actually in the suburbs, as it costs at least double to stay in Chicago itself. We got there at 8:30pm and got to the pool asap. (We were hoping to arrive earlier, but what do you do.) The kids loved every second. The pool, the beds, the cool "huge" bathroom, everything. They were definitely bummed when we had to say goodbye.

Stop two. The Shedd Aquarium! We saw tons of marine life and loved it. Amazing place, amazing animals. Oh, they had a "4-D experience" show too--those are hysterical. If you ever get to go to one, do it. But it freaks some kids out--Andrew and Abby were unhappy, Eliza was oblivious.

Love these jellies. Just getting down from her shoulder ride.
Stop three. Millennium Park. What a place! And I finally got to see the famous bean. I honestly did not know what to expect. But it's pretty cool! I realized the whole fascination (besides the fact that there are no seams) is the reflections. When you're under the bean you are reflected so many times in such weird angles--it's cool.

And this lovely art display--the face changes periodically and it also squirts a fire hose worth of water out the mouth every now and then.

We took a picture of these two really odd tourists.

I have to say, it's fun being in a big city again. Chicago has such a New York feel, but it's just not as hectic. We also had incredible weather which made it great to be outside. The drive to Chicago from here (if you're curious) is roughly two hours. It's a great vacation destination...hint hint.

Easter Sunday

Abby's take:

Ya know what is cool? All of the kids got little peeps, but they were actually pink and bunny shaped with little chocolate drops for noses and eyes! You know what we had for dessert, for the dinner, of course? My Dad made a French silk pie and I tried some. And the chocolate was really really rich!

Eliza's thoughts:
Eat candy. I like to eat candy.

Andrew:

On Easter after dinner we were wrestling with my Dad. All the kids and I. It was a blast!

Mom's filling in the gaps:

Easter baskets in the morning, Stake conference next, then home for some relaxation. We had a family over for a bbq ribs dinner. It was so much fun with their energetic bunch! We had a story/Easter lesson and the kids made an "empty tomb" out of paper. They wrestled with Daniel and a couple were later caught reading (Ribsy and Holes). My friend had her mother in town, she came along, and it was clear Eliza enjoyed the "grandmother figure." It was a happy Easter, indeed.

Saturday's Makings

What did we make?
We made messes...

We made colorful Easter eggs...

We made nests...

We made memories.