Family Vacation

We took the girls on their first vacation this week to Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City.  The girls are having a ton of fun!  Here are some pictures of the things we have been doing so far (more to come):

Here is Emma with the Wiley the Wolf statute:

 And here she is with the real thing (Wiley the Wolf is the mascot for Great Wolf Lodge).  Wiley and his friends make an appearance each night during story time in the lobby:

 Emma and Sarah sitting in the big story time chair:

 And finally Sarah got a chance to pose with Wiley during the morning wolf walk (where they teach children about the various animals you can find in the lobby):

Random cuteness:

Just some random cuteness.  Emma helping her Mimi exercise:

Where is Sarah?

Sarah is all ready to leave the house with her purse:

 

 Crab walking (she refuses to walk the normal way):

 

Cousins

Kayla got her first trip to Michigan this weekend.  The girls all had a great time together.  Here is Emma and Kayla:

 All 3 girls.  It is impossible to get a picture of them all, as they are constantly moving:

 Dog pile!

 Kayla is wondering what in the world is going on?

 All 3 of them, kind of:

 Sarah and Kayla enjoying themselves:

 Finally, some pictures of Mimi with Kayla and Sarah:

Group hug:

Sarah and Kayla had some interesting conversations with each other (sadly no one else seemed to understand):

Sarah is particularly attached to her Mimi (much to Mimi's delight).  But she was not always willing to share Mimi with her younger cousin:

Sarah's 1 Year Check-up

Sarah had her one year check-up this morning.  She is doing great; she had a recent growth spurt.  She is 29 inches (~50th percentile); she is 20 lbs 14 oz (60th percentile); she has an 18.5 inch head (90th percentile).  I say the head is all of her brains, but probably more the O'Shea gene kicking in.  She took her shots like a trooper and is now looking forward to her first vacation!

Ballerina Emma

Emma had her dance recital on Saturday.  She was lucky enough to have lots of people to watch (Grandma, Grandpa, Granny, aunt Stephanie, uncle Mike, Kayla, Mimi, Papa, Sarah, Mommy & Daddy).  She did so well and looked beautiful:

Her whole class posing for pictures:

 Getting her medal at the end of the show (she was SO excited to get a medal) (for those who can't really see her, she is the shortest one up there):

Her ballet routine (sorry the quality isn't great because of the size of the videos):

And her tap routine:

Happy Birthday Part 2

The photos wouldn't all fit in 1 post.  So here is part 2 (the cake):

All of the cake and cupcakes (cake was courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa; the cupcakes were made by Aunt Stephanie):

 A rare shot of the whole family:

 Sarah with the cupcake master herself:

 Mimi, Papa and the grandkids (this is the first time we have gotten this picture):

 Finally, enjoying her smash cake (and boy did she ever):

For all who were wondering, this is how you should properly eat a smash cake:

Happy Birthday Sarah Part 1

Sarah had a wonderful birthday.  Grandma, Grandpa, Granny, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Mike, Kayla, Mimi and Papa all came out to celebrate.   Grandma and Grandpa started the day off with Sarah's first present:

 Then Sarah got birthday brunch (courtesy of daddy):

 Followed by lots of presents:

 Emma did most of the unwrapping, but Sarah seemed willing to share:

 Enjoying a new book:

 Even Cousin Kayla got in on the action, enjoying her time in the tissue paper:

 Looking at pictures with Grandma:

 Eating our new soft blocks (not the conventional use, but Sarah didn't seem to care):

 She also chose to use her new lounge chair in an unconventional manner (she marches to the beat of her own drummer and is proud of it)!

Enjoying the little market she got:

And what seemed to be her favorite was actually the container from her blocks (go figure):