Thursday, July 30, 2009

Engagement Pictures!





Since you all have already heard the story, here are some pictures of the engagement!

Monday, July 20, 2009

more Tennessee...

We had a wonderful time in Tennessee. Ben and Janet's house is beautiful...and fun. The girls wanted to stay longer and keep asking when we are going back. Ruby Falls was fun, the girls loved swimming, the playground was great - overall a GREAT VACATION! The kids played in a little river thing by the aquarium while James and Janet got the tickets. I thought it was cool.

The girls always love a good aquarium - I think they like the gift shop the best. We talked them out of buying yet another pink stuffed dolphin to add to the collection.


Janet bought cupcakes and we celebrated an early birthday for Raleigh (she LOVES the panda)



Oh, and a flat tire on the way back home. James helped the girls fix the tire while I fed Greyson. They thought it was cool. Even cooler was the 4 foot long swardfish we saw in a car on the way home laying on a pillow...we also saw 2 blown up aliens "driving" a car that was being towed...and we drove right by the end of a rainbow. Other than the 2 times Sydney threw up from motion sickness (not even in the mountains - right at the beginning of the trip) we could not have asked for better travelers. The kids did great in the car. Greyson's ears were bugging him (I think) going up and down the mountain but he never fussed long. I got home and brought in a bag of stuff I brought for the drive for the girls that I never needed to give them.
Thanks for a great vacation Ben and Janet!! We are coming back!




Saturday, July 18, 2009

Melodie at Festa






We spent the last two days at Festa Italiana. It's a big Italian festival in Milwaukee that hosts a variety of musical talent, as well as food, arts, crafts and fireworks. Ryan's brother actually plans his vacation time from work around Festa, and this year, he got to MC one of his favorite singers. This year's theme was "Pinocchio", which celebrated the 125th anniversary of the supposedly Italian story (who knew Walt Disney was Italian...). They made a sand sculpture of the story, which was pretty impressive. The second pic is of Renee, Melodie and Grandpa Ranallo, who I'm convinced knows EVERYONE in Milwaukee. The last picture is Melodie on the carousel...I won't post the video though, as she had a nasty tumble off her horse, which left her with a couple of cuts and bruises on her face. She's fine, and got some free chocolate ice cream out of it, but it was a scary couple of minutes. So much for the free carnival rides at festa!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Cute Kids!!



Carrie graciously watched Dan's kids for me while I went to an appointment in Grand Rapids yesterday. While I was gone, Carrie took this picture of Lizzie, Kaleb & Silas in the treehouse. I thought we needed some new posts on the blog- so here it is! :)