Thursday, June 9, 2011

Last Day of Second Grade

Abby has been very excited about the last day of school. I had my camera ready and caught her "whoot" as she came charging out of school today!

She decided that she is no longer a second grader, but not officially a third grader. I asked her what that meant and she said, "I guess, I'm just somewhere in between."


Abby and her friend and second grade classmate Jade


Classmates and friends -- Abby, Ani, and Aja

Abby and her second-grade teacher, Mrs. Mueller

Let the summer begin...

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Lasts

These are days of lasts.


Last days of two-ness.


Last day of second-grade homework.

And last, but not least, is the silly dance Abby performed this morning as she celebrated completing the last homework of second-grade.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

A Chance Meeting

Last Saturday, as we were walking to our seats at Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers' home ball park), we were surprised to see our friends Sapna and Stephen and their children Tara and Nikhil. Abby and Tara attended Montessori together for three years until Tara's family moved to Illinois. It was such a fun chance meeting!

(This photo was taken after the game and Daniel was asleep in his stroller and didn't make it into the picture.)

We again ran into our friends the next day at the zoo and enjoyed the day together. Abby, Tara, and Nikhil were acting like flamingoes in this shot below.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Then and Now

In May 2004, I took 10-month-old Abby along on a work trip to Milwaukee. We spent an afternoon at the wonderful Milwaukee Art Museum. I've told Will for years that I'd love for him to see this museum, and we finally made it there today. It is a rather photogenic building (and the children are cute too)!






Training a California Sea Lion

On Saturday Abby was chosen from the crowd to help train a California sea lion at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Abby got to work with Geneva -- a 12-year-old, 170 pound female.

Abby told Geneva to wave,


to jump,

and then rewarded Geneva by tossing her a fish.

Abby did such a great job!

The fish was smelly, so the trainer told her that all good trainers get rid of the fish stink by wiping their hands on their jeans.

And as if training Geneva wasn't enough fun for a girl who continues to say she is going to be a marine biologist, Abby also got to pose at the end of the show with Slick -- a 25-year old, 650 pound male sea lion!

We teased Abby that with the Star Wars shirt, it was as if she was using Jedi mind tricks on the sea lions!

Winding Down the Roadtrip

All good roadtrips must eventually end.







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Location:I-90 W

Art History by Daniel

I received a fascinating lesson in art history from Daniel today.

Viewing this armor, Daniel explained, "It is Darth Vader."





I asked Daniel what he thought of this statue and he said, "Somebody ate it. It is dead."




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The Girl is a Fish


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Location:Hotel Pool

Saturday, May 28, 2011

An Eye Mask for the Weary Traveler

Abby was delighted with the eye mask and relaxing linen spray provided by our hotel.



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Daniel's First Baseball Game

Abby's first baseball game was a SF Giants game. And as of today, Daniel's first MLB baseball game was also a SF Giants game!


















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Roadtripping Stotts







Will's shirt provides a clue to our destination!



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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Another Pink Ribbon (This one without camo)

Abby just competed in her final race (racing is NOT a concept Abby embraces, by the way) the 100 individual medley. She got another best time achievement ribbon! And unfortanately for Abby, it is pink!



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Early Morning Swim Meet

Abby and I woke up at 5 AM this morning to drive to her swim meet. She's competed in her first event (50 free) and received a best time achievement ribbon.



She insisted I use black and white photos because she wanted to "camoflauge" the pink ribbon!!



Abby's coach wrote her events on her arm. Abby is very pleased that the coach used permanent marker.

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Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter 2011

Easter Sunday morning, Abby came into our room around 6 AM and attempted to wake us up by blowing her nose really loudly. We ignored her. She then sighed deeply and went back to her room. A minute or so later, over Daniel's monitor, we heard Abby wake up Daniel. Another minute or two later, we heard Abby and Daniel outside our room. Will and I got out of bed (irritated, but really trying to be good parents) and attempted to join Abby in her Easter morning joy! The parents and Daniel were not particularly happy about being awoken so early, but Abby was really excited to see what the Easter Bunny had brought and done.

We discovered that the Easter Bunny had hidden the Ugly Egg in Daniel's garbage truck. How clever is that?


Abby and Daniel both found fancy dark chocolate in their baskets. How extravagant is that?

Later that morning, Abby and Daniel played outside in the AWESOME barn that Grandpa Engelhardt made for Abby a handful of years ago.

The two little Stotts were delighted when Grandpa and Grandma Engelhardt pulled into the driveway.

Grandpa Engelhardt was very happy to eat fancy cheese from our fancy local cheese shop ZZest. He really loves fancy cheese -- maybe it has something to do with all those years he spent making cheese!


Abby helped with our Easter meal by making a delicious fruit salad. (And Grandma Engelhardt brought D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S lefse and a chocolate pie -- both were requested by Abby!)

And the day after Easter (i.e. today), Daniel was more than happy to eat bunny ears!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The 2011 Stott Easter Egg Collection

I thought I was being clever when I purchased an eco-egg coloring kit. Let's just say that in 2012 we'll definitely be going back to the good ole' Paz $0.99 box!

We made it work, but those natural plant dyes took a long time to color one little egg and we only had a few options for colors. But alas, here are the eggs, including the final "ugly egg!"

Friday, April 22, 2011

A Day with Daniel

Daniel and I have the day off, so we are having an adventure together!



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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Waiting and Watching, Watching and Waiting

I spend A LOT of time sitting and waiting for Abby. Tonight it's swimming. Sunday it's Korean class. Tuesday it will be science class followed by more swimming.




I need to figure out something productive to do as I sit and wait and watch...

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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

What is Wrong in this Picture?


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Monday, April 11, 2011

Today with the Stotts

Daniel coughed most of the night last night, so this morning he went in for a check up...



...and came home with an inhaler.



It seems he has an asthma-like cough and could have it for a couple more weeks.

In other news, Daphne went in for a fluff and buff (a more descriptive phrase would be "a buzz cut") and looks and smells lovely!



And that's basically all of the exciting things that happened to us today.