Vacation Time!

We finally went on our first vacation in 3 years!
My parents, Bill and all 3 kids made the drive to Gatlinburg, TN for the week at my parents time share. It was a much needed get away for everyone.

The weather was great, no major issues during the trip. The kids loved the rides and water park. My Mom and I enjoyed a day to ourselves shopping and eating while Bill took care of the kids.

Mack and Laney loved the go carts. Mack just barely made the cut off to ride alone on the adult track but Laney had to have help. She turned that wheel as if she was driving herself.

We even got to visit cousins from my Dad's side of the family, Elane and Carl. Bill enjoyed the TN river and spent the whole day with Carl fishing. Mack got to go tubing and the girls stayed on shore and played with the shells and rocks!








Besides the water park, Mack's favorite vacation event was sifting through buckets of gravel and dirt to find gems and precious stones. It was a good experience for him and it was actually educational.


Laney even got to ride a pony by herself and she became really comfortable in the water kicking around with just an float tube around her.

It was an awesome time and great memories! To be honest, it was very tiring! I might need another vacation real soon!

Yellow Flower

Laney in her flower costume! So sweet!

Show Time!

Last night was the Interactive Academy Gymnastic Dance Recital at the ZPAC. Planning and organizing this recital gave me a few more gray hairs but it was worth it. We had 120 little girls performing. Everything went well and we are already talking about next springs recital.
I wanted to share these videos of Laney and her first performance. Her group was the youngest group and she did a much better job than I could have hoped for. The first video shows Laney doing her forward rolls. She is the 4th girl to "pop" out of a flower pot.

The next video is her performing cartwheels across the stage. Laney is still the 4th girl to enter the stage. She really demands the audiences applause after each cartwheel. (Where does she get that from....?) I think she did pretty good considering she had a flower on her head that obstructed her peripheral view on each side. (more pictures to come soon of costume)

If you turn the volume up you can hear my family members laughing. I was backstage so it was hard for me to see her perform.


This last video is her dance. Laney is on the are right as you are looking at the screen. Don't be confused as she gets creative with the choreography and switches places with the girl next to her towards the end of the dance. My favorite part has to be when she actually pushes the girl next to her to get her moving in the right direction. Laney sure has a good memory, just needs to slow it down.

It was a great night and we are so proud of Laney. This is just a first of many dance recitals, I hope!

Here comes the sun!

We welcomed the warm sunshine by spending every moment outside soaking it in. Here are a few photos of the girls painting. Last year we had to do this when Elli took her nap but now she gets to join in on the fun and paint with Laney. As long as there was enough paint on the tray they were happy to create a colorful masterpiece. As you can see from the photo Laney paints with her Right hand and Elli paints with her Left hand. This actually works out well since we only had one tray of paint.

Picking "flowers" (dandelions) is Laney's favorite pastime since the common area behind us is full of them.

This past weekend Bill built the kids a huge sandbox under the swing set. I have been wanting this for them for awhile so they could have something outside to keep them busy. I was hoping that Elli would like it but she is still getting use to the sand. She is content to play with it from the sides. Laney would probably eat and sleep in the sand if we would let her. She loves it and enjoys the fact that Elli is not bothering her or taking away the sand toys.









In April Mack had his last Trampoline and Tumbling Meet. It was a State meet and he did good. He brought home a 1st and a few 2nd place medals. He is gearing up for summer practice and TT camp to work on harder skills for next season.


We are preparing for this month with last week of school events, dance recital, and getting everyone's summer schedule under control.
At this point in time everyone is healthy and looking forward to celebrating Mother's Day this weekend.

Easter Day

Easter Day - April 11th

Our Easter morning started out with our tradition egg scavenger hunt for Mack's basket of goodies. We look forward to this every year (even if it takes a little extra planning) and so does he. I remember when he first started to read and needed help reading the clues. Now he can do this on his own which is also enjoyable to watch. The girls are not so much into this tradition yet so we just keep it a special event just for Mack.


The rest of the morning was a mad dash to get everyone dressed and out the door for church. The girls had matching sailor dresses (a purchase by my Mom) but of coarse, getting them to stand together did not happen.


After church we all came back to our house to finish getting our Easter feast finished. My Mom was up at 3:30am preparing the delicious ham.

My bother and sis-in law came as well as Bill's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Michalak.



Lots of food and quality time with family. It was a perfect Easter and I am so grateful for my family.

E is for Elmo, Eggs, and Easter!

Spring Fun!!!

The girls and I went to see Elmo on stage with friends Mandy(Laney's gymnastic teacher and Mack's TT coach) and her son Alex. They loved the show and spent the first 20 minutes waving hello at Elmo. Laney clapped and danced along and even ate cotton candy. Elli just watched and sat in amazement of the music and characters dancing about. This was a great experience and look forward to doing things like this with the girls in the future.




This weekend was very busy for us with Easter and parents coming down to celebrate the holiday. The kids loved coloring eggs. Mack did his traditional plop the eggs in the colors and Laney did a wonderful job working hard at painting her eggs with a brush while Elli experimented with coloring on an egg and then dropping it to the floor. No big messes and good results!

Friday night after the kids went to bed a few ladies from WWF came over to stuff over 1,000 eggs for the community egg hunt. It was quick and fun and I was glad to be a part of this event.
The egg hunt was a success and the weather was much better than last year. Elli even got into the egg hunting spirit and found a few eggs.

Mack's 1st TT Meet on Valentines Day!

This Saturday Mack experienced his first Trampoline and Tumbling meet at Terra Haute.
He looked so professional in his warm up. He did a great job and earned a 1st in Double Mini Tramp, a 1st in Tumbling and a 2nd in Trampoline. I got to spend the entire day with Mack which was a treat since this hardly ever happens. Bill and my parents took care of the girls so it was just Mack and I.




This is a video of Mack's trampoline routine. As you can see he still has a few skills to work on but overall I was so proud of him. He is also proud of himself and is planning on taking his plaque to school to show it off. His next meet is March 15th.

This is one of Mack's coaches, Coach Shawn.

It was a great first meet for Mack and we are looking forward to more meets. Our gym is hosting a meet on March 22nd so if you are in the area you should come check it out. Mack could us more people cheering for him!