Night at the carnival

Swedish American Health System had a carnival Friday night for employee's families and the surrounding neighborhood. It was small, but for a free carnival it was really nice. It was great for all the kids because there was a little of everything for them to do. I took Lydia with me and we met my coworker, Amanda, and her daughter, Lauren who is 5. They had a blast together!

Anytime we were waiting in a line they were dancing to the music. it is hard to get a picture of 2 little girls moving so fast!

Of course they loved jumping...what kid doesn't? :)
Then we asked if they wanted to ride the ride, which was like the swings that just go around in a circle as they go up. Lauren hasn't really been on any rides other than the few I took her on when I met them at the fair last year so we weren't sure how either of them would like it...
They both loved it!!! I couldn't get a picture of it, but toward the end they both had their hands up in the air and big smiles on their faces.
The last ride was the ponies. We got in line just in time before they closed.
I had a great time watching Lydia enjoy the night. I haven't had much time to spend with her lately so it was nice to spend some time with her. She is so much fun!!!

Melissa's wedding

Last weekend my good friends Melissa and Thomas got married.  For those of you that don't know the story, Melissa and I have only been friends for a few years but it was my mom who met her first and said that we would be great friends.  About a year later the two of us got together to talk about starting a small group at church and I have enjoyed her friendship ever since.  It is funny how things work out!  :)

It was fun to be a part of their special day and see everyone get all dressed up (most of us on the wedding party don't normally look like this).  The ceremony was short but sweet and the reception was beautiful!!!  Sorry these pictures are a little late.  One of the other bridesmaids took my camera by accident.  

We had her bachelorett party on Thursday night.  It was fun just to get all us girls together and enjoy some talking and of course food!

The rehearsal dinner
Roses were set up in memory of all the grandparents that couldn't be there
Getting make-up done

Oops, I forgot to flip this one...sorry.  This is Melissa's nephew.  He was so cute in his little suit and he kept saying that "aunt Melissa looked pretty".  

Melissa and me.  Yes...my hair was all curls!  It was cute but a little to many curls for how thick my hair is.  
The reception hall at Giovanni's.  It was beautiful and wonderful food!
Table with the mints and ice sculpture
Cutting the cake.  Thomas and Melissa designed what they wanted for their cake.  The flowers on it matched the beading design on her dress.  

Night out!

Last week I got a chance to get out and enjoy some time with Beth.  With her work schedule, me working overtime and other things that we have gotten involved it we haven't seem much of each other.  We decided to go to Red Robbin for dinner but didn't realize it was family night there.  We took advantage of the bird waling around and got our picture taken.  After dinner we ran a few errands and just spent some time catching up.  It was great to spend time with her again!

This week was "Week of the Young Child" and we celebrated at work by having fun themes every day.  Tuesday was pajama day and all of us teachers love that day.  This is Susi (our cook) who went all out for it.  It was funny because every time she walked into our room she would scare some of our babies.  So by the end of the day she would just knock on our door and we would hand her our dishes so she didn't have to come it.  Every other day the babies love her!  Some of the other themes were backwards day, sports day, funny hat/hair day and rainbow day (each age group had a different color).  It was alot of fun!

Saturday night a bunch of us teachers got together and did a scavenger hunt around the Rockford area.  It was alot of fun even if we didn't win.  We had clues that we had to guess the answer then have our picture taken in front of the sign of the destination.   This is Michele in front of the Burpee Museum where Jane the dinosaur is.  We also went to the big orange Rockford symbol, Showplace 16, Coronado...
me in front of the Mrs. Fisher's chips sign
and Amanda with one of our many sock monkeys around town.  I think this is where we lost the game.  We needed a picture with one of the monkeys, but couldn't figure out where one was that wasn't in a closed building (it was Sat. night and nothing was open).  When we got back they told us there was one in the entrance to the hospital.  I KNEW THAT!!!!!  I was so mad at my self for not thinking about it!   Oh well, we had fun anyway.
After we went out to dinner with everyone and got to spend some time chatting without a bunch of screaming kids around us.  :)  It was a fun time!