Yup, that’s his name. Is there any limit to number of middle names? If not, we will be accepting other nominations. Why Patrick?, you ask…? Not only is it his “human father’s” middle name, but his bday is March 17, it turns out.
Nominate away….
The big news for the Urbandale Schlax family…. our furry new family member will join us on May 14th, when he’s 8 weeks old. Here’s what he looked like today, when we met him (his name is TBD… the girls are still thinking about it, based on choices provided by Mommy & Daddy):
Yes, he’s adorable. And tiny. Although he’s the largest in his litter. He will double in size before we see him again!
The breeder is only 45 minutes from Streamwood, so we arrived on Saturday at Grandma and B-pas, got to play with Sunny 
, saw Aunt Jeannine and Aunt Denise last night, and then went to meet our “3rd child” this morning. Before we left Streamwood, we got a nice pic of the girls and their grandparents… and, of course, Sunny.
Also today, we got to meet the newest member of the Charlier clan, P. He was born on Tuesday in Iowa City and we were so glad we could see him so soon. We spent an hour or so visiting this afternoon and we know we’ll have many more opportunities to get to know him in the coming months! We neglected to take any pictures… whoops…
On Saturday before we left, E played her first soccer game of the season. She played really well– tough and scrappy.
She scored a few goals, even. And got a cleat in the face. She sat out for about 5 minutes, then went back in. Her whole team is back together this season, which is really fun, I think.
On Friday, Michael was lucky enough to be the parent chaperone on the Kindergarten trip to a local dairy farm. They learned a lot… the most amazing fact being that these cows sleep on waterbeds. Yup.
And of course, we had a great Easter in Streamwood. E & J loved loved coloring eggs with Aunt Denny, looking for hidden eggs with their second cousins and getting lots of treats from the Bunny himself.
We went to Florida at the end of March and were able to visit Nanny & Granddaddy as well as Disney World.
E’s favoirite things about Disney– The Princesses, Fairies, and the Peter Pan ride
J’s favorite things about Disney– It’s a Small World, the carousel, and the giant mylar balloons we bought as we left
A few photos first, then commentary….
J (almost 4) was really too young to fully enjoy/ appreciate Disney, but we kind of knew that going into it. I recommend waiting until a child is 5 to go, I think. But we wanted to go now because of E’s strong appreciation for princesses. And that was really magical for her. She met almost all of them (except Tiana, from The Princess and the Frog). She had her hair done at Cinderella’s Castle to look like a princess, and we had breakfast in Cinderella’s Castle with 5 princesses… so she definitely got her share.
We spent 2 days in the park and that was perfect. Then we headed to visit Nanny and Granddaddy, who live about 2.5 hours away from Disney. We had 5 relaxing days at the pool and on the beach there. Unfortunately, Nanny was sick during our visit (what seemed like a bad cold turned out to be pneumonia), so she didn’t get to enjoy everything with the girls outside. But we had plenty of time inside with her to enjoy her company. The girls stayed in the apartment with Nanny and Granddaddy while Michael and I stayed at a hotel just down the road. In the mornings, before we came over, Nanny would give the girls breakfast (Honey Nut Cheerios– their special treat, since they don’t get sugared cereal at home) and they would do puzzles or read books and then watch the Madeline movies that came from the library. Michael and I would come over around 9 and then we would all go down to the pool for a couple of hours. Then lunch, nap, and then the beach or the playground after nap. That was really the pace of our days and it was great… very relaxed and the weather was beautiful.
One bit of big news– On our last day, E swam (dog-paddled) by herself for about 10 feet in the pool. Granddaddy worked with both girls on swimming. Both girls could swim with only a “noodle” for support and they were pretty excited to not have a grown-up within 1 foot (okay, we were within 3). They will be ready for swimming lessons this summer, no doubt!
The direct flights on Allegiant were so great. It makes such a big difference to not have hours in airports….
A terrific vacation.
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