Jack Turns 4!

We got back yesterday from our trip to Charleston where we got to help Jack celebrate his 4th birthday, and had a great time hanging out with Megan, Hans, and Ben as well as Hans' parents. The party was on Saturday at The Children's Museum of the Lowcountry, and the kids had a blast! In addition to all the super cool stuff at the museum, they also had a birthday parade for Jack, plenty of cake and snacks, and marble painting for the kids -- such a simple craft, but lots of fun! Elizabeth didn't see the point in wasting time with the marbles when she had a perfectly good napkin and fingers to use in creating her masterpiece. As you'll see in the second video, the cake kicked in quickly! After the party, Elizabeth crashed for a 3 hour nap (truly a miracle) and Jack took his new big kid bike for a test drive! (Sorry I don't have pictures of that--I was "supervising" Elizabeth during nap time. I'm sure Hans and Megan will post some soon.)
Thanks to Megan and Hans for their hospitality, and a huge shout out to Patrick for staying put and not making his appearance in South Carolina.

Easter

Eggs and bunnies and chocolate, oh my! This was the first year that Elizabeth really got into the swing of things at Easter, and she had a great time! We met the Easter Bunny on Holy Saturday, and then on Easter morning, after beginning the day nice and early with an egg hunt and a power breakfast (a.k.a. Cadbury Egg), we were off to Mass, where she actually sat with us rather than excusing herself to the nursery!

The pink bunny ears that you'll see below were a craft that I did with the kids at The Green House, and she pretty much wore them every day for a week!

Disney!!

Elizabeth was lucky enough to share her first trip to Disney World with all 4 of her grandparents and her awesome Aunt Anita! (Mom and Dad, too, but who cares about us when the grandparents are around?!) We really had a great trip. We just did the Magic Kingdom this time, and we took it pretty easy. We would head into the park first thing in the morning, and then right after lunch we headed back to the hotel for swimming and nap time. We did go back to the park one night for the Electrical Parade and fireworks. She is still talking about the parade! She absolutely loved it...the fireworks, not so much. We had earplugs for her, but Ed and I still had to make a quick and tearful exit with her once they started.
Her favorite part was definitely meeting all the characters and getting their autographs in her super cool autograph book that Gege made for her. She was pretty hesitant with the characters at first, but by the third day, she was running right up to them with open arms!
Thanks to Gramma, Grandpa, Gege, Gramps, and Anita for making it such a special trip!

Go Pack Go!!

Not sure if you've heard or not, but THE PACKERS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!! It's true that Elizabeth is not really a direct participant in this post, but THE PACKERS WON THE SUPERBOWL, so the post is more than justified. Plus, when Elizabeth found out that she's having a baby brother, she announced that we should name him Aaron Rodgers, so she is already green and gold through and through :)

Anyway, on their way to their Superbowl victory, the Pack made a stop here in Atlanta where they soundly defeated the Falcons. On hand to witness the whoopin'...Ed and Megan, of course, with their Cheese Heads in tow! Hans and I, being the amazing spouses that we are, stayed behind with the wee ones and let the Wisconsin natives enjoy the festivities in person. Here's a sampling of what they witnessed...

Ice Skating

Elizabeth had her first ice skating adventure on New Year's Eve! It was about 60 degrees here in Atlanta, so it was perfect at the outdoor rink in Centennial Olympic Park. When we first arrived, we weren't sure we would make it onto the rink at all. The music was very loud, and Little Miss Sensitive is not a fan of loud (unless it's her own voice). But as you can see from the video, she warmed up and had a GREAT time! She thought it was soooo funny every time she slipped :) A big shout out to Daddy from Wisconsin for being able to skate and handle her. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to manage the camera, sometimes in reverse!

Christmas!

This was our first year staying home for Christmas. It was very different, and, of course, we missed those that we weren't with, but it was actually very relaxing and laid back for the three of us. Elizabeth was a bit overwhelmed on Christmas morning, so we went easy with the camera. The video here is when she finally stopped opening presents and played with her new nativity for several minutes--she started coming out of the haze by the end of it :)

Thanksgiving in Minneapolis

This year the Link family Thanksgiving gathering was hosted by Wade and Suz in Minneapolis. We had a great time with everybody and even had snow! Elizabeth put her new snow suit to good use, although, as the temperatures were in the single digits, the kids didn't last long outside.