Hair today, gone tomorrow
My sister Paige is visiting us - that means lots of at home spa days!
Pedicures are my favorite right now - especially since my feet have started swelling...

I finally had 8+ inches of non-bleached hair and so I asked Paige to cut off enough to donate.
Before:

Piggies:

The cut:

The skinny little 9" ponies, the donation site said that it takes hair from 6 donors to make one wig. I'm guessing it would take more than that if everyone had my fine hair.

The final look:

Cadie does not like my new do but she has been getting plenty of attention as well. She has been asking for braid "crowns" every morning. I would strongly recommend having a cosmetologist/aesthetician in your family.

Swimming and Strawberries
How many strawberries can you eat before you turn into one? Cadie is on her way to finding out. We joined some friends (and brought along neighbor Kelsey) at a strawberry farm and took home 7 lbs. of fresh strawberries and full bellies (from both berries and the shortcake we had at the market afterwards). The grocery store ads just came out and strawberries are cheaper at the store this week than they were at the farm. Well, the experience is worth something right?

Cadie started swim lessons this week which meant that we were at the pool everyday - hurray! Although we had some chilly mornings - sometimes Cadie would stay wrapped up in towels for a while after lessons before she would get back in. I'm doing my best beached whale imitation but when I get up the nerve to get in, the water sure feels nice!

Recital Video
You need to follow this link to view the video on youtube (limited access viewing). I'll take it off in about a week.

Recital
I know I am totally hormonal right now but I could not stop the leaking eyes today as my baby got on stage today for her ballet recital. She walked right up to the front center of the stage and started twisting and shaking her tutu for the audience while Miss. Irene lined up all of the girls across the stage.

Strike a pose: Cadie and Annalise after the recital.

The video is rather lengthy but I'm trying to find a secure way to post it for grandparents and other close friends to watch. I'll post a link soon. Too adorable - grab your hankies!

Indiana and Wisconsin
We found a gem - only 5 hours from us are the shores of Lake Michigan. Fine sandy beaches, dunes, freshwater as far as you can see with small waves (although Eric has done some research on surfing the lakes during windy, large-wave weather). Gorgeous! Friends have been telling us about this but it was hard to believe without seeing it in person.

Eric had a conference in Madison, Wisconsin and so we made a road trip out of it. We spent a night in Indiana near lake Michigan and spent some time enjoying the beach. I loved the grasses and sedges growing in the dunes.

Cadie loved running/tumbling down the dunes - I wish I had taken video! We are still finding sand in her hair.

Then on to Madison, our hotel on the campus of UW with views of Lake Mendota. There were plenty of things to do while Eric was in meetings.
Children's museum:

Geology museum with dinosaur bones and a black-light room full of rocks that glowed. The zoo would have been a bigger hit if it was not 96 degrees and humid but the herpetology building was pretty cool - Cadie was fascinated with the amphibs that were shedding their skin. I thought the baby lion was adorable.

One highlight was unexpectedly joining a protest at the capital. Long story short - we stepped out of a museum and onto capital square just in time for the protest. A lady approached Cadie with a bucket of sidewalk chalk, and now amidst the calls for a recall and other choice sayings, Gov. Walker will find a few spiders and sunshines (hard to distinguish between the two) on the sidewalks in front of the capital.

All in all, a good trip. We will definitely go back to Lake Michigan and Madison is a nice place, how about having this as a commons area on campus: