Cassidy Turns 5!

The birthday girl turns 5!

Cassidy had so much fun turning 5 this year!  On the morning of her birthday, she woke up and opened her bedroom door to find a curtain of colored balloons hanging in the doorway in her honor.  (Erik and I couldn't help ourselves, we hid near her door to watch her funny reaction as she came out that morning.)  We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, she opened some special gifts from family (we skyped with Grandma and Grandpa Reder so she could open their presents "together"- such fun), and we headed to the beach to spend the day with friends.  It was a blast!  Later in the day, we made our way to Chuck-E-Cheese for a night of kiddie fun with just the 4 of us.  Cassidy and Gavin played all sorts of games, earned tickets, and got to use them to purchase incredible items such as tiny plastic animals and sweet tarts (ha).  They posed for a photo with Chuck himself and had a fantastic time.  We headed home for homemade "turtle" cupcakes (attempting to resemble Squirt from "Finding Nemo").  She was so excited to see Squirt, but then got teary at the thought of eating him.  So, she opted for a plain cupcake so Squirt could be saved.  (Although, a few days later when he was headed for the garbage can, she decided it might be OK to go ahead and eat him.)

Birthday morning surprise

The mouse himself!

My best attempt at a Squirt cupcake

Enjoying the birthday treat

Before her actual birthday arrived, we had some other fun celebrations.  Cassidy had a special birthday treat with her classmates at school prior to the start of summer...

Cassidy and her friend Adeline - both celebrating their summer birthdays!

...and then closer to her birthday we had a backyard party with all the girls from her class.  We had a lady from the local pet store come to entertain the girls with some live animals that they could hold, pet, and watch as they crawled across blankets in the backyard (2 bunnies, a bearded lizard, a snake and a white rat!).  We also had our 2 teenage baby-sitters who live on our street come over to do some fun face painting.  We had pizza and cake, and lucked out with a beautiful day - 83 and sunny.  It was such a simple, fun party with the kids just enjoying summertime.  

Also, the weekend after her birthday, the celebration continued with a great visit from Grammy Brown, Aunt Mel and little Jackson.  We had lunch together and had so much fun spending the afternoon with them.

Grammy Brown and her 3 grandkids

We really can't believe our little baby girl is 5 years old!  She has made us so happy and proud over the past 5 years and we are honored to be her parents.  We can't imagine our lives without her!  We love you, sweet Cassidy!

Baby Cassidy on the day she was born - 6/28/07

Cinderella Waltz

Cassidy just performed in her first ballet recital, and her group's performance was called the Cinderella Waltz.  Imagine about twelve 4-year olds in light blue sparkly tutus, ballet slippers and their hair all tied in buns, up on a big auditorium stage, trying to remember the special moves their teacher (Ms. Wendy) has rehearsed with them each week over the past 9 months.  It was adorable, comical, and tear-jerking all at once!  Prior to the show, all the girls gathered at our neighbor's house to get their hair done together (our neighbor is the Aunt of one of the ballerinas and has a salon in her basement, so she kindly offered to handle all the up-dos for the show!).  That was all sorts of fun too!

Rehearsing at class the week before the recital

Time for up-dos!

With Grammy - ready to go!

On the big stage

 It was so nice to have Grammy and Grandpa Brown there in the audience with us to watch the show, and Cassidy was very excited about receiving flowers at the end of the performance.  She had talked about that part days ahead of time, just asking sweet things like "Mommy, do you think I'll get special flowers when I'm done dancing like some of the big girls do?"  A local flower shop set up a booth in the back of the auditorium so family members could greet their little ones with special bouquets.

Post-performance, with her special bouquet

I'm not sure if more ballet classes are in our future (have to try some other things too!) but Cassidy loved every minute of the experience.  No stage fright for this little ballerina!

The walk home

School Year Ends...Summer Begins!

Cassidy and Gavin both had great school celebrations on their last day of school this year.  At Gavin's party, parents were invited to watch and help them sing songs with Dr. Jim (their kind volunteer who came often to play guitar and sing with them), and then the kids had popsicles and lemonade as we all said our goodbyes.

The next day was Cassidy's last day.  Gavin and I joined her class for a celebration and the delivery of the students' special certificates!  Afterwards, a few of the moms decided on an impromptu lunch date at McDonald's since it was such a special occasion for the girls.  It's hard to believe we'll have a little girl in Kindergarten next year!

Cincinnati Wedding Fun

We traveled to Cincinnati for my cousin Lorin's wedding.  We had a wonderful weekend!  Not only was it a beautiful wedding celebration, but we also got the chance to catch up with family that we don't see as often as we'd like.  The kids were very excited by their first hotel stay (and the playtime they had in the hotel pool).  We also spent some time in downtown Cincinnati, enjoying the parks and the nice view of the Ohio river.  It was such nice family time!

The Reder cousins (we missed Kelsey, who had a big softball game back home!) as well as our friends Owen and Caroline Burkholder.  Loved seeing them all!

Family photo of the old Reder family of 5

Cassidy was captivated watching the bride and groom's first dance 

More wedding fun

Lastly, we took a little video of Gavin tearing up the dance floor with some of his original moves.

Memorial Day Parade 2012

We had fun marching in Wilmette's Memorial Day Parade alongside our SFX friends.  Grammy and Grandpa Brown joined us too!  It was a hot day (90 degrees!) but also a fun day and great way to pay tribute to those who defend our country.  We had fun seeing various friends along the streets as we walked, and ended the parade at Village Hall where the band played patriotic songs and the officers fired off a salute.