Our time with Liz

On May 8, my AFS sister from Chile arrived in Milwaukee. After 17 years, we were able to reconnect in person. I am thankful for the phone, email, and Facebook, but there is nothing like seeing a friend and spending time with them in person. We were both unsure of how things would go. From the moment I saw her walking out of the concourse from her flight, all the uncertainty went away and we hit it off. It was just like it was so many years ago.

The kids adored her from the moment they met her.

We enjoyed showing Liz Madison. We started with a trip to our favorite restaurant, New Seoul, for some delicious Korean food. Liz had never tasted Korean food, so it was a nice treat. She loved trying Kimbop, Bibimbop, Kimchi, Chop Chae, among many other traditional Korean food. We visited State Street and the Capital building, which had a great view of the city, ate some famous Clary's popcorn, and had some pizza at Ian's pizza. With mom in town and Mike and Kylie coming for a visit, it was like a mini family reunion. We enjoyed a Friday Fish Fry, frozen custard, and Red Robin burgers. There's nothing like tasting the local cuisine when you travel to another country!

Despite the rain and colder than normal temperatures, we spent time at Olbrich outdoor gardens. We spent several hours walking around, learning about the bees from the beekeepers, and taking a lot of great pictures. The kids enjoyed running around. We headed to Ella's Deli after for Chocolate Shoppe custard and a ride on the Carousel.

We spent time around Madison, but also enjoyed just hanging out at home and catching up on the last 17 years. It was really hard to let her leave for her high school host parents in Minnesota then for New York. I am jealous that I no longer have flight benefits to travel with her! I look forward to our time together some day in the future.

Liz and Ian at the top of the Capital building

Red Robin

Ian and Liz at our coffee time at Cool Beans

Kylie, Uncle Mike, and Cami at Culvers

Olbrich Gardens

Ian and Aladodo at Olbrich Gardens

Kylie and Cami loving time together

Some yummy ice cream at Ella's Deli

A ride on the carousel at Ella's

A family picture by Monona Terrace

Time for a Fish Fry at Essen Haus

Cousins in front of Lake Monona

Liz and Cami in front of the capital

Ian, Ben, and Aladodo spend time planting tomato plants

Ian and Ben planting at a demo during Farmer's Market

It's time to say good bye

Cami is sad to see Liz leave

We were very sad to see Liz go. He asked where "people" was for several days after she left.

A Special Mother's Day Gift

This year for Mother's Day, I had two very special presents. My friend, Liz, who lives in Chile, was here to visit. The other gift was my mom coming into town. This is the first time we have all been together in 17 years. I feel so blessed to have a sister half way around the world. We picked up exactly where we left off so many years ago.

Family is SO important to me. I feel so blessed to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom, Liz, and my family.

Mom is beaming with joy

Liz and Dana

A Knight For A Princess

Lake City Church, which is associated with Abundant Life Christian School, held a special night for dads and daughters. Justin escorted Cami to A Knight for a Princess, where they ate a special dinner, danced, and had a great evening together.

Grandparents Day

This year, Grandma Aladodo flew in from Oregon to spend time visiting and going to Grandparent's Day at ALCS. She is officially retired, so she is looking forward to being able to take more trips with Bruce and trips to see kids and grandkids.

She was able to visit Cami's kindergarten class and Ben's 1st grade class.

Spring Concert at ALCS

The night was filled with music from around the world as we enjoyed the kids spring concert at ALCS.

Once Upon A Potty

On Friday we decided that we have had enough of diapers. We put Ian in underpants and started our journey of potty training our youngest. Despite having about 12 packages of pull ups , I figured having him potty trained would be worth it. Over the weekend we had about as many successes as accidents, but Monday was a nice change. Ian only had 1 accident, which was when he was sleeping. We made it through all of our errands and a trip to the west side for the Chiropractor. We are SO proud of him. He is enjoying the reward of a jelly bean for potty and a mini fruit roll up or mini twizzler (leftover Easter treats) for poo poo. So far he has only asked a few times to go, but we know that will eventually change. We look forward to the day he willingly goes to the bathroom to go potty and not having us pick him up and have to encourage him to sit there and work on getting the potty out.

We are proud of our little man!

Ben's Admirals Birthday Party

On Friday we celebrated Ben's upcoming birthday with 6 of his friends. Four friends from Madison joined us after school and drove with us to Milwaukee. We met up at a friends house where 2 more of Ben's friends joined us. We celebrated with pizza, juice, and snacks before heading to the Bradley Center for the Admirals hockey game.

The kids were treated to great seats in section 219 rows Y and Z, with a GREAT view of the rink. The Admirals scored one goal after another against Chicago. We celebrated Ben's birthday with cupcakes during one of the breaks.

Ben was excited to see his name up on the big screen wishing him a happy birthday. This was a very special present from the Boppre family.

The kids also got to go into the Media room to have a special meet and greet with Roscoe. The kids posed for pictures and asked for his autograph.

After the game we headed back to Madison where the boys had a sleepover. Most were so excited from the game that they did not fall asleep until a little after midnight. This did not stop them from waking up by 6am for breakfast. Parents came around 9 to pick up their kids. It was a great birthday...definitely one Ben will remember for a long time!

kids eating pizza at Becca's house before the game

kids holding up their tickets before going into the game

the kids pose with Roscoe, the Admirals mascot

Ben blowing out the candles on his cupcakes

Ben with Roscoe

Ben was excited to see his name on the big screen...thanks Becca and Bill

cheering after another goal scored

Jared, Ben, and Caleb

Boys getting their last screams out before getting in the car to head back to Madison

Happy 7th Birthday Ben!