Miss America 2030?

I let Ally stay up a little later to watch some of the Miss America pageant last weekend. She was very excited to watch the pretty girls and even dressed herself up for the event. Watching the pageant has always been one of my favorite traditions I had with my mom and hopefully Ally will enjoy it too. Although I am not involved with the program like I used to be, I will still always be a supporter of the largest scholarship source for women in the country. I didn't let Ally stay up to the end but it was exciting to see Miss Wisconsin win. We are not pushing her into Toddlers & Tiaras or anything but when she turns 18 and decides she has the talent to earn some college scholarships, we certainly wont prevent her from trying! If you ask her now what her talent is going to be she says basketball so sort of ironic she is wearing a jersey and crown at the same time. That's our girl!

Shuffle Board

While we were at my parents, Ally had fun playing shuffle board at Players. I guess its never too early to learn the Wisconsin bar tricks.

Holiday Recap: New Years

We had to send Corey back to Vegas before New Years and I had to work during the day so we just planned on a low-key night at home with other friends that were stuck in Peoria because of work. Ally always has fun when friends are over. Karl grilled and everyone brought sides to share. We watched some of the holiday specials and Ally was out a few hours before midnight. We celebrated on both eastern and central time and enjoyed the day off on Monday by taking a quick trip to Champaign to watch Purdue women's basketball take on Illinois with Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Henry. Ally wasn't being so cooperative so I didn't get hardly any pictures of her on New Years Eve. She looked super cute though!

Holiday Recap: Christmas

We were very busy over Christmas but had a lot of fun visiting family and playing at home. We went to West Lafayette to have the Kraebber Christmas in early December because of work and travel schedules. Ally had fun ripping into everything and especially loved her Princess Dress up and art station. Uncle Corey flew into Peoria on December 22 and we all drove up to Wisconsin on the 23rd. We got to spend time at Grandpa Joel's house and had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with Great Grandma Sandy, Grandpa Paul and Aunt Judy. Ally was in full entertainer mode and loved all her new toys. Not sure who like the Muppet from Aunt Judy more- Corey or Ally! On Christmas day we opened presents with my dad then went over to my mom's for a whole day of family. Ally loves all her aunts, uncles and cousins and was worn out by the end of the night. She played with all her new toys and helped everyone open their gifts. She is one lucky girl! We had two cars and good thing we did because we would not have made it home with all the new toys and clothes. Uncle Corey got to stay with us for a few extra days.

Visiting Santa ... or not

Ally had been talking for a week about how she wanted to visit Santa. After last years traumatic ordeal we decided we didn't think we should do it again. She kept asking so last Friday we decided to give in and go check out the Winter Wonderland at the new Bass Pro Shop. We thought it would be far less scary than the crazy mall and we also had never been in there before. Clearly we underestimated how popular this store was and we also didn't know you needed a fast pass to see Santa.

We came in at 7 pm and saw a small line. We get in line and the girl working asks for our time card. We didn't know that you had to pick up a pass that told you what time you could come back to see Santa. Really? She gave us a card that said come back at 8:30. WHAT? Ally was really into the whole winter scene and all the displays they had set up so there was plenty to do. The place is gigantic. Beautiful decorations and little games for kids to play. We did a lap and checked out the live fish tank where they were doing a demo, a ton of life sized stuffed animals of all kinds, the grill area then made our way into the bowling alley and restaurant. That area is underwater themed and the special lighting they have makes you really feel like you are under the ocean. It was really awesome and Ally loved watching the fish and the bowling. We got some ice cream from the little old fashioned soda fountain and then headed back over to get in line.

While we waited Ally waved at Santa so we were sure this was a good sign. She was pumped up and ready to go. We didn't wait long in line before it was our turn. As soon as we started walking up the red carpet and Santa said hi she freaked and jumped straight into my arms. Wouldn't look at him and was hanging onto my arms with the death grip. The more he talked to her, she harder she was shaking. Not crying or screaming but wasn't going to let go so we could get our free picture. Would even take the candy cane! We walked away and back to the car. She declared " Idon't like Santa" and that was it.