Smile

When life is tough, I’m thankful for things that make me smile.  They say that laughter is the best medicine and I tend to agree.  If it’s a gray day, look hard and I know you’ll see a bit of sunshine 🌞.  Grab it with both hands and hold on tight.  It will lighten your heart and remind you of what’s really important.  💗

Today

My mom is in the hospital and I can’t visit her.  And it really sucks.  There has been a stomach virus going around Evie’s school and I heard on Thursday that at least 50 kids were out sick.  Brookside is a small school so that is a lot and, as much as it pained me, we had to stay home.  I wanted to see her, but I could not risk spreading sickness.  It was a good thing we stayed here too because Evie got sick Saturday evening.  

I’m so grateful for the weekend we all had together last weekend (minus Adam... we missed you!). It was fun and wonderful.  We don’t take our time for granted.  It means everything to us.  

So sorry

I haven’t been good about updating my blog lately.  I think about it and then get busy and forget.  It’s not a coincidence that my posts stop about the time that school started.  It’s been crazy and busy and just... life.  I didn’t know having a first grader and a preschooler would be so busy.  They are at different schools so they have different activities.  I want to be involved in it all and not have them miss stuff.  It’s fun, it’s exhausting and it’s nothing I imagined life as a parent would be like... it’s better and worse and all kinds of crazy.  And I would not trade it for the world.  ❤️

Goofing off

We jumped the gun a little bit because stores are crazy and already have Halloween stuff out.  We were out shopping and we wandered into the seasonal aisle.  Evelyn looked at me, all confused, and said “Mama I thought you said Halloween wasn’t for 3 months?!” After I assured her that we did indeed still have time to come up with costumes, the kids relaxed and decided to explore the spooky merchandise.  And by explore I mean push every button on every Halloween decoration in the store pretty much simultaneously.  I’m sure other customers loved us.  🤣🤣🤫🙄

Special time

Sometimes little brother falls asleep early and I get special time with my girl.  Tonight we watched played Guess Who and then watched “Honey I Shrunk The Kids’ while we munched on popcorn.  While I love my baby boy, it was wonderful to have some one-on-one time with my Evelyn. 

This kid...

Mitch got a ring pop at the pool today.  It was some kind of crazy variety that turned his mouth, teeth and tougue completely blue.  He loved it and looked so funny and cute.  All I said was “Smile Mitch!”.  Apparently that was too much to ask... 😂🙄😂🙄

Beating the Heat

We are having fun this summer finding ways to beat the heat….

The kids have been swimming in the neighbor’s pool and having water balloon fights and squirt guns battles. 

There have been many evenings spent doing cannonballs and going down the waterslide at the Worthington Pool.  We’ve had splash pad adventures and been slippin’ and slidin’ in Pops and Kiki’s backyard.  That one was really fun!!  We even find things to do when it’s just too hot to be outside – like visiting the Battelle Darby Metro Park Nature Center and playing with puppies at the pet store.

Hilton Head 2018

This post is a bit overdue... 

Tim and Katharine invited us to vacation with them and the Webb families again this year in Hilton Head.  We stayed in the same house as last year and, once again, it worked out perfectly to have the pool right there.  The kids were in and out of the pool all day long and the parents all helped each other out when it came to watching the kids.  

Pat celebrated his 40th birthday while we were away.  Woo hoo! The big 4-0!  I put up a few corny decorations and we had cake and ice to celebrate after dinner at Dockside at Skull Creek.  YUM!!  Pat and I were also able to enjoy a date night.  We had a delicious, low country style dinner followed by cocktails by the ocean.  Thank you to Grandpa Tim, Grandma Katharine and the rest of the adults for watching our kiddos!

We all had the opportunity to do one at least one thing that we really wanted to do.  I woke up early one day, took long, peaceful walk on the beach, and drank my coffee while sitting in the sand.  Pat got the spend the afternoon hanging out with an old friend of his and visiting some of his favorite HHI spots.  Evelyn and Pat when kayaking one day and had a blast.  Another day we went to Harbor Town and took the trolley to the South Beach Marina and Salty Dog Café.  Mitch was SO excited to ride the trolley!!  We also went for an evening walk on the beach and collected shells, had ice cream at Coligny Plaza, and ate so much delicious food.

Tim and Katherine – Thank you so much!! It was a great vacation!!

Coney Island

We made our annual trip to Coney Island last Saturday evening.  It’s been a tradition now for three years running and we love it!  Coney is the best because it’s small and easy and the kids can ride all the rides without standing in long lines.  Plus it’s only $5.25 per kid after 4pm.  You cannot beat that price!!  In the past, we’ve gone to Sunlite Pool as well, but this year we decided to skip that and just have a little pizza party at my parent’s house.  We had a water balloon fight and the kids played in the sprinkler for a while too.  After that we headed to Coney for rides.  The kids had a blast and we were all exhausted by the time we headed home.  We may have to take another trip to Coney Island before the summer is over!

The Streetcar

We crossed another item off of our summer bucket list... riding the Cincinnati Street Car!! 

Mitch was super pumped about it and the rest of us... well let’s just say we were literally along for the ride!

We took a scenic ride around parts of downtown Cincy and OTR.  We got off around Vine Street and then walked around a little.  We stopped for dinner at Pontiac BBQ (delish!!).   It just so happened the Graeters was next door so of course we had to indulge.  It was National Ice Cream Day after all!  We did a little bit more walking before the kids and I had to head home.  What a fun adventure!

Friday Fun

I had the day off from work yesterday so I was hoping to do some fun stuff with the kids.  Evie had Her last day of Drama Camp from 9-12.  Camp ended with a small performance by the kids.  Grandpa Tim and Grandma Katharine met us there and afterwards we went across the street the Dewey’s for pizza.  It was comfortable enough to sit on the patio which was so nice!!! 

After our delicious lunch, I packed up the kids and headed south to KY.  We stopped at Holly’s house for a visit first.  The kids had fun playing together.  They really do miss each other when they are apart.  Evie just adores Asa and likes to act like a little mother to her.  Avi and Mitch are best buddies.  ☺️. We went swimming for a little while at a pool in Holly’s neighborhood.  While the kids didn’t last long, it was fun and it really brought back memories of pool time with cousins when we were kids.  After some pool time, Holly, my mom and I had a little happy hour 🍻 while the kids played.  Much needed girl talk ensued and it was great!

After happy hour, the kids and I headed out with my mom to meet my dad for dinner at one of our Cincy favorites...Skyline!  Yum! 🍝🌭.  Dinner was followed by a first for our kiddos...miniature golf!  We went over to Erlanger Putt Putt and I honestly felt like I stepped back in time to my childhood.  It felt like it hadn’t changed in 30 years (Maybe longer!).  It was a lot of fun, although I have definitely not improved since childhood.  And watching Evie golf was like watching myself - tantrums and all.  😳🙄😫  Pops got 5 holes in one and Mitch and Evie each managed to get a legit hole in 2.  We can’t wait til next time!  We ended the night with ice cream and catching fireflies outside.  I’d say it was a pretty great summer day!!!

Family Movie Night

We decided to take the kids to the movies to see The Incredibles 2.  We’ve only attempted to take Mitch to the movies once before.  He was two and a half and it was disastrous.  He and I sat in the lobby most of the movie because he just couldn’t sit still.  Now that Mitchell is four, we decided to try again.  Evelyn has gone to the movies a bunch of times so she knew the drill.  Mitchell was still pretty restless, but he was quiet for the most part and we made it through the whole movie!!  Woo hoo!  It was a lot of fun and we can’t wait til next time!