Zoo Field Trip

Evie and her class had their final field trip to the zoo.  It was a gorgeous day and we had a lot of fun!  Her kindergarten class is so wonderful and I’m really going to miss them when this year is over!  

We did a scavenger hunt around the zoo.  We walked around with six other girls and I enjoyed getting to watch Evelyn interact with her friends... for the most part.  With girls, there is always drama and Evelyn can be a little bossy.  😉 All in all, it was fun, and I hope to see some of these moms and girls this summer!!

Drama Drama Drama... 😂😂

Spring Soccer Send Off

It’s hard the believe that the spring soccer I’d already over!   ⚽️   We started the season with our first game being snowed out and ended it by playing in 80+ degree heat.  Gotta love Ohio! ❤️

Evelyn had her last game on Saturday.  She did well this season and really found her place as a defender.  Other parents even told me how well she did as a goalie.  She wants to play next season so time will tell if that’s where she stays!

We ended the season with a party at Coach Kathy’s house.  It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast having a water balloon fight, jumping on the trampoline and of course playing soccer!

Pittsburgh Wedding Weekend

Evelyn and I, along with Pops and Aunt Shannon, went to Pittsburgh this past weekend for my cousin Ross’ wedding.  It was kind of a rushed affair getting there because we left after Evelyn’s last soccer game around 11:30 and the wedding started at 5.  It’s about a three hour drive from Columbus so we were cutting it kind of close, but in the end, we made it to the ceremony with time to spare.  Whew! 

Evie had her first Uber ride...

She blew bubbles for the bride and groom...

She ate perogies with onions (and loved them!)...

She made light up glasses and necklaces...

She danced with the flower girl, sweet AJ....

She slow danced with Pops....

She did the Cupid Shuffle...

And she had a blast dancing the night away with my cousins.  She adores them!

Sunday she went swimming and we all went to the Duquesne Incline to see some spectacular views of Pittsburgh before heading home.  Minus a few temper tantrums, it was a great trip and a beautiful wedding!

Congratulations Ross and Christy!

Family Weekend

Weekends have been busy lately, but two weeks ago we had a rare weekend with nothing outside of Evelyn’s soccer game planned.

About an hour before her game, I got call from my mom telling me that they were on their way to Columbus and would be there in a hour.  Say what?!  My parents wanted to see Evelyn play soccer – especially my mom since she hadn’t seen her play yet – so they (along with Shannon), hopped in the car and drove up to surprise us.  They met us at Evie’s game and asked me not to tell her that they were coming.  Evelyn ended up having a huge cheering section since ALL of her grandparents plus Shannon were at the game.  She was so excited so could barely contain herself on the field!

After the game, we all went out to lunch at Max & Erma’s.  It was such a nice, impromptu family get-together.  It had been a year since my parents had seen Rita and practically two years since they’d seen Tim and Katharine.  I really enjoyed having everyone together and I know the kids loved it.  I wish I would have thought to take pictures, but I was too busy enjoying the company!

After lunch, we headed back to our house with my parents and hung out there for a while.  My parents decided to get a hotel room at the Drury and we had little swim party that night.  The kids were beyond thrilled at getting to swim two weekends in a row!  The Drury is great because they have fantastic happy hour with all sorts of food and drinks.  We were able to eat there and didn’t have to worry about getting cleaned up or interrupting the kid’s swim fun to go out to dinner.  It really was a fun, low-key night of just hanging out and being together.  Evelyn wanted to have a sleepover so Pat and I left with Mitch (who flat out refused to stay) around 9.  He was a pretty worn out little boy!

I can’t tell you how much I enjoy and treasure these moments with family! 

She’s growing up fast

Evelyn lost one her front teeth today.  And she voted.  My baby girl is getting so big!!!!

Happy Wedding Day Shannon and Chip!

Today is a very special day!  Shannon and Chip (aka Brett) got married in St. Lucia!  We are all so excited for them and can not wait to see what the future holds!  Congratulations you guys....we can’t wait to celebrate!

First Time Fishing

Today I took the kids fishing at Brookside Pond.  It’s on the grounds of the elementary school that Evelyn will attend next year.  The kids got fishing poles from the Easter Bunny and they were excited to try them out.  As Pat was leaving for work, I told him that I planned to take the kids fishing.  His only response was to give me an incredulous look and ask “What will you do if you actually catch a fish?”.  Haha!  He knows me well!  I told him that I was bringing gloves and a net so I thought I’d be ok.  

We packed our tackle box with hot dogs and bread.  I don’t do worms.  It had been quite some time since I fished, but once I got there, I remembered the basics.  Evelyn was determined to do everything herself.  It took a while, but she finally got the hang of casting.  I made sure to tell the kids to be careful because the hooks were very sharp.  At one point, Mitch walked by me and tripped while I was baiting a hook and managed to catch my finger.  That hurt and Mitch lost it when when saw the hook in my finger.  Once I assured him that I was not, in fact, going to lose my finger he calmed down.  But after that, I think they understood more why they needed to be careful.  We fished on one side of the pond, where there was a little space to practice casting.  Like I said, Evelyn got the hang of casting pretty quickly and always remembered to warn\alert us when she was getting ready to cast so we could give her lots of space.  Mitch was content to let me cast and then hold the fishing reel. Eventually we moved over to the little pier and dropped our lines straight down into the water.  There were dozens of fish and we got tons and tons of nibbles, but in the end we only caught one fish.  And it fell off the line as we were reeling it in.  We’re still counting it though!

It was fun, and while the kids still need to work on patience and being quiet, they did well for their first time!

Derby Day

We were in Ohio for Derby Day this year.  We didn’t have Derby Pie, Mint Juleps or Burgoo.  We didn’t go to Churchill Downs or any horse track to place bets for that matter.  But we did have a lot of fun.  We had snack dinner night, which is a huge favorite for the kids.  We had taquitos, poutine poopers, pizza, cheese, pepperoni, cheese and pickles, and popcorn.  And the kids has Sprite, which was a huge treat since we rarely all them to have soft drinks.  Pat and I enjoyed highballs.  If we couldn’t have mint juleps, at least we could have Kentucky bourbon!

I made up a chart with all of the Derby Race horses and got some coins.  Mitch was pennies, Evelyn was nickels (and a few British coins from my travels), Pat was dimes and I was quarters.  We had 5 coins each and we took turns placing them on the horse that we wanted until the chart was full.  Kinda silly, but then we all had a 5 horses to cheer for so that made it more fun!  In case you are wondering, we did have our favorites.  Pat’s was Magnum Moon, mine was Vino Rosso, Evie’s was Noble Indy and Mitch’s was Combatant.

 We donned our Derby Hats 🎩.  We watched the horses walk into the track.  We cheered and screamed and jumped up and down during the race.  It was fun!

Weekend Fun

A few weekends ago had some very special visitors stop by… Aunt Holly, Uncle Cal, Avi and Asa!

They decided to get out of Cincy for the night and get a hotel room in downtown Columbus.  They stopped by our house for a little visit before checking into the hotel and we could not have been more thrilled!  Mitch was SO excited to have Avi come to his house and play.  We go to Avi’s house fairly often, but Avi has only been to our house a few times. Mitchell was so excited to show Avi his toys and play.  Mitch also decided that it was his job to encourage Avi to use the potty.  He led by example and the boys took a potty break every 20 minutes or so.  It was kind of hilarious.  Every time we turned around, the boys were back in the bathroom. 

 After Holly, Cal and the kids headed to their hotel around 5 and Rita came over to babysit for us so that Pat and I could go to dinner.  We went to a restaurant called Boiling Seafood.  It was so good!  I tried crawfish for the first time and it wasn’t bad.  I never been to a restaurant like that – we picked our sauce and spice level and they cooked the sausage, crab, shrimp, crawfish and corn all together with the sauce in a big bag.  Then they just drop the bag on the table, put a bib on you, give you a pair of gloves and a bucket for shells and you just go to town.  It was really delicious and I’d love to go back!

The next morning, I took the kids to Holly’s hotel to go swimming for a little while.  The kids didn’t last as long as I expected.  That may have had something to do with the fact that I left Mitchell’s swim trucks and Evelyn’s goggles at home.  Mitch was able to borrow a pair of shorts from Avi thank goodness!  We had a great time visiting them and we were very sad to see them go!  Hopefully they are able to come and see us again soon!