Quick re-cap

Dad and I

The girls and I made it back to our house on Wednesday after 5 days in Ottawa....and Glandorf.  Tom comes home today (yeah!!) and we will welcome him with open arms and a cold beer.  But before we can start our weekend, I need to re-cap our last several days.  They have been filled with seeing family and friends that we don't have the opportunity to see often enough in my opinion.

Sunday (Father's Day) my sister, Lorie, invited us and Jason's family to their house for some BBQ chicken (yum!!).  Dads (minus Tom), kiddie pool, some baseball in the yard, sandbox and some bikes = family fun.  Emily is just starting to learn how to ride a bike.  Their is a lot of motor planning that goes into figuring it all out for her and, as much as I've tried, I just can't push her to learn faster.  We fought over this all last summer and she was so frustrated she wouldn't even go near her tricycle.  This summer she seems to have figured it out and I love seeing her accomplish yet another goal!!  I like seeing the girls be able to ride bikes together now!  And Sunday she got on Adysen's 2 wheel bike with training wheels and started to ride it!  The little show off :)

Emily on a big girl bike!!

Lorie pitching - guess we know who helps Braeden get some batting practice in

Cousins in the sandbox

Father's Day cookout

 Monday evening my nephew Braeden had a baseball game in Ft. Jennings and so we were able to go see a game. Braeden is 6 and it is his first year playing. From the looks of his teammates and opponents, it's their first year playing, too. I am pleased to report, like the proud aunt that I am, that he was probably one of the best players out there. Each player gets like 4 pitches from the coach (designated dad that evening) and if after those attempts they haven't hit it yet, they have to hit off a tee. Granted, I didn't see each kid at bat, but from what I did see, only one or two kids actually hit the ball on the first pitch at both at-bats. Braeden was one of them and he kind of nailed it each time!! Kid can hit the ball. I played every sport available to me, except softball. -I never got the hand-eye coordination part of the game, so to see a 6 year old whip up on the ball first pitch each time I was more than a little impressed! 



Braeden at catcher

Up to bat

Nice hit, buddy!! (see the ball?)

"Go Braeden!"

Emily had never been to a baseball game before, so I was surprised when we got there she started shouting, "Go Braeden!" Loudly. It's not like this game was competitive at all. But Emily got into the spirit and was his little cheerleader even though no one else in attendance was audibly cheering. (Kind of like at church when everyone is quiet after the choir has finished a song and she claps and says 'Yeaah!') Sister likes to throw out some praise!! Otherwise there was a lot of dirt kicking and underwear picking by those on the field.




We all went out for ice cream afterwards and it was one of those really hot evenings where you have to lick your cone double time because it melts so fast.   

Monday is also the day Casey informed me she got a mosquito bite on her head at Girl Scout camp the week before and we should (and I quote), "be on the lookout for one smart mosquito out there because he probably sucked out some of her knowledge.  It's probably mostly at the part where 8+8 is stored because I can't seem to remember what it equals."  Ahhh, love me some Casey quotes  :)

Tuesday, the girls and I went over to my friend Marna's house to hang out with her and her two kids.  We were treated with a visit from Jill and her three kids!  Casey considers Marna's daughter, Morgan, and Jill's daughter, Audrey, to be her "Ottawa friends" and always asks if we can see them when we are in town.  I am lucky to have been able to maintain such dear friendships since high school.  We don't get to see each other often enough but I fully appreciate their presence in my life.

Wednesday, we packed up and left Nana and Papa's house.  Nana had been with us for 10 days and although she was sad to see us leave, I kind of suspect she was ready for some solo time as well.  On our way home we stopped for a visit at my cousin Jean's house in Vandalia.  Jean and I went to school together from kindergarten through high school.  We became closer friends around the time we both got married and Casey and her daughter, Megan, actually were born the same day - just hours apart!  She has 3 daughters and I have 2, so that just adds up to a lot of girly fun for all when we get together.  Later in the afternoon, we started the last leg of our trip home.  The girls were exhausted from the heat of the past week, the busy days and late nights, so when at 7:20 that evening I asked who was ready for bed, Emily just walked to her bed and curled up and said, "Nigh, nigh, mommy bird."  And she was out.

Thanks for hosting, Jaime!

Thursday was another busy day as we loaded up ourselves in Mandy's minivan with her and her 3 kids at 9:00 a.m. to go see some college friends and their kids in Columbus.  Jaime and Joy live in Columbus which isn't that far from Cincinnati but it seems with every one's schedules we're only able to get together a couple times a year.  Jaime hosted us all at her house which has a pool.  4 college friends, 10 kids and a pool made for my kind of summer day.  The kids bobbed, floated, dove, splashed and swam the entire day while we sat and talked about kids, husbands, jobs, vacations, plastic surgery, families and growing older.  I think I surmised that I was the only one that feels like she's getting older and I am determined to change that.  Work out a little more and focus a little less on the things that stress me out.  And about plastic surgery?  Let's just say each of us agreed it's not off the table for discussion.  It was a really nice day and the kids were exhausted to say the least when we left.  Another night of early bedtimes for me while Tom was away.  Sweet!!


The girls and I went to our neighborhood pool this afternoon and rushed home for Emily to catch a nap so I could clean the house before Tom comes home this evening. The girls are so excited to see daddy - Casey even made a poster to welcome him home. Emily will wake up soon so I am just going to add some random pictures from the last week in this blog. Just a quick re-cap of some of our fun.

See the Big Wheel Casey is riding?  It's the same one my sisters and I rode as kids!  Dad saved it and it still works!

                                 I think we all feel as exhausted as this picture of Emily in the car :)