Halloween Happenings 2015

Halloween was a fun occasion this year, as Adam was really into it. The day fell on a Saturday and the weather was perfect, so it allowed for a lot more community and socialization with neighbors.

Adam wanted to be a demolition man for the weeks leading up to it, so I picked up the construction costume. Then he decided he really wanted to be a miner. (I don't know where he gets this stuff.) We added a headlamp, and voila! a miner! (Which, by the way, is the perfect Halloween costume -- headlamp and reflective vest make for ideal safety wear!)

Sam wasn't too into it, but I was just happy he wore the cape I made! I planned on him being a fireman (Adam's costume from a couple of years ago) but two days before Halloween, out of the blue, Adam told someone Sam was going to be a magician. (I had previously commented that Sam looked like a magician in his tuxedo shirt.) Adam's idea stuck with me and I knew I had to do it! It's not Halloween unless I'm whipping up a costume the night before! (I was overly excited about the top hat I made... until it didn't fit him...boo.) Samuel walked around without his hat, wand and rabbit (did I really think he would wear/carry them?), so he looked more like an adorable Dracula instead.

We started the evening with some pizza with Adam's schoolmate, and then some enthusiastic trick-or-treating! So many neighbors made the occasion an event, with fire pits and lawn chairs in the driveways. One house was even giving away hot dogs to anyone that came by. It was a great way to meet some new neighbors and reacquaint with those we don't see very often.

One house was giving away full size candy bars, and Adam chose a big Hershey bar to take home. Later, when I was emptying his bad, I asked him where it was. Answer: "I ate it."

Yep, that's Halloween for you!

The Nina, The Pina (but not) The Santa Maria

Fourteen-hundred-and-ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue. We recently took Adam to see replicas of Christopher Columbus' famous ships that docked in town for public tours. The Nina was built by hand without power tools and is considered to be the most historically accurate Columbus replica ever built. The Pinta was actually built larger than the original. Both were created by The Columbus Foundation. I was most struck by how tiny these ships are! I cannot imagine spending months onboard on an ocean crossing. No windows below, very small deck space, the smell of pine tar (which seals and makes the ships black). These ships are actively in use by the crew of volunteers who sail with the ship and lead the tours from city to city. Because the crew lives on board, we could not go down below into the private cabins. I had hoped to see it set up as it would have been with supplies, livestock, sleeping arrangements, food prep, etc., and I think it would have given us all a better picture of how primitive life in that time was like. Volunteers run the tours now in exchange for free room and board. One girl I spoke to had just been on board for 2 weeks, and another girl had been there for 6 weeks. Both said it was an awesome experience. I think Michael wanted to sign up and cruise around the country for a stint. For me, the thought of going on a river cruise on this boat made my stomach turn, honestly. (I'll prefer my cruise ships with a solarium and silly towel animals, thankyouverymuch.) Adam had a great time running around the ships, using the pulleys, and manning the cannons. Sam had a great time with his feet firmly planted on dry land. (Sam and boats don't mix.) It was pretty neat to see them docked alongside the skyline of a modern city and wished we had seen them in motion with all sails down. It must be an impressive sight.

Firefighter Ice Cream Social

Firefighter Ice Cream Social

We couldn't turn down an invite to a local firefighter demonstration! Adam is interested in just about anything to do with firemen and firetrucks, and I'm interested in just about anything to do with ice cream.  Clearly this event was made for our family.

Adam had a blast exploring all the different era fire trucks. Kids had a chance to use a real fire hose to put out the "flames" of a house. The fire department lit a car on fire and demonstrated its response and how it puts out the flames. One of the fire trucks was available for painting. And did I mention there was ice cream?

Sam was only really interested in the bounce house.

click to enlarge

It was a very organized, fun event. We left before the pie eating contest (oh darn!) and we'll definitely look for this again next year!

This summer.

I've been away. 

Not to any place in particular; just, you know, around. Busy with kids, afternoon parks, therapies, soccer and piano. Busy with work, little bit of traveling. Busy with Life. And maybe you missed reading new posts. Maybe you didn't. But, a lot happened this summer. A lot of cool, interesting, beautiful, special things. No big beach trips or European vacations for us. But lots of family time, old friend time, new friend time, explorations and developments. 

Sam, oh our Sam. He deserves a post of his own for all the mind-blowing things he's surprising with us with lately. I forget that he's almost THREE, but in my mind he's still clinging to my leg and nuzzling in my lap. But in just a few weeks he'll be off to preschool. Our big boy. Our hearts are so full of this little being. 

And Adam. What a mind in that kid. The other day he described a color Lego he was looking for as the color of the "inside of a banana". His little 5-and-a-half year old brain may not know this color as, say, beige or off-white, but he created this beautiful description to tell me the color he was needing. I'll post about him, too. He's our big Kindergartener now. (And the coolest things about it are the bus and recess.) 

Highlights of our summer as follows:

This girl. Oh my, this little girl. Niece Annabelle Lynn arrives and time is flying too fast. I've already missed bunches of her growing -- she's already rolling and giggling and smiling -- and I don't like it one bit!

This man. My husband is the best at finding little adventures for us to go and explore locally. It's one of the things I love most about him -- his excitement to just Go. Explore. Find. Create an adventure out of an ordinary Saturday when I may want to stay home and catch up on laundry. But he drags me out and I never regret spending the day, usually outside in the beautiful weather, with the 3 of the most important boys in my life.

This job. I'm grateful for my work and the work culture that puts employees first and allows me to balance home with career without too many demands. Occasionally I travel, and this summer brought me to Chicago. M took me there 15 years ago for a Reds-Cubs baseball game, and we returned 10 years later with our 11-month old after Christmas to see the city in lights. But I hadn't really looked at the city itself or introduced myself to the skyline or really felt the city life like this trip. A riverboat architectural tour by myself was really awe-inspiring. Chicago, you won me over. But next time someone else drives me there.

These people. People who make it a point to be a part of your life. People who check in, not just with what you are doing but how you are doing. I'm so grateful. They may never know how much I appreciate them all for making the time and effort and the distance to be with us.

This community. This summer our city really shined with the MLB All-Star weekend. We loved exploring the redesigned riverfront and taking part in some of the festivities. We also made a point to take in local events, fun attractions and new establishments in the surrounding community.

These boots. If you've been paying attention, you may have noticed that Adam hardly went anywhere this summer without this Crocs snow boots. These were definitely his footwear of choice, even in 90-degree weather. Go ahead and look back. Hiking, fishing, parks, and yes, even the water splash pad. As my sister said, "those dang boots!"

Easter Week 2015

Our Easter festivities were a little condensed this year as I flew to Phoenix that evening to visit my grandfather. But... we made the most of our time and crammed in as many Easter activities as we could. We spent the morning with a fun Easter egg hunt at home, followed by church, and then shared the rest of the day with family (and other egg hunt!).

Then that evening I joined my sister at the airport and we flew together to Phoenix to meet up with our parents, and later our other sister, to visit with our grandfather and his wife and get his house ready to sell. We cleaned out closets and drawers (found some gems), moved furniture, and really started taking to the Arizona lifestyle (up early because of the jet lag and early morning daylight). I hadn't been to Sun City West since high school and really appreciated the weather and landscape more than I remembered.

We love our Pop-Pop, and the expression on his face when he saw us was priceless! Pop-Pop is 90 years young, and his memory is sharp. He had no trouble keeping straight each of his great-grandchildren and loved hearing about all their latest activities. We really enjoyed visiting with him and his wife and seeing his physical change in him in just a few days. Love and family will do that.

I spent 5 days in Arizona before flying back and joining Michael and the boys for a little in-state road trip to see family. We first met up with my cousin where we met their newest daughter Lexi (so tiny!), just days old.

Then we joined Michael's family at his aunt's 60th birthday party and caught up with his aunts, grandmother and cousins and their families. I'm not exactly sure if they are all cousins, second cousins, second half-cousins or what, but these kiddos sure had fun together. What a fun week!

The Holiday Season 2014

Christmas was much fun this year! Adam is such a fun age to really enjoy all the festivities, magic and anticipation of Christmas. 

We started December with what has become tradition with my sister's family -- the annual Horse-Drawn Carriage festival in downtown Lebanon. Or, as my brother-in-law would call it, the annual street-fair-of-food-in-the-cold. This is typically followed by some outlet mall shopping to kick of the season of buying!

And as the days and weeks wore on, everything started to look more like Christmas as we prepared our hearts for the special occasion.

We shared a special Christmas morning with just our little family of 4 this year. Sam wasn't overly impressed with the occasion; in fact, a couple of times he handed me the remote control, as if to say, can we just watch some tv instead?. Adam, however, loved the whole morning, especially all his new books and his new winter coat. Later that day we loaded up for Gramma and Grampa's house for a much more active holiday celebration the next morning. (On the drive down, Adam asked why Santa didn't bring him a tanker truck, as he asked. Fortunately Gramma and Aunt Angie came to the rescue with new trucks for him to play with!)

And each year we make it a point to capture an annual holiday family photo, and it's always pretty comical setting up the timer, getting everyone in position, and taking a few times to get the right shot. Next year we'll be squeezing another little one into this photo, as niece Annabelle is due in the spring!

We've taken this photo 3 of the last 4 years, and I hope we're able to keep up the tradition for years to come. (We may eventually need a larger couch, however.)

After all the festivities we rewarded ourselves with a lot of relaxation and family time.

We returned home to host more family for a holiday dinner, followed by a real low-key New Year's Eve.

We are anxious to see what 2015 has in store for our home and yours. We look forward to welcoming a new niece, teaching Adam to ride a 2-wheeler, sending our 5-year old off to kindergarten (!), training for more races and activities, and continuing with Sam's speech and social development to hopefully hear those first sweet words real soon.

Hoping your hearts were as full as ours this year -- all our best for 2015.

Autumn Wrap-Up

When you look outside and see this....

you know you're behind on updating about our Autumn. It was a really pretty Fall this year, and we did so many things to enjoy the weather.

Evans Apple Orchard

With Aunt Amy and family and Grandpa Dave on perhaps the hottest day of the season -- Adam was a sweaty, dirty mess by the end but had so much fun. We never actually left the play area to go to the orchard itself.

Horse-Daze

This is a really neat event annually held by the county parks system. It features all kinds of horse-related activities and games, including horse rides, horse grooming, an equestrian course for kids to jump themselves, face painting, a hayride, food and more. The event raises money for the public horse trails around the county.

Pumpkin Run & Fall Festival

We'd been looking for a 5k for Adam to do, as part of the mile-per-year plan Michael has for Adam. Last year, when Adam was 3 years old, he ran his first 5k. Three years, three miles. This year we needed a four mile race, which don't really exist, but we found a small community 5k that also had a 1-mile family walk. The Pumpkin Run is sponsored by the local YMCA and was held in the quaint river town of Franklin, Ohio.

First up was the Family Walk, and Michael and Adam headed out quickly. Sam was itching to get out of his stroller so I let him loose on the course as well and he pretty much completed the distance all on his own.  Following this race was the Pumpkin Run with several costumed participants. Aunt Angie and Kevin joined us for this race. I pushed Sam and Michael ran with Adam. Four miles completed all on his own!

Following the race was the town's Fall Festival with street food, craft vendors, kid rides and presentations by local groups. It was a perfect Fall day to be outside enjoying the event, and cousin Jake was able to come play with us.

Halloween

Halloween snuck up on me this year, and once again I was staying up late to finish Adam's Halloween costume. He'd wanted to be a mummy for a long tim but the closer the day came he kept changing his mind. I made the final decision for him and threw together a mummy costume using liner fabric I had on hand, ripped it up and dyed it with tea, and attached it to a t-shirt and pants. For Sam, we recycled the frog costume Adam wore at the same age.

We had tickets to go see Garth Brooks in concert Rupp Arena at 10:30 Halloween night, so we drove down to Lexington to join the cousins for trick-or-treating before the show.

Mother Nature didn't tell Autumn that her season was over before the first snow fall came mid-November (4 inches!), and we lost a tree in our yard due to the weight of the snow and ice on tree branches that still had leaves.

Our November ended quite busy with Sam's birthday (2!) and an active Thanksgiving week with friends from Florida. Posts on those to come!