Monday, November 27, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving 2017

I wanted to pop back into the blogging world with a splash - hence that
super splashy post title. 

Splash. 

We're still here.  It's just that - Max has been 
napping at school in the afternoon (which is 
obviously encouraged) but what that means for us ...
he doesn't freaking go to sleep until like 9:00. 
That's late (when you consider half the time
my phone doesn't want to connect with my computer
to download photos and then I can never remember
my gmail password thus the lack of blog posts). 

Anyway, I'd love to dedicate a post to each and every
remaining summer memory and then the fall ones too...but
luck is on your side and all I've got right now is a
Thanksgiving recap. 

It's important to note that the weekend 
before Thanksgiving, Max and I went to 
Titi's house with intent to decorate a gingerbread turkey
purchased at Trader Joes.  It looked easy 
enough on the box...but our icing was quite runny. 
And in a moment of brilliance, we decided to 
go the hot glue route - which was working splendidly  
till Max burnt his finger. Tragedy ensued 
(for both the turkey and max). 
See evidence below. 
I collapse into a fit of laughter every time I look
at that turkey pic.  Like is it crying? Why 
does it have two red hangy things?
(what is the science name for those?)
It's weird that our sister run bakery food truck
never became a real thing. We're obviously 
so talented. 

We did get lots of quality Titi and Penny time though...
(and lots of new clothes from A&F kids, like those 
sloth pajamas Max is wearing!)
Flash forward to actual Thanksgiving - 
Sporting actual turkey jammies 
because Mama loves holidays and jammies.
(Sidenote: he made a big deal to tell Mims, 
that I ordered them online). 
We passed the morning making crafts...and
watching out for the Paw Patrol balloons in 
the Macy's day parade..
"Dinner" was served around noon...and the
turkey was delicious, the mashed potatoes 
were overflowing (Bob Evans made them
because that's what I like), stuffing for days, 
and the BEST brussell sprouts EVER. 
I made a 7 layer salad too - but let's be honest-
the real stars are the carbs. 
Mims, Titi, Max, and I went to schoolhouse 
park after lunch to burn off energy...
but we mostly ended up playing 
hide and seek and dancing. 

The true highlight (for Max) was holiday bingo...
a random game Mims picked up. He relished every
moment of deciding which version we were playing
(i.e. cover the board, straight line, letter "H", postage 
stamp etc.) and then calling the numbers. 
His concentration for getting the numbers 
correctly and checking the board was unmatched. 
 
 
Grandpa also got a new table top
pinball machine that Max enjoyed....
but I think he liked the small pad of 
paper and golf club sized pencil better :)
He loves miniature crap. 
 
The night concluded with a bath...Christmas jammies, 
and hacking coughs from Max. He coughed
and coughed and coughed for over an hour.  
I thought surely he would never go to sleep....
and I had exhausted my arsenal of 
cough remedies (oils, Tylenol, cough medicine,
elevated head and whisper shouting to Papa Rob 
about what we should do next).  But, he finally did. 
Just in time for my mom and I to hit Carters
and Old Navy like the crazy nutters we are. 
However, it proved worthwhile because Mims
won a $50 gift card which she authorized 
me using for the purchase of Max's 
Christmas attire complete with black
leather shoes. ugh. The shoes alone
are worth being tired the whole next day. 

On Black Friday - we opted outside....with 
the morning spent at Iron Horse Park for 
more walk off your waddle exercise....
and Grandma's Gardens. 


Max practiced his Santa skills in this sleigh...
and willingly posed for pictures with all of us. 
(that alone is some sort of early Christmas miracle). 
We also enjoyed their free pancakes
and sausages :) 
The evening concluded with several more
rounds of Holiday Bingo and then we headed 
to "Woodland Lights" ...a local walk through
light display. 
Max surprised us all by wanting to visit Santa. 
He waited patiently for this turn...hopped
right up on his lap and asked for an instant
camera and film. I'm not lying when 
I say, I only snapped one photo because I was
having like a real moment. 
It was so precious and sweet and funny
and just adorable. I will hold onto that
memory for a lifetime.  
He also loudly proclaimed that he would "not to 
any more bad stuff" because Santa is watching. 
Does this mean no more whining at meal time? 
No more reminders of hands to yourself? 
Only time (and Santa) will tell. 

Thanksgiving concluded with 

1.) Me begging Mims
for this vintage Santa (destined for the antique booth)
but now proudly in displayed in my cubicle. 
 
2.) another trip to dunkin donuts because 
#wheninDayton and #bestcoffeeever

3.) More Holiday Bingo

4.) 500 trips to the car with all our bags and crap

5.) and me creating our holiday wreath! 
(see below). 

And, that's it! It's overwhelming thinking of all the things
I could and would love to blog about and I'll do my best to put fingertips to keyboard asap. 

Occasional Blogger's Honor.
xoxo

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Savoring Summer

At the beginning of the summer,
I made a list of things/experiences/places to go etc.
around Columbus in one of my many notebooks.
(Please tell me I'm not the only person
who has tons of random notebooks lying around...
I've never met a notebook I didn't like).
There are certain attractions that come awake
entirely during a summer in Columbus.
Farms with fruit for picking, pools and splash pads,
mini golf, summer concerts, and metro parks galore.
 We really lived the length of this summer- coming
and going nearly every weekend.
And, before it totally fades into glorious fall,
here are some highlights (if you're like to see).
 
I think most people usually mark the beginning
of summer with Memorial Day...but sometime
around mid-April it warmed up enough to
get out the sprinkler! Max's preferred method
of playing in water in our backyard
is in his underwear....
On Mother's Day I asked for my boys to take
me over to Shale Hollow Preserve
(which is part of Delaware Preservation Parks).
 

 
The warmer weather brought one of my
favorite summer flowers...the peonies!
Stacy and I visited a farm near her
called "Red Twig Farms" several times to
get our fix :)
 
 We made it to Memorial Day and our annual trip
to Dayton...only this time around we met
at Young's Dairy in Yellow Springs.  It did
not disappoint.  It also didn't hurt that there was
a carnival set up in the parking lot!
We finished the afternoon by hiking in
Glen Helen...all the way to the Yellow Springs
(which turns out are more like orange).
 
 
My mom helped me plant some flowers...
isn't she the cutest!  I love how that arrangement
turned out.  It hung over the side of my
deck all summer...and made me smile.
Stacy and I went to the
"Zassy's Farm Market Show" in early June.
(and ate the longest hot dogs I've ever seen!)
 Max and Papa Rob went to the Home Depot workshop
in June and pounded out a tic tac toe board!
 Papa Rob turned 36th...and we celebrated by
visiting the Park of Roses, picnicking, and
hitting the playground.
 
 There were many evenings spent blowing
bubbles on the back deck...
 
Max went to ZooKids in June...and learned
about Backyard Animals! Readers of this
blog who have worked in ZooKids in the
past may be comforted by the fact that
the shirts are still three sizes to big for all the
kids...but Auntie Stacy hemmed it up for us!
We had a sweet grey tree frog
visit our deck for a weekend....
Auntie Stacy joined us for some letterboxing
adventures at Shale Hollow! Letterboxing
means following clues on your phone
or paper to find a box which contains a
prize or stamp!
 
 
That same weekend we went to Veteran's Park/splash pad...
and Max was loving all the new playground equipment!
He also likes it when the splash pads don't have
buckets that dump from above!
 
Of course we had to visit Franklin Park Conservatory
because they had a new animal topiaries exhibit...
and we brought our friend Ronin along too!
 
 Posing with their favorite topiary--the lion!
I hosted some of my beautiful, smart, caring,
sweet girl friends for dinner.
Nothing beats a night with old friends.
 On a child free weekend...Papa Rob and I went
to the new IKEA!  First time ever we did not
argue while there...I think we deserve a medal!
And we went to Zoofari! Admittedly it was the first
year we felt kind of old.  I think it's because it was hot
and we hit it hard right away (note to self in future...
don't start with skyline and hot chicken take over).
Pace yourselves Haucks
Strawberries were picked....yum!
I swear fresh, ripe picked strawberries
are basically candy.
We went to the Train Festival in Dayton....
(this was a favorite from last summer that
we had to repeat!!)
 The line for riding the mini train was made
bearable only by the purchase of Kona Ice.
 Future train conductor.
We also started rock painting.
Does this sound crazy?  It's a phenomenon
that's getting lots of attention (possibly only
in Ohio?) - but basically you paint rocks
and hide them for other to people to find.
Those people can either re-hide them or
keep :)  Max likes to keep!
We used an evening alone to dine at
Kraft House No.5 in Powell.
I'm still thinking about the Brussel sprouts.
We got the cousins Max and Pax together....
and it was the cutest!
 Our friends the Dotson's invited us to join
them at the Bexley pool one Sunday afternoon.
Max and Will went down the water slides
no less then 20 times.  It was super fun!
And great that the boys are a little older
(read: more independent) and I could actually
get a word in with my friend.
 
If you made it to the end of the best....you're the BEST!
And...that's really only half the summer! 
 
Finding the words for these pictures....and
reliving these memories was good for me.
Makes me appreciate how much we
were able to cross off my list!
 
Hopefully, I've got my blogging mojo back!
And will be back soon with the rest.
xoxo