A Whitcher Wedding

You may have heard....we went to Oregon!!

Before I met Rob, I had never once been to Oregon - didn't know

a single thing about it. It only took one trip there though -

and I was smitten.  Hard.  You guys - this state has

mountains, beaches, trees like you would not believe,

a pretty amazing food scene, and of course, it's home to

Grandpa Jim and Grandma Sugar!  Though, just in case all of those

reasons weren't enough - one of my most favorite people up and

moved there last summer.  While I hated (and I mean hated)

to see her go, I have to say, that I don't mind having one more reason

to visit my second favorite state. 

 

This particular visit to Oregon served dual purposes -

one, to see my little Candlestick (a nickname I gave her because

her name is Candice and she's so tall and thin and I'm of course, envious)

and two - to visit our beloved Grandpa Jim and Grandma Sugar (however more

on that visit later!)

 

We arrived on Wednesday evening and as soon as Max went to sleep,

I was all - "Grandpa Jim, can you drive me to my friend's house" (it was literally

like I was in high school again, getting dropped off for some fun.  haha!)

He of course, obliged and when we made it over - I could not hop out

of the car fast enough!  I hadn't seen one of my best ladies in

a WHOLE YEAR!  We hugged it out on the driveway, shed some tears,

and then I was all - "take this picture with me."

(which she did - even without make up - she must really love me!

Or, she wanted to show off her spray tan!? What!?)

 

 

The next two days were filled with decorating the barn - which

was no small feat, creating signs, making bouquets and other flower

arrangements, getting our toes painted, and generally

just catching up on each other's lives (while also keeping

everyone calm...).

 

By Friday, the barn was looking pretty amazing...

thanks to some help from other Columbus peeps (mainly the best man,

also from C-bus) and Candice's family. We had a blast

at the Spaghetti Factory for the rehearsal dinner...and it was finally wedding day!

 

(Columbus represent!)

 

I was honored to be Candice's Maid of Honor (or Matron since I'm married...

but that makes me sound old and stuffy ...so...let's not!).  It was incredibly hard

for me to be so far from her during all the wedding planning - but I have to

say with Pinterest, email, snap chat, and Facetime, I really did feel like

I knew her vision pretty well.  And, man does she have great taste!

The barn was completely transformed into a twinkling wonderland....

complete with lots of little details like mason jars, hand stamped messages,

chalkboards, haybales, and lots of other rustic details.

Feel free to zoom in on that awesome collage I made below :)

 

 

Her wedding day was perfection.  And she was the

most beautiful bride.  Truly.  It's kind of weird

to literally watch someone grow up - right before your eyes. 

(Although, I guess that's what I'm doing as a parent too...but I digress)

When I first met her - she was in college - and when they left

for Oregon, she was this engaged lady with a full time job

and it just makes me feel so damn proud. 

 

(They had a wine mingling part to their ceremony!)

 

 

Getting my hair, nails, and even make up done (I had freakin

fake eye lashes!) was also kind of amazing.

Rob barely recognized me!

 

 

The ceremony went off without a hitch - and then the real party began!

There were speeches, and toasting, and DANCING!  Man, so much dancing! 

(sidenote:  while I had heard of the whip and nae nae - I cannot

actually do it without feeling ridiculous) ....so Rob and I hung

out in the photo booth during that little number.

 

(me and best man - maybe having a little drink before our toasts)

 

 

The whole night was magical (even more so when you have

a built in babysitter right down the road, thanks Grandpa Jim!).

Again, I was truly delighted to be part of Candice and Taylor's

wedding day.  As I said, in my toast,

"Here's to a lifetime of love, laughter, and happily ever after".

 

Now, go make some babies, you two!

(Long standing joke that Candice wants to have three

before she's 30! and I'm like, girl you crazy!) ha

xoxo -

 

summer adventure no 6

The beauty of our summer adventures list is that it gives

us the chance to really get out and explore different

areas, parks, and activities around Columbus.

What we really love are the FREE activities!

And to be honest - Columbus is full of a lot of free fun :)

 

Ballentrae Park is one of those places we've known about forever,

but never actually made the time to visit.

It's affectionately known as the "bunny park" because

of this weird trio of dancing bunnies at the very top.

Rob kept asking me if I knew what the bunnies were about -

but sadly, I have no idea of their significance?

 

 

Sometimes Max is reluctant to want to leave the house

and his toys, and his beloved I-pad, but when I mentioned

the "bunny park", he perked right up.  He wasted no time

running to the entry way and putting on his shoes.

He had been to the bunny park two other times

with his daycare friends, but never with us - so off we went!

 

The real attraction to this park though is not the twirling bunnies...

it's the spray pad below!  Max didn't hesitate for a second - just dashed off like an old pro.

 

 

Literally, he took off running in between all the fountains,

and even through some of them! He was not shy about it at all.

The fountains were shorter and only squirted up - which I think

made them more appealing to Max. 

 

 

He even experimented with stepping on some of the fountains.

And then would laugh when he would move his feet

and out came the water again! So silly!

 

 

All together we were probably only there for half an hour...

but it was the most excited I've ever seen him at a splash pad.

Each time we visit a splash pad or fountain park,

it seems his confidence around water grows and grows.

His favorite move was putting his booty directly in the spray.

He would say "look at me mommy, my booty's in!"

 

 

I know I've said this before, but his joy is so contagious!

Whenever I hear his little voice giggling or squealing

with excitement it makes the whole experience worth it.

xxoo

summer adventure no 5

Summertime is just the best, right?

There is a feeling of lightness and playfulness to our weekends. 

My sense of adventure is heightened and thus we are 

taking advantage of the sunshine and close by adventuring spots. 

This past Saturday we had a few hours in the morning

and decided to visit Stratford Ecological Center. 

We started out by having a small snack...

actually it was supposed to be my breakfast (a lemon poppy seed muffin)

but once Max saw it - he wanted some too....so we all split it. 

Then we made our way over to the open pasture, animal cages where these goats were. 

I think Max is used to Learning Tree Farm where he can just go into the animal

cages and couldn't understand why he couldn't just be in there 

with them.  We tried to coax them over to us...but they were mainly 

just eating their hay and could have cared less about the small human 

standing outside. :)

They also have a large animal barn with "animal lanes"

for families to walk down and visit with the animals. 

Of course we walked down each lane - but decided

the best lane was the one with llamas and sheep in it. 

The barn cats also followed Max around - and he 

loved the fact that he could pet each one.

Stratford also has tractors that kids can sit on

and pretend to drive. Max is an old pro at that gig

by now so he was happy to oblige. 

My sister teased me about his overalls but I mean, 

how can you go the farm and not wear overalls?!

My favorite part of the farm was this huge 

patch of zinnias!  Ours have just started blooming

and seeing all of these made me wish I had planted more.

They are just the happiest flower!

Max's enthusiasm for the flowers was significantly less than mine...

so we went back to the barn (his choice).  

The sheep were a little bit closer this time and I told 

Max to "give them some love" by petting them - which he did. 

Then he said, "the llama needs love too mommy". 

Sadly the llama was keeping a safe distance from us

and we could not reach it. But when I heard him say this 

it made me just want to melt in a pile of 

mushy goo on the floor. 

Max has discovered the joys of piggy back riding...

and would like to be riding on my back all the time. 

Our last stop was the huge garden!  

They had enormous sunflowers, and beds of all kinds of veggies. 

Max's favorite was the tractors (which he called motorcycles?).

He attempted to drive/push it all over the garden

I love finding little gems like Stratford Ecological Center

and cannot wait to go again! 

(They are expecting piglets around Thanksgiving so

a future visit will for sure be happening :)

XXoo

Kelly's Island

I just knew there was a Hauck family sized hole in your life on this lovely weekend!

Possibly even multiple holes? 

Worry not, I'm here to rectify and day save with these crisp snaps of 

our recent road/ferry trip to Kelly's Island. 

Max came home in the best mood from day care - and if you asked him 

where we were going he would respond "Kelly's Island". It was 

kind of precious. We loaded up the car in about three minutes

with everything but the kitchen sink and hit the road. 

(well actually, we stopped at Wendy's and Tim Hortons 

because priorities) but soon we were cruising up route 23. 

 

My well thought out plan was that we would leave at Max's

naptime and he would sleep the whole way there.

But so much for plans - because he kept coughing and

waking himself up and then we hit literally every

traffic light on Route 4 so the constant stop and start

did not lull him like the highway does...so no nap Max

arrived at the ferry ready for a ride!

 

Sidenote:  Traffic violators Papa Rob and Mama also arrived

at the ferry (in a mood comparable to Max's) because we got

stopped by a dear police man in Lyme Township where the

speed limit is 55, not 67.

So, the Hauck family will be making a nice little

donation to the tune of $120 by August 10.

Lucky us.

 

We walked on (and by walked, I of course mean

schlepped, the cooler, two bags, stroller, car seat,

and pack and play) down the dock and on to the boat.

This somehow seemed easier than paying the fee

to bring your car over....

 

The ferry boat ride lasted about twenty minutes

in which we of course went to the bathroom (twice!),

pointed out all the boats, tried to climb the stairs,

and DID NOT like it when the horn blew :)

 

Mema and Pops greeted us on the dock - and we sped

away to great Grandma Marge's house/resort.

We were also joined later by Rob's (step) brother

Nick and his wife Courtney!

 

Grandma Marge's house has a lake front view

(which sadly Max was not that interested in)

but he was interested in hanging out in her convertible

and on top of her tractor (lawn mower).

He was also loving the toys that she kept around (mixers, diggers, and trucks)

and her dog Casey :)

 

Max went to sleep surprisingly easy on Friday night and then

the adults were rewarded with a gorgeous sunset!

 

It's weird - toddlers don't understand "vacation mode"

and so Max was up at the clickety-clack of dawn the next day.

But, I didn't mind too much because there was

hot coffee and a lake front view to be seen! 

We also managed to find a local park, tour the adorable downtown,
go down on the docks (in which we saw a dead fish that
Max still talks about), and look at all the beautiful boats.
 

 

Grandma Marge has an awesome hammock -

perfect for swaying, bouncing, and just general

mischief if you're Max :)

 

 

Max also convinced Grandma Marge to take him

on a ride in her convertible (he said he wanted to

feel the "wind in his hair").  We tooled around the island -

Marge knows everyone and all the hot spots.

At one point, Max said he had to go to the bathroom and wouldn't

let up about it, but thankfully Marge got us to the

Kelly's Island Winery just in time.

 

She was also able to swing by her friend's house

and pick up some sand toys for Max.

These came in super handy because after Max's

nap we headed down to the local campground/beach area!

 

Max LOVED the beach!  This was by far the highlight

for him (and us)!  He squished the sand between his toys.

He threw all the toys in the water.  He dumped water

from bucket to bucket. He made sandcastles

with Mema (and then stomped on them).

He lounged for about 3.2 seconds (just long enough

to suck down an apple sauce pouch). Then it was off

to the water again. He even managed to squirt Pops

with a squirt gun!

 



The beach was so clean and even though there

were lots of people there - it never felt crowded.

The water is also super shallow and clear -

and Max had no problems wading out in it all on his own.

 



Our Saturday ended with a delicious dinner

and campfire - complete with smores!

 

Sunday dawned bright and early - and after

breakfast Pops found a local digger to ride on.

Max kept saying "look at me mommy! Look at me Pops!"

The only way we could convince him to come down

was to lie tell him that other kids were going to come

and it would be their turn.  He bought it - but just barely :)

 



The other highlight for Max was finally getting
to see the tractor in action!  Marge fired it up -
and Max hesitated for about a minute (because he thought he would
get to ride it by himself) and then agreed to ride on Marge's lap.
They did several laps and then he hopped off.

We packed a quick lunch for the ferry - and then it was time to
leave.  We practiced putting our hands over our ears
this time (to drown out the loud horn toot) - but wouldn't you know,
this time it didn't even blast! Max also fell asleep in
the car about three second after we pulled away
from the parking lot. I guess driving a tractor is hard work. :)

This trip was definitely confirmation that while it's a lot of
work to travel with a toddler - it's totally worth it.
I love that he got to see and experience such a special spot!
xoxo