Weekend fun

Last Friday there was no school... so I took the girls up to Grandma and Grandpa Ohio's house.
The girls couldn't wait to play in Grandma's playroom.  Alli says the toys there are REALLY fun (not like our boring toys).
We visited my Grandma.  We left with two bags of cookies.  She says she's done making cookies... she's even giving away her cookie sheets.  We'll see.

The girls made cupcakes with Grandma Ohio and took them to Grandpa's work.
I took photos of the teachers at Falcon Academy.  And I did a family picture for my brother Dan's family.
We had a pasta party for my marathon-running brothers... it was also a birthday party for my Grandpa Edwin.

Grandpa Ed invited a bunch of friends to the party.  What a collection of friends!  The range in age and ethnicity and lifestyle was quite interesting.  When we all sang "Happy Birthday," Ed got all shy and looked down and kept eating his dinner.  He did blow out the candle at the end of the song. 
My nephew Eldon couldn't get enough of the Jeep.

I had to Photoshop him out of Dan's family picture...

We had to head home Friday night because I was taking bridal photos on Saturday.
Busy.  Busy.  Busy.
Andy got to go to the OSU game on Saturday.  We don't own any OSU attire (which might be criminal in Columbus).
A red shirt from CVS had to do.  (And now I have an idea for a Christmas present.)
As soon as Andy got back from the game I took off for a women's dinner and broadcast.  The messages were inspiring and uplifting... and the company was wonderful!

My brothers Dan and Dave ran the Akron Marathon on Saturday.  Dan beat his best time by a minute... but I forget what that time was.  Dave came in 4th place... not his very best time, but his best finish at Akron.  Go bros!

claimed

Apparently Ruby has picked her pumpkin.
(These lovely pumpkins came from our garden!)

Back to School Pictures... finally

I am behind on the blog.
The girls are back to school... they have been for a few weeks now.  Anyhow, here is Alli's first day of school...

She is a little ray of sunshine on a very dark and wet morning. 
She is obviously getting older and cooler...

She didn't even turn back to wave at me.  Sniff.  She did wave as the bus pulled away.

Ruby started kindergarten a few days after Alli started.

Alli was eager to show Ruby her school... where to go... what to do...
Can you feel the love?

Ruby is tough to wake up.  Every morning is a battle... but I am the only one fighting.  She is like a rag doll.  Once she is out the door, she perks up and smiles all the way to the bus stop.

And she turns to smile at her mommy when she gets on the bus.

Both girls love school and adore their teachers.  Hooray for the wonderful teachers at our school (and all schools)!

June is adjusting to having the house (and mommy) to herself all day.

She spends a lot of time taking care of babies.  Can you tell which is her favorite?


The blue-eyed baby she calls Asena (named after her baby cousin).  June loves her blue eyes and bandages (several more bandages have been added since this picture... I'll have to get another picture eventually).  She also has some permanent marker drawings on her arms.

June and I are getting a lot done during the days.  And having lots of fun.   And reading lots of books.

Life is good.  And when the girls come home, there is always more fun (though maybe less stuff getting done).  

Jungle Jack's Landing

We have never taken our kids to an amusement park... okay, that is not completely true, we took Alli to Disneyworld when she was almost 3.  She doesn't really remember it.
 
This summer we took our kids to the zoo amusement park, which is small and only costs $5 after 5pm.  It closes at 8pm, so three hours seemed like all we could handle anyhow.  And since they have never been to an amusement park (except for Alli), this was the bees knees!

Whether watching or riding, we all had fun.  Andy and I took turns taking the girls on the rides.  Andy did scrambler duty, bless his heart. 

Watch out for mama on the bumper cars!

Two cousins joined us for the evening.  We had five girls with us.  We got a lot of looks and "Are they ALL yours?!"
The screams from this thriller are still ringing in my ears!

We took the kids that were tall enough on the log ride.  Our summer is complete now.

Afterwards we ate at Cinco de Mayo.  Oh, yum!

self-inflicted haircut

The conversation went something like this:

Oh, Alli!

What?

Who did this to your hair?

I did.

Go look in the mirror.

I like it.

Why did you do this!?!!!??

That piece of hair is always getting in my face.  So I cut it off.

Well, it won't be in your face anymore.



I think we may be using some awesome hair accessories to draw attention away from the patch of vertical hair in the near future.  Luckily we just got a package from some aunts with foresight.  Check out the little people in Alli and Ruby's hair!

Here's a closer look at June's...

And they make great bracelets too!

Zoo!

We didn't go to the zoo all summer.  It was too hot.  But today was heavenly.  High seventies, mixed sun and clouds.

It took us forever to leave the house.  Everyone is too summer-crazy to do things quickly around here.  Getting into the car takes at least half an hour... and someone always neglects to bring shoes or something essential.
I stopped at Dominoes on the way to the zoo.  $3.99 for a lunch pizza.
We started our zoo excursion on the west side of the zoo... opposite of our normal routine.
We had our pizza picnic right away.
We fed the lorikeets.

They drink liquid gold... at least that's what they charge you for.  It looks like Country Time Lemonade.

But the experience was delightful.  The birds come right up to you.

The girls wanted the birds to get every last drop.  But I think they get so much that they refuse cups that aren't very full.

(Check out these adorable hair accessories the girls have.  We got a fun package from some amazing aunts today!)


And in the kangaroo enclosure... "Smile!"

Nice.
This was right before she ducked under the fence to get a closer look.  I grabbed her before a roo could snatch her up and tuck June in her pouch.
Whew.
I have never seen all of the Columbus Zoo in one trip.  It is too big.  We gave up after two and a half hours.  We saw approximately 25% of the zoo. 
So I guess we will have to go back.

an August day

Last week I had a day that went something like this...

That is green food coloring.

June, say "sorry."

"Soooowwweeeeeeeeeee."

(But not really.) 
Luckily this disaster happened outside.  And now we have a patch of really green grass.
This is Ruby on time out.

This one can be fierce... when she isn't cute as a button.  As summer winds down, she is spending more and more time on the pink chair.  Teasing Alli is far too much fun at this point.

Alli somehow escaped time-out.  See her gloat.

Then I found the brownies in this condition...

These brownies are laced with zucchini (it's August... that's what happens when you have a garden).
The culprit was easy to spot.

My nephew Spencer is too cute to get in trouble... besides that, we was eating his veggies.  Speaking of veggies...
Here is a fresh-from-the-garden tomato.  It was ripened to perfection on the vine.

And then its guts were smashed out violently on our counter.
Someone in our house doesn't like tomatoes.
And she isn't afraid to rough 'em up a little.
When I went to my dark chocolate stash for a little consolation, I found this...

Bites.  I know baby teeth bites when I see them... and there are only two girls left in this house with baby teeth.

Sigh.

Andy came home and took the girls to the home improvement store to pick up some material for his latest project.  (He is finishing part of the basement!)  I took off for my favorite store hoping for some retail therapy.  The store was closed.  So I went to a boring store to get the last few back-to-school supplies.

Yes, I am looking forward to school starting soon.  Things are getting a little wild around here.