Happy Birthday, Audrey!

We've had a great morning celebrating Audrey!  I'll post her 12 month picture and some updates, but for now I'll just show you some of what we've been up to today.

The four of us went to Sugar n Spice for an early breakfast.  We've taken Jack for his first two birthdays, so we had to keep up with the tradition:

She preferred the eggs

and the orange was delicious

Look at all of those rubber duckies! 

After breakfast, Jack and I took Audrey to the zoo:

You can always find Audrey's feet propped up 

A mouthful of chocolate cookie

The birthday flag found its way over here today!

Thrilled for her first gift!

Time for the zoo!

Despite the kids' faces, we had a great time at the zoo this morning.  The weather was absolutely perfect, and it was so nice to go with another adult.  I've never been to the zoo when it's been that crowded.  It was packed.  But I'm so glad we made it happen! Thanks for joining us today, Dad!

Kings Island

Jacob's firm picnic was at Kings Island this year, and I was excited for about a month beforehand.  We haven't been to Kings Island in years, and knowing that Jacob really doesn't enjoy roller coasters, I thought that this would be my big chance to ride rides and enjoy the park.

The weather forecast wasn't great, but I wasn't going to let a silly thing like rain keep us away.  We arrived at Planet Snoopy just in time for the sky to open and the rain to come pouring down.  Thank goodness for a stroller with a large canopy, an umbrella, and small corners of the park with cover.

We waited out the brief park-clearing storm and then spent the rest of the night having a great time. We stayed out way past bedtime and packed in a few hours of great family time. After all of the kids' rides, I got to ride the Wind Seeker and the Racer by myself.  Thanks for hanging in there with me, guys!  I'm ready to go back.  So if anyone has an extra set of tickets and wants to watch the kids one afternoon, let me know.  The Diamondback is calling my name.

He was so excited to ride his first roller coaster

He was holding on tight

Much more his speed

Train ride with Alex

The Scrambler

Showing me that the racer was going so high!

Jack's new bed

We moved Jack from his crib to a toddler bed a few months ago.  Basically, we just took the front rails off of his crib.  He had a few difficult naps and evenings trying to learn how to stay in bed, but we've finally moved past the newness and he's been doing great at staying in his bed.

This past weekend we took the process one step further and completely converted Jack's crib into a big-kid bed. He now sleeps in a huge double bed.  He's been having a difficult time adjusting again, and has been sneaking out of his new bed to go to the potty, play with his toys, and basically good off.

So I wasn't completely shocked when I found him napping on his bedroom floor recently, completely asleep and seemingly comfortable.

But last night he made us both laugh out loud and question how we missed this happening:

This morning when I was asking him about this, he said "I hide from you, Mommy." I think he was trying to hide from us and fell asleep waiting!

Summer fun

This is the way to enjoy a summer day:  

Story time and lunch indoors with Aunt Louie, watermelon for dinner (yes, for - not with),and swimming and popsicles with your cousins.  I'd say they had a pretty good day! 

Touch a Truck 2013

This morning we went to a Touch a Truck event put on by Springfield Township.  It was SO HOT!  Actually, had we not been meeting friends, I may have canceled our plans and stayed inside.  But I'm glad we went, because Jack had a wonderful time.

We went last year with Aunt Louie and our friends Erin and Jeremiah Lyons.  I was very pregnant with Audrey, and it was another hot day. You can check out last year's pictures here. It's amazing to see how much Jack has grown.... and I was huge!

And here are the pictures of the kids this year.  I'm glad I was able to get one of the two boys again this year!  We missed you this year, Aunt Louie!

Riding the garbage truck

Driving the garbage truck

Happy UPS driver

The Bengal's Bus!

Driving the Bengal's bus

Audrey in the firetruck

Firetruck

I was so thankful for a stroller with a large cover -- and lots of Cheerios and water!

July 4th

It was a rainy 4th of July this year.  We were hoping to walk in the College Hill parade this year, but the rain kept us away.  Fortunately, we found a much more exciting activity:  Lunch and train watching!

We headed to Glendale with Mom and Carl and Christy and Pizza Man (aka David) and grabbed lunch at Cock & Bull.  Jack loved the trains and it was a great distraction from the rain.

The rain didn't cancel or plans for dinner with friends last night.  The Larson family came over for a 4th of July cookout.  It was moved inside, but worked perfectly for these little guys.  It cleared up long enough for us all to head outside for sparklers and pop-its.  Patrick (with the red hair) and Graham are two of Jack's buddies from church.  He talks about them all of the time, and it's great to see him have friends at such a young age.  Jack also adores Annabelle!  She's been sweet to him and gives him attention even though she already has two little brothers vying for her attention.  

Garden 2013

Jacob built raised beds for our garden this year.  He did a ton of research beforehand and I think they turned out great.

The beds have greatly reduced the amount of weeding and everything looks a bit more organized.  I can't complain about that!

Here's Jack collecting some radishes from the garden.  He doesn't love the taste of the radishes, but loves to pick them and takes a taste every time!  

Hilton Head 2013

We just returned from a week long vacation in Hilton Head. We went with the Troescher family (17 of us!) and we all stayed together in one big house.  The best part of
the house was that the pool was right outside and was just for us.  We could swim all day long and come in and out of the house to eat and nap.  Perfect for our little family!

Here are a few highlights from the trip:

Jack didn't like the police man that gave daddy a ticket. 

Jack didn't spend much time in the big pool - it was great to have the baby pool!

This is a bit fuzzy, but so sweet.  Audrey's cousins were so sweet with her!  

Looking back on my pictures I found a TON of Mara holding Audrey.  What a great cousin. 

Buddies

The only picture I could find of just the two of us!