They See My Rollin...

Our new evening routine after dinner involves a Jeep ride.
With Drew driving.
And Ady strapped in with a bungee cord.

Yes, a bungee cord. And it works. There's not a seat belt in this thing and I was a bit worried about her squirming out so Derek jerry-rigged a completely ghetto way of keeping our child safe.

Don't judge.

And here's a quick video to see the driving in action. Ady literally doesn't move a muscle the entire ride and then proceeds to throw a huge tantrum when the ride is over and we take her out. She's almost 14 months old and I'm still getting used to this sassyness and drama that girls bring!

Family Island Day

With our big move to DC coming up we've been packing in as much Cleveland family fun as we can. Derek and I love the island Put-in-Bay so we decided to take the kiddos over on Saturday for a fun adventure!

The fun started right away as we drove our car onto the ferry. Drew thought this was the coolest thing in the world. After the 20 minute ferry ride to the island, our first stop was lunch including our favorite lobster sandwich and lobster bisque. We ate waterside and watched some boats roll in and out. Then first up on our adventure was the Butterfly House. There are over 700 butterflies in this huge room and they are beautiful. The colors and sizes are so amazing and the kiddos loved watching them fly around.

Right when we walked in a gynormous one with blue wings landed on Drew!

Next up was Perry's cave which was essentially this underground area with some rock formations. It was nice and chilly down there and the tour guide had some interesting stories, but I was itching to play some mini golf! Drew did awesome and although we skipped a few holes (if you've ever played with a 4.5 year old, you know how long it takes), it was a fun time!

We originally had thought of putting Ady on my back, but we decided to just let her roam instead. The stinker kept trying to pick up the balls, though, so we had to get an extra one for her to carry around. 

Last up around that area was the kids maze. Drew had a BLAST as I followed him around (dad and Ady stayed in the observation deck) but I mostly just tried to avoid the huge spiderwebs hanging everywhere. 

After all that energy exerted, it was time for some sweets. And our sweets of choice is always ice cream!

Across the street from ice cream was an awesome park that Drew had a blast at.

Timeline of a 4.5 year old walking and losing balance on a balance beam!

 After that we made a last stop at a tall monument. The line was long to get to the top so instead we just explored the grounds and Drew told Ady all about pine cones.

We caught the 5pm ferry and head home with 2 sleeping babes in the car.
I'd say that means they had fun.

Prayers for Maria Sunflowers

We have a field of sunflowers here in Cleveland that is planted and comes up each year. It runs probably a mile wide along a highway and is a site to see. The 3 million sunflower seeds planted each year by volunteers around Cleveland are in memorial of a little 7 year old girl, Maria, who lost her battle to a brain tumor. It's beautiful, bittersweet, emotional and glorious to see. 

All at the same time.

Being from Kansas, I really wanted a framer of both the kiddos together, but it's getting harder and harder every time I try to take pictures. I'm awesome at getting other kids to smile, but for some reason it's impossible to get my own. This is the best I got....

At least we found grasshoppers to play with. Priorities, right?

And there was something about this lone sunflower that drew me in. Most sunflowers were planted a few inches from their siblings, but this one stood alone stretching toward the sky.

To find out more about Maria and her foundation, Prayers for Maria, click here.

Wrestling

Wrestling.

It's a new favorite in our house.

       ... for both kids.

So is running with excitement.

Also, as a sidenote, the direction of this blog is somewhat changing back to it's original purpose. Over the last few years I've done some AWESOME giveaways and link ups, but I simply don't have time any longer. With the exception of a few close friends, I really don't have time to read other blogs let alone leave comments as I barely have time to blog myself. Moving forward I'll be updating this as a journal for my kiddos to read someday. It originally was designed to keep family updated on our happenings but since has transitioned to a journal for my kiddos. Someday they will read this and enjoy hearing and seeing their young lives. I don't want to clutter my journal with promotions and posts not centered around them. I appreciate everything I've gained from this blog community but it's time to step back and spend those extra minutes with the 3 people above. :)

Big Trucks

We've been going to Big Trucks (aka Touch a Truck) type events for years now as Drew has always had an infatuation with them. So on Sunday, despite sprinkles, the 4 of us enjoyed some time surrounded by every type of truck you could imagine.... and a helicopter.

Although we centered the event around Drew, we do have another child now and I did have to get some pictures with her. Luckily, the big one obliged.

I tell you, this child is a mommy's girl, but Drew is her most favorite person. When she saw him sitting in the firetruck she screamed until we put her up there. Took this quick picture of her hanging out with her big brother driving the truck. 

Holding On To Summer

The first day of fall isn't for 4 more days and this momma is holding on to the last bits of summer as long as she can. I do love a warm PSL and a big hoodie fan, but summer is my fave (as I've mentioned 791 times) and it's not officially over yet! There's just something about summer flowers and the evening golden light and the feeling of the sun on your skin that instantly makes me happy. Throw in some quality family time with my 3 loves and I've reached the highest level in the game of life.

Snapped these pictures last week and plan to look at them when we have 3 feet of snow in the coming months.

Annual Royals vs Indians Game

Monday night was our 6th annual Royals vs Indians game up here in Cleveland! I love this tradition of ours and how different each year has been. From pregnant 2 times, to now having 2 kids, and from freezing games to scorching games it's been family time every year.

When we arrived, we saw on the tickets that the game actually started at 7:10pm as opposed to 6:10pm as we had thought. Oops! So the boys watched batting practice (Drew had a ball tossed to him!) and Ady and I walked around a bit.

We hit up the kids area before the game as well seeing as how we had plenty of time to kill. This area is AMAZING and all stadiums need something like this. 2 stories worth of kids toys for all ages and a huge 2 story slide!

Then it was on to our seats with some pretzels, hot dogs and a summer shandy in hand!

The jacket that Drew is wearing below was bought after the 1985 World Series game that the Royals were in and had been worn for years by Derek and his brother, Matt. Super vintage!

 I also have to take a moment  to mention this picture below. It's not much to an outsider, but it summarizes the 2 dynamics of our kiddos perfectly to us. Drew is SUPER sensitive and hate when the homerun fireworks went off. Every time an announcer would come on, he'd cover his ears in fear of more noise. Ady, on the otherhand, watched the fireworks and loud booms and wasn't phased at ALL.

We made it until after the 5th inning, but by then the kids we wearing down and Ady had literally snacked on everything in my bag. We headed home knowing both kids would be like this withing 3 seconds...

To see our family pictures from 2010 - 2014, click here!

Zoo Day!

This past weekend we enjoyed some local fun meeting our friends at the zoo and then taking Bailey up to the annual dog swim. Our zoo day ended up being a bit rainy so we spent the majority of the time in the rainforest or in the elephant house. 

The rain stopped for a bit so we ran over to feed the giraffe's...

And then rode the train...

And did a quick carousel ride before heading home...

Then after lunch it was Bailey's turn to have some fun at the annual dog swim. Last year there were tons of dogs but due to the rain this year, there was a lot less. Either way, Bailey had a blast swimming around and chasing balls!

Hope you had a great weekend as well!