Fun in O-Town

Yesterday around noon we arrived back in Ohio after 5 days in Orlando. We stayed with our very good friends Melissa and Kevin and their two little ones and had a BLAST. We fly home to Kansas City so often that this actually felt like a real vacation and it couldn't have gone any better. That being said, I'm exhausted and trying to catch up with work and laundry makes for long days with minimal time left to blog!

I've mentioned Melissa on here before, but had to include a quick paragraph so you will understand why I was looking forward to this trip forever! You see, Melissa is my separated-from-birth twin. We met 9 years ago when we lived in Jacksonville and quickly immediately became friends. You know how there are people in your life that you just know you were supposed to meet? Derek was one of them, but I know that Melissa is another one. We were eerily similar from day 1 and connected faster than most of my other friends. I look forward to the days we can spend together and was so excited to see her again. Due to the thousands of miles that separate us, the last time I saw her was April 2010 and before that was September of 2009. I saw this quote the other day and it was perfect for this post:

Anyway, enough with the sentimental writing. Moving on to our trip! I'm sure I'll have to recap everything and post tons of pictures over a few days so just bear with me. We arrived on Thursday morning and spent that day just relaxing and playing by the pool. Friday was our big Disney day so we had to rest up before heading into that chaos. The last time I had been to the Magic Kingdom was in 2007 when I went to Disney with Derek and couldn't WAIT to take my little man. It was an absolutely perfect day and the short afternoon even shower came when both of our boys were napping in their strollers. It couldn't have worked out any better and Drew seemed to love everything about the park.

I'm not sure if I would recommend taking a trip to Disney specifically for a toddler, but we were already heading to Orlando and figured we would just make a day of it! I think it was a perfect age for him as he was so interested in everything around him. He knew a bunch of the characters and although a bit shy on some of the rides, he never really showed signs of fear.

I honestly felt a pang of sadness when we had to leave the park. I wish it was closer and wasn't so expensive that I could make it an annual trip. It truly is a 'happy' place to go and is so full of life and childhood innocence. I guess that we're lucky to have friends in Orlando since now we have an excuse to go again in a few years!

Thanks again to our wonderful tour guides and thanks again to Derek's parents for the hotel room at the Swan!!

(More pics to come from our trip in future posts!)

Drew & Jack

Drew officially has his first BFF. These two have been buds ever since they started at the same daycare around 13 weeks old. If you search "Jack" within my blog, you'll find several posts around these two handsome studs. Eventually, we would move to another daycare and the boys would be separated for a few months, but then we moved to our 3rd daycare where Jack has already moved too! Born only a few days apart and living only a few miles away, these two peas in a pod have so much fun playing together.

We're still working on sharing and ball-stealing, but other than that these guys get along very well. Drew even squealed when he saw Jack walking into school the other day. How adorable is that? He was so excited to see his buddy.

You'll probably see more occurrences of Jack this winter as Lauren and I attempt to keep these boys busy  throughout the long, cold season!

A Toddler & Bowling

So I picked up a little bowling set the last time I was at Toys R Us and set it up in the basement to try it. I figured Drew wouldn't fully get the concept and boy was I right. Bowling has always been a fun pastime of my family and I can't wait to take him to a real bowling alley someday.

I tried and tried to get him to understand how to roll the ball toward the pins, but gave in to just letting him do his thing. It seems that just tossing the ball around and playing with the pins was wayyyyy too fun for this little monkey.

And then he realized there was an opening between a wall and the furnace and kept sneaking up in there. See the ornery look on his face in this pic? He definitely knows when he's doing something he is not supposed to do. Generally he's really good at not doing something after I ask him not to, but this time he was a little more 'testing'.

Still cute though.

Fall Outing

So Derek's employer rented out this entire area within our Metroparks for some fall fun. They had games, activities, tons of foods, a photo booth and even hayrides! I'd say there was a good 75 people there and we had a blast.

Drew loved playing the cornhole game, which by his rules involved carrying each bag and placing it in the holes. Thankfully, there wasn't a lot of kids there yet when he was playing with this game and had full reign over all pieces.

Check out this little pumpkin we even "painted". And I put that in quotes because I helped the little guy. The labels on the paints didn't say they were washable anywhere and I was worried about him getting it all over his fuzzy vest. I know, I know.... it's ok for boys to get messy. But let's be honest. It's ok for them to get messy, as long as it's dirt, or grass, or anything else that comes out with strong detergent in the washing machine. Not permanent paints!

The hayride was about 20 minutes long and wandered all throughout the woods in the park. It was gorgeous weather and Drew seemed to really enjoy the bumpy trip!

Sorry, not a lot of pictures from this outing as I was having too much fun chasing after the little guy. Well that, and constantly pulling sticks out of his hands so he wouldn't trip and fall holding one. Hope you're enjoying the fall weather wherever you are!

Belgrade, Serbia

This post would be much more fun to write had I actually gone there, but nope, the pictures are from Derek's trip a couple weeks ago. His work took him there for 4 days while I stayed back in good 'ole Ohio. I have to admit I was a bit worried, especially with everything going on towards Americans in other countries, by my Macedonian friend assured me Belgrade was completely safe and a really nice city.

After seeing his pictures and hearing about the delicious meals, I was definitely jealous, so maybe next time he has to go abroad we'll join him!

And being the typical male, he only took ONE single picture of himself. At least it's good with nice scenery in the background!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL MOTHER-IN-LAW LESA!!

Indians Vs. Royals

It's kinda become a mini-tradition up here of seeing our beloved Royals when they come to town to play the Indians! This post was from 2010 when Drew was a tiny seed in my tummy and this post was from last year when he was almost 7 months old. And now I have pictures from a 2012 game with our little guy.

These are from Friday night's game where we were the only Royals fans in attendance (that we saw). But then again, there was probably less than 10,000 total people there. (Neither the Indians nor the Royals are good teams right now).

I was really worried that we wouldn't last long as Drew would want to be up and exploring instead of confined to a seat. Thankfully, milk and snacks helped keep him still along with the video board. It became quite chilly and we had to whip out the blanket. It was fun snuggling and watching our team get beat really bad play. I think these next pictures are funny because it looks like there is NO one else in our section. 

And I always wish for a good family picture, but alas the best picture was with Drew looking down. Oh well... maybe next year!

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Also, Happy 40th Anniversary to my wonderful mother and father!!

A Typical Weekday Timeline

I know, I know, I'm kinda late on this bandwagon, but after seeing more and more posts like this, I had to do one myself! Not just for you readers, but more so I would remember what a typical weekday was like in our house at this point in our lives!

So here it goes. A glimpse into a day in the life of my family accompanied by Instagram pictures...

Then the next day we repeat it all over again. Thank goodness for the weekends and their relief from mundane weeks!

10 Years Ago On This Day...

10 years ago on this day Derek and I had our first real 'date'. Somewhat a blind date, somewhat not, it was the beginning of what would turn into the most wonderful relationship anyone could have ever imagined.

Backing up a bit, I say somewhat not a blind date because we had actually 'met' a couple weeks prior. It was a quick encounter, nothing more than exchanging names and light conversation over some beers. It was a weekend night in college and I was going out with a friend and her boyfriend, picking up a few other guys along the route to the bar. One was Derek. I will never forget seeing his face for the first time as he jumped into the car next to me. I played it cool despite a peeked interest, not wanting to get overly flirty that early on in the evening. Once at the bar, we chatted a bit, but nothing too deep. A while later my friend and I decided to head to another bar and Derek was meeting up with other guys somewhere else. A friendly 'goodbye' ensued and we went our separate ways. 

Fast forward about a week later and you'd find me stressing over a sorority party we have each year called Prohibition where flappers, zoot suits and boas run wild. I was tired of taking guy friends and examined my options for potential dates. For a brief second, I thought of Derek but talked myself out of randomly calling a guy I had met one night and asking him to a sorority party. I knew my friend Molly was dating his friend TJ and we'd probably get along but I was still skeptical. After a bit of convincing, I figured why not? I knew Derek would have fun with TJ there even if we didn't really get along so why not just get some balls and invite him? After Molly got Derek's number from TJ, I gave him a buzz. I don't remember the conversation whatsoever other than he accepted and plans for pre-partying and outfits were made.

I don't really remembering being nervous until only a couple hours before the event that Saturday the following week. As we loaded mascara on our eyes and lipstick on our smoochers, my hands started to run with sweat. We had decided to meet at TJ's apartment to have a few cocktails with the guys beforehand and as we made our way there I remember being so excited yet scared for the unknown. I didn't know this guy and he could be a total creeper. Or a jackass. Or just a nerd in general.

Thankfully he wasn't any of those. And from the minute we arrived, our chemistry was undeniable.... like a spark literally flew. We had an absolute blast that evening, even sharing a drunken kiss on the dance floor at the party, and it marked the beginning of an inseparable, deep romance. Derek couldn't even go an entire day without me as the next morning he picked me up at my sorority for a breakfast date. I remember stressing over which shoes to wear and ultimately picked these (now completely tacky) thick, wedged white flip flops. He was trying to impress me so hard that he even let me drive his car to breakfast. What a stud!

I'm so thankful that I went with something 'new' for my date party as I would have never known my soul mate. It taught me that sometimes risks are worth taking and they could end up being the best decisions you'll ever make. It's crazy to me to think that it was 10 years ago today as I so vividly remember little details about that night. Derek turned out to be the best surprise and made it one of the most fun, memorable date parties I had in college. And 10 years later I look forward to the next 10 wondering what they will hold. What I do know, thankfully, is that there is one person who will be by my side through them all.

He was my date 10 years ago on this day.

Actual pictures from our first date - September 27th, 2002

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Also, Happy 60th Birthday to my wonderful Father-In-Law! 

Changing Out Door Knobs

I thought for a long time on a more clever post title but kept drawing blanks. All this post is about is boring door knobs and how we made our house look a bit nicer with new ones. I guess I could have titled it "replacing door knobs from the 1930's is a pain in the ass" or maybe "who knew changing out ancient door knobs was so much work". Either way, you get the idea. The 1930's holes aren't the same as they are these days meaning the husband had to do a LOT of circular saw cutting and shaping to get everything to fit. (I didn't mind watching him work with his shirt off one bit).

Hellllllloooooo HOT STUFF!! 

Derek let Drew even hold the screwdriver a few times and I helped with the wood putty and painting. Because some of the knobs were so old, we had to paint around the new ones and figured it was a good time for a fresh coat of white paint on each door and trim. This momma LOVES a freshly painted door!

We only did 5 doors and have a LOT left, but it will be worth it. Most of our doors are that old, UGLY gold color below on the left and the new knobs are a dark rubbed bronze. The contraption in the middle was a HUGE help in drilling the correct holes for the new knobs. I'd HIGHLY recommend one of these if you have older knobs you're replacing. 

Anywho, don't you think they look much better? It's amazing how something so small can spice up a house! 

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Oh yeah, and the blog got a little face-lift and some pages up top if you didn't notice. It was time for a splash of color as well as some more information about our family members. Enjoy!

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend Derek and I took Drew up to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a long weekend getaway. We had so much fun in Columbus that we quickly decided our next stop of the "Northeast Tour" would be Ann Arbor, Michigan. The small city is only a couple hours away and we figured a weekend would be enough to enjoy this quaint college town.

Our first stop Friday night was visiting the Michigan campus and having dinner at Zingerman's Deli. I was told by numerous people as well as read on tons of websites that this place was not to be missed. With a HUGE selection of foods and some fun drink options, I'd say we had good sandwiches, but nothing spectacular. The potato salad, however, was absolutely scrumptious and I'm salivating a bit right now just remembering it.

After a bit of shopping we headed back to the hotel for Drew's bath and then to get him down. The goal was to enjoy the jacuzzi tub in our room of the suite with a movie on and a nice glass of wine in our hands. I will spare all of the details but after 90 stressful minutes of trying to get Drew to sleep in the hotel's crib and hopes of a relaxing jacuzzi soak fading, we gave in to hitting the hay around 10pm with a little one in our bed. Two things to note: A) Drew is normally an excellent sleeper so he had to have been terrified of something, and B) co-sleeping does not work for me. Derek has no sleep issues with it, but I wake with every movement/sound Drew makes. This means I woke up about 27+ times that night before Drew started to stir at 6:07am. Yes, I LOVE waking up next to my son's sweet breathing, but this mom needs her 8 hours of good sleep. I always have and always will. I wish I could co-sleep, but it's just not for us. But I digress.

We decided to punt another night's stay at the hotel and as I said goodbye to the jacuzzi tub, we set out for a packed day of a few places we wanted to hit. (And yes, my starbucks eventually helped me wake up for the day) First was this indoor play area called Jungle Java. For a mere $3, Drew got to climb, run and slide his little heart out.

Then it was on to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. So far I've been to the Cleveland, Columbus and Kansas City Children's Museum's and I must say that this one takes the cake. The building was huge, obviously backed with some of that University of Michigan wealth, and was almost 100% interactive with SO much for Drew to do. We could have easily spent 8 hours there had we not had other places we wanted to see. Where else do you get to touch a tornado, play a piano with your feet, go inside a huge bubble, and so much more?

I think the last stop of our trip was, by far, my favorite. After a quick lunch at the famous Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger, we headed out of the city a bit to the country. Just like I knew would happen, Drew fell asleep in the car about 5 minutes before we pulled up to our destination. Why do they always do that? As I gently woke him, I knew the cry I was about to evoke would be worth it once inside. We ran through the rain up to the entry gate where Derek took the camera and I excitedly plucked a still-upset Drew from his stroller. Just like I predicted, the first site of an animal quickly led to dry eyes and the squeals of delight that followed were music to my ears. We thankfully made the right decision to prolong his nap just a bit longer for a quick visit to Domino's Petting Farm. {Cue gospel choir singing "Hallelujah"}

We were given carrots to feed the animals and a private bunny petting since not many other people decided to brave the rain that afternoon. About 20 minutes in we realized we had the entire barn to ourselves and we happily bounced back and forth between the donkey, calf, sheep, chickens, bunnies, goats, ponies, pigs, peacocks and more. I'm pretty sure I had a huge grin on my face as I watched Drew trying to communicate with the tiny 2 pound baby piglet or moo back when baby Dixie mooed at him. He never stopped 'talking' and his voice would get so high with excitement as he proudly pointed to each animal.

Although I was absolutely exhausted and we realized Drew won't remember any of the trip, we're glad we made it up there for a visit. Ann Arbor has officially been checked off list of cities to see while living in Ohio!

Fall is Here!

Today marks the first official day of fall and this household is ready. Sweatshirts have been washed in anticipation of their first wear, pumpkin latte's were enjoyed and Halloween decorations have gone up. We welcomed the fall weather with open arms last weekend but it's felt even more like fall this week. We are enjoying our delicious apples from Mapleside Farms and the breeze coming into my office from open windows feels so good throughout the day. 

I realize the majority of America is mostly excited for football and less heat, but I'm not in that boat. To me, it's the frigid weekend mornings where I need Derek's arms to keep me warm or wearing big, oversized fuzzy socks around the house and of course, mums. I love mums and their perfect sphere shapes. Oh how they freshen up my front porch steps each September.

To me, fall means that we're that much closer to my favorite holiday and Drew's birthday. It means footie PJ's keeping my baby warm at night and beautiful leaves to look at during my crisp, cool morning runs. Although technically not my favorite season, I do love fall and what it brings to the table. Let's hope fall decides to stick around a bit longer up here in the northeast this year before winter weather rears it's ugly face. I'm not ready for snow and less time outside. I want more time

What is your favorite part of fall? 

Caption This!

I was looking at pictures from last week and just died laughing when I saw this. Lacy is our gentle giant, but I don't know how I caught her mid-lick so well. I mean, doesn't it look like she's about to devour Drew's head?

I'm thinking we should have a little caption fun. Thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment with your best caption!

We Still Have Dogs

I realize this blog is about 98% Drew and 2% anything else, but I noticed the other day that I hadn't posted in a while that we still have our dogs and they are doing just fine. Since I ranted here about the rough phase we were going through with them, it has gotten tremendously better. This summer, I've tried to take them for little 15-20 min walks a couple times a week to help their energy and Derek and I have made a conscious effort to give them more attention and treats.

You can search for "Bailey" or "Lacy" in my blog and you'll find tons of posts on my girls but I'm not sure I had mentioned before that they are both rescues and (obviously) both lab mixes. Lacy just turned 10 years old and has always had the energy of a 20 year old dog. Bailey just turned 5 and has always had the energy of a 6 month old. They are night and day in some aspects, but best friends is something they'll always be. We don't know where Lacy's brother is out there in the world but we do keep in touch with Bailey's family. It's so fun to hear what her 7 brothers and 1 sister are up to. Bailey is the ONLY swimmer in the group and her sister and her are under 60 pounds where the boys all seem to be 90+ pounds. Weird, huh?

And what would these two choose to do ALL day if they could?

I guess we'll keep them.

(Click here for some professional pictures we had done a few years ago at epagaFoto's studio!)

Fall Fun

This past Saturday marked the first weekend with cooler weather up here in Ohio and we decided to take advantage of it.

If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll notice we like to venture out there a few times a year to enjoy the sites and splurge on some high-calorie sweets and drinks. When we took Drew last fall to pick our pumpkins, he was a bit too small for the children's Cow Train. This year, he enjoyed the ride in my lap with daddy in the cow next to us. Although nervous at first, he loosened up quickly as we pointed out apples, pumpkins, corn and other farm staples.

After the train ride, we ventured through the corn maze, then hiked back up the hill to the petting zoo. Obviously that couldn't be missed as we all know about my son's love affair with animals. Yes the goats were a hit as always, but petting the baby ducks and llama were an unusual experience one doesn't get to do often. 

Then it was finally on to the best part. They call the cider from these farms "liquid gold" for a reason. It's absolutely amazing both over ice and warmed up in a mug, and nothing pairs better with it than one of their famous apple fritters. Derek and I have one each time we visit and Drew has officially joined this tradition chowing down his first apple fritter in record time. 

Needless to say, we all enjoyed our weekend adventure and can't wait to go back in a few weeks to pick our pumpkins out! 

Goats Galore

Meet Papaya.

This sweet, brown-eyed beauty is one of the 87 baby goats that Drew assaulted hugged while at Deanna Rose during our Kansas City visit. It was quite humorous to watch her sit on her petite green chair while all of the kids touched her in every nook and cranny of her little body. She barely moved as if she was completely used to the annoying toddlers constantly in her pen and her little ears drooped with sadness the entire time. As I watched her stare off into space, I wondered if she was telling herself "just go to my happy place". In an effort to not get upset over something so trivial as petting zoo goats and their feelings, I just told myself that they were like dogs. They enjoyed being petted and hugged despite not having anywhere to hide.

Back to the original reason for posting about goats. When I was home I scanned a bunch of pics of Derek and I from our childhoods and guess what was in both stacks?

Yep, a picture of us each of us petting goats. Apparently it's a standard childhood picture.

... and yes, that's my father at the petting zoo with his shirt off. He was the man back in the 80's.  :)