New School

It's that time of year again - back to school. As much as we liked Trinity preschool last year, we opted to take Riley to Wooster Christian School this year. She has been talking all summer about her new school, especially since her buddy Ethan would be in her class. She was a ball of energy and excitement the night before school started. It was another story at the door to the classroom the next day. Riley was crying and clinging to my leg. I was trying to reassure her while keeping the drop-off brief and steering her into the room. Colin, on the other hand, wanted to go to school. I had to hang onto his arm to keep him from running in the room. He realized that he wasn't going to school yet and was throwing a tantrum while imitating a wet noodle. Can you picture this? I had one crying child with all her limbs wrapped around a leg while another was trying to escape my grasp by going limp and shrieking. Riley's teacher had mercy on me and disentangled Riley before leading her into the classroom. She came home from her first day all smiles and declared that she liked her new school. I guess all the drop-off drama was quickly forgotten.

I didn't get a chance to snap a picture before we left on the first day so I got one on the way home. Riley is proudly showing off her new tote bag. All the children in preschool got a bag with their name embroidered on it. I like them because they are color coded by class so I can learn the names of the kids in Riley's class.

I will leave you with a few recent quotes from the kiddos.

Riley: What are we having for dinner?

Me: Chicken Parmigiana.

Riley: Oh. That sounds . . .umm. . . not tasty.

Me: Colin, what do want to be when you grow up?

Colin: Judge . . . pirate.

(I don't know if he wants to be a judge and a pirate or a pirate judge.)

Colin: Let da wile wumpus start!

("Let the wild rumpus start" Colin is quoting his current favorite book "Where the Wild Things Are." This is also one of the longest string of words I've heard him utter.)

Zoo Trip with Pop-pop

Well, we made another trip to the zoo. We are definitely getting our money worth with our zoo pass. This time we had two special treats; we drove up to the Cleveland Zoo and Pop-pop came with us. The kids were so excited to have Pop-pop along and talked about their adventure for many days.

How many monkeys can you spot in this picture? (Hint: There is more than one.)

Colin playing in the treehouse at the Australia exhibit

Riley riding a T-rex. The kids loved the special exhibit on dinosaurs. They had life-sized animatronics complete with sound. They especially liked the dinosaur that spit water at unsuspecting passersby.

Hanging with Pop-pop.

Here's one of the dinosaurs in action.

Romantic Retreat

Jeff and I celebrated our 10th anniversary in June but we weren't able to get away and do something until late July. We picked a location that wasn't quite as exotic as our honeymoon (Hocking Hills down in Southern Ohio) but was still quite nice. We rented a cabin down in Holmes County at the Inn at Honey Run. My parents were gracious enough to take the kids, and the kids were completely stoked about spending some time with Pop-pop and Memaw. We heard all about eating brownies at Cici's Pizza and picking out plastic animals at "the barn store" - Tractor Supply, when we got back.

Jeff and I began our 24 hour date by grabbing a bite to eat and going to a movie in Wooster before driving down to Millersburg. I love driving down in Holmes County. Even though it's only one county south of us, the hills are much bigger there due to the lack of glaciation (and there's your history lesson for the day.) We arrived at Honey Run in the late afternoon and went exploring. There are numerous trails around the property so we hiked around for a while. We were given a trail map at the front desk when we checked in, and we had some good laughs over the trails marked "vigorous." The only one we found taxing was a brief part of a trail that went straight up a hill. The rest were pretty mild. We ate supper at the Inn and then retuned to the top of the hill above our cabin for some late night star gazing. Jeff took some pictures of the stars, but they didn't turn out the way he had hoped. The clouds kept rolling in and he was limited by the functions on our camera. I guess we'll just have to go back again when he gets his SLR. (It will be a sacrifice but I'm willing to do it for my husband's happiness.) The following day we ate breakfast at the Inn before taking another hike. We dove up to Akron for lunch at Pad Tai. We've been meaning to go there for a while but have not had many opportunities to get out without the kids. After our meal, we decided it was time to head home. The kids were happy to see us and had many tales of their adventures with the grandparents to share.

This is the view from the top of the hill above our cabin.

The living room in the Trillium Cabin

The dining area and deck. We didn't have much opportunity to use the deck because of the intermittent rain and sopping wet patio cushions.

I loved this arrangement on the coffee table. Some of the decorations in the cabin were available in the gift shop. Unfortunately they didn't have the carved acorns.

The freestanding fireplace in the main living area.

Jacuzzi ;-)

The second bedroom

The view from the master bedroom. We had a variety of birds come to this feeder including a woodpecker. There was also a tiny squirrel that climbed up the window and onto the feeder only to be foiled by anti-squirrel function that closed off the holes when his weight triggered it.

We had a wonderful little get-a-way. We'd highly recommend the Inn at Honey Run for anyone who'd like a quiet retreat.

Summer Fun

Here are some pictures from the past month or so showing a little bit of what the kids have been doing.

The week of July 4th, our town has a carnival. It's not very big, but it's the place to be in the evenings. The kids were thrilled with all the activity just down the street from our house. Riley was big enough this year to ride quite a few rides. She had a blast and is already planning her list of rides she wants to try at the fair.

Her first solo flight in a helicopter

Riding the BIG Ferris Wheel with Mommy

Colin and Daddy on the carousel

Riley and Daddy on the slide. They both wanted to go again.

We had a cook-out at my folks house the second week in July. Mike, Robin and my favorite nieces were there. It was originally going to be for the Fourth of July but we had to postpone it a week due to some illness in the family. That worked out well because we just turned it into a birthday party for Mom. It was her 41 birthday. . . well, not really but I'm pretty sure I'd be toast if I posted which one it really was. The highlight of the day for the kids was riding Pop-pop and Memaw's horses. This used to terrify Colin but now he requests to go "wide houwses" any time we get within five miles of my folks' house.

Here are my nieces Maria and Maya on Cody. This was Maya's first horseback ride. Judging from the expression on her face, I think we have another horse woman in the making.

Riley is learning a new skill this summer. Her generous mother splurged and got her a new pair of rollerblades. (OK, her cheapskate mother bought her a pair of rollerblades for $1 at a garage sale and even talked her into the black ones instead of the pink ones so that her brother can wear them when she outgrows them.) She can propel herself around the driveway pretty well now, although she is a little frustrated that she cannot yet do spins and backflips like they do on TV.

Thanks to the pads, most falls are funny rather than painful.

"And this is how it's done."

Not sure what she was doing in this shot but it appears she is trying to resemble a bored and surly teenager.

A few weeks ago the kids favorite friends, Ethan and Madeleine, came over to spend the day. This was an occasion to break out the kiddie pool. They played in there until most of the water was gone.

This would have been a cannon ball but since there was only 18 inches of water, Ethan had to settle for a butt flop.

Maddie in awe of a passing airplane

Riley's athletic pose

This was the best shot I could get of all of them in the pool. Naturally the older ones are hamming it up.

Colin and Maddie opted to observe the water fight between the big kids rather than participate in it.