Quote of the week...

It's so crazy that kids pick up on everything. Matthew has said a couple things in the past few days that had me rolling - especially since he probably didn't even know what he was saying.

We were in the car and the boys were just chatting with each other. They weren't arguing or anything at all, so this comment came totally out of the blue. Matthew simply said, "Jordan. You wanna piece of me?"

Then the boys were on a hike with Jeremy and my dad this weekend. Again, the boys were just chatting and Jordan asked Matthew a question. In response, Matthew said, "I can tell you, but I'd have to kill you."

Ha! Where does he get this? Pretty much the only T.V. shows the boys watch are on PBS, and I'm pretty sure I've never said those phrases to either of them. Actually, I think Mr. Potato Head says, "You wanna piece of me?" in Toy Story 2 (sad that I know that). Anyway, like I said, it's amazing how kids pick up on everything. :)

Good-bye Summer

Dear Summer,

We'll sure miss your lazy days catching crawdads in the creek, and warm evenings chasing lightning bugs in the park. We can't wait to see you again next year!

Love,
Matthew and Jordan

Flying

Of course a summer wouldn't be complete without a little flying....

Jeremy's been taking aerobatic lessons and he's gotten quite good at it. Here are some pictures of him flying a Steerman. Cool!


We also had an opportunity to take a family flight over to Indy. No pictures, though. The boys talk about airplanes all day long, so you can imagine what a treat it was for them to go up in one with Daddy. When we landed, Matthew said, "Daddy, you aforgot to do hoop-a-loops!" Next time, Matt-matt. ;-)

#42....Check!

#42 Run a 1/2 marathon - completed 09/18/10


Wow, this is a huge one for me as it has been a goal of mine for a LONG time. I will never claim to be a great runner. I'm more of a wannabe runner. :) I'm not fast at all, but I like to run and I've stuck with it for a long time - even though I'm not that good. Well finally, I reached my ultimate goal of running a half marathon. I finished in 2 hours and 27 minutes - a time which I'm pretty proud of. I can't wait to do my next one!

I ran with my friend, Alice. Well, we crossed the start line together anyway - Alice is amazingly speedy and finished about 35min before I did!

I found out the day before that my friends, Kori and Downi, were running the race too! We were able to meet up on race day. It was so fun!

My 101 in 1001

Crawdads and Mud Puppies

Last week for family night we went to Magee Park. We had a picnic and then spent the rest of the evening catching crawdads and mud puppies in the creek. It was such a perfect evening together.

The Boys' First Fish

My cousin and her husband bought an old farmhouse which is situated on the most serene, beautiful piece of land. They have a cute pond in their backyard that's stocked with fish. The boys loved fishing and were so excited to reel this beauty in!

Heaven's Corner - Zoo & Animal Sanctuary

This is an activity we did at the very beginning of the summer, but I forgot to blog about it. There is the most amazing place just 25 min west of Dayton in West Alexandria, OH. These people have put together a home grown animal sanctuary on their land in the middle of nowhere called Heaven's Corner. When you drive up to it, it looks like nothing - just some homely farm. But beyond the front gate is something amazing - there are monkeys, lemurs, wallabies, tigers, bears, wolves, Russian wild boars, panthers, alligators and tons more. The craziest thing is that there is only a small chain-link fence between you and the animals. They're so close! Anyway, it's the coolest little place, and if you live close by, then I recommend you go there. :)

How cute is this little guy?! He was only a few weeks old. The zookeeper brought him out so we could play and pet him. Amazing!

Feeding the wallabies

I was slightly scared for my life at this point - I was pretty sure this guy was going to jump through the fence and eat me!

The cutest baby goats! I told Jeremy that I may want to buy a house that has a little land so I can get a goat. Don't know why, but I just love them. :)

A goat trying to eat Jordan's shirt. Ha!

Columbus Zoo...again...and again

Every summer it seems that half of my photo collection are pictures of us at the zoo. :) We love going to the zoo and our favorite is the Columbus Zoo. On the Friday before Labor Day, the boys, my parents and I spent more than FIVE hours there.

All these pictures of us feeding the birds are perfect, so I couldn't just pick a few. Every time we go to the zoo we feed the lorikeets, and Matthew is always itching get one of them to land on his arm. I think these birds are pretty smart because they always seem to avoid landing on the children's arms - can't blame them. ;-) On this day, however, the birdies were so hungry that they weren't shy at all. Matthew was SO proud to be holding a lorikeet on his arm. Jordan liked it too.

At one point I think my dad had almost 10 birds land on him. It was hilarious!

The boys in deep conversation with a little birdie:

Grandpa and his two best buds

Dude, it's Crush from Nemo!

This is from a previous zoo trip, and it's not the best picture, but I wanted to show how close the kangaroos are. I love this zoo because you can get so close to the animals.

Holiday World

We LOVE Holiday World! If you live in the Midwest and have never been to Holiday World, then shame on you! ;-) Holiday World, located in Santa Claus, Indiana, is the best amusement park. It's clean, family friendly and they have tons of rides for even the youngest (for some rides, the only height requirement is that they can sit up on their own). Since they promote healthy living, Holiday World offers free sunscreen stations (so you don't get sun burned) and free drink stations (so you don't dehydrate) throughout the park. My favorite thing is the waterpark (which happens to be the 2nd biggest waterpark in the world). It's amazing.

We return to Holiday World every summer with my parents and Lindsey & Luke, and here are a few pics of our 2010 Holiday World trip...

Sitting on Santa's lap

My parents were with us both days, and we spent the first day with our friends, Mike & Marenda and their (cutest) little 15-month old guy, Oscar, as well. The boys call him "Baby Oscar". It's hilarious because they refer to Mike (Oscar's dad) as "Daddy Oscar." Ha!
The three boys rode this little canoe ride together. Matthew and Jordan got in first, and then the ride attendant turned to Jordan and said, "OK little man, you have a really big job to do. You've gotta sit behind this little guy and make sure he doesn't try to get out of the boat. Are up for that?" Jordan nodded his head vigorously and then took the instructions very seriously (as you can see below). :) He didn't take his hands off Oscar's shoulders the whole time. It was so cute.


Uncle Luke and Aunt Lindsey joined us on the second day. Here we are driving the old-fashioned cars. I thought it was hilarious that the boys actually thought they were really driving them.




The tilt-a-whirl. Thanks to my sister for taking my place on this one. I wanted to vomit just watching them...

I love these raft rides. Matthew is saying, "Yeah! Let's go!"

And the waterpark. The boys' absolute favorite was the wave pool. Near the end of the summer, Jordan got brave enough to put his head under the water, so I was so excited to get a picture of him with his head under the water. I'm so proud of him! Matthew has always been a fish and has been swimming with his head under the water since before he could walk. ;-)








Aw, just looking at these pictures makes me want to go back. See you next year, Holiday World!

Wegerzyn Gardens

As tomorrow is the official last day of summer, I'd really like to wrap up my summer blog posts before then. There's TONS to cover, so here goes! ...

Wegerzyn Discovery Gardens

One of my favorite places in Dayton (and possibly anywhere) is Wegerzyn Discovery Gardens. It's the cutest little place where kids can just let their imaginations run wild while wading in the creek, watering the plants, playing in the playhouse and planting flowers in the sandbox. We love it! We were able to make it to Wegerzyn twice this summer - once with Uncle Alex and again with the boys' best buddy, Brighton.

Watering plants w/Uncle Alex

The boys loved playing with this little caterpillar. When they were done, Matthew put him on a tree so he could, "go home to his mommy." Sweet.

Matthew, Jordan and Brighton are 3 peas in a pod. I swear these boys were best buds in Heaven before they came down to Earth, because they seriously have such a connection. It's SO cute.