Cincy

We had a great weekend. We left for Cincy around 2pm on Friday. My sister, Jill, kept our girls for the weekend. We first stopped at the Gap Outlet - one of my FAVE destinations. Bought some fun stuff. . . stopped briefly at our hotel - our room was awesome - then to the ballpark. Hail and severe storms were predicted - by a miracle - there were about 5 minutes of rain - and that was it! Highlights of the ballgame included: Johnny Bench throwing the first pitch. A bald eagle flying from center field to the pitcher's mound during the national anthem, and a long fireworks display after the game. (AND a hot dog and nachos!) :) Our friends Wes and Heather went with us for this Cincy adventure. After fireworks, we went back to the hotel - watched a little tv then went to bed. Got up, went to Ikea. Then ate at Pizzeria Uno, got Graeter's Ice Cream - then headed home. We attended a wedding in Plainfield Saturday night, church on Sunday - then had lunch at Maggiano's with Jill, George and our girls.

B and I at the game

Brian's fave - Ken Griffey Jr. hitting

The baseball gang

One of the fireworks!

Snippets of VBS

It has been a fun week at VBS - the girls really enjoyed their classes. They got to bounce in a bounce house each night - a highlight. . .

have a snack - also a highlight (since we don't feed them!)

play blocks and all kinds of other fun things

and ride a super big trike!

Funny Faces

Many friends have commented lately that Maddie's personality is really starting to come out. . . here are som photos she wanted me to take of her making silly faces. I think you can see a little personality in these!

Sisters

Emily and Madeline have been so adorable together lately - now don't get me wrong - we still have our moments of screaming and not sharing - but sometimes they are sooo sweet! Here they are looking at a book together - look how Maddie is hugging Emily's arm. . .

Playing dess-up - very soon they were fighting over who got which shoes and which wand. . .

Today I used an idea I got from another mom - I bought 2 bags of beans and a bag of rice and let the girls play with them outside - a lot of fun for about $3. I plan to reuse the beans and rice for them to play more, too.

This week we have VBS and Brian and I are helping - so it will most be a busy and tiring week. This weekend my sister, Jill, is taking the girls for the weekend. Friday night Brian and I and another couple are going to Cincy for a Red's game - then spending the night there. Saturday night we have a wedding back here in town. It will be nice to have some quiet and rest! I am having a lot of back pain and other pain right now - so I'm not sleeping well - not to mention the every two hour bathroom trips! I'm 31 weeks as of Saturday!

"Look what we cooked you, mom!"

Shiner

So, Emily got a black eye at Holiday World - as she was running and playing in the splash park. . . and she and another little girl went head to head. . . it was bad! Emily's cheek immediately swelled up and turned purple. She seriously had a cow for about an hour - it was pretty awaful. Luckily, she finally recovered and we had a great rest of the day. Look at her poor eye today! she and her dog are twins.

Maddie wanted a close up with a buddy, too. . .

Holiday World

My dad takes our whole family to Holiday World each summer. We went on Monday. My sister, Susan, and her fam didn't come this year. So, it was dad, my little fam, Jill, her husband - George, and their grand-daughter, Riley. Riley is about a month older than Maddie. Here are some shots of our day! Emily is ALL ABOUT the rides. She doesn't want to ride the really scary ones - but for the most part she is game to ride whatever.

Dad has his last chemo treatment this Thursday - he is hoping to really start feeling better as it leaves his system. His stamina is way down. He spent a lot of the day holding down benches (as did I!)

Maddie is afraid of pretty much every ride - I went with her on the Merry Go Round. (that said "no pregnant women") Now I know why - I thought I was going to die. I got SO DIZZY - I was standing, going up and down with Maddie, as she insisted on having her head buried in my bosom - and holding the other horse next to me as it went up and down opposite of Maddie - it was NOT a good experience. . .

Stolen Camera

So, I was looking at the pictures on my camera and found THESE - seems that a certain 2 1/2 year old held my camera hostage without me knowing. . . Does this look like two sisters having fun or what?