Too cool for school

We go a couple times a year to Naples, and I firmly believe a few summery additions to the wardrobe is the absolute right way to kick off a trip to the beach. Emerson gets elated when he knows there's a package to open. I happen to be a frequent online shopper, so this is a regular occurrence in our house. When I ordered him $3 flip flops on a whim a few weeks ago, I had no idea he'd love them so much that he'd wear them to bed that first day. Literally. Wore them all night in his bed. Who does that?

I ordered just a few things from my "go-to" Old Navy for our upcoming trip to Naples. This included throwback sunglasses and a fedora for Emerson. For the last 2 days he's had these items, the first thing he does when walking in the door is put them on. When you look this good, wouldn't you too?

So ready for the beach!

Love that carefree laughter.

Donning his shades inside, while working through a magazine of toys, circling items he's interested in (we only do this in advance of birthday and Christmas).

Would you believe he circled nearly every item on every page?

Pizza is for Elephants

So we started Mother's Day weekend off with the Circus, which was great fun. Following that, we had lots of normal weekend activities --- soccer, groceries, trip to the park, etc. When Sunday rolled around, I found that it was a lot tougher for me than I expected (first Mother's Day without my Mom). As soon as I think I'm doing ok, I get hit with an emotional day/weekend. Funny how grief sneaks up like that.

I wasn't super excited about Mother's Day for this reason. Sure, I love being a mother to Emerson, and can't wait to have another baby this summer to mother. And yes, I think Mother's Day is hugely important in recognizing the mothers in our lives. I, for one, had a stellar example of motherhood all my life. Maybe that's why it stings a little bit acknowledging the day.

Jason and Emerson got me a fantastic wooden swing for the yard, thoughtful cards, and school-made artwork. And we spent the evening with an annual tradition of ours. We went to Grandview for the Elephant Walk. The elephants (and other animals) from the circus return to the train on a walk through Grandview. Every year, we go get our favorite Grandview pizza (Dewey's) with Aunt Jeeka, then head to the route. 2009 was the start of our tradition with Emerson only 9 months old! Emerson was awestruck in 2010. And 2011, was rainy, but included Jeni's ice cream.

This year, the Lipps joined us! And they jinxed it. If you're wondering where the pictures of the elephants are...there were no elephants this year. They had a change in the timetable at the event location and had to cart them to the train. Oh well, at least the pizza was good. I think Emerson and I both cried on the way home.

Seriously, their pizza is the best. And you can see them make it!

Waiting not-so-patiently for the elephants.

Emerson, successfully entertaining Berlynn with constant goofiness.

The circus came to town!

I often joke that our daily life is a circus. So when the opportunity arose to take Emerson to the actual Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, we jumped!

With an already busy weekend (my mantra of late) with soccer, football, mother's day, etc., we chose to go to the Friday night show. I haven't been to the circus since I was around 7 years old, and Jason has never been, so we were sort of unsure what to expect. We had great seats, and were all thrilled! After the long walk from the parking lot (Thanks for nuthin', Schottenstein Center.), we were all ready to enjoy the show. And enjoy it we did. There was so much to look at, that there were times I didn't know where to look, afraid I might miss something! Emerson sat glued to his seat, enjoying the spectacle. Despite the mad dash for bologna sandwiches before we left the house, when intermission rolled around, we knew we needed snacks. A short $40 later, we had an icee and popcorn to share, and a light-up sword. Everyone was happy!

The highwire acts, clowns, and acrobatics were all intriguing, but Emerson's and Jason's favorite act was the man on fire shooting across the stadium from a cross bow (think human cannonball). I think my favorite acts were all the animals. The horses and elephants are just amazing creatures. And that many tigers in one place is just awesome. There was even one who was a little ornery. Makes your blood rush a bit!

I don't think this is something we'll do every year...we really love our tradition of the elephant walk (post coming soon) and may stick with that. But a fun Friday night outing, nonetheless!

These squirrely little guys and gal were impressive!

Overstimulation...where to look?!?!?!

Meow!

$20 sword. Better last a lifetime, Mr. Barnum.

Emerson kept asking where Dumbo was.

"The Greatest Show on Earth!"

A total zombie on the way home. Conked within a minute of hitting the pillow.

We love granite, yes we do! We love granite, how 'bout you?!?!

At our last house, we installed granite countertops in our kitchen and then moved within a year. Jason never quite got over this. We can't walk into anyone's house with granite without him sarcastically saying, "You have granite? You should move." So, after moving into the new house a little over a year ago, we decided after finishing the basement, the kitchen was on our short list. Basement took priority, since it increased the living space. And since we all can better manage Jason's response to the Yankees losses when he's in another area of the house.

We thought about waiting to re-do the kitchen until we could do the whole she-bang. But then we also realized that may never happen! So, today, new granite countertops were installed. Woot woot!

This is a central point in our house, and we spend a lot of time here! Bar stools are ordered. If you'd like to volunteer to take down that awful border along the ceiling, holla!

Before.

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Springtime catch up blog (picture heavy!)!

I thought about breaking these out into event-specific posts, but who has time for that?!?!?! Not this girl. But I insist on capturing our life in this blog. Otherwise, I'd rarely have a printed photo, and with my terrible memory of the details, my kids would have no idea what occurred in their childhood.

We've had a busy Spring. Nothing entirely out of the ordinary, just bizzzzy bizz! We have a few house projects underway. We have soccer every Saturday, and football every Sunday. Work is busy, per the usual, for both me and Jason. Throw in Easter weekend, a Clippers game, family dinners and birthday celebrations, and social time with friends, and you can see why I fall asleep at 9:30 most nights when my head hits the pillow.

"Emerson and Clayton...you've been drafted by...THE BUFFALO BILLS!"

Post-drafting, all the kids on stage. I just love Emerson's little head popping up, "Mommy? Daddy? You still out there?"

We installed a basketball hoop! Hooray! Next up...the kitchen!

Clayton and Emerson at their first game!

Uncle Jared celebrated a birthday! Don't all birthdays include a wrestling match?

Front porch exploring.

Easter weekend in Toledo.

"Gotta...find...eggs."

Cousins!

Chillin' with Kendall.

More football with "E-REX."

"GO, EMERSON, GO!"Poor kid is going to be so embarassed of his screaming fanbase on the sidelines one day.

Coming soon...Emerson's first trip to the Circus, our annual tradition of The Elephant Walk, family photo shoot, going-away party for some dear friends leaving town, Emerson's football game in "the shoe" and a trip to Florida! Thank goodness this baby isn't due until August 2, because we have a lot to accomplish in the next two weeks. I can hardly think about the next 2 months!

An update on Cat-Gate.

Breaking news...

Jason went home and started the house search for the cat. He looked in some of the usual spots where our cat sleeps the day away, and couldn't find him. After a moment of panic, he found Kramer in Sheffield's bed, waking up from what I'm sure was a lovely nap. Yawning, stretching, and being cursed at by Jason.

With Kramer safely inside, Jason went across the street to find the neighbor lady who called the cops on a random cat. She was looking around her front steps and here's the conversation...

Jason: "Is it still under there?"
Lady: "Is what still under there?"
Jason: "Um, the cat you called the police on."
Lady: "Ohhh, that was in the back. And it's long gone."

Thank goodness for every crazy neighbor, there's a great neighbor. And thank goodness it's only Tuesday and I have 4 more days in this week to continue the Zielinski Family Circus.

"Hello, police? There's a cat in my bushes."

About 1/2 hour ago, I got a text from our neighbors across the street asking if our cat got out. Their next door neighbor, a sweet, and slightly older widow, was alarmed by a "yellow cat" that has been under her bushes. So...she called the police.

Kramer is an inside-only, declawed cat and has spent less than 9 minutes of his life outside the four walls of our house. I can't imagine how Kramer would have gotten out, but it is trash and recycling day, so it's possible that while Emerson was helping Jason, Kramer snuck out. It would definitely be out of character for Kramer, but he's a cat.

I get Jason on the phone, and after debating yellow vs. buff (I don't see the difference), he came up with the grand idea of sending a photo of of Kramer to Jenny (trusty neighbor) to see if that's the cat that's clearly freaking out the neighbor lady.

Here's the only photo Jason and I could come up with on short notice that I could text to Jenny. This was taken 2 years ago at Christmas, with Emerson in his Where the Wild Things Are pajamas. In full-on Max-mode, I think he's possibly about to pounce. I know it could be a serious situation of a lost cat, but I can't stop laughing at this whole scenario, and this picture. It's one of those days that I'm thinking to myself, "Is this really my life?"

Apparently, they believe the cat in this photo is the cat in the 'hood. Jason is en route.

More to come on this.