Father's Day Weekend with Friends and Family

Who doesn't love the multitude of summertime street fairs in Columbus?!?!? Food, rides, music, beer. What more can you ask for on a summer weekend? We headed back to the Creekside Blues and Jazz this year, and got our weekly fill of festival fun!

We were thrilled that the Lomaxes could come too. Ivan and Emerson get along instantly, and are like old pals whenever we all get together. There's something so great about young kids...they don't need the formalities of friendship and seeing each other regularly to pick right up as best buds.

I enjoyed my lemon shake-up, while my counterparts enjoyed their big plastic cups o' beer. I love a good lemon shake-up, but I was green with envy for my all-time favorite bev on a hot June day. We made our rounds with food. Rides. And then more food. Everett was too small for most rides, so it worked perfectly to have the Emerson and Ivan duo ride, while we all watched.

Can you see the little blondie in the yellow tea cup?

Waiting patiently for the giant slide.

The carnies lost power to most of the kiddy rides? No worries! We'll just head into the bounce house about a dozen times in a row.

Bounce with me...bounce with me.

Food break! Emerson slammed 2 hot dogs in 2 minutes. That much bouncing burns a lot of calories.

Back at it! (Ivan is behind Emerson on the motorcycle.)

Blurry because I was laughing too hard to keep it straight. Mike wins the award for most patient father ever, after Ivan smacked the plate of funnel cake, covering Mike in powder. This photo was after he dusted off.

The weekend of fatherly fun didn't stop there. On Sunday, we ran a few errands, and had lunch at one of Jason's favorite restaurants, BW3s. Yes, BW3s. On another recent trip there, we were exposed to the genius idea that this restaurant has implemented for kids. Personal game systems! This keeps kiddos entertained at the table for a few bucks. Seriously, genius. Later that day, we headed to Lancaster to spend some time with Poppy, Jess, Jared, my godfather (Uncle BF), and Aunt Cheryl.

Gone are the days of coloring your placemat with crayons.

"Hey Momma, I need to swipe more money."

This is what he does.

Hot, sweaty, and filthy. I think we can consider Father's Day Weekend 2012 a total success.

We only have a few weekends remaining before Coach Willie arrives. It's a little surreal at this point. August 2 sometimes seems forever away. And other days it feels freakishly near. Whenever it happens, we're so ready for our new little arrival and addition to our family!

Wrapping up Football Season

With a busy summer already under way, we're ok getting our Sunday afternoons back, but will definitely miss watching from the sidelines! So long football season, hello swim season! Here's a few pics from the last couple of games from Emerson's season.

Hanging with Coach Dad before the game.

Emerson, running it in!

Last game of the season...trophy time!

The Gahanna P-Squad Buffalo Bills...

aka...E-Rex, Will, Big Clay, and A-Rock!

And one quick video...so much fun!

Moves Like Jagger

Definitely worth the 55 seconds. No description necessary.

Future Buckeye

Remember these pictures from Emerson's newborn photos?

We may need to change that tag to "Future Buckeye!" Although his Mom and Dad were professional tailgaters in their 20s, it's possible we have a football star on our hands. Emerson's flag football team had one of their Sunday game in the horseshoe. He even had a fan club...Mom, Dad, Poppy, Jeeka, Mimmy and Dzia Dzia! It was a hot one, but it sure was cool to be down on that field!

Naples - May 2012

What can we say? We love it there! It doesn't get much more convenient than a place we consider home to stay, and a car to drive. With a few clicks of a mouse a couple months ago, we had our flights, and the rest was taken care of!

This is how we live there. Sometimes shirts. Sometimes not.

A fierce game of matching with Auntie Jessi.

Manatee sighting!

Tuckered out.

I can't get over the optical illusion. Sometimes they look raised. Sometimes they look sunken.

Doing what three year olds do at the beach.

One of my favorite pictures from this trip. The water looks so cool.

At least once a day...backyard fishing.

Checking on our little lizard friends.

Life is good, today.

Take 1.

Take 17.

Take 99.

Take 3,186.

Smile, buddy.

There, that helps.

Strawberry Picking...and Eating!

My mom used to make the best strawberry preserves when we were young. I remember going to the patch to pick them, and her being in the kitchen all day canning them. We often did the actual canning at Great Grandma Oatney's house, since she was a master canner (also well known for her pecan pie and crocheting masterpieces). I've seen a few farms in our area advertising strawberry seasons, and knew I wanted to continue this fruity legacy. When our friends, the Amoses, wanted to go picking last Saturday, Emerson and I knew we had to go!

We headed to an area patch. I work with Suzanne, our husbands are chummy and bowl together, and our boys all get along really well! Luke and Noah are a little older than Emerson, and are so great with him. He views them as a single entity though..."Luke-and-Noah." He even suggested we name the baby "Luke-and-Noah." Not Luke. Not Noah. Luke-and-Noah. There are few evenings that go by where Emerson doesn't ask to go to their house. One of the many reasons we love our neighborhood!

We ended up with about 12 lbs. of strawberries. The Amoses had over 30 lbs! This is attributed to a few things. Suzanne had two helpers and I had one. Squatting and picking strawberries while 8 months pregnant was a little more difficult than I anticipated. And...my helper didn't add a single strawberry to my basket. My helper thought his strawberries were missiles for strawberry war. And he ate his weight in those he didn't throw. Nonetheless, I had enough to make a couple batches of jam. After canning, I froze them, and plan to enjoy them all year! Let's hope they turn out!

Kind of a cool dude in the way back with the big kids.

Note that Noah has a bag filled with strawberries. Emerson does not. He doesn't even pretend like he's helping.

One of many that he ate.



The three boys...what you can't see is that Emerson took a few berries to the back of the head, temporarily dyeing his hair "strawberry blonde" in a few spots!

Campfire time with Noah on the Amoses patio. Summertime fun!

Mia is getting her very own Sheffield.

It's a sad time in our house. Our little buddy, Sheffield, has just a few days left. We found out in January after his visible weight loss, that he was suffering from canine kidney disease, and had only 25% function remaining. He was quickly stabilized with medication and different food. At the time, our vet expected him to have around 6 months remaining. This was very unexpected news for our family, and very hard to hear.

The past few months, Sheffield has maintained a quality of life that was acceptable to everyone. He ran and played, would take short walks with us, and continued his nightly routine of sleeping in Emerson's bed. The last few weeks, he's taken a turn. His sad little eyes just don't have the life they once did. He isn't eating much of anything. And he will often just lay under the dining room table by himself. This is the dog that was previously never in a room by himself. After some recent blood work, our vet confirmed what we expected. It was time. We're keeping him home for the weekend, and will say goodbye to him Monday morning.

I don't think Jason and I had any idea in the fall of 2004, when we brought home our little rescued cocker spaniel, that we'd love him so much, and that our hearts would be breaking this soon in saying goodbye. To add to our heartbreak, Sheff has become Emerson's dog, too. He learned everything he knows about dogs from Sheff. He received a couple bites as a toddler due to sneak attacks on Sheff. He played a role in daily feedings and walks. He often let Sheffield out and in, and took pride in this duty.

We began the conversation with Emerson in January, and have put some finality in the last 24 hours on what is happening and when. Emerson is very sad about this, and honestly, kind of mad. I get it. I feel like we've experienced more death in the last 14 months, than any family should have to. Some we never get to meet. And some are taken too early. We've assured Emerson, that Mia is very excited to get to play with Sheffield, and will be giving him lots of treats when they see each other. In telling Emerson this, Jason and I have come to love this idea. I firmly believe she's taking care of my baby, why wouldn't she also be taking care of my dog.

So, Mia is getting her very own Sheffield.

This was the day we brought Sheff home. He's lived in 3 homes with me and Jason.

Shortly thereafter...new haircut and all.

Recuperating on a Sunday morning, pre-children, Sheff was always by our side.

One of the best hangover buddies that ever was.

Always a little quirky.

And awfully cute.

This is how they operated. Side-by-side, but never fully interacting.

He tolerated us, and couldn't be without us.

He never complained when he was overdue for haircuts. He simply found ways to cool off.

He even got vacations at Auntie Jessi's house, and got to hang with Hercules.

Number one cuddler.

His nubbin' made the best nose.

He let me do things like this before I had a child to dress...

And like this...

Like this...

And like this.

Not sure who will keep Emerson company on the couch when he's sick and home from school.