Bobert's Birthday Barbeque Bash

This weekend we celebrated Robbie's 36th birthday with good food and great friends.  It was particularly nice on our new covered deck.  We watched the Reds game, played Baggo and rummy, and enjoyed some yummy chocolate chip cake.

Later in the evening, the adults enjoyed some good music on the deck whlie the kids movied and pj'd upstairs.

 

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband...daddy, RobBob, Bobert, RCO2.  I am so glad you were born!!!

Uncle Virg

You know that guy...

The one that is not really your relative, but asks like it for better or worse.

Meet Uncle Virg...

Well he's not really their uncle, but they sure do love him (yes this is a picture of him with an Applebees sign over his head which is a whole other story).

Why do we love him, you ask? It's quite simple...

1. He spent an hour doing an eye exam on Tate. Now, for those of you that know Tate, you know this was pure torture for both parties and Uncle Virg...he was a trooper!!!

2. He comes up with the brilliant idea to buy a slip and slide and then not only hooks it up for the kids, but encourages my kids to slide down said slip and slide after they have already had their baths and put their PJs on.

3. He built the kids a bonfire and watched them cook smores for all of ten minutes and then head upstairs to watch Star Wars.

4. He spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to hook up the VHS player so they could watch said Star Wars movie.

5. He danced with me to "Come on Eileen" in the living room while everyone else stared at us like we were nuts.

SO...A BIG SHOUT OUT TO UNCLE VIRG! Thanks for the hospitality!!! Sure beats a swim in a dirty river and fireworks from camp chairs on our back deck :)

Happy Birthday America!!

I have many memories of the 4th of July. When we were younger, my brothers and I would climb on the roof of our old house and watch the fireworks in Canandaigua. As I got older, I always spent the fourth at the lake with the Hansens or the Prendergasts watching the fireworks from a hammock hanging from the dock or from the middle of the lake. Robbie and I have spent our Independence Holiday in many places...Keuka Lake, our backyard, and Florence, KY. Yes...I said Florence, KY.

Fourth of July means many things to me...good food and LOTS of it, something shiny and on fire, and of course, family and good friends. Fourth of July and Florence, KY did not disappoint this year. According to Tate, you can't celebrate America without Apple Pie, so I made some individual apple pies and a few mixed berry (which should be its own blog post because they were so delicious!!!).

The day started with an eye exam from our favorite eye doctor (See post entitled "Uncle Virg"). The girls headed to the grocery store and fireworks tent while the boys headed to the pool. Once naps and food prep were done, we decided to head back out to WalMart to get a slip n slide for the kids. We grilled out, played with poppers, slipped and slid,

played BAGGO, took baths, slipped and slid AGAIN (under the not-so-good direction of Matt...again...see post entitled Uncle Virg),

played with sparklers,

built a bonfire, made smores, watched fireworks,

and nestled into bed watching the first Star Wars movie. WHEW! What a day!

And as Lily said tonight, "We can all stay up way late, mama, because the fireworks will scare us and we shouldn't be scared on America's birthday." So with that, I say, Happy Birthday America! Thank you for being born today...

Zoo Time

We spent Saturday at the Cincinnati Zoo with Uncle Adam and Aunt Erin and Mamaw and Papaw. Here are some of our favorite moments for the day...

The great thing about this zoo are the live animals all around. The kids and daddy loved playing with these tortoises.

Tate said this statue was like "me and daddy"...

This is one of my favorite pics. Tate walked up to this gator and decided he would put himself in his jaws. Too funny!!!

And of course, Lily needed a moment with her Aunt Erin...

The greatest part of the whole day was definitely in the manatee tank. It happened to be feeding time!!! So the kids were able to watch the scuba divers feed and clean their tanks.

The first thing Tate said to this lady was "Hey...isn't he supposed to be sleeping?" Leave it to my brilliant six year old to know that owls are nocturnal...

We missed the giraffe feeding, but the kids loved how close they could get to them.

And of course mom and dad have to have their moment with the elephants...

Of course, a 12 hour day at Kings Island and a napless day at the zoo, does leave us a little unpleasant at times...

But, all in all, it was an awesome day with our wonderful family.

48 inches...

Last summer we weren't quite there...

We begged and even cried some...

But it didn't really get us anywhere...

The sign says..."You must be 48 inches to ride this ride"

So "ride" we did. Tate finally reached that magical marker...the stepping stone of all amusement park visitors...the coveted 48 inch mark that said "I'm a big boy and I wanna ride THAT!!!"

I have to admit I was pretty shocked that he wanted to ride them all, but there was no persuading on my part. He was going to conquer THE BEAST.

He even threw in the Vortex for good measure, and for those of you that don't know...this is a full-fledged loopdy loop, only for your real thrillseeking roller coaster ride. And man, did he love it!!

What is an amusement park without good friends??

We recruited Meyer, Brooke and Tanner, as well as our faithful Virg to join us for 12 hours of Kings Island excitement.

We waterparked, ice creamed, roller coastered, and fireworked.

And at the end of the night, while the kids fell asleep in my lap in the car, my heart was swelling with pure love and joy from a wonderful day together.

Special Note to my faithful blog reader, Virg, who will also now be referred to as "Tate's trusty roller coaster sidekick". Thanks for making memories for my little guy. As you could see on his face, it meant the world to him.

Beach Bums

There are not many places that are "real" to me. Of course, I have my favorite destinations, but there are few places that I feel "swell my soul". Wilmington, NC just happens to be one of that for me. I don't know exactly what it is. I know the people that live there have something to do with it since the Khourys are one of my favorite families, but its more than that. It only takes me a deep, cleansing breath on the riverwalk to cleanse my soul and bring me to a place of pure serenity. I love shopping at Cotton Exchange, pineapple salsa from Flaming Amy's, and watching my favorite fishermen from the dock at JoJo's...not to mention the awesome fish tacos from K38. I just gotta say...I love every square inch of that place...the sights, sounds, smells...just love it!!!

Its been a few years since we have been able to go, so we decided there was no better way to celebrate Nonny's 30th birthday than to take her to the beach.

And what better gift could I give her then my most special place on this earth...

The Khourys/Hurleys were our gracious hosts and what hosts they were...

We enjoyed a shrimp boil at JoJo's, bocchi ball at Wrightsville beach, and a Dave Matthews cover band on the pier. What more could you ask for???

So...happy birthday Nonny and thank you Khoury/Hurley gang. I found my soul somewhere near the ice cream shop. Looking forward to next time...