Grasshoppers and Wine - 228/365

It was another busy one today! 

We had gymnastics first thing this morning. Reagan was thrilled because they each got three turns each, on the trampoline. She loves it! 

After gymnastics, we hit Fellows for grasshopper day. It was quite active at the garden. There were a ton of people and two crafts! Fun! 

They got to make a grasshopper out of a painted toilet paper roll. It was so adorable! 

They also got to make a den den drum out of a wooden spoon and beads. Reagan was very particular about painting her wooden soon. She was very careful and made sure she used every color. 

She is getting so good at doing crafts. I love that our house is filling up with all her homemade stuff. We're just so proud and so is she! 

 The kids got to check out some live grasshoppers today, too! The instructors had caught a few and had them in these little clear viewing boxes. She was fascinated! They had little tiny nets and empty viewing cases, so you could try to catch your own. We were not successful. LOL! 

After the garden, we went and had lunch at Chili's, then ran a couple errands. 

We got home and I got Reagan put down for a nap, that she never took. She just talked and sang for her nap time today. I think she was just excited, because she was going to spend the night at grandma's tonight, while we went to Akron for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway Wine Train. 

My mom, dad, Ray, Jen, Pam, Paula, Jim and I, were all hitting the rails tonight. We were in the Lonestar car and it was fabulous. This car had tables which made it nice. The last time we went, we didn't have tables and it was a little tricky holding your wine and food all at the same time. This time, it was a breeze. We got two tables together and had a ton of laughs. 

You get to sample five different wines and five different foods. The wines were all excellent! The food was yummy, too! They gave you apples and cheese, peach tossed salad, fritata, chicken salad on a croissant, a brownie, and finally, grapes covered in maytag and blue cheese. We all liked everything, but the grapes were a little weird. They were really good, but really bad, all at the same time. You would take a bite, like them, then kinda say, "eh." It was fascinating how it kept changing, so you ended up eating it all. LOL! 

One funny thing that happened was, my mom and dad had, "happy anniversary" sang to them.  It was sung to the tune of Happy Birthday. The trainman asked if anyone was celebrating anything, so we all pointed to them since their anniversary is coming up on Friday! It was a hoot!

As the night went on, it was hilarious to hear the car getting louder and louder as the wine continued to flow. The laughter just slowly increased over the two hours. The parking lot after, was the funniest part. People just all conversing with strangers. Everyone was just so happy! 

We all had a great time and are looking forward to the next one in October! 

Reagan had a great time during her slumber party at grandma's. She went right to sleep for them, since she didn't take her nap. Her and papa, watched some Dora, and loved having breakfast together. 

The photos of the day are... 

Reagan and her grasshopper friend..

and, Nana & Papa getting serenaded...

 

Hershey, Browns and a Streaker - 227/365

What a whirlwind day, it was today! 

 My mom and I woke up to a gorgeous day in Hershey. We went to breakfast at the Circular dining room, which had a GORGEOUS view. It was beautiful! It overlooked a beautiful garden with a fountain. The sky was crystal clear and perfectly blue, it made it even more beautiful! There was a ymmy buffet with everything you could imagine! 

After breakfast, we headed over to Hershey's Chocolate World for a little tour and shopping. We went over right at nine, got a great parking spot and went straight for a ride. I forgot how cute it was. We had a good time! 

Shopping was a good time, too! They have a huge store with all kinds of goodies! I got Reagan a little Hershey bar pillow and a stuffed animal peanut butter cup. I got Jim and I some shirts and Brinkley got a Hershey bar squeak toy. Success!

 Jim's mom spent the day with Reagan, while Jim was at work. It was so nice! Reagan was sleeping when we got home. She was going to spend the night at my mom's, so we went to wake her up. When she finally woke up, I gave her, her treasures. She looked at me and asked, "where my chocolate?" I had told her yesterday that I would bring her chocolate, which she amazingly remembered. She was almost like, what's with all this stuffed stuff, I want chocolate! LOL! 

My mom and I packed her bag and off they went. What a lucky little girl, she got to spend all day with grandma and then all evening with Nana and Papa! 

 I was in the house 45 minutes and was ready to hit the road again. Jim and I were going to the Browns preseason game tonight with Jim's mom and dad, and their neighbors, Sean and Barb. It was a gorgeous night for football. We got to Cleveland with no major problems and had enough time for our indoor tailgate. 

 All the guys were excited to see Harvard Rugland from Norway. He made himself famous last year doing crazy kicks on a Youtube video. The Lions saw the video and ended up signing him. He has earned himself the nickname, Kickalicious. LOL!

In the third quarter, we were all shocked to see a STREAKER! He jumped over the wall around the 10 yard line on our side of the stadium. He made it all the way across the length of the field to the Browns tunnel, where he eventually got tackled. It was amazing! All we saw was this naked guy running across the field in his socks, with his underwear around his knees. A Lions player tackled him twice, but he just got up and kept going. I was so shocked, I barely had time to get my camera together and take a pic! LOL!

The game itself, was great. Both teams played their starters the whole first half, which made it fun! The Browns actually dominated the whole game. They looked great! Let's hope that trend continues through the whole season. (knock on wood) They ended up winning 24-6. Sean is a Lions fan, so we had a lot of friendly ribbing going on, it made it fun.

 Reagan had a good time with both her grandmas today. Her and Jim's mom spent the day playing with all her toys. Then this evening, Nana and Papa, took her to dinner at Tippy and to play on the driving range and putting green, one of her favorite things. 

All in all, it was a super fun, but exhausting day! 

There are many photos for today....

The first is my mom and I at Chocolate World. 

The next is Nikki, Greg, Shawn, Barb, Jim and I at the Browns game...

Next, the lovely streaker...

And finally, Reagan playing some golf...

Hershey MB20 - 226/365

Busy day today!

 I had asked Rachel if I could take some pictures of Milana. I wanted to practice my newborn photography, which is NOT easy...LOL! I told her she could leave Milana with me,  then she could spend some time with just Parker. She said "sure" and was thrilled to spend some alone time with Parker. Milana was a perfect angel and an excellent subject. We had fun on our little photo shoot. Poor Rachel, ended up getting locked out of the house, but Ron came to the rescue!

This afternoon, my mom and I were heading to Hershey, Pennsylvania to see Matchbox Twenty. We were so bummed that we have to miss the Cleveland show next week, so we decided we HAD to see hem somewhere else. Hershey was the closest place.

Jim came home from work around 12:30 and off we went. We made it in 4 hours on the nose! 

We ended up staying at the Hotel Hershey. What a gorgeous place it is and you get bombarded with chocolate as soon as you walk through the door. We were here about a half hour and had already got, four Hershey Kisses and a classic Hershey bar! The hotel itself was humongous! It had a couple restaurants, a skating rink, playground and two pools. The location was great, because it was basically across the street and up a hill, from the Hershey Stadium, where the concert was. 

We got settled and went to have dinner at Trevia 5, a little Italian place. We both had the pizza, delicious! 

After dinner, we drove the two minutes to the stadium, found a great parking spot and were in within 15 minutes. It was a strange little place, but nice. 

The stage was HUGE, TALL HUGE! It was bizarre! You almost had to look straight up at them. The sound system was nuts. The bass was thumping so hard that it felt like your heart could skip a beat.

Matchbox Twenty was awesome, as always! Just fabulous entertainers! I was lucky enough to get a guitar pick, too! I was swaying to a song with my arms crossed in front of me, when I felt something hit my arm.  Low and behold, it was a guitar pick! It landed right on my arm! It was awesome!!! I was so excited! 

After the show, we were back at the hotel in less than 15 minutes. Awesome commute! 

It was so fun, we were glad we came.

While I took off for the evening, Jim held down the fort at home. He was so sweet, he got us all caught up on laundry, did the dishes and got my car washed! He even took Reagan and Brinkley to the farm to check out the animals and went on a walk! They had fun spending time together! 

 I'm so lucky! 

The photo of the day is Rob....

 Next is my guitar pick...YAY! 

And finally, Brinkley and Reagan checking out the longhorns....

 

Brinkley and the Frog - 225/365

Reagan and I started our day at music class. 

She just loves it so much there. It's getting really sad, because suddenly, she's the biggest and oldest one there. She used to be the youngest. It's crazy how time flies!

After class, we picked up Nana and ran to Target, Bath & Body Works, and had lunch at LaRocca's. Reagan walked right over to the booth we sit at and asked for her highchair. I think we frequent there quite a bit. Ha ha!

 Anyway, we went to Target first. I needed a few things for the trip, plus, they just happen to have a certain dog toy we needed. 

Back in March, it was Brinkley's fifth birthday. We happened to be in Target that day, so I let Reagan pick out Brinkley's birthday present. She picked out this skinny, yellow duck, that had super long arms and legs. He has really taken to that duck and plays with it all the time. He always brings a toy to the door when we come home from somewhere. His go to "present," is always the duck. 

Well last night, he ripped the arm off the duck and Reagan was quite distressed. She was just heartbroken for him that his toy was broken. She kept asking us to fix it for him. I told her that we could get him another one and he would love that one just as much as this one. Neither Jim or I are sewers, nor duck surgeons, so we couldn't help. Sadly.

Luckily today at Target, they happened to still have them. They had the duck and 3 other similar styles; a pig, cow and frog. I let Reagan choose and she chose the frog for him. She was so excited to give it to him. As soon as we walked through the door, Brinkley happened to bring the "broken" duck to us and she said, "Brinkley, we got you a new one! We got you a fwog!" He was pretty excited and played with it a lot! 

What a great, big sister she is! 

This evening, Jim, Reagan, Brinkley and I did the Kirk to Herbert walk and had a little cookout. It was such a nice evening. 

 The photo of the day is Brinkley and his new "Fwog" friend.....

Here is the broken duck...

 

Backpacks, Art & Ice Cream - 224/365

It was a laid back kind of day.

 Reagan and I just played around the house this morning. My mom and dad went down to Alliance to wait, while my Aunt Barb underwent hip surgery. She did great and should be able to go home tomorrow. Crossing our fingers! She was having a lot of pain, so hopefully she'll be good as new now. 

While Reagan and I were playing this morning, Reagan was taking in an episode of Dora the Explorer. We have been having her watch a lot of Dora, since she is one of the characters that are on the ship in Alaska. Our TV is mostly on Disney, when it comes to kids shows, so she had never really watched it. We wanted her to be at least excited for the events with Dora on the ship. Well, she took to it instantly and now it's one of her favorite shows. She's always asking for Dora and will sit and watch the whole thing. She shouts out answers and everything, it's so cute. 

Well today, she suddenly got mad she didn't have a backpack. She was trying to use her little doctors bag as a backpack. I told her that we would get one someday soon. 

Nana got home from the hospital right around lunch time, so we ran to lunch at O'Charley's. I was telling her the backpack story at lunch and she remembered that Sears had some little Dora backpacks. After lunch, we headed over there. Sure enough, they had a few, she was so excited! She even wanted to wear it out of the store. We asked her what she is going to put in her backpack for the cruise and she said, "Mr. Fuzzy, Charlie Horse (who she named herself, amazingly), Puppy and mine blanket." It was so stinking cute! We told her if she puts all that in there, she wont be able to fit her crayons! LOL! 

After Sears, we had to stop at YM to pick up some prints and I, ironically, have been wanting to look at their camera backpacks for Alaska. I want to bring all my camera gear on the excursions and wanted an easier way to carry everything. They had the perfect one, of course. Nana ended up getting one, too! So it was backpacks for everyone today! 

 This evening, Jim and Reagan went off to art class. They came home with another beautiful painting. This one used yarn and paint together. It was so cool! They had a great time! 

They unfortunately saw a really bad accident at Market and 224. Traffic got really backed up and they had to be re-routed. 

When they got home, we were playing chalk in the driveway, when the ice cream man rolled around the corner. Reagan got excited, so we stopped him. She picked out a Hello Kitty ice cream bar. She had the best time eating it. She was a sloppy, sloppy mess. It was so adorable! 

The photo of the day is Reagan and her ice cream bar... 

I had to add her doing her art project...

And finally, I had to add the backpack picture. Jim and I both said, this picture makes us sad, because it won't be long till she'll be heading off with a backpack full of school supplies.  :(

Chore Day - 223/365

It was chore day today. 

I ended up cleaning the main level of the house at little better than I had planned. I spilled my full banana, honey, peanut butter and almond milk smoothie all over the counter. Which then, dripped to the floor and cupboards. Sticky MESS! Once I wiped one cabinet, I figured I might as well keep going, so I wiped the fronts of all the cabinets and did the dusting and floors. I love a clean house! 

After that, I headed out to cut the grass. It's growing like crazy. I just did it, and it was already super long. I almost had to do it twice to grind up all the clumps! I picked a few weeds and watered the flowers. Everything looks good again! 

While I was doing all that, Jim and Reagan went to Fair Park to play for a change of scenery. They ended up seeing Matt, Jen and Miles, and played with them for a little bit. The kids liked the swings and slides. They had a good time! 

After that, Jim took Reagan up to McDonald's to get some lunch. What a cute little daddy/daughter day. 

 This evening we just hung around the house and had pasta for dinner. Kind of a boring, but OK day.

The photo of the day is Jim, Matt, and Reagan riding the animals at the park....

 

Cousin's Picnic - 222/365

Today was Greg and Nikki's annual barbeque. 

Every August, they invite all the cousins over for a wonderful picnic. 

The weather was perfect! Not overly hot and no rain! Everything is always so nice and the food is fabulous. Greg, Frank, Steve and Shawn do all the grilling. They are excellent chefs! They cook up hot dogs, chicken, ribs and steak. YUM! Everyone else brings million yummy sides and desserts. There is no way you can go hungry, that's for sure.

It's always so nice for everyone to get together and visit with family you don't see very much. They set up big tents with tables and they even put up a little pool for the kids. The neighbors have a swing set and trampoline and that kept the kids busy for sure! They just bounced and bounced and bounced! They all play so nice together. It's so fun watching them grow up as a group. 

 Earlier in the day, Jim, Reagan Brinkley and I went for a walk on the three mile trail. It was such a nice day for a stroll. We even saw a little deer along the way. Reagan was thrilled! She also kept sticking her head out the side of the stroller to talk to us. It was really funny. It's facinating the things they do.

 I also baked four more loaves of zucchini bread. Three to give away, and one to keep for us! 

The photo of the day is our little blue "gang" at the picnic. Matt, Jim, Nana, Papa and I were all standing there talking, when we realized we all had the similar color blue on.

The next is the chef's of the picnic...Frank, Shawn, Greg and Steve. 

And Reagan sticking her head out the side of the stroller....