Crafty Weekend

We had lots of fun this weekend, even though it was pretty low key (which was much needed after 4 weekends straight on the road.)


Saturday started off with a birthday party for Owen's friend Alex at their house. They recently switched schools so it was great to see their family and meet some new friends as well.

They had a bounce house in the basement!

 

 Brett throwing a bounce house ball at me. Cool effect:)

 

Playing with trucks and trains of course

 

  

 Making bookmarks

Instead of presents they did a book exchange which I think is a great idea. Everyone brought a wrapped book and then they passed them around in a similar fashion to Hot Potato. The book you ended up with at the end was yours to take home. So fun!!!!

 

We also had fun turning a cardboard box at home into a rocket ship!!!

 

Flames!

 

 

Eating a snack in the rocket ship (he also napped in the rocket ship)

Maddi also wanted to get into the crafting action so she did some painting of her own:)

NJ Wedding Weekend

This past weekend we attending the wedding of our good friends Brian and Amanda. The wedding was on the beach in NJ and Brett was a member of the bridal party. He grew up with Brian at the lake (Brian was also in our wedding.) Thankfully, my mom came and watched the kids so we had a weekend away!!!

The rehearsal dinner was lovely. It was a small gathering at a restaurant. Marg (Groom's mom) did such a nice job with the decorations. She used cloth tablecloths and linens that matched the colors of the wedding and brought the beach inside by placing sand from Estling Lake and votives in glass jars with seashells scattered around them.

Saturday morning Brett had lots of wedding activities, but I took the day to relax and do some shopping!!! Heavenly. 

The ceremony itself was on the beach. It was a little chilly but such a beautiful setting.

 Brian (right) and his brother before the ceremony

 Marg and her boys

 

The Edwards Family

  

Brett looked so handsome in his tux:) He was in charge of passing out flip flops to the ladies. 

  

 

 The Groomsmen

   

 Mike and Brett walking in

 

The Groomsmen waiting for the girls

 

 

 Our friend Catherine walking in

  

 Brian waiting for Amanda

  

 And now he sees her!

 

 Amanda and her Dad

 She looked so beautiful!

 

 Exchanging vows

 

 

 

 Exchanging rings

 

 

 

 Joined together in matrimony

 

 The kiss!!!!

 The happy couple- husband and wife

 

 Brett and his partner Anne (who happens to be from Chicago)

Marg and Alf

 

The reception was next door at a beautiful restaurant. We were on the second floor and overlooked the ocean.

 My handsome hubby

 Us and my mother-in-law

 The Estling Lake girls that I love to hang out with:)

 Brett and Amanda

For those of you interested in the back story, Amanda is friends with Catherine from high school. And Catherine is friends with Brian from the lake. She had wanted the two of them to meet because she was just sure they would hit it off (and she was right!) Amanda was doing her Masters work at the University of Toledo (she has a PHD in Microbiology just like Brett) and happened to be going to school there when we had our wedding in Toledo. So, Catherine used our wedding weekend to set the two of them up. And as they say, the rest is history.

A big thanks again to my mom for watching the kiddos this weekend so we could get away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trip to Florida

We went to Florida for our annual fall trip this past week.Unfortunately Brett couldn't join us but the kids and I (along with Papo and Nonna Barbara) managed to still have lots of fun!!!

The kids enjoyed lots of outside time.

Helping Papo water plants (Maddi especially liked this)

 

 

 Played in the pool in the backyard

 

We spent a few days at the beach. So much fun!!!! And the biggest news is that we finally got Maddi to get in the sand. Only took 3 vacations...

 

 

 

 

  It's so hard to be a waddler

 Lots of digging with Papo

 

 

 

 And they had lots of fun playing together

 

 

  Owen, of course, couldn't get enough of the sand

 

 

  He had so much fun with this wagon

 Enjoying time with the Grandparents

                   

We went for a walk on the beach which was apparently either not exciting or extremely relaxing for Ms. Maddi. Either way, she fell asleep while I was carrying her on my back. So sweet!

 Waking up from her nap with CRAZY hair!!!

 

 
Each year my Step-mom is trying to get a picture with the year and their feet. This was Owen's second and Maddi's first. So cute!

Owen dragged his feet through his name. I thought it was quite poignent given his demeanor of late (ok, since age 2)

We were able to go to our favorite zoo since the weather was nice:)

Grooming the Goats

Playing in the kids area was lots of fun.

Maddi waiting for her prey

Dancing to the music

Fun, as always, on the train.

                                                                    

Pretty lily pad pond

And of course no trip to the zoo would be complete without the merry-go-round.

Asian Gardens

Feeding the birds (although they didn't really want to eat)

Hang on Papo, I'm coming

Such a great time.

We even had fun at the grocery store with the super-cool racing carts (so much better then the ones at our store where there is a giant car in the front making it impossible to steer or navigate the actual store...)

We also did some outlet shopping and lots and lots of relaxing.

I sure am sad to say goodbye to summer but we definitely made the best of it!