Cincinnati Trip

I finally have a chance to update the blog.  It has been insane since school got out!  I posted some pictures from their school website.  Jake's teachers were obviously not as camera happy as Julianna's.  There are lots of little bunny pictures.  So check those out and sorry there are tons!

After school let out we were home for a couple days and headed to Ohio for a week.  Thankfully the 7 hours drive went fast and that DVD player was worth every penny!  Once we arrived we hit the ground running.  We headed to the zoo our first day.  They saw lots of animals we don't have here so that is neat.  Of course Jake and Julianna had to ride the train.

Now my kids say funny things all the time and I remember them about 50% of the time.  But we had two zingers back to back and I will never forget.  So, they have an animal called an Okapi, looks kind of like a horse but with zebra print legs and butt.  Jake was reading the signs and telling me it was from Africa (I think) and "its an o-ka-pee you know like an o-copy of a zebra."  Hilarious!  Then the very next animal is a rhino and it was just lazily hanging out in the pool.  He was pretty dirty.  Julianna looks at Grandma and says "Grandma he needs some soap in his bath."  I love my funny kids.

Then next day Brian flew in and we went to a Reds game (after buying Jake the appropriate hat and shirt).  I hadn't been to the new park and was so excited!  It really is a beautiful stadium.  And a great game!

Julianna also had her very first Skyline 3-way.  She liked it...didn't eat much but she liked it!

Let's see what else.  Oh we went to the butterfly museum.  The kids splashed around in the pool.  We saw my best friend Lisa and her kids.  Jake went bowling for the first time.  Then finally Aunt Shana brought Wesley.  He is such a doll.  Julianna was all over him...probably a nice break for Grace.

Then our last day we celebrated Poppy's 60th birthday.  We all met at our favorite, Montgomery Inn and had a small celebration.  There was cake and balloons (because Poppy had to have a baseball balloon!) and presents!  We had a great time.  Sadly we had to leave the next morning but summer is a busy time and lots of fun to be had!  Thanks for letting us invade for a week Grandma and Poppy!  See you next year!

Catching Up

Yikes!  It's been a while since I updated my blog.  The past few months have been a flurry of fun and activities.  Grace is walking all over the place.  She is still a little wobbly and can't quite stay up when Julianna tackles her but she has a sweet smile planted on her face at all times.  Julianna treats her like a rag doll but Grace just laughs and basks in the attention.  Grace just finished her first year of PMO (parents morning out).  She had fabulous teachers and always got out of the car smiling and clapping her little hands.  One more year of PMO and she gets to be a bunny like her brother and sister!

Julianna had her last day of "bunny school" on Friday.  She had a wonderful year.  Her teachers were just fabulous.  They call each bunny up to say a little something about them and give each a little diploma.  Julianna was last and they said what a joy she is to have in class.  She is friends with everyone and will run and plays sports with the boys or play dress up with the girls.  She loves playing with everyone.  AND she was the only girl to kick a field goal on team spirit day.  She has some skills!

Jake.  Oh.  So sad!  His last day of preschool was so bittersweet.  Yes!  I was one of the moms that cried. Jake ran up to me and said "Mommy, I am officially a kindergartner.  You never have to take me to school ever again."  Can you tell someone is excited about riding the bus next year!  He has just blossomed this year into such a little man.  Not a shy little boy anymore.  And he can read!  Now he is picking out 3-4 books at night.  One for me and the rest to read after I tuck him in.  Incredible!

I added some videos to the YouTube link at the top of the page.  A few songs from each end of the year celebration.  We are off to Cincinnati on Thursday!  I have 3 excited kids!

Jake's Karate Graduation

Not sure I can write this without shedding a tear.  3 months ago Brian had the brilliant idea to sign Jake up for karate.  I was not sold on karate and the idea of spending 45 minutes 4 days a week at the studio was not appealing.  Sure enough little by little he has improved and earned stripes on his belt.  They asked him to join black belt training and he got a new uniform with patches.  Saturday he had a graduation.  He found out he was getting a new belt (white with an orange stripe).  He was beyond excited!  

So we show up and they line the kids up and do drills.  The bigger kids show off their moves and it is really fun.  The instructor told me they would be breaking boards but honestly in my mind I was thinking the plastic things they play with sometimes.  Oh no.  Every single student would be breaking an actual piece of wood.  I really thought there was no way Jake would do this.  They didn't practice it or even tell them about it in class.

   

Finally it was Jake's turn and he walked right up there.  Kicked once and didn't do it.  Then he stepped back and broke that board.  It was amazing!  I am pretty sure Brian and I were the proudest parents in the room.  And I got it all on 7 seconds of video!

Awesome job Jake!

Grace is Walking

Grace is officially mobile.  It's taken her over a month to really get going but now she walks about 75% of the time.  The other 25% she crawls...she knows crawling is a much quicker way to get away from Julianna. She also thinks the ball popper is hilarious.  She throws her arms up every time it starts.  So cute!

Easter

Easter was kind of overshadowed this year by Grace's 1st birthday.  But the Easter Bunny managed to visit and leave the kids some goodies and hid even more eggs.  Just what we needed...more candy!  So after church Jake and Julianna scoured the yard for hidden eggs.  

On a side note: in typical Julianna fashion she had on pants that were too big (so they kept falling down) and her Cinderella glass slippers.  I can still hear my mom laughing hysterically every time she bent to pick up and egg and her rear end stuck out.  Memories.

In spite of being under the weather Brian made a delicious lunch for us.  It was such a fun weekend...but now I need a vacation!