Put-In-Bay Adventures

I went to Cincinnati for 24 hours for a baby shower.  When I came back, Columbus looked like this.  A terrible storm knocked out the power in most of the city for a week.  Luckily aside from this tree down at Bumpa and Kathy's house, they still had power.  They also have enough food and water to last for at least 6 months.

We crashed in the basement cave.  The kids slept in until 10am, which was the best night's sleep we've had since Khera was born!

The next day we headed up to Put-In-Bay.  Tommy dug the ferry ride to the island.


We hit up the Crew's Nest for a little pool-time fun.


After a lot of deliberation, Elle jumped off the diving board.  It took a lot of courage and we were all so proud of her.


Khera was a pro.




We checked out turtles at the local nature center.


Uncle Ry was in full effect.


Chilling by the water was where you could find us 90% of the time.






If not by the flood wall, Tommy could be found in the garage trying to drive the golf-cart.


Khera and Elle earned their nickname "The Lake Girls".


Even Tommy made it out into the lake temporarily to hang on the island.


We also caught him golfing nude in the backyard.




Elle was obsessed with her lemonade stand.


Khera learned how to use a DSLR.


With a little help from Aunt Amy of course.

Kit and Tommy talked shop...iPhone games, trains and golf carts.




Rob did a lot of sleeping in the hammock.


Kathy's gourmet meals and drinks did not disappoint.




Tommy plotted who he could get to take him for a spin on the golf cart next.

Daddy and the girls took the kayak for a whirl.




Elle let Daddy take a break while she paddled.


Our old friends met us for a day of fun too.  Here we are putt-putting with their boys.


Thanks again to Bumpa and Kathy for hosting our crew for a whole week and helping out with the kids.  It was yet another fantastic trip to Lake Erie, great food, family, friends, lots of fabulous memories were made.  We can't wait to go back again next year!

PS - Two special thanks go out those that made our big night out possible.  Bumpa, thank you for sleeping at the top of the stairs so the kids could not wander the house/island while we were out.  And thank you to Rob for chauffeuring us to and from the bars that night.  We promise next time we will save you a slice of late night pizza to show our gratitude.

Columbus Summer Fun

We have taken a major hiatus from blogging, sorry to keep you hanging!  With the kids in school everyday I thought things might slow down a bit, however I feel like we are running on a treadmill 24/7!  So before this summer gets away from me...

We headed up to Ohio for a good part of the summer to escape the heat and catch up with family and friends.  The girls made a new friend next door, here they are painting the sidewalks with Lily.  Most days were a version of this, riding bikes in the driveway, sprinklers, painting, etc.

Even Tom-tom got in on the action.


Here we went on a nature walk.  We tried to find things of each color on our walk.  Of course I forgot to take an "after" photo.  Poor Khera was terrified of the bees and that put a damper on the walk, and it was more like a nature nightmare carrying her around the park.


We played Angry Birds on the driveway one morning.  It kept the kids entertained for quite a while.


They drew the structures and pigs.


We filled up water balloons and they lined up to throw them.


And they tried to hit the pigs with their balloons.


We had a girls night out, and went to see the high quality film Magic Mike.


The girls took tennis lessons.


It took Elle a while to warm up to tennis, but she's really enjoying herself now.




Tommy made a new friend named Froggy.


We headed over to Hastings pool one afternoon with Lily.


We went to a zillion storytelling hours at various libraries, we even managed to meet the Lorax at the Miller Park branch.


The girls went to Vacation Bible School and had a blast.




And they played with Lily some more.


Kit and Tommy parallel played on their iPhones.


We even made a couple tea parties to beat the lunchtime heat.




We'd like to send a HUGE thanks to GJ for opening up her home and letting us descend on her household for such a long time.  The kids made a lot lasting memories including going to the movies with GJ, the zoo, Tommy's first potty experiences, and Khera and Elle rode their bikes without training wheels for the first time!