First Game of the Season!

(For most of us!)

We saw this truck while we were walking from our parking garage down to the stadium to watch the Reds take on the Dodgers. They were putting up the skeleton for a new building and the boys are now convinced that Batman is moving downtown.

The boys had practice on Kevin's birthday, so we decided to go the day before and Aunt Joanie was able to get us some tickets for that night. I haven't made Meredith's Rosie Red costume yet, so we settled for a red and white polka dot outfit. The original capris were striped, but it was too cool for them. So she ended up looking like Minnie Mouse instead!

We packed the usual of hot dogs and peanuts, but the more interesting aspect of this picture is the shot of the two people in between Ben and Charlie. So bizarre.

It was a school night, yes, but it was Daddy's special birthday game. We stayed until after the Reds batted in the 7th. The score was 9-4. We could chalk this up as a winner.

We were walking back to the van when a guy drove by us while we were stopped at a corner. "They tied it up!" he yelled to the family in clad in Reds gear. WHAT? I thought for sure that he was just joking with us. Sure enough, when we made it back to the garage and turned on the radio it was tied.

We listened on the drive back and luckily our Reds pulled it out, 11-9. We should have stayed!

Birthday Boys

Yesterday we celebrated Louie and Kevin's birthdays with Kevin's side of the family. We did the ol' standby of "baseball themed" which is a favorite and we always have plenty of stuff to decorate with and plenty of clothes to wear.

Louie got these cool shades from Aunt Jill and Uncle Nick. He'd look pretty tough if it weren't for the Hawaiian Punch-stained mustache.

I don't know what was going on in the picture, but I like the look they're giving to each other over melting sundaes.

Happy Birthday, Louie and Kevin!

We'll See

There weren't any of Charlie's diapers in the diaper bag and Meredith was taking a nap and I didn't want to wake her, so he's wearing Big Boy Underpants right now. Elmo, in fact. He was so excited, he called Kevin to tell him that he was wearing underwear "on my BUTT." He's too funny.

I don't think that we'll be doing this all the time now, but I'm not going to make a big production out of it like I did with Louie. We can halt our lives for a week, setting the timer for 15 minutes, singing the potty song and trying to get the kid to go.

He'll figure it out, I know. We'll just take it one day at a time. And if we really do "run out" of diapers like he thinks, I'm sure he'll realize how uncomfortable wet pants are. Especially the corduroys he's wearing now!

Long Overdue

It's been way too long since we've visited the zoo. Today was a great day to visit--and most of the city had the same idea. The weather was mild and Daddy was home and there's almost nothing the boys like more than when Daddy can come somewhere with us.

We were lucky we chose that day to go because I'm not sure if the tulips would be there the next weekend. They were definitely over their peak time. Maybe because of the warm start to the month they bloomed earlier?

I don't remember these from last year. I thought they were so pretty, looking like someone took a paint brush to add the red stripes. Benny liked them, too.

The manatees have returned! Well, these aren't the two we had before, but the boys were excited all the same. They are two females named Turner and CC Baby. I'm not sure if CC will keep the "Baby" part attached to her name when she gets older.

Ah, we're getting to the age where pictures do not want to be taken and attitudes prevail. Look at Louie's sweet face. So mad because Mommy wanted a picture with the tulips instead of the reptiles.

But Meredith was excited!

And this Gibbon caught Meredith's eye. If I get a chance I'll post the video of her reaction to him. So loud, and she though he was hilarious.


Unfortunately, the digging area wasn't open, but at least we got this picture of Charlie hanging out under the gorgeous wisteria.

And no trip to the zoo is complete without the classic rhino pic!

Things I Love

I absolutely love that my boys fell asleep watching Pride of the Yankees.

Hidden Treasures of Our City

We had another wonderful outing today with Amanda, Owen and Eli. I have been wanting to explore Spring Grove Cemetery for a while now and it just worked out that today would be the day that we'd do it.


Forecasters predicted thunderstorms, but Amanda and I have been planning for outings for long enough that we now know to go ahead and do what we want and figure out what to do if the weather wants to change plans. Good thing we've gotten to this point because it was a gorgeous day!


I wasn't sure what the boys would think of running around a cemetery, but they along with Owen and Eli quickly fell in love with the immense amount of open space, trees and gravestones. They spent a lot of time trying to find names they recognized and dates that matched their birthdays.


We plan to bring paper and crayons next time to do grave rubbings because many were so old that it was difficult to make out what they said. The boys are excited about that.


I'm not so sure how "hidden" this treasure was to anyone but me, but I am so glad that we went. It definitely will be a place that this family will visit many times in the future!

The Start of the First Birthdays

Just look at this face!! Miss Reagan turned one and we were lucky enough to be invited to the little senorita's birthday party. She is the start of a group of babies that were born back to back to back to back and so on. This past year I have known more babies born than in my previous three pregnancies combined! What makes it fun is seeing them all grow up together and celebrating their milestones!

Here is the happy family! Birthday girl will be a big sister this September!

The boys had a great time! This house had all that little boys needed--wide open spaces for baseball and football; cornhole; bubbles; and birthday punch with sherbet mixed in!

Thanks to Abbe, we have proof that the kids partied to their heart's content. On the drive home we had five very tired pups!

Jay & Meredith got some good quality hanging out time.

And I learned that it is possible to put three boys next to each other and they will survive.