Getaway!

Once in a while, my husband does something so sweet that it practically knocks my socks off.

If I were wearing socks, that is. (I've been a bit of a flip-flop girl this summer)

What did he do, you ask?

Well, alrighty then, I'll tell you.

He looked at my schedule and found that starting Monday, I have three days off in a row. On his own, he booked two nights at a bed and breakfast in Port Clinton, Ohio.



This is a photo of our suite:

We're going to spend one day exploring the little island of Put-in-Bay...

And another day riding as many roller coasters as we can at Cedar Point...

Mix all that fun with a couple of winery tours, good food and great company, and this promises to be a great get-away. Joe, you rock (even if you cannot seem to locate the laundry basket with your dirty clothes...). This more than makes up for it :)

A huge thank you to Kay, the best mother-in-law in the whole wide world, for watching the kids (and the dog and the cats) while we're gone. You are a marriage-saver, and we are so grateful for you.

Can't wait to share my pictures with y'all later this week!

Yard Sale!

Calling all yard sale lovers!

We are having a yard sale bright and early Saturday morning. If you know where we live, stop on by. If you need directions, give me a call.

Gabe is "so essighted (excited)" to sell his toys. Methinks he really has no idea what "yard sale" implies. I have tried to explain to him that people will (hopefully) give us money for our stuff, then take it to their homes.

He thinks it's gonna be one big party where everyone is just coming over to play.

Should be interesting.

If you hear screams of "Hey, that's mine!" coming from Ohio, that'll be Gabe...

A Funny and A Swap...

First, the funny.

My father-in-law sent me this in an email.

Do you think he's trying to tell me something?




Doesn't matter; I love it. If Ohio doesn't already have this vanity plate, I am so getting it!

Also, did a "Hometown swap" over at Shannon's Nuthouse (like, a month ago) and just realized I had not posted about it.

Jane from Jumpin' in the Jungle had my name, and sent me all kinds of goodies from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tennessee is one of my favorite states ever; I was so excited to see the return address! The best thing in the box: coffee from a local shop in Jane's hometown. Still drinking it, almost gone, need more...

Thanks, Jane! And Shannon, for hosting the swap!

Thanks, Caillou!

One of Gabe's favorite shows is PBS' "Caillou". Maybe 'cause he's four, like Gabe. And has a cat that looks like our Autumn. One of Gabe's wishes is that he could go into the TV and play at Caillou's house. I tell him maybe someday, if he's reeaall good :)

Anywho, thanks to Caillou, Gabe got the great idea of making a sailboat and sending it down the creek in our backyard.

Have you ever made a sail-able boat out of paper?

I hadn't.

But thanks to Google, I found a how-to video and we made an awesome sailboat, Gabe and I.

We went out back and put it to the test.

Gabe ran down the yard, next to his boat, giving it little words of encouragement as it bumped and sailed through the water...

"C'mon, little boat, you can do it! Watch out for that rock! There you go!"

I wish I had a video of that part; it was so stinkin' cute!

With some help from us, the little pink sailboat made it to the culvert. Gabe sat and watched it 'til he couldn't see it anymore, and I snapped away, capturing this little piece of summer magic, knowing we would both remember this day for a long time...

Birthdays, Bloggers and Bats, oh my!

What a busy week we've had around these parts!

Last Thursday was Elijah's 11th birthday. We celebrated with a Mom and me date at King's Island, and a new Nintendo DSi.

Perfect weather. Spending time with my oldest son. Riding rollercoasters and screaming our fool heads off. Getting soaked at the water park afterwards. Good times, folks...




Following in Disney's footsteps, KI has made a "single riders" line for their newest roller coaster. We waited only 3 minutes to get on, and even though we didn't sit right next to each other, we were able to ride at the same time. I LOVE that Elijah likes coasters as much as me!

Incredibly high hill with a 70 degree angle drop!

Coming in for a landing...

We rode it three times that day!

Joe brought Gabe and Isabel up to the waterpark later in the day for some family fun.

Gratuitous Gabe shot:

Kids + water (always) = fun.

Elijah was adamant about wanting a more expensive gift rather than a big party. On his actual birthday, I made him a white cake with white icing and no sprinkles (picky kid). Of course, I did not plan ahead, and only had ten candles. So I improvised.

5 + 4 + 2 = 11!

Get it?!

The whole fam (Joe's a bit sweaty from putting together the new basketball hoop from Mamaw and Papaw, in the 100 degree heat! Gabe was upset over not getting to blow out the candles for a third time).

Elijah had a baseball game against his best friend later that evening, and I had a date with some bloggers.

Catherine from HiHoOhio, Jennifer from Three Little Indians and their friend, Jeanne, came up to Lebanon for dinner. It was my first time ever meeting Jennifer in real life.

(A little background: When I started blogging two years ago, Jennifer was my first non-family commenter. She and Catherine were friends in Texas, and when Catherine moved to Ohio, we became friends, too.)

We had to document our exciting first get-together (with our blogs in mind, of course! Thanks to Catherine for capturing the moment with my camera.)

We ate dinner at the historic Golden Lamb Inn in downtown Lebanon. The food was decent, the wine was good, but the company was the best! We laughed 'til we cried over Jeanne's fake southern Steel Magnolian accent, the offer of a lap dance from the busboy, and the swooping "historic" bat that decided to join us for dinner. It was a fabulous evening, and I was sorry to see it end. Someday I am flying to Texas to visit, Jennifer, I'm telling you!

(See, meeting other bloggers IRL isn't so scary, is it?)

Although we were crazy busy with work, baseball and kids, this last week has been a blast! I love summer!

Winner winner chicken dinner times two!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:22 9
Timestamp: 2009-06-19 01:52:37 UTC

And the winners of my favorite summer things 400 post extravaganza are:

Carabee and The Queen in Residence.

Email me your addresses so I can mail you your gifts, girls!

Thanks to everyone for your great comments. Clearly, we are a summer-lovin' kind of group! I loved reading about all of your favorite things about summer!

Number 400!!

(Drum roll, please...)

Here it is, my 400th post!

I was racking my brain, trying to come up with something witty, something to make you laugh, or heck, something to make you cry (seems I'm pretty good at that, too; I am the queen of sap).

But when I try to write a post like that on purpose, the words just won't come.

Instead, I'm having a contest.

It's my 400th post Heather's favorite summer things contest.

I'm gonna pick two winners. On Friday. No special rules, just leave a comment about your favorite thing about summer, and I'll use the random integer thing to pick two lucky people.

What will you win?

Well, I love The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. And I love Target, especially Target gift cards. OPI nailpolish in bright colors. Rain gum by Extra. Yankee candles in summer fragrances. Starbucks coffee. Shopping at Kohl's. Making handmade cards with pretty new paper from Hobby Lobby.

Get the idea?

Here's to 400 more!