Friends!

Our first group of friends from Indy came this past Tuesday night. The Sohockis became great friends with us only over the past year but we grew close fairly quick. Usually the adults introduce the kids but this time it was Ella & their oldest daughter, Amanda, who introduced us. We have known about the Sohockis for years but it wasn't until the girls were in Kindergarten that we got to know them well.

We did sleepovers and playdates often when we lived in Fishers and knew we would miss them a ton when we moved. Brian does work here in Cincy every 6 weeks so this time, the family came along. While Ella was at VBS, we went to the zoo for a few hours (thank goodness for shade and indoor exhibits). Amanda then came with me to pick up Ella from VBS. It was such a cute sight to see as Ella saw Amanda and ran towards her with open arms (and screams of joy).

Amanda played with Ella for a few hours and then Jenny and her other two children (Ella, who is Laney's age, and Aiden, who is a few months ahead of Matthew) came over for dinner. It is so nice when we get together because each child has somebody to play with :)

Love the shades

Last time we didn't make it to the giraffes so I was excited to head there.
It was a new exhibit (I believe) and you get right up there with them.
We got there right in time for each of our kids to feed the giraffes a biscuit.

Matthew wanted to feed him through the fence and given the giraffe's long tongue, he was able to get it.

Laney went for the more traditional approach of biscuit feeding

The train is always fun (glad we got the pass where you get to ride the train every time) but the thing I think of when I see this pic? What is UP with my bangs??? Time for a haircut!

Smiling at the Polar Bear exhibit

Matthew was not so sure of the turtle but I was glad I got a quick pic

Getting them all to look was nearly impossible. But 4 of the 5 isn't so bad :)

The workers were out taking the donkey for a walk.

These gorillas were just too cute.
The larger one was stretching his hamstring (or so I thought) and the little one just kept going up and teasing him.

The teasing turned to kissing/whispering sweet nothings in his ear

See...impossible to get all of them to look!

Laney and her wing span :)

You can't come to Cincinnati without going to Graeters (or is that just the ice cream lover in me talking) so we took them to the original one in the city next to us.
This is the fountain in the middle of the square.

Laney, Amanda & Ella


I love the affect of the water


Laney & Ella S.

Ella & Amanda

The sign of a hot day

Jenny & Aiden

Amanda and Ella S. spent the night with us and the girls had such a blast.
All 4 stayed in the same room and slept well--how could they not with the day they had?
When Laney noticed Ella S's skirt she was wearing the next day, she had to put on her matching one.

It was a great visit and we can't wait to see them again!

Fun Weekend

This past weekend we had a great time with my side of the family. My dad's birthday was last Thursday but since Cindy & Tony were coming in town for the Cincinnati Triathlon we thought we would postpone the celebration until Friday night. We gathered around 6 pm and Cindy and Tony pulled in from their 12 + hour drive right around 6:30pm.

My kids just love Auntie Cindy!

Although they had never met Tony, they warmed right up to him. Ok, it took about 30 seconds for them to start hugging, jumping and playing with him.

The boys bonded over the paper airplane that Tony made for MJ.

Given my dad's love of basketball, I had to make him a basketball cake.
Not to mention the fact I only know how to make one shape cake so if you need a golf ball, soccer ball, basketball, baseball or racquetball I am your girl :)

Tony had the kids all involved in a mad game of hide the plastic Easter Eggs. No peaking Tony! (Nana Kay is still finding them in her house).

Grandma Jean had everybody over for pizza on Saturday. Laney had a birthday party so we weren't able to join them but my mom was nice enough to send me a pic of the time we missed. My Aunt Holly flew in from TX to see Cindy's race!

Here was Ella 2 years ago while we waited for Cindy's run portion. I reread that post and it reminded me why I blog so much---to see how much our kids have grown and all the fun things we do with them :)
http://ourfamilyelmtree.blogspot.com/2009/07/run-cindy-run.html

About a week before the race the Willett family started working on signs. The signs showed love with tons of stickers (I tried to keep the fairy stickers off of Tony's though), colorings, stamps, etc. Although some were tough to read as there was so much "love" I love that the girls got so into it. Ella is holding up our favorite sign "Go, Hot Stuff, Go." Hot Stuff is Cindy's Triathlon name!

My Aunt Holly, Mom & Dad

What is a visit to downtown without taking a picture on a pig?

It was so hot on Sunday morning--And I wasn't even really moving!!

Last year we saw Cindy in one spot in the run (we saw her a total of 4ish times but from the same location). This time, we found the best spot. Not only was it shaded, near a water station and by the bridge but you could see them running out for lap 1, coming back from lap 1, heading out for lap 2, coming back from lap 2, crossing the bridge, coming down the bridge and headed towards the finish line. And yeah, I didn't even have to move to enjoy all of that :)

The swim starts fairly early so we didn't make it for that and I don't think you can really view much of the bike, but my dad did see the transition from the bike to the run.

I have to give a major shout out to Tony here!
Get this, Tony just learned to swim a month ago, yes a month ago. Cindy taught him to swim and although he is a very good cyclist and runner, swimming would obviously be the concern. After checking out the course the day before, he decided to go for it (he did his first sprint tri 2 weeks ago but this was his first full tri).

He said he was one of the last people out of the water (it was a mile swim in the Ohio River) and the lifeguard even followed him most of the time asking him if he was ok. Love that determination. I would have said, "take me in." Guess I am not a triathlete :)

But then he got on the bike and we figured he passed well over a 100 folks as he finished in great time and well ahead of many many people. It was awesome!

The first thing Tony said to me when he was crossed the finish line?
Hot Stuff is a machine.
And yes she is! Cindy beat her time from 2 years ago by over 25 minutes!!! It seemed like she finished it so quickly this time and looked great throughout the run section.

After we saw her by the bridge we headed up to the top of the bridge to cheer.

First we saw Tony and then about 5 minutes behind was Cindy (men start before women when entering the water). Cindy said it was like a "Where's Waldo?" with our family as we kept popping up at different locations to view them. The Purple People Bridge was a tough stretch as the sun was beating down and there was a large hill to run up. By the second lap everybody was walking up the bridge.

I love this pic of Dad and Ella showing their signage to Cindy. I personally think the girl next to Cindy was just jealous she didn't have a Hot Stuff sign.


Once I saw Cindy pass me on the bridge and before Tony came the other way across the bridge (you go down and back on the bridge), I ran to the finish line. Notice the word ran. I thought I would have plenty of time to find the perfect angle to take a picture of him, but before I knew it he was crossing the line. (2:59:43)

Cindy crossing that wonderful finish line. (2:54:12)
25 minutes better than 2 years ago!

Way to go!!

Two years ago when we came, Ella was bummed she didn't have her swim suit. Ella has the best memory out there and packed what she needed for watching the race and then for swimming (extra shoes, sunscreen, hat, swimsuit and a change of clothes).

I think Cindy enjoyed the cool off as well!

Ok, we all enjoyed it! It felt amazing.
This water park was here when I was a kid but the part where the sprinklers are used to be a 3 foot pool. I loved the sprinkler idea and given it isn't too far from our house, we might just need to pack a lunch and go sometime. There is a great park a few steps away, fun bikes to rent and this splash pad is just at a beautiful place in the city.

What a fun weekend!