Fair Fun

We did do our yearly fair visit in the fall over Labor Day weekend. I enjoy looking back at the pumpkin photos to see how much the kids have grown!

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We’ve gotten a lot more selective over time at what we go to see at the fair. I love seeing the pumpkins, the kids like seeing the animals and trucks. When Coraline gets older maybe I can convince her that the craft building is awesome too!

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Oh, how could I forget the rides?

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Coraline really just wanted to hold the yellow duck all by herself but they said she was too little. Second best is petting it.

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Our Big Camping Trip

Last summer, we went camping with family friends in Pennsylvania. We had a great time! Both kids slept great and had a blast being outside constantly (I think Jameson could live outdoors as long as he also had access to an ipad)

We had a little pontoon ride and enjoyed eating, drinking and exploring. Jameson had been suffering from an abscess as a result of an infection that started out as molluscum (kind of like warts), so he couldn’t go in the water but that ended up not being a big deal.

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Picking and digging up slugs and bugs was the highlight of the morning after our first night in the wilderness.

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I think the kids were at a great age, but our younger friends were a little more wild. I hope we get an opportunity to camp a couple times this year as well even if it’s just our little family!

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Beach Day

Beach day last year! For the kids who have never seen a beach, Lake Erie is pretty awesome. Coraline asked on and off for a few months to go to the beach. A proper beach in the south wasn’t really in the plans for 2016, so we went to Lake Erie instead. It was still a win!

Interrupted popcorn snack for this photo can you tell?

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October Visit with Aunt Holly

In October, we had a fun visit with Aunt Holly! Since I hadn’t had enough of the fall color yet, we decided to take an overdue trip to Holden Arboretum and explore their new canopy walk.

Enjoy the photo dump of our fun explorations:

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I also enjoyed the opportunity to use my new wide angle lens again!

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Hiked up and down 220 steps all by herself (with hand holding for mom and dads peace of mind)

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Jameson was a big fan of the little zip line!

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I think we were there just before the peak leaves, but it was such fun to get outside and we had gorgeous weather!

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What’s New?

Hi there

If you are still here, following my occasional ramblings and photographic adventures, thank you! Hopefully, the drought is over. I’m doing some (brief) recaps of 2016 over the next week, and I hope to return to a more regular posting schedule this year. I think it’s important to remember the fun anecdotes in our lives and this is my favorite place to do that.

A lot of my time and attention has been devoted to a New Project.

I have been hard at work on my new business, Rosy Days Photography. If you’re local to the area in northeast Ohio, check it out.

Thanks for your support!

XOXO
Hilary

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59 and a Half

I started thinking about this event right after my parents turned 59 last year. I debated what would be the best celebration for their 60th. With their two birthdays bracketing Christmas and New Years, I knew I would have to rent some place due to weather, and how would I get people to attend during the holidays?

Brian’s dad had a winning suggestion: Just don’t do it around the 60th birthday. The 59-1/2 dual surprise birthday party was born. Or rather, planned and fretted over, with labor and love.

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We really struggled with how to get them out of their house. Holly and I ended up doing all the decorating labor, table and tent set up and shopping. Brian and Tyler (who was also sick) had to visit the Air Force museum with them and the kids to keep them away until the scheduled time.

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Mom was super surprised and jumped right in. She told us that she didn’t think she had really had more than one other dedicated birthday party before. Both of them seemed to have a great time with as many friends and family as we could gather from their combined contact lists.

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We had catering from City Barbecue, iced tea and lots of drinks. It was a sweltering day, but we enjoyed the shade from the tents we rented and the deck awning.

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It was pretty windy. Mom’s candles went out before the song was over!

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Some good friends and family lingered for birthday present opening.

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All the invitees were provided with notecards to write good wishes and memories to our parents, and we included those with photos into a little book (mini project life style).

Since Mom’s siblings were all able to make the trek to their house, we couldn’t go without some reunion style photos.

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As for the kids: my cousin’s girls came to the party and they all got along famously. They had a great time.

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I don’t recall the kids asking why Meemaw and Grandpa were having a birthday party when it wasn’t their birthday but we’ll see what happens this winter when the big 6-0 actually approaches.

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New Ride

This summer, I said goodbye to this wonderful vehicle, the first I bought on my own almost 9 years ago. I even signed it away with my maiden name, for probably the last time. I loved my Kia Sportage, but it was lacking in so many of the nice safety features newer cars have. (And most of Jameson’s daycare payment going away was my incentive for timing).

Here’s my new car on a morning weekend run. It’s a 2017 Subaru Outback. It’s quite a change – push button start, back up camera, all kinds of safety alerts and fancy cruise control. I do love the new car, and the new color, but sometimes I find myself missing my distinctive green in the parking lot!

It’s taken Coraline a bit more time to get used to it. She said she didn’t like this car for a while (but I think that might also be because I was making her get in this car herself since it’s not too high for her). Jameson seemed indifferent after the initial enthusiasm for the new ride!

I, however, still love driving it with the same new enthusiasm a couple months later. Not tired of it yet!

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Garden Addition

This year, with prompting from our neighbor who wanted to expand and fence in their garden, Brian did the same for ours. We had to plant a lot of our sprouts before it was completely done, so I wasn’t able to rotate our “crops” much this year, but next year I’m so excited with the additional space we have to move some things around. I really need to give squash a lot more space, and the tomatoes need some new placement.

Coraline has been looking for treasure in all the holes for our new garden fence. In the very last hole we found pebbles!

Coraline was looking for treasure in all the post holes for our new garden fence. In the very last hole we found pebbles! It was pretty fun to find an actual “treasure.”

The best part, I think, is the stones between each raised bed. No more will I find snakes in tall grass between them!

Here’s Coraline enjoying the fruits of our labor. Snacking on raw green beans. Jameson also tried mint which lasted .2 minutes until he realized it was NOT like gum like we told him. Ha!

We lost most of our squash early again since we were dealing with some powdery mildew. This year we caught it early enough that it didn’t spread to the tomato plants, and we did still get more squash than in years past. We spiralized zucchini for the first time! Coraline loves anything shaped like pasta.

We also got a pumpkin this year! We had sprouts in our compost and I let a couple plants grow. Our first pumpkin rotted on the vine, but we have a second smaller one that I’m going to cut from the vine soon.

We thought we were growing brussel sprouts, but turns out it was broccoli! When they are sprouts they look very similar, and I misplaced the labels early on when we were transplanting things. We added it to our salad the other day, and it wasn’t bitter like the broccoli we have had in the past. We also are trying eggplant this year, and watermelon, but the watermelon isn’t doing much beyond spreading it’s vine everywhere. We lost the one fruit we had to Jameson, oops!

Overall, it’s been a fun year with the garden, and we’ve gotten and used a lot more herbs this year. We are drying them with the food dehydrator. It feels really good to be using a lot more of the food we’re growing this year, and not be stuck with a thousand pots drying out daily!

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Dog Days

The biggest news this year came in the form of this little (not so little anymore) pup. We picked her up literally the day after our Disney vacation at about 10 weeks old. The breeder generously kept her for a couple weeks extra until we returned from vacation.

She’s just so soft. But her mouth is full of sharp teeth. Ha! They are much less sharp now that she has her adult teeth in. We have really enjoyed discovering her personality as she grows. She’s about 6 months old now, and she always wants to play. She adores Jameson, and thinks that Coraline is easy pickings. Just kidding, she likes Coraline too, but she takes advantage of her more.

Her name is Luna.

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We picked her out when she was a couple weeks old. They aren’t super active then, so we picked her based on her little white patch, like her dad’s. The only one of the litter of black puppies that had it!

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Here she is the day we brought her home.

When she was wee little, she always had a crazy ear, though that’s disappeared somewhat.

Coraline, in fear for her toes. Sometimes Coraline just gives up and sits on the steps, behind the baby gate so Luna can’t reach her.

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Likes to sniff bird poop and watch cars til they’re out of sight.

Us after a rainy walk!

Normally I do not walk a dog in the rain but we pressed on our normal route because miss Luna needed some exercise urgently.

It’s definitely been a transition to have a puppy in the house. We were used to an older mellow dog, and Luna is young, playful and needs lots of exercise. From the getgo though she’s been really well behaved in her crate, generally doesn’t bark in it and has always slept through the night. She potty trained relatively fast (though we still have an occasional accident). It’s also wonderful to have a non-shedding pup, though we need to stay on top of getting her trimmed. She tends to get car sick, but is much better than she used to be, so I have high hopes of that resolving completely.

We’ve been through one round of puppy training, but she definitely needs more. We mostly have an issue with jumping and with gnawing on our arms or clothing. She does it for attention or request for play, and thankfully hasn’t torn up anything but a carpet edge. We will leave her out for half hour to an hour by herself, and of course whenever we’re home. During the work week, Brian often comes home at lunch to give her some TLC. She’s a wonderful dog that likes walks, play fetch and tug of war with the kiddos, and also likes to steal Coraline’s blankies. The other day she did eat 3 socks, so she’s definitely a troublemaker in her own mild way.

I do love having a “guard dog” again in the house, and I can’t wait for her to control that urge to soft bite and cuddle with me more. She does do so occasionally now, and I’m hoping I’ll have a runner companion too when I can start training her next spring. Welcome to the family, Luna!

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Bike Riding Summer

After demonstrating her proficiency with pedaling this spring (finally), we traded with the neighbors Jameson and Lily’s old bikes this summer. Coraline and Peyton now have a bike they feel appropriate for them.

Jameson also had a big year for biking, since he started riding sans training wheels. After being pushed down some hills many many times, and riding through the grass a lot with Daddy behind him, one day he finally felt confident enough to try it on the sidewalk.

From there, it was one very short day until he was a pro at riding. And, that’s what we’ve done most of this summer.

Practicing without training wheels!!

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