Happy Memorial Day!

We had a great Memorial Day! This morning we went to swim with cousins at Ginger's. It was kind of cloudy, but still warm outside. After about an hour of swimming, the skies turned dark gray and the wind started blowing like crazy! We all took cover in the house and enjoyed chatting and eating some tarts :)

This evening we finally took advantage of our deck and hosted a barbecue. I hit up the Dollar Spot at Target for some festive decor, and we had fun putting everything together. We certainly enjoyed good food with good company!

Note to self: don't be a cheap skate the next time you buy plates, especially if you don't have a table for everyone to sit at and you're serving heavy stuff like corn on the cob.

This was my first ever attempt at making cheesecake. It was fun to decorate, and it turned out pretty good (minus that huge crack on the bottom).

I think the highlights of the night were:

• Jack peeing his pants and having to wear some of Macie's princess panties and short shorts.
• A game of couple's boccie- the Heaton's ended up winning. I think it was because Justin kept making farting sounds while everyone else took their turn... threw off our game. Haha!
  

Things kind of ended in a hurry when those dark clouds came rolling in again, this time with thunder. Luckily, we got everything cleaned up before the rain started falling. It was a good way to end Spencer's 3 week break.

A Day at the "Beach"

The weather this week has been beautiful and hot, hot, hot! I have been practically melting at school in my windowless cracker-box-of-a-room. Spencer has a low threshold for heat and has been running the AC nonstop (except when I make him turn it off!). This morning we enjoyed cooling off at a beach on Lake Erie with the Barnum's.

Sydney is a water baby! She wanted to be in the "waters" (sometimes "tubby") almost the whole time.

The water was pretty cold at first, but that didn't stop us from plopping down in it and playing with our new sand bucket and water toys. We also had fun walking around in it and doing "motorboat" over and over.

The gang: Macie, Geoff, Addie, Becky, Sydney, Spencer

I put SPF 70 sunscreen on Sydney two times while we were there, and she still got sunburned! I got a little bit burned too, but I'm always grateful for at least some color to replace my bright white skin (even if it's red).

The Perfect Thursday Afternoon

We've had a good time having Spencer home for the past few weeks, but it kind of stinks that I have to work for most of his time off. Thank goodness that I'm only part-time so we can take advantage of having him home! This afternoon was the best- we have some friends with season tickets to the Indians games, and since they couldn't make it to this afternoon's game, they offered them to us! Score!!

Sydney telling Daddy she wanted to "bock" (walk) while I tried to take a picture. It was the best one I caught of the two of them with the whole ball park in the background :)

Our seats were sweet! We were about 10 rows back from the dugout, and felt totally spoiled.

The highlight of the game for Sydney was seeing Slider, who she started calling "Spider" and then transitioned to calling him "Elmo." She must have a mind like a steel trap because we have only seen Elmo on TV like 2 times (although one of those times was this morning, but it was only for a few minutes).

Spencer giving Slider a high-five. He said that Sydney said "Whoa" when Slider walked by. She watched him walk around near our section for a while and kept asking me, "Where'd he go?" (or in Sydney talk, "Whey go?").

She sat on our laps for most of the game and ate the lunch I stashed for her in my diaper bag.

We had such a great time (even though the Indians got killed) and couldn't have asked for better weather. Thank you thank you thank you to our friends!!

Later that afternoon, Sydney and I took a little walk down the street. She always like to go to her friend's house to climb the stairs and knock on the door.

It was such a perfect day! Now work tomorrow... but only 7 more work days for me. Hooray!!

Farm Park

This afternoon we went to the Farm Park and had a great time! It was so fun to take Sydney to see farm animals in real life instead of just in books. We went late enough in the day that there were hardly any other people there. We started out seeing cows, including a 10 day old calf that was soooo cute. Then we headed over to the barn to see some sheep, pigs, and goats.

Sydney is such a good talker and was so good at repeating the names of all of the animals, especially "goat." These cute little baby goats were wandering around outside of their cages, and they were the perfect size for petting.

She had no fear getting right in there and petting them, and they had no fear of her not-so-gentle touch. It was the perfect combination, and so cute to see!

When we went over to see the outdoor pigs, sheep, and alpacas, it was dinner time for the animals. It got LOUD when the truck pulled in and the animals were all making noise to let the workers know they were hungry!

I think Sydney was a little intimidated by the animals that practically climbed onto the gate when they were waiting for their food, so she pretty much stayed in my arms the entire time. Sometimes she'll say "Hold you," when she wants to be held, which always makes me smile.

We got to do lots of walking around outside, and found this little play area.

Then we played on this swinging bench for a few minutes before heading out. Despite Sydney's negative reaction to swings earlier this spring, she seems to be coming around.

We had to admire the "wa wa" that we passed on the way back to the car. Sydney was mesmerized by the water fountains in the ponds throughout the park.

Afterward, we drove through a nearby neighborhood that had tons of beautiful homes. We couldn't help but dream about our future dream home, and I had to snap a picture of this one. Love love love it.

Today

Today was Spencer's last day as a 3rd year dental student! He took two finals, then went to the driving range with Chase to celebrate the start of their 3 week break. After dinner, we celebrated as a family by going to Mitchell's for some chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream. We had lots of people complimenting our cute baby; Sydney's sweet little chocolate covered face really was adorable. When we got home, it was storming outside. Spencer set up chairs in the entryway so he and Sydney could watch the rain together.

These two are going to be together quite a bit over the next few weeks. Despite Spencer's break, I still have about a month of work left. At least we don't have to pay a babysitter for the rest of the month!

Stella Returns

Last week when we upstairs playing with Sydney's kitchen- a Christmas present that she has become kind of obsessed with in the last few weeks- we looked out the window and saw that Stella the dog was in our neighbors back yard again! Sydney was so excited to see a "doggie" (which is pretty much what she calls every animal that isn't a bird), so I took this cute video of her outside with Stella.

Maybe we won't ever have to get a dog of our own... maybe we will just have neighbors that have dogs so we can enjoy them if we want, but without having to take care of a pet of our own!

Daffodil Sunday

On Sunday afternoon we drove through one of our favorite Cleveland landmarks: Lakeview Cemetery. It was their annual "Daffodil Sunday." Once we got into the cemetery, I got Sydney out of her car seat and sat her on my lap while we drove around and took in the scenery. It was so beautiful with all of the flowers and flowering trees in bloom!

Spencer & Sydney on "Daffodil Hill."

Me & Sydney

I'm already looking forward to "Azalea Sunday" coming up in a few weeks. Spring is my favorite time of year!