Whew, What A Busy Day!

We had a wonderful day of errands.  I usually wouldn't say that for myself, but when shopping for little ones, it makes things so much more fun!  Abby needed new soccer and ballet supplies and I was able to get a few pictures to show off all the cuteness!

Here they are waiting in a super cool soccer ball chair:

Abby trying on her new shin guard socks:

I may be getting some of our errands out of order but I think we then stopped at AP & UB's house. It was very nice and the girls gave me a great tour. They even showed me how to assemble a toy that I recognized from my childhood days...

Of course, when it was time to leave, Cousin Kirsten had trouble figuring out which shoes were hers! Thankfully she had Lizzy to help her figure out who's was who's!

After a trip to the library to return/borrow more books and DVDs we went to the ballet store.  I think this picture sums up all the cuteness we experienced:

Abby got a new ballet outfit for her upcoming classes. I think she looks pretty adorable!

And when it comes to adorable, Abby has some stiff competition!

We finalized our morning of errands by going to a fabulous deli and bakery for lunch/dessert. I was told that the bakery had wonderful cupcakes and of course I was excited to check that out! I forgot to get a picture, so I think we will need to go back one more time to so I can get one...isn't that right, Kara??? We wouldn't want to disappoint our readers! ;)

Two Blogs In One!

Since I'll be off my typical schedule this week and I'm with my cousin who is an awesome blogger, I thought for this week you can read both mine and my cousin's!  Her link is: http://beantownmommy.blogspot.com

Where In The World Is Kirsten?

I'm in Massachusetts!  Oh yeah, that's right!  This was a very last minute trip for me and I'm so happy it worked out.  Matt is traveling this week to NC and I have been wanting to visit my cousins, so I went to the airport with Matt and was able to hop on a flight!

I was welcomed by three wonderful ladies - Cousins Kara, Abby and Lizzy!!! So far we have done lots of visiting and coloring! I'll be sure to take oodles of pictures this week so you can join us in all the fun!

Maumee Bay In Review

Maumee Bay, as I said before, was so relaxing.  I promised photos and here they are!

I took a lot of photos of a little beach off the lake.  I was amazed to find that instead of sand, the beach was covered with shells!

Isn't that unbelievable!?  I've never seen so many shells!

This is when I decided to get a little more fancy with the camera...

Below is Matt's work group. I'll admit that at this point in time, I felt a little guilty having so much fun while watching him work!

This is just a random flower shot I thought was pretty. However, look at the huge bee! I sacrificed myself to take this photo to share with you all! ;)

Of course I had to take a picture of the Buckeye Pie I had.  It was (almost) too pretty to eat!

As I ate my wonderful meal, I enjoyed an even more wonderful sunset view.

Look Familiar?

I'm back at Maumee Bay State Park and it's just as wonderful as I had remembered it. In case you don't recall, I visited here back in the Spring when Matt had a work gathering in which he lived the lavish live of free food and alcohol. Well, he's back - so I'm back! Whereas I don't see much of Matt, it's so nice to be by the beach riding my bike, swimming and hanging out.

Yesterday, I arrived after having a catch up lunch with Gloria. She recently got back from Spain, so I wanted to hear how it went. I immediate hopped into the heated indoor pool and took a nice long swim. Then I played a little racquet ball and followed that with a walk to the beach. I took pictures that I'll share later - once I have a better internet connection. About that time, dinner time had hit my stomach so I treated myself to a delicious meal with a sunset view. I had the best seafood bisque in my life! I then joined a group of families watching Robin Hood. :) It's pretty funny because after the kids got finished watching the cartoon, Matt's work group found the movie and I caught a bunch of them watching it. There is nothing like seeing grown men, drinking beer, and watching a Disney cartoon.

That night, Matt and I did manage to swim together and we concluded the evening by watching Robin Hood with the rest of the group.

Today I'm writing from the very spot I blogged last time. It's so peaceful here and I'll be sad to go. :(

We Won!!!

Check out this trophy!

We won 1st place for our softball championship and this was our team's trophy! I obviously don't get to keep it, so I thought I would take a picture with it so I can remember it's hugeness! :)

Before the game, I was surprised by a wonderful gift from Theresa - a new Tigger! He was our good luck charm!

And here is the winning team! I was disappointed that Matt wasn't able to join us for our last game. He left yesterday for a two day trip.  While we were playing, he was off enjoying his free steak and chicken dinner and open bar...geeze!

A Colorful Day

I had my coloring event yesterday and it was a total success as you can see!

And here are the kids' artwork.  I'm like a proud mama! ;)

That evening Matt came home later than expected so I tagged along with Steph and Steve for their corn hole tournament.  

Sadly they lost, but it was fun being their cheerleader again. :) Since Matt got home late and he's traveling again today, we decided to go on a very late date since we never see each other! We saw The Other Guys and enjoyed it a lot. Matt and I are going to have to get really creative with seeing one another for the next few weeks!  He'll be gone until the end of the this week, then he'll be home for the weekend and then he's going to NC for all of next week. Geez, Louise! Was it something I said?! ;)

This Post Is Not For The Faint Of Heart!

I didn't know that I was living in the Amazon!  Check out this bug that I am living amongst!

Seriously! Can you believe this!? This is a cicada and they are everywhere. You can hear them at night - just like a cricket but I'd hate to have one of these fly on to me! It's wild out here folks!

Where To Start...

Well, I promised an action packed weekend and I delivered!

Friday night, Matt and I went to his company's annual Rib Fest. We started by watching a volleyball tournament. This was the extension off the one I had participated in a few weeks back, when the tournament was interrupted by weather.  We knew a bunch of people on one team so Matt and I sat in their cheer leading section.

Sadly, the team we were rooting for lost - but they still got a 2nd place trophy. Here is Paul with his winnings.  As you can tell, he's not too broken up about 2nd place. :)

Then it was rib time..

The portions were quite generous as you can see...

Here is Paul and Kate having a great time -

And of course, the three stars of the blog... :) I just love Matt's bib! :)

On Saturday, I started my day off right, I had donuts with Steph! She and I both had different plans for the day, so we decided to have a quick breakfast together. Eric (yes, Yellow Pants) drove into town for business, and we are blessed with his presence for a whole week! Since Steph was hanging out with Eric, she wasn't able to join me and some lady friends to a local event. However, the weather struck again and prevented us from going. That didn't stop us though, we went to lunch instead...

From left to right: Kate (co-worker), Kate (wife of co-worker), Mary (co-worker), Theresa (Matt's boss), and Your's Truly...

And of course we had to go and get some cupcakes afterwards! :)

Yesterday, I had another great day.  It started off sad because Matt left for a trip to IL for a couple of days. But I bounced back and went to a local art fair with Kyle (of Jenny and Kyle, our other neighbor friends). Jenny had run a race earlier that morning and was pretty pooped, so she decided to stay back and nap. After Kyle and I checked out the local art scene, I stayed back and checked it out again with Mary, Kate and Theresa. Later that evening, Steph, Eric, Jenny, Kyle and I had a BBQ at the pool. We chowed down and then played corn-hole. It was a great night!

I'm A Cleaning Fool Today

This morning I awoke and decided to clean the apartment.  It's something I hate doing but after a couple of weeks worth of dirt build up, my cleanliness side takes over.  So I've been a busy little bee cleaning.

Tonight we are going to a rib fest that Matt's company is putting on. Supposedly, this is one of the larger events the company puts on, so I'm excited to check it out and visit with Matt's colleagues.

Enjoying The Sunshine...While We Have It!

Yesterday we played our 2^nd to last game for our softball league.  Our team made is currently in the championship and next week is our final game.  We won last night (hooray!) which means that if we win next week, we’ll be this year’s champs.  Wish us luck!

Today I decided to get out of the house and work downtown for a change of pace.  There is a great Greek restaurant I like to dine at that also serves smoothies.  Currently, I’m sipping on my favorite – the PB&J smoothie - and it’s proving to be a very yummy lunch! J While working, I’m also watching vendors set up for the Thursday night Farmer’s market.  I hope I can get some good fruit tonight.

Later this evening, Matt has a hot date with the other lady in his life – no, not Bonnie - our boat!  She needs some major TLC, so Matt plans to treat her right tonight!  He’ll be starting the date by taking her out to the parking lot (oooh – ahhh) and give her a nice cleaning.  Then, he is going to figure out why she doesn’t have the “get-up-and-go” she used to have.  Doesn’t that sound like fun date!?  Yeah right! I told Matt that I didn't want to be a third wheel, so I'll be watching a movie instead... 

Wish I could write something else fun, but unfortunately, that’s all that’s been happening.  Thankfully, we are doing a lot of fun things this weekend so stay tuned! J

Out To Lunch

Yesterday I was invited to lunch with Matt's work crowd at a Thai restaurant they frequent a lot. There were 9 of us total and we had a great time!

As you all know, eventually Matt and I will be moving again.  As to when or where, we do not know.  We've estimated (based on seniority) that Matt is somewhere between 6 - 8 on the list to be transferred out to a factory.  There is no exact timing this this list, we just estimate that there will be at least 5 people that should be moving before Matt.  Anyway, as of recent, Matt was higher on the list until 2 people were placed on the west coast. Sadly, they were Tracey, CA and Portland, OR, so it's very unlikely that Matt will be placed at either factory. There are some other west coast plants that may become available, but the two closest to our CA homes will most likely not be available when Matt's turn rolls around.

That evening Paul came over for a BBQ. We cooked up ribs and sliders and they were scrumptious! Afterwards, I was hankering for some dessert so we went with Steph for ice cream. :)

Kirsten, Don't Be Such A Blonde!

On Monday night, I was talking with Mom and Dad and they asked me how my kid's event went on Friday.  I started to tell them about it and I said, well wait, didn't you read about it in the blog?  Silence. They then told me they had see a post that described the upcoming event but had seen nothing about the actual event itself. It was at that point that I realized that I thought I had written about it, but never actually did! Oh geez, Kirsten!

So...here's the scoop on the Sundae Bar event! It was so much fun! As a surprise bonus, a neighbor of mine came to the event and did face painting! Between ice cream and face paintings, the kid's were on cloud nine.

Look at all the toppings they bought - milk and dark chocolate, butterscotch, cherries, strawberries, pineapple, caramel, marshmallow, m&ms, and Reese's pieces! There was even another huge tub of ice cream that was to the right of the photo!

I thought you would get a kick out of some of the kid's face paintings - they are so cute!

Guess Who's Back?

Well, all in all, this weekend was pretty boring to report about.  Saturday consisted of errands and movie watching. I got up early on Sunday and drove to the airport to pick Matt up.  It's nice to have him back in OH! We got very little sleep on Saturday night so we spent the day lazing around. We did muster enough energy to go to a rather large fruit/veggie stand that I discovered on Saturday. I'm pretty excited about it. We haven't had a lot of luck with fresh fruit or veggies since leaving CA, so I'm glad we now have access to this place.

And that's it - sadly, the fruit/veggie stand was the highlight of our weekend so now you know how unexciting it was...sigh!

On a different note - I want to wish Happy Birthday to Jill and Happy Anniversary G&G!

All By Myself...

Matt is still away in Chico and is having a nice visit with his family. He's flying home this weekend so our Ohio family will finally be complete again. We sure do miss him around here! I knew Matt's job would involve traveling, but I guess I never realized it would be for such long stints! Even though I saw him in CA, I realized that in the past two weeks, I've only seen him for basically three days...

Steph also left yesterday to spend a fabulous weekend with Eric and his family at their beach house. Doesn't that sound wonderful!? I asked her to pack me in her suitcase and can you believe she wouldn't? What kind of friend is she? ;)

At least I'll be distracted today with my first kid's event for the month. Today I'll be serving up sundaes to all the kids (and kids at heart) that stop by.  Many, many, tenants have expressed their gratitude for this event! :)

Chazz Is Taking Precautions...

Chazz heard about me eating my "babies" (aka the cherry tomatoes) and he decided that he needed protection while he slept. Geez, OK Chazz, I get the hint! Whatever...I wouldn't want to eat you anyway, you are too hairy! ;)

My Babies Have Grown Up

I'm proud to announce that my first cherry tomatoes have grown up and have ripened.  Don't they look beautiful? Sadly, they lasted about 1 minute because I washed and ate them. Oh, I'm such a bad mother. But, I am a very supportive mother because they were amazing! I'm so excited for the next batch of little ones!

CA Recap, Cont x2...

For my final day, we went back to Old Town Sac and saw our friends Jen & Seth and their two kids, Thomas and Lena. They too are growing like weeds! What's with all of our friends having quick growing kids! ;)

We went to the train museum. Thomas and Seth both love trains and we had a blast watching the kids ooh-and-aww over the trains.

Look at how tiny Thomas is compared to the train!

Afterwards we went to lunch - as you can see, Matt and Jen worked very hard at coloring with Lena.

Thomas, on the other hand, was too busy looking at the menu.

At least he got up to enjoy the view! :)

CA Recap, Cont...

The next day we returned to see Mom & Dad and went on an underground tour of Old Town Sacramento. We started by going out to lunch.

The tour was interesting and I didn't know that Old Town Sac had an underground history. We toured both above and below ground so we could see the before and after. If only they didn't have us wear those silly hard hats!

Here is our tour guide - she was really good.

And here are some random shots of the tour itself:

This building was raised due to major flooding back in the 1800's.  It used to be one floor down - ie, under the street.

I just thought this was pretty.  :)

And of course, this is the underground portion of the tour. Unfortunately, flash photography wasn't allowed so I didn't get a good picture.