Nothing like the Nati

Next highlight... a trip to my hometown- Cincinnati! (Yes, this was in July!)

For the past few years, while Shawn is studying for the BAR (poor guy!), the boys and I have made a summer trip to be with my family. Ory still talks about wanting to go Papa and Nana's house and this is why...

My parents house is a kid's dream... swimming

Orin even got to swim with the big boys... Uncle Jake & the football team! He was lovin' it!

Golf

Jumping or more like wrestling on the trampoline

Playing with Nana's homemade play dough

My boys were also horribly spoiled... they ate steak almost every night (one of the few things Brody would eat!) and of course, ate ice cream with Uncle Matt!

Adventures:

Papa took Ory on a few outings... my dad is such an amazing grandpa! They went to the Newport Aquarium and the Red's baseball game.

I don't think they actually were able to watch any of the game... pretty much chasing Ory!

Playing at Sparky's water park

Our other adventures were with my best friend growing up, Tiffany, and her adorable little girls are the same ages of my little boys. We had a blast swimming at their "castle" as Ory called it, going to the Cincinnati Zoo, and the Children's Museum @ Union Terminal!

Brody is obsessed with animals and LOVED the petting zoo!

The highlights for me were:

Seeing good friends from high school! Yay! They both look amazing!

Eating Graeter's Black Raspberry Chip ice cream

Going to The Gap Outlet (found a Banana dress for $20! Love it!)

Scrapbooking at my mom's store: Scraps, etc...

Going on walks

Being home

Independence Day

I know what you're thinking... isn't it November and not July! Well I always hope to be able to catch up with my life. So we'll see with a week off of school how well I do... let the bloggin' begin!

At the end of June, we took a quick trip up to St. George to stay with Shawn's parents. We swam (Brody hates to be splashed, and hates cold water!)

We chilled.

We ate frozen custard... then after Brody puked everywhere realized that it has eggs, which he is allergic too! Oops!

We did our traditional going to grandma and grandpa's house activities: riding the scooter, feeding the fish, going to the park and splash place. It is always so nice to be with grandma and grandpa Patterson!

Next stop was Viva Las Vegas... Nelson style. Which for my family meant working on the new little house they bought! We met them there and hung out at the new house, went to see Toy Story 3 (so cute, loved the ending!), and a fabulous New York pizza place! They had more Chicago style pizza there too... it was huge, but so good!

July 4th, Independence Day!

I am proud to be an American. I get the chills every time I hear any patriotic song and LOVE that I get to say the Pledge of Allegiance each day in my classroom. Thankfully I married into a family where the men are great cooks... Mason and Shawn made red, white and blue(berry) pancakes to kick off this day to independence.

The next day was we got together to have a BBQ... friends, family, food, fun, fireworks, Shawn taking a fall... everything that makes the 4th special.

(Warning: Children please do not try this at home)

Of course, it's not a party until Uncle Mese takes the toys from the children!