Spring Break Road Trip

We had a pretty packed Spring Break!

From Columbus....to Bluffton...

...to Chicago...We had lunch at the famous Chicago-style pizza place: Giordano's.
We walked along Michigan Avenue: a little shopping, a pose by the Chicago River, (we actually walked right by Jesse Jackson), and a stop at the Hershey's store!

We ended our trip downtown with a visit to the Field Museum.

(There were some pretty frightening bugs there!)

We also enjoyed some great cousin time.

We went to lunch at Portillo's for some more Chicago-style food, to Chuck E. Cheese, and enjoyed watching one of our favorite shows--"American Idol"--together.

And you've heard of "tennis elbow"? Uncle Scott and Uncle Jon played so many games of pool that I think they are being treated for "billiard elbow".

Now onto Indiana....

for some more great cousin fun!

Aunt Brittany gave Abby some personal volleyball lessons, Uncle "E" took us all to the gym to shoot some hoops and run on the track, and most of all we just enjoyed hanging out. We were also thrilled to have some time with our friends Jeff & Lisa and their family.

So...it was a packed trip, but a blast to spend time with family.

Thanks to everyone who hosted us! We love you!

A Domestic Day

It was so nice to have a day where we had NOTHING we had to do. So, what better way to spend it than doing a little sewing & cooking? Abby & Anna both did some sewing, and Abby made us a delicious dinner of chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice, and cheesy biscuits. Yum!

Spring??

April 6th or January 6th? It's amazing, but we had periods of blizzard-like conditions today....our first day of Spring Break! Ha! Oh, well...we're just glad to not have any homework to do.

Making up for lost time

Okay, okay....I know I've been negligent in blogging, but we have been keeping quite a schedule. Here are a few highlights:

I helped Anna's class make candles the old-fashioned way!

One of Abby's birthday presents...from Aunt Brittany and Uncle E--how appropriate!

Abby celebrated her 13th for what seemed like forever! As you saw in a previous blog, she enjoyed a limo ride and ice skating with her friends. Great Aunt Linda surprised Abby and showed up at her last period class 3 days before her birthday and took her shopping and out to dinner. We had a cake for her while at the Champs swim meet at Ohio University, then on her actual birthday Mama and Papa came down and took her to lunch and a movie. And to top it off....her family and friends sent her wonderful letters of love and encouragement. What a memorable 13th birthday!

Abby on the court in her first club volleyball tournament. She started and played every game. Go Abby! She has her second tournament tomorrow.

The Great Lakes Zones Meet at Ohio State University

Anna qualified for the Zones meet in swimming, where she had to qualify with a time. She had the privilege of swimming in 2 relays, and was one second away from qualifying in breaststroke. It was a wonderful experience for her as she swam in the beautiful facility at OSU and swam against some very good swimmers from a 5-state region.

The first relay took place on Saturday the 17th. Anna was the lead-off swimmer for the Free Relay. Unfortunately, because she just "flinched" at the start, they disqualified her team. They still swam their best time together. The second relay was on Sunday. This was the Medley Relay, and she swam last as the freestyler. Their team placed 17th out of 3o. Not too bad for a group of 10-year-olds! We were so proud of her!

What a weekend!

Boy, have we had a packed weekend! The girls didn't have school Friday (imagine that-- but this time due to Parent-Teacher Conferences, not snow). We decided to trek to the metropolis of Bluffton. The girls each took a friend with them, too--something they have always wanted to do. So, Abby & Lauren, Anna & Emily, and I headed to smalltownville on Thursday evening. :) The four girls had a great time on Friday. We took them out to the Dollar General, then dropped them off uptown where they walked Main St. and visited Grove's Bears, Greg's Pharmacy, the Etcetera Shop, then finished their time hanging out at Common Grounds and sipping on hot cocoa and coffee.

One of the things we were all looking forward to doing was sledding, but the bitter windchill was a concern. We called all over town, and even a few places in Lima and Findlay to check on the availability of ski masks, but to no avail. Instead, we deferred to Plan B to protect those cheeks from the cold: make our own. Mama had an idea to cut up old Tshirts of Papa's, then cut eye and mouth holes. We even turned it into a craft project by decorating them! Needless to say, we got a few stares as we drove down the road to get to the hill.

Friday night we enjoyed a rowdy night of tacos and Scattergories. Has anyone ever heard of a Licorice Latte? (If you have, don't tell Dad.) Andrea's (Wendy's high school friend) daughter, Paige, joined us that night to finish out the weekend. Abby requested that she be there for Abby's friend birthday celebration. We drove back to Columbus Saturday morning, went to a swim meet, then launched into an early birthday party for Abby. Yes, what you see in the picture is true....we rented a limo to pick up the girls for the evening! They happened to be in the living room playing on the piano and saw the limo pull up in our court. Jokingly, they said, "Oh, look, the limo is here to get me." I could hear the squeals from outside. Little did they know that it was indeed there for them. The driver was a friend of a friend, so we got a good deal and a nice guy to make a stop at Graeter's for ice cream, then on to the Chiller at Easton to go ice skating. They had a great time, and hopefully a memorable 13th celebration for Abby!

Chopped Liver

Well, we had another snow day today. So far, we have (had) about 5 inches on the ground, but it's been sleeting for several hours now. They say it's supposed to change back to snow tonight. That probably means another day off school tomorrow. That would make Day #6. And that leads me to my topic for today....chopped liver. Actually, I'm having a bit of a pity party. Last week when we were off so many days in a row, I thought, "Oh, this will be great together time with the girls. We can bake cookies, play games, do a puzzle or a craft...." Well, I'm not sure if it's their age, or if I am truly that boring, but the girls were not takers on any of those options. Instead, they had friends over, went to friends' houses, watched TV.... Today, before Anna went to her friend's house today, she said, "Sorry, Chopped Liver. I really do love you, though." :) They know I will always be here when they need me, and independence is one of our goals for them, but sometimes it's hard to face that our role in their lives is changing. So for now, I will seize every moment I can.

Speech Meet

Wednesday, January 31 was our class speech meet. I did a fable called Someone Sees You. We had to get up in front of the whole class and say it. We had to do it in front of two judges too. We had to say it nice and loud. The class speech meet was for a grade. The fourth grade teachers,Mrs. Ward and Mrs. Clark,discussed it and came up with two people in each class and from each catagory. I was one of the people that they picked! I will be going to the big speech meet on March 24th. Wish me luck!
Anna