Cougar homecoming...

No...I'm still not a BYU fan but when my husband is and all of our friends are it's just easier to be a part of the crowd instead of against it. On Saturday BYU had their homecoming game against New Mexico so Shae, Rhaegan and I decided to have a little party with are good friends Bart and Crystal. We had some great food and Rhaegan was completely set with books, her own movie, puzzles; you name it, she had it (I didn't think she would sit for 2 hours and watch a football game. I had to prepare myself). Of course Shae thought we all needed to sport the appropriate attire so we pulled out Rhaegan's BYU shirt from last year, I wore one of Shae's old shirts because lets face it, Utah is the logo found on the majority of my T-shirts, and Shae wore a BYU track shirt. Rhaegan brought along "Cougar" (Cosmo is their mascots name but she thought cougar was more fitting) and we all enjoyed some game time together. I of course had to introduce our friends to Skyline Chili Dip!!!!! I brought several cans of Skyline back from my trip to Ohio so I made the dip. Bart thought it's okay, but Crystal loved it. It's an acquired taste I must admit but I love it. puzzle time
Family photo in all of our BYU gear
Bart having a little nibble while cooking our hamburgers. It was 39 degrees yesterday so thanks Bart and Shae for standing outside to make us food.
Rhaegan and Nacho. They are seriously best friends.

My New Favorite Thing

I've decided that each week I'm going to blog about "my new favorite thing" for that week. This entry may seem a little weird to some people but if you are a parent and if you believe in flu shots for your kids then you will appreciate (or understand) this particular "favorite" of mine.
Yesterday I made an appointment for Rhaegan to get her flu shot. We prepared her for the little pinch and the awesome Band Aid she would get afterward. She was totally okay with the whole concept (well, she probably had no clue what was really going to happen). We get to the doctor's office and they say, "do you want the nasal spray or the shot?" "There's a nasal spray?" I said. Well shoot, lets do the spray. It lasts an entire year (the shot only last 6-8 months) and it doesn't hurt. Rhaegan was so good. She just sat there and let them squirt the mist up each nostril. That is why this week my new favorite thing in FluMist!

(I know, this picture is weird and creepy all rolled into one but it's the only one I could find.)

We're back!!

Rhaegan and I have been home for about a week now and are finally back into the swing of things. Our house was absolutely spotless when we arrived thanks to my wonderful husband. When I say spotless I am not exaggerating at all!! It was cleaner than it's ever been. It's always great to come home after a long trip and not have to clean ANYTHING. Thanks, Shae.

Here are the last of the pictures. We were lucky enough to get to go to King's Island again and this time we went with everyone (Nick, Denise, Nils, Krista, Grandma and Grandpa). It was so much fun and Rhaegan of course had a blast. She discovered the bumper cars this time and was completely obsessed with them. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip. We love you guys! Rhaegan wanted to ride this helicopter ride the first time we come to King's Island but the line was so long. Luckily there was no one in line for it when we arrived. And of course she had to have the pink one.
Rhaegan and Aunt Krista in line for yet another ride.
The Blue's Clues ride was also another popular one with all the kids. We were again lucky we got there early; no line for this one either.
The famous bumper cars!! She was a pro and loved crashing her car into the wall.

Papa and Rhaegan in line for the roller coaster.

All in all it was a great trip. I can't wait until next year. We are definitely coming back.

Ohio Trip (part 2)

Well, our trip continues...

After our exciting trip to King's Island we had our next event approaching: Aunt Krista was arriving on the next Tuesday (16th). Once she got here our week was filled with lots of fun activities. Rhaegan hadn't seen Krista since Christmas since Christmas so it took a little while to completely warm up to her but of course it didn't take forever. They were eating ice cream, reading books and swinging on the porch swing together in no time at all. Rhaegan had also warmed up to her uncle Nick and aunt Denise, their foreign exchange student Nils and their two dogs Chandler and Charlie (see below). Chandler (left) wasn't too sure about her but Charlie didn't mind her at all. Good thing she's gentle with animals. It made the warming up process go a little smoother.
Of course she had to help Papa with the yard work while riding her new tricycle.
The porch swinging mentioned earlier was a popular activity
And Popsicles were always included whenever we were outside (way too messy to be an inside treat)
Then we found this awesome park to take Rhaegan to. It may not look like much from the picture but there was this play set and another one for smaller kids. Of course being the little daredevil she is, Rhaegan wanted to "big kid" set instead.

Ohio Trip (part 1)

Well...I am still in lovely Ohio. We have been having a great time with Grandma and Papa Cupps, Aunt Krista, Uncle Nick, Aunt Denise and Nils. The first week consisted mainly of unpacking and organizing but by the weekend (Sept. 13th) we were definitely ready for some fun. Every year during the month of September Procter & Gamble treats their employees to a day at the local amusement park King's Island. It's like a Six Flags only a whole lot bigger and better. Since we've been living in New York the past eleven years we haven't gotten to go to King's Island. Fortunately my dad thought since we're here now we better take advantage of the free passes. So Saturday morning we woke up (my mom and dad, Rhaegan and myself; Krista wasn't here yet) and got ready for an entire day of fun. There in a fantastic kids park where Rhaegan had a blast. She wasn't afraid of anything and would have probably gone on the big roller coaster if she was tall enough. It was so fun to watch her run from ride to ride and patiently wait for her turn to arrive. We are definitely going to be coming back every year for this event. Since it was P&G day, there of course had to be huge balloons advertising the products they make.
Right as you enter the park there are these enormous fountains which Rhaegan was enthralled with. She sadly told me, "mom, we forgot my swim suit."
We attempted to ride this ride first since it's Backyardigan's and that's Rhaegan favorite show. However, the girl running the ride said Rhaegan was too short and wouldn't let her ride. I was so mad because she wasn't too short, so we went over to this booth (which we didn't know was there until after the fact) and they measured her. Sure enough, she was 36" which is what you need to be to ride most of the kid rides. They gave her a special bracelet and off we went to ride the Backyardigan swings.
Rhaegan and roller coasters are like peanut butter and jelly; they just belong together. Her and Papa Cupps had their hands in the air and were screaming with delight this entire ride.
Lastly, we took her on the kids version on "Drop Tower." They take you way up and then expectantly drops you back down to earth. Rhaegan looks too small for this ride but fortunately wasn't. She loved it.

Loveland, Ohio

Yep, that is where I am right now. My parents moved from New York back to Cincinnati last week. I was lucky enough to come out here to help unpack, organize, keep my mom sane, mow the lawn, etc. It has been a lot of fun and Rhaegan is enjoying the time with her Grandma and Papa Cupps. Krista arrived late last night so now the party can really start. My mom and dad don't have the internet hooked up yet so the likelihood of me updating my blog with pictures anytime soon isn't great. I will have some great blogs in the near future though, so stay tuned.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!

Rhaegan and I have been able to have A LOT of mommy-daughter time lately. Shae has been in Las Vegas for 12 out of the last 14 days. He is basically living there now for work so us girls have had to find fun things to do to fill the 24 hour days. I have really enjoyed spending so much time with Rhaegan (go figure). She is so much fun and makes me laugh constantly. Here's a little peek at what we've been up to..... Of course we had to have a "movie afternoon". I would have done a movie night but I didn't think Rhaegan would last very long. We watched "Nim's Island" (very cute movie by the way), ate popcorn (a must when watching a movie) and drink some yummy Fresca. If you're wondering why we were watching the movie on a portable DVD player it's because I was also babysitting Ashly's little boys and they were both sound asleep in the two rooms with TVs. Rhaegan loved the "slumber party" feel though.

We also made a lot of time for book reading. Rhaegan decided that instead of just reading to me she was going to read to her giraffe as well. You can see Giraffe's head poking out from under a blanket there to the right.

We had a lot of fun together and it looks like we'll be doing this a couple more times. Luckily I will be going to visit my mom and dad during Shae's next trip to Vegas.