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.

Ashly's Baby Shower

I had the privilege of throwing my best friend a baby shower last Thursday. She is having her 1st little girl so I thought she definitely needs something special. I was a little nervous because one, I've never thrown a baby shower before and I was afraid people would think it was dumb and two, I am not creative in the least bit so coming up with ideas for colors, center pieces, food, games, etc., was scary. However, I must say that with A LOT of help from my mom, Ashly's mom and sisters, and countless others I was able to pull off a pretty fun shower.

We had yummy homemade cakes and cookies. You can see one of the centerpieces there in the middle of the table.

This was one of the other centerpieces. I had 2 with brown ribbon and 3 with pink ribbon. I also included a little toy on top of each one.

The food was delicious thanks to Costco, Ashly's mom and sisters. Everything was great!

Ashly received a lot of wonderful gifts. I wasn't able to see them because i was cleaning up but I'm sure she loved them all!!

Thank you everyone who helped me. I really appreciated all of it. And thank you Ash for being pregnant and giving me the opportunity to throw my first baby shower. You're the best.

What the future holds...

I think that our future holds an Olympic swimmer. My mom sent me some of my old swimming gear (caps, goggles, suit, etc.) so that I could start swimming again. Well, when Rhaegan got her hands on it this is what happened. She thought she was hilarious in this little number. I have to agree with her. She liked the goggles but then realized that they kind of hurt if you're not use to them.
She decided for a much more comfortable look without the goggles.

Girl's Camp 2008

Well, here they are. The much anticipated camp pictures. I was able to finally round up some photos from my friend and assistant camp director Crystal (bottom row, last one on the right). I didn't take me camera to camp so now I'm relying on other for the pictures. I just had too much to remember that my camera didn't make the VIP list. Anyway, I ended up having a great time. I love all the girls in our ward. They are all so special and unique. I loved getting to know them. Of course we did have some tiffs along the way but that's to be expected with a bunch on teenage girls. Day one: group photo after the opening ceremony. The girl in front (Zoe) was one of my favorite girls. She was the one who complained the most but her personality was one you will never forget. She was awesome.
The girls had to perform a skit at other Day One evening ceremony. I had tried to get all the girls together to learn it before camp arrived but it never happen. There were only 3 on the 8 girls who even knew anything about the skit when we got to camp. Luckily they all worked together and made it happen. I was hilarious.
Day two: We had canoeing first thing this morning. The girls of course were saying they didn't want to go but once they got out there I think they enjoyed it. Here are all the leaders from our ward (Bart, Shae, Lymon, Crystal, Me, Stephanie, JoyAnn).
Hilarious photo: For those of you who know Shae you know how clean and particular he is. Well, getting the canoes into the water was a little "dirty" and this picture captured the major leg extension Shae took in order to keep his already dirty shoes from touching the mud. I love my husband.
Confidence Course: By far my favorite day of camp. The girls were amazing during this activity. They worked together and helped each other up and over this wall. There was no complaining, no name calling, it was great.

Camp was definitely a success. I really enjoyed myself. I just hope the girls had fun. There are more pictures so there might just have to be another entry to come.