lunch date

our bible study alternates between family and couple outings throughout the year. we don't actually meet during the summer, but we try to get together a few times. today, a few of us met up at a local vineyard for a free tour and a (not so free) lunch. there were a lot of text messages back and forth when matt and i were the only "couple" expected to join the organizer - she didn't want to be our "third wheel" when we were paying a babysitter. just as we were about to cancel two other 'half-couples' said that they could make it too. so for our adult social, matt and i were the only couple with three 'half-couples.'

the kids and i have walked on the trail behind the vineyard before but matt had never seen the property and we had never been to any of the restaurants on property before - much to the shock of our friends! the kids and i had biked/walked over a few weeks ago to look at the grape vines and when madelyn heard that we were going back over there for a tour she asked me to bring my "big camera" and take a lot of pictures for her. she just hates missing out on something new.

for red wine fermentation

for white wine and blends

the bottling room and our tour guide

a rare picture of matt and i - together!

a group shot with our friends

we had a great time at a new place with some great people! who cares if it was raining. love.

balloon fest

tonight kicked off balloon fest which is part of the pro-football hall of fame induction festivities. unfortunately, the weather wasn't looking great for the weekend and the weather has to be near perfect for the balloons to fly. the kids and i were out watching for the balloons tonight when matt got home. in past years, they have come right to our neighborhood so we were optimistically scanning the skies. daddy told us that he had seen them from the interstate heading in the other direction (away from us) so he encouraged us to jump in the car and try to find them instead of waiting. lucky for us we found some! i was so excited to see them that i didn't get video of manning's reaction. he was pointing everywhere and saying "boon! boon! boon!" totally in heaven!

after seeing several land, we headed back home for a quick dinner and warmer clothes to go to the "balloon glow." manning was disappointed that his sweatshirt didn't have a hood so he was pleased with a hat instead.

this was the first time we have attempted this event. one it is late (9:30pm), two we thought that it might be very crowded. we were pretty pleased with the event and plan on coming earlier next time so that we can take part of the food options too.

the kids loved the balloons lighting up to the music - especially manning!

mason was the only one willing to take a picture in front of an "all glow."

they had started the balloon glow a little earlier than scheduled because the weather was getting ready for a storm. being there was great - leaving was not that great. just a non-moving cluster of cars. the passenger in the car in front of us went out to direct traffic and got us all out of there. thank goodness for him! we would have been there all night. love.

mommy day

well, my plan had been to take the kids to the cleveland zoo. the high was going to be around 75 and we had no where to be at all today. matt has golf so we didn't even need to hurry home. but i got talked out of it and instead we went to run errands.

after a few stops for groceries and school supplies, i took the kids over to toys-r-us to use gift cards they had gotten for their birthdays. everyone except maddux. he handled it really well. well, as well as a three year old in a toy store can. out of pity, i let him pick out a $2 kite.

we were there for a ridiculous amount of time. mason kept waffling between two items - on opposite sides of the store. we were now two hours past our normal lunch time and while the kids had a snack, i was starving and exhausted. they were all pleased with their purchases and i was looking forward to a few hours of distraction when we got home. madelyn conducted "school" with her new microscope and they had a lot of fun with mason's hot wheels color change car track and maddux' talking parking garage.

it was so nice that we ate out on the deck for the first time this year. on a whim, the kids and i picked up corn on the cob and watermelon at the store during our errands. it turned into a lovely dinner. until manning finished eating and decided to yell "no!" at the top of his lungs over and over for no real reason. sigh.

bath and bed for these kids and mommy. what a long day! love.

baseball - with hats

i don't know if it was having his hat again or what, but maddux came to play tonight! he got the first three balls fielded and only played in the dirt once towards the end. all of the other kids were playing in the dirt the whole time so this was a pretty good showing of self-control.

manning took a turn at batting today. and he hit it! (his hit is captured in the picture.)

look at that happy face!

a look at mason on the field. he loves playing baseball.

school play date

i finally made it to the gym! my class is a little earlier in the summer and the kids are sleeping a little later. it has been impossible to get there on time! but we did it. today was amazingly cool - the high wasn't supposed to even hit 70 - so we were wearing long sleeves and/or pants. in july! just crazy. but it did make for a lovely morning at the school playground for a playdate.

manning had so much fun clearing the mulch off this landing that he got another fistful to do it again!

it is so weird to see this kid suddenly loving slides.

as we were leaving, i realized that the light was great by the side of the building. only mason and manning would let me take their pictures though.

these playdates arranged by some of the pto moms have been so fun. it is nice to meet classmates and their parents in such a casual way. love.

all day playdate

some friends joined us for the day. their parents ran into a childcare conflict and i had offered to fill in. the kids were all beyond excited! it was also a delightful day weather-wise so we had some fun outside. of course, we had to show them the rock launcher - they agreed that it was awesome!

i kept having to do head counts to make sure i had everyone!

it was a little cold for water fun, but that didn't stop us from getting out the squirt guns.

manning and his bubbles.

then we washed up and got to making pretzels from the dough i put to rise while we were outside. we got a little later of a start and their mom showed up while our first batch was baking but they had enough time to enjoyed hot, fresh soft pretzels. yummy!

it was so nice that our crew headed back out for bubbles. manning was laughing hysterically trying to chase them in the wind.

loving these beautiful outside days! love.

mason and daddy at the indians

matt had a pair of tickets to the indians game today. and it just so happened that today was jump start day at the park and they got to walk in a "parade"! matt said that he might have enjoyed it more than mason.

matt sent over this picture to say that mason loves me...

...so we sent this one back with a word from madelyn to "wear sunscreen".

they went to first service with us at church and then left while the rest of us stayed for second service.  so much special fun. love.