The Latest

We've been up to all kinds of interesting things so far this summer, and I don't do anything with my pictures unless I blog them. Far be it from me to actually print our pictures and use some of the hundreds of dollars worth of scrap booking paraphernalia that I own. Oh the laziness...

We spent a lovely afternoon slip 'n sliding away in Ellie's backyard just a few weeks ago. Grace spent most of her time doing this:

She gets that from her Mom.

She spent a little bit of time doing this:

And by this I mean hovering near Nora and Andrew's antics

whilst maintaining a death grip on her sippy cup and graham cracker.
And finally, by the end, she worked up enough courage to try a little of this:

She gets that from her dad.

We've also made several successful trips to the Columbus Zoo. We've spent time with the new polar bears, visited the aquarium and the manatees (my favorite animal, I might add), and seen quite a few brightly colored flamingoes. But the part that Grace remembers most is this:

Every time a goat appears in a story we're reading, Grace makes sure to mention the zoo.

The part I remember most is this:

Darn those irresistible fences. :)

We've also joined the Warnicks on a few "family fun mornings" and those have been delightful. The Columbus area has an abundance of beautiful metro parks and I look forward to exploring each and every one.

Gantz Park, Grove City

Whetstone Park of Roses, Clintonville

Grace spends her time doing a lot of this:

She loves smelling flowers. Well, smelling anything really. In an effort to get her to stop putting things in her mouth (argh...I thought she'd grow out of that one ages ago), I have encouraged her to smell them instead. It's worked pretty well...and makes parks with flowers all the more appealing to her. However, she also sniffs a lot of play dough...that might be trouble.

More recently, we took a little trip to the science museum, COSI, in downtown Columbus. Grace and I have gone multiple times, but this was the first time Spencer was able to go with us. Instead of taking very many pictures, we spent time doing things like this:

Later, in an effort to keep Spencer's new laptop from burning his leg, we spent some time at the Easton mall. Spencer spent a lot of time in here:

And Grace and I spent the majority of our time next to this guy:

Thanks to Ellie, Spencer and I were able to go on a date to Schiller Park in German Village. A local group puts on free plays every weekend and dubs it "Shakespeare in the Park." When we went, they were performing "Treasure Island." Not so Shakespeare. :) But we enjoyed it all the same. I spent a lot of time doing this:

When we're not out and about, Grace likes to enjoy a good book in the rocking chair.

And repeatedly put all of her stuffed animals/random action figures down for a nap.

We also spend an excessive amount of time playing here:

Northam Park, UA. I don't know where we'd be without this lovely,

within walking distance park.

And sometimes, Spencer and I like to keep it real by finishing the evening with a little indoor mini-golf.

Thus far, the summer's been great.