Our 4th of July in Ohio

I really do love the 4th of july! it is a fabulous holiday. Celebrating our independence. We started out with a 4th of July parade...those pics are at the bottom:). Looking back at all these pictures from the summer, I am so grateful for Cliff & Emily & their kiddos. They really did make our summer soooo much fun!

Ready to celebrate the 4th!
Waiting for Papa to get home from work so we can go to fireworks:).

SpARkLers! So much fun!

More sparklers with the boys & Mo. Looks like Mo is having fun too:). And those crazy cousins showing off their arm bands that glow in the dark kung fu style:).

Sam & No No waiting for the action to start.

This is what Sam thought of the action. He hid in my legs & clung to me for dear life. Poor little man. It did get better as the night went on.

Isaac's co-worker & his family.

The Martin Family.

Some of the Hoschouer's friends sharing their treats with all the kiddos:).

Think they wore themselves out?:) This is right after we turned out of the parking lot on our drive home.

And the 4th of July parade of course!

Super sweet cars, dogs, fire trucks, jugglers, balloons.

Children having fun & collecting candy being tossed too.

Happy 4th everyone:)!

Columbus Zoo

Columbus Zoo with cousins! This is such a huge zoo! So many exhibits & not enough time.

The polar bears are awesome:). So is the mantee rescue tank.

The kids also loved all the goats that they could pet & brush. Petting zoos are the best.

Sharks are cool too of course & all of the statues the kids have to pose on.

We also had Cliff's awesome peanut butter fudge SR 71 for his birthday.---delish:)

(June 30, 2011)

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

If you ever make it to Ohio, especially Dayton, Ohio, you must visit the Air Force Museum. The kids loved it. So many amazing helicopters, planes, jets, explosives, & more. What more could a kid dream of, especially little boys:)?Mo trying out the jet.

And Sam Sam.
Noah too:).

SO many buttons, so little time.

Very cool...an astronaut.

As Sam would say, "Awe sum".

And Papa even got Morgan up in there.

There were so many other amazing things at this museum. We also went with Isaac's cousin Cliff & his wife & family. The kids had so much fun! I wish I had more pictures, but let's be honest, we were chasing kids everywhere, as they were yelling about the next awesome thing:).

(June 15, 2011)

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

Off To Dublin

Then it was off to Dublin, Ohio. Two of our most favorite things there were feeding the ducks almost every morning & meeting & playing with cousins that were only about 10 minutes away! We were so lucky!There were so many little ducklings. We found a bread store that sold their expired bread as duck bread. 10 loafs for about a buck! Awesome:). The boys also loved watching the crazy rain that was there & running around in the mud & puddles too:)
Here is a picture of the cousins, minus one baby girl, that we played lots with the whole summer we were there. Here they are watching a movie after a long day of playing.

(Morgan, Noah, Sam, Justin, & Andrew)

Two more things we loved about Dublin were all the trails & parks...everything is sooo green.

And swimming. We swam at least 3 times a week & everyone looooved it!

More about swimming later:).

Quick Decision to Maryland

So right after Noah's birthday, our family had about 2 days to decide if we were going with Isaac for the summer. That was a difficult decision & a super fast one. I had to leave all my girls in Young Women's & all our friends. Not to mention pack up our house & car. But you do what you gotta do & we want to be with Papa. We've been a summer without him & it's not fun. So we were off to Ohio & I had Isaac drop us off in Maryland while he got settled in our apartment for a couple weeks. Visiting Mimi & Grandad.

We went to one of our favorite breakfast places, Happy Harbor.Isn't it beautiful there?! This is right down the hill from them.
They DO love each other:).

Sunroom with Grandad,

Cute crazy Sam.

Visiting one of my besties from high school. And meeting her

newest little munchkin.

Size comparison for the boys:).

Then I took the kids to visit where I grew up.

It's missing a couple giant oak trees & it has new siding, but

this house is where I spend my 1st 18yrs of life:).

So fun visiting family & friends & my old hometown.

More playing catch up soon.

(End of May 2011)

Noah's 4th Birthday

Can you believe that my little man turned 4 on May 11th?? He is such a stitch. He talks to everyone. He loves everyone. They are all his friends & he could never even comprehend that maybe someone he didn't know doesn't want to hear a 5 minute tangent about what happened during the day. He cannot sit still & loves to hug people:). He really is such a fun boy!

Noah loooooves Spiderman! Thank you Cari Harward for helping me so much with his awesome cake & bringing all your skills & colors! And I had leftovers...so had to make spider cupcakes too!

Birthday boy walking on the ceiling:)

Beautiful Morgan Mae at the party. And her eyes are open & she's smiling....amazing.

Noah & Sam & their cousins a Haddy & Clare.

Miss Ashlee & Brennan came by too:). Our kiddos sure love them.(& us too:))

Cake, cupcake & ice cream time:). Who joined us for treats: Sam, Maggie, Birthday Boy, Calvin, Kenzie, Addy, Tanner, PB, Cooper, Miss Mo, Clare, & Haddy:)

Cute messy Sam. He is our real 1st sweet tooth lover:).

What birthday party is complete without a Papa tackle?:)

Isaac is such a good sport. He loves those boys:)

And getting to play with all the fun new toys! yey!

Thank you Mimi & Grandad for his contruction set & coloring. He LOVEs it!

Thank you everyone for coming & being a part of Noah's special day! Happy Birthday Big Guy! We cannot believe you're 4! We're so glad you are a part of our family!

So Impressed...

We were outside playing & weeding in the yard yesterday, after going to a dollar movie, & then I realized that I was not hearing Sam & that boy is not quiet by any means:).

He looks pretty impressed with himself, don't you think?:)