June 2011

It was such a beautiful day, Evan made Joel a Father's Day painting outside on the patio table.  He enjoys painting so much... I wonder if he will be a famous painter some day!  I dated it, wrote "Happy Father's Day!" on it and we gave it to Joel as part of his gift.  Who wouldn't love a piece of art made for them by their child?

 

We took Evan to Tuscora Park located in New Philadelphia and he was able to experience carnival rides for the first time.  He was reluctant at first, mostly because the buggies were very noisy with all the kids beeping constantly, but he soon got over his fear and enjoyed every second of it!  He rode everything multiple times, including the planes, ferris wheel, train and rockets. We ate some burgers and chicken fingers on a picnic table, then enjoyed some ice cream and headed home exhausted!  We will definitely be going back!

 

Right around my birthday, Chad brought Madeleine and Rylee up from Atlanta for a visit.  Evan had a ball playing with the girls and we loved having them over.  Evan drove Rylee around in his Mustang but only went in circles because he doesn't quite know how to steer it yet.

May 2011

For Mother's Day this year, 

Evan and Daddy cleaned Mommy's Jeep, we played outside and cooked hot dogs  and s'mores over our fire pit.  It was a very relaxing and fun day spent outside.  I absolutely love days like this... with nothing to do but enjoy the weather and be with family.

A Day Out with Thomas was in town (in Peninsula) and we took Evan there on a Saturday morning. We rode Thomas, Evan got a tattoo, "rode" a John Deere tractor, played in the jumpy house, watched the model trains and played with the toy trains on the tables set up in one of the tents.  He had a great time, and so did we!

Spring 2011

Evan, Nathan and Alycia all dyed Easter eggs this year and they had a great time making crazy color combinations and designs.  Evan wanted to make more but we ran out of eggs! This was the first time I had dyed eggs in many years... I had to read up on it before we did anything because I forgot how to do it!





 
Evan and all of his Hlad cousins all went on a free Easter egg hunt at the Greensburg United Methodist Church (2nd year in a row) after we ate breakfast, got tattoos and visited the Easter Bunny. The eggs were hidden throughout the church and divided by age group so Evan and Laura even made out!  Evan's Easter bucket was overflowing!

 

Then came Easter day and Evan  searched for his basket of goodies!  After he found it, he hunkered down in the corner of his bookshelf in the kitchen and searched through every egg and guarded it with his life!  Just then, he gave me a quick, snarly-looking smile.

Christmas 2010

I love this time of year! We decided to get a real tree again and found a place on Nimisila Road, fairly close to home. They were the nicest couple! They came out to greet us and explained what kind of trees they have and gave the kids candy canes. We had a lot of fun picking out the perfect tree! Joel cut it down and the owner wrapped it for us and we put it in the Jeep. It was such a fun experience, I think we'll do it every year! Evan's day care had a Breakfast with Santa gig one Saturday morning and he was intrigued by Santa, but wouldn't get too close to him. The most he did was give Santa knuckles, as seen in this picture.

There was one really nice sunny Saturday in December that was perfect for building a snowman, so we ventured outside to make one. Evan really helped a lot, and liked poking the almost-finished snowman with a stick we were going to use for an arm. He felt like he was doing something, so I let him poke away.

Next, we took Evan on the Polar Express that departed from the Canton depot. I heard that the tickets sell out quickly, so I made sure I bought them the day they went on sale. It was so much fun! We rode through town where there were magnificent light displays. They even turned off the lights on the train so we could see the displays better. They read a story and served us popcorn and cups of hot chocolate with marshmallows. Joel bought Evan a toy steam locomotive that makes realistic chugging sounds and blows a whistle, just like the one in the movie. Once again, Evan wasn't too sure about Santa. He went isle by isle, speaking to each child on the train and giving them each a bell tied with a ribbon. It was a great time and I'm so glad we did it!

Christmas morning finally came and Evan had lots of presents from Santa! It was awesome to see the excitement in his eyes as he opened all of them. We also had Nathan & Alycia for part of the day and we had a wonderful time at Mom & Dad's that night for a Christmas feast. Can't wait for next year!

Fall 2010

We started out the fall festivities by going to Kingsway Pumpkin Farm in Hartville. We picked pumpkins in the patch, visited the goats, bunnies, ducks and pigs and Evan rode a kiddie train and crawled through a hay bail maze they had set up in the barn. All the kids enjoyed petting the animals, and since it was unseasonably warm that day we decided to venture through the corn maze. We also went to Boettler Park for the haunted hayride this year. We were one of the first families there so we were able to ride right when they started. It was actually a lot of fun... just the right amount of spookiness to get you in the mood but not too scary for the little kids.





For Halloween, Evan was a train engineer, complete with Osh Kosh B'Gosh striped overalls and hat and a red handkerchief tied around his neck. It was his second time trick-or-treating and he had fun but it was cold! His cousins Ian and Samantha joined us around the neighborhood while Mom and Dad handed out candy at the house.

October 2011

Thanks to my sister-in-law and her husband, we were able to use their time share in Myrtle Beach for a much needed vacation. The weather was fantastic (75° - 80°), and the only bad thing was Evan had his first really bad cold. He just started day care the week before because I started working again. He was quite miserable but we made the best of it. We enjoyed time at the beach (it was eerily deserted), seeing the Medieval Times jousting tournament (which Evan loved), shopping at the Boardwalk and petting crocodiles and snakes at Alligator Adventure.

We also had a great time with Melissa Skidmore, a photographer from North Myrtle Beach that we had take some family photos of us at a nearby beach. She was about 6 months pregnant at the time and was lugging her equipment and props all over the beach. Joel couldn't stand to watch her do it so he helped her out by moving her stuff wherever we went. The photos came out better than I expected and she is a sweetheart. If you are ever in the area, look her up!

Whenever I am on a beach, something comes over me and I feel the need to create something with the sand. I think we made a sea turtle again - that seems to be my favorite!

September 2010

Nothing much new in September, although I have been doing some freelance work for Ultragloss and for a friend, which has been keeping me busy. Just wish I had enough of it to generate a steady income!

We started a new Kindermusik class this month and we love it. We see a friend from our previous class and also made new friends. Kudos to whoever started the whole Kindermusik thing... it's such a great way to spend time with your kid!


I'm sure Evan will be completely mortified when and if he ever sees this picture of him in the bathtub, but I couldn't resist! He was using the safety handle as a phone... cracked me up!