Fun o' Plenty in Week Two

June 11th--Because it was O's BFF Jeff who staged this shot, I'm pretty sure one clone trooper is telling the other clone trooper some kind of poop joke. Just a guess...

June 12th--These clowns were my lunchdates. Then O & I headed to the First Ladies' National Historic Site for a(nother) tour of the Saxton House. Happy Birthday to Mrs. McKinley!

June 13th--Where else can you get face-painted with a Village People fumanchu moustache and retrieve giant Pez from a paper-mache Barack Obama Pez dispenser?

Parade the Circle+festival+the Hursts=GREAT FUN!!

June 14th--O got to have tons of fun today, but all we got to do was paint the dining room.

June 15th--Who ya gonna call? Your buddy Alex, whose grandpa has a friend who owns THE Ghostbusters car. O and pals got to go on the ride of their lives!

June 16th--Checking out the swimming lake with Baba.

Verdict: squishy and stinky. Digging in the sand on the shore is tons-o-fun, though!

June 17th--Maggie's SpongeBob birthday fiesta!

Week One, Summer of Fun II

This year I want to better document our Summer of Fun II by taking a picture everyday that sums up where we found our fun. Here is week one...

June 4th--Nothing says summer like a big pile of dirty shoes by the door :) O had friends over today for a fun day of Legos, Star Wars & backyard ball.

June 5th--First dip in the FOHA pool. Very, very, very cold!!

June 6th--SandO at Niagra Falls

June 7th--Chatting with President Millard Fillmore in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.

June 8th--Celebrating a great play. Go Giants!

June 9th--Watching Journey to the Center of the Earth. The 3D glasses didn't last long, but we enjoyed the show anyway!

June 10th--Hiking Chippewa Rail Trail

Time flies...

How is it possibly September?? Our summer-o-fun simply flew by too quickly! We squeezed in one last trip to the pool today on the last day of the season, topping off a fabulous Labor Day weekend. O even made several great dives off the side of the pool, something he's been working really hard to master this summer. Yeah! Here's what else the Labor Day Weekend held for us...

The weekend began with my fabulous husband arriving home from work on Friday with an industrial-strength wallpaper steamer that he rented from Home Depot. Now that's true love! Friday evening while O was out with friends and again for most of the day Saturday, we steamed, and scraped, and steamed some more. I still have some bits & pieces to tackle this week, but for the most part the walls are clear. Hoo-stinking-ray!! We are even feeling so good about our progress that we bought paint today... a lovely shade of yellow called "Pale Daffodil."

Yesterday we spent the day at the Toledo Zoo with our Michigan buddies the Boersts. It was a visit that was long overdue. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast exploring the zoo together while we parents sort of tagged along behind chatting. For those of you who met these guys years ago when we were still in Ypsi, you won't believe how grown-up Margaret is now. I still remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. She would have you know that she'll be 11 this year! Crazy how time flies, and flies, and flies... Here's a picture of the girls & O and then a great family shot that P took of them.

On the way home, we stopped in Milan to see if the Edison's Birthplace Museum was open (for the edification of the self-proclaimed "history buff" with whom we travel). It was not, but we stumbled upon the Milan Melon Festival and just couldn't pass that one by. It was the quintessential Ohio small-town festival. We did some world-class people-watching while we munched our kettlecorn, then O rode the most spinniest ride he could find, got a skull tattoo, and it was back on the road. As a side note, can you imagine being the Milan Melon Queen? A delicate moniker you'd have to explain to anyone outside the metropolis of Milan, I'm sure...

That brings us back to today. In addition to the pool outing, P&O rode 10 miles on the towpath this morning while I went to work for awhile. Yep, it's back to life, back to reality around here! While Melissa & I cleaned and organized at school this morning, we talked awhile about the incredible summers we had... She had set out to have no regrets this summer, to have done all she & her boys wanted to do. I had declared this the "Summer of Fun." We would have as much fun as we possibly could, every day. We both agreed it was a terrific success of a summer, and that it sure is hard to see it come to an end. Somehow declaring this season the "Fall of Fun" just doesn't sound the same!

Three glorious days in Corolla!

And I also got the Corolla pics on Smugmug...
http://spando.smugmug.com/gallery/5377301_od4Jb/1/329366720_jdVss

Enjoy!
--S

Happy Pop-Up Campers!

O & I drove out to Wellington after Camp Invention today to visit the Hursts' at their campsite at Findley State Park. The boys had a ball exploring the "vacation home" and the rest of the camp area, eating ice cream & s'mores (with a little dinner in between), and swimming in the scenic but gnarly lake. As an added bonus, O collected the three final secret codes he needed for the Explore the Outdoors Ohio program--hooray! There were too many great pictures to post here, so here are two favorites and a link to my Smugmug gallery....

http://spando.smugmug.com/gallery/5257186_Fghik/1/319825982_7csWt

Swimming Lessons

This summer we joined a local pool, where we have already spent some very fun afternoons. O is currently doing swimming lessons to prepare for our NC trip in a few weeks. Despite the fact it was only 65 degrees yesterday and threatening to storm, he still had a ball in the pool. Perhaps it has something to do with his fondness for the teenage girls who teach the lessons....

Here are some pics of him diving to retrieve things off the bottom, and before & after shots of jumping off the diving board.