New Hampshire!!!

So, today I made flight arrangements for Eli and I to go up to New Hampshire for 4 days to see my mom! I'm soooo excited about going to visit!! The last time Eli flew was almost a year ago and he was only 3 months old. Here' s a picture of him from our last time we went to NH:



Slight changes this trip. Eli will be a year older on this trip and I will be traveling alone with Eli. Vince will be staying home the weekend we are gone (he has to work). So, to any moms out there reading this, who have traveled alone on a plane with a baby, any suggestions? We have a portable DVD player that will be coming with us on the trip with plenty of Elmo DVD's. But any other suggestions? Thankfully it's only a 2 hour flight, direct, no stops, in and out. So, we are thankful for that!!!

We are SO excited to go and see Nanna in a few weeks!! So, throw your thoughts this way for travel!! Would love to hear anything!!!

Trip to the Zoo 7/27/08

Today we went to the early service at church (we love that we have 4 services between Saturday and Sunday to choose from!) and decided to head to the Cincinnati Zoo afterwards! We ended up buying a family membership to the zoo so we can go anytime we want, even if its' just for an hour to get out of the house. It's also great because the zoo is only about 15 minutes from our house! This is definitely going to be a great investment.

Anyway, it was HOT, but we still had a lot of fun. I realized after I got home that I didn't get too many pictures that WEREN'T animals (i.e. Vince, Eli, Me). Oh well! With our membership, there will be plenty more times to get those pictures! Here's a few of our fun day!

EATING LUNCH AT THE JUNGLE CAFE
(WE GET 25% OFF ALL FOOD WITH OUR MEMBERSHIP!)



VINCE AND ELI GOING THROUGH THE MISTERS.
ELI LIKED IT AT FIRST, BUT THE 2ND AND 3RD TIME
WERE NOT A FAVORITE!!



SKUNK



HAPPY FEET!



EXTREME CLOSE UP!



NAPTIME FOR THE MONKEY!

And that's where we are now! Eli was so tired after we got home - he fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the car, and he's been napping now for 3 hours! Poor kiddo! He's had a long day, but it definitely was fun, and the first of many trips to the zoo!!

Eli's Hiding Spot

I SEE YOU!!



STILL TRYING TO HIDE



OK, TIME TO TRY CLIMBING (AND YES, HE HAS!!)

My Big Boy!

Well, today was a milestone for Elijah. He went to the next room in the nursery! He's now in the "Listeners" class. He's over one and walking, so therefore, he's bumped up! So, that means we get a new color nursery tag and he's in the "bigger kids" room.




I also learned that they do an activity with the kids in the Listeners group, so when we picked up Eli, he had this in his bag for us:



Look at that great coloring job!!! I'm just glad he didn't eat the crayons (from what we know at least!)


It is now proudly displayed where every coloring sheet will be displayed!

Eli loves his balloon!

We got a balloon after Eli got his haircut and he was so excited to carry it in from the car!

Elijah's First Hair Cut

Today was Elijah's first haircut. We took him to a place called Kids Kuts Salon. They did a great job and he now looks like a little boy and not so much a baby!!! We even got some hair in an envelope for his memory box!


THE HAIRCUT BEGINS



HE HAS A COMB TO HELP!



MY LITTLE MAN



HE'S A LITTLE BOY NOW!!

What A Ham!

Whatcha Doin' Daddy?

Last night Vince was looking some up some stuff online, and Eli was being extra curious. It was so cute!!


I LOVE HOW HIS HEAD IS COCKED TO THE SIDE!



"MOM, IT'S NOT TOO EXCITING!"



"WELL, LET ME CHECK AGAIN."



"MAYBE IF I PULL THIS CORD, ELMO WILL COME ON."



"DADDY, ARE YOU DONE?"

Progression of a Smile

Furniture Shopping

We went to Toy's R' Us the other day with Elijah's birthday money, looking for just the right stuff! We thought that maybe Eli would like some little furniture for the living room. We soon decided it wasn't going to work!


WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO HERE?



UM, PINK ISN'T MY COLOR!



WHAT'S UP THERE?

Impromptu Trip To Indy

Well, about 6:30 on Friday, we (mostly I) decided that we were going away for the weekend to Indianapolis. Vince is not at all a spur-of-the-moment kind of person, so he definitely humored me! I realized that I wasn't going to have time off until probably next year (besides the holidays), so I wanted to get away while we had the chance! We love going to Indy, so we quickly searched for a hotel (that takes dogs of course) and quickly found the Omni Severin right in the heart of Indy, and thanks to our Entertainment card, got a really good deal last minute!

So, we QUICKLY packed our bags, got everything together, fed Elijah, and were on the road. While there, we realized that we forgot Alex's (our dog) kennel. No biggie. We stopped at a Meijer and got a travel one, which is actually something we wanted to get eventually - eventually was now! Drove the 100 miles to Indy and got to our hotel around 10:30.

Our time in Indy consisted of a packed schedule.
*Arrival at 10:30 Friday Night
*Bed around 12:30
*Up at 8:00
*Out to breakfast at 9:30 to Patachou on the Park - one of my FAVORITE places in Indianpolis - the restaurant is totally organic and SO yummy!
*11:00 - Back to the hotel for a nap (Elijah).
*12:30 Elijah gets up from his nap and we head out to the Children's Museum
*Arrival at the Children's Museum around 1:30
*Spend 3 hours of fun at the Children's Museum and head back downtown at 4:30 for late lunch/early dinner
*Eat dinner at Alcatraz Brewing Company - another one of our favorites and SO yummy!
*Go shopping at the Circle Centre Mall (attached to our hotel) - Vince and I each got new crocs! YAY!!
*Head back to the hotel around 7:30
*Eli gets ready for bed, and is in bed around 8:30
*We fall asleep around 10:00
*Back up at 8:00 and head out to breakfast at 9:00 at LePeep - So yummy!
*Pack up the rest of our stuff and head back to Cincinnati around 11:00

PHEW! What a PACKED weekend. Not bad for last minute!!

We had so much fun!! For ALL the pictures, click here. For an overview of the trip, click here. Here are some pictures from our trip below!


THE ENTRANCE TO OUR 4-STAR HOTEL!



ELI DECIDED HE WANTED TO HANG OUT IN ALEX'S KENNEL



BEFORE GOING INTO THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM



ELI AND CURIOUS GEORGE



STARTING DOWN THE SLIDE



WEEEEEEEEEE!



AND HE NAILS THE LANDING!



MOMMY AND ELI OUT FOR A DRIVE - I LOVE HOW HIS ARM HANGS OUTSIDE THE WINDOW!!



MY 2 FAVORITE GUYS!



ELI THE RACE CAR DRIVER



STARTING DOWN THE TUBE. . .



AND NEVERMIND!



VINCE PREACHING THE FIRE AND BRIMSTONE!!



ON THE CAROUSEL



ME AND MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND RIGHT BEFORE LEAVING TO COME BACK HOME!