A Dance Off!

In honor of Grammy's freedom!!!  Woo hoo! 

Happy Retirement Mom/Grammy!  And uh...whatcha doin' on Monday?

You Might As Well Get Comfy...

Cause I had 23 days to upload pictures from July 4th, and this is going to take a while...

It rained in the morning, as it always seems to on the 4th, which derailed our plans to go to a neighbor's pre-parade party, but Grammy and Grampy came over, so not all was lost...

We headed off in a light rain up to the main street to find ourselves a comfy/sheltered spot.  We moved here specifically so we could avoid that crazy parade parking.  We're very practical like that.

A view from under my umbrella...

It stopped raining just in time for the parade.  Well done universe, well done.

I didn't notice at the time, but if you look closely you can see the kids across the street holding shopping bags.  We hadn't moved here yet last year, so we've never attended a Montgomery parade, but apparently they like to throw candy.  A LOT of candy.  Seriously.

And that was just the beginning.  We still have some stashed away in the cupboard for bribes.  Oh, don't judge me.

Nothing like picking up candy off the curb.  Let freedom ring!

Because why would they not invite a Storm Trooper to the party?  They were sort of patriotic in their own way.

Look, I'm not saying our parade is better than yours or anything...but I mean...did you have a whole brigade of Back to the Future mobiles?  Just sayin'.

At some point, Rosa decided to just sit there with her hands out, waiting to be handed treats by passersby.  Smart girl.  Make them come to you.

Three things of note in this photo:  Emmy clapping for the passing band, Rosa in the background raiding the candy stash, and my freakishly veiny hand.  Why, thank you genetics!

I'm just putting this on here to amuse Angela.

Just waiting for something to be thrown in...

 You have to click this bigger to see the irony.

I take the bestest pictures.

We went home for a little break after the parade.  The Grammy and Grampy never fail to entertain.

There was a festival at the park in the afternoon and Emmy loved her some bunnies!

My parents taught Rosa to feed the bunny a long blade of grass.

Mmmyummymmmyums,  don't mind if I do.

I never let Emmy play on this crazytown contraption when it's just me with the girls, so this was a special treat.  Yay for braver Daddies!

Plinko!!!  

I don't know who she is, but that girl is sooo not loving Emmy's big win.  Those are fightin' eyes.

We had a nice little Graeters picnic in the grass.  You can see which flavor Rosa chose.

And then we headed home...exhausted from a fun filled day!

But having saved just enough energy for a dance party! 

 Free to be you and me.

Overheard

While I was prepping stuff for Rosa's nap...

E:  Come on over here and give me a hug Rosaboo.
Rosa came over and gave her a bear hug.
E:  Aww yeah, that's what I like.  I just love you sooo...

Aww yeah...that's what I like.

Does anyone else REALLY hate the shopping carts at IKEA?

Is it just me?  I have an inexplicable disdain for the shopping carts there.  If you've never been, they are multi-directional/roller-ball style.  Impossible to steer around displays without putting a lot of muscle into it.  Especially when you have 60+lbs of kid and awkwardly shaped boxes stuffed in there.  Or maybe it's because I was holding half of the 60lbs in one arm and trying to steer with the other...yeah...I think that might have affected my mood.  Or maybe the 25 minute screaming fit that required me to hold her since she was about to fling herself out of the cart.  She would do it too.  Just to call my bluff.
You can probably guess which one I'm referring to.  She also got a time-out on a toilet that was in a bathroom show room.  Classy, yes?  Someone didn't want to leave the play area.  A lot.
Did you know IKEA really echos?  Like the Grand Canyon man.

And Not The Chocolate - Peanut Butter Kind

My sister is an official BUCKEYE!  A WOO HOO!!!  This has been a long time coming, as her deep (ahem, misguided) love of all things OSU has been around longer than the whole Team Aniston/Team Jolie controversy, and we all know that's been around a loooong time. Yes, I feel the need to temper the braininess of this blog post with a little Hollywood gossip.  I don't know why.  It's just who I am.
We are all so very proud of our little graduate.  She knocked out what most people take at least 2 years to accomplish in a mere year and a half.  Whilst working full-time AND planning her wedding.  Woosh, I'm exhausted just by typing that.  Oh, and did ya know OSU's EMBA program happens to be ranked 15th in the WORLD by Businessweek?  Yeah, our girl is "wicked smaahhht".*

My camera didn't want to cooperate during the commencement reception, but that picture's kind of rad.

Represent'n.  Do ya see it?  Look closely.

Sadly nobody told Angela that her campaign for a diploma was completely unnecessary.

A double MBA kind of family. Yeah, they already shop Restoration Hardware.  Check.

Standing in front of her favorite Dickinson quote

 "Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned".

I think that's the first family photo we've had in years. 

What song just popped into your head?  I know, let me paint you a little picture...Office Space...printer scene.  Yeah, that's what I thought too.  Word.

That was a real special moment. 

My awesomeness convinced everyone that Angie was coming in on the left, so we all spent, I don't know, 30 minutes trying to find her in the ginormous procession.  She was on the right. 

Contrary to what you may be thinking, this ceremony took a little while.

This is one of my favorite pics.  If you magnify it about 500x you can see Angie's tiny little arm in the middle, waving to us.  She called to tell us where she was.  Cause that's how they roll nowadays.

The moment you've all been waiting for!  Just imagine you see her accepting her diploma.  She really is shaking the professor's hand in this photo.  Trust.  Yes, they hand them out individually.  The actual named diploma.  I didn't believe it either.  That's probably why they can put a "The" before Ohio State University.

Maybe sometime after the wedding she'll stop being lazy and organize her closet already.  Wait, no, she just did that too.
Congratulations you over-achiever you!!!
ps- Go Hoosiers!
*If I have to tell you what movie that quote is from, I'm not sure I want you reading my blog.

Bugs I Deem Okay

The list is short: lightning bugs, caterpillars, and butterflies (if you consider them a separate bug).  I know I know, I'm an "inside" kind of girl.  So, off we went to the Butterfly Show at the Cincinnati Botanical Gardens, to admire the only bug you would ever hear me calling "pretty'.
Oh, and we got caught in a very humid rain on our way in, which is why we're all looking a little unsavory.  Just sayin'.

Her first catch of the day!  You can see it in the bottom left corner just barely.  Oh so proud of herself.

They were provided little foam flowers to lure the butterflies with.  Rosa is amazed at her sisters' talent.  Yes, Emmy is wearing a butterfly shirt.  I am that good.  Actually I just noticed that now.

Yep, that's pretty much how you catch butterflies.  Just sort of stand there.  Waiting.  You want to come with us next year, don't you?  Actually it really was fun.  Except for the whole bug part.

Rosa liked catching the foam flowers instead.  My kind of girl.

That's the face she would make when one got too close.  Tee hee.  Such a girl. 

The focus of a future entomologist?  I associate that word almost entirely with Silence of the Lambs.

Oh hey!  Loooook!  I caught one on my shirt!  It likes me!!!!!

Oh, oh wait...too close....Abort! Abort!!!!!!!!!

Celebrating success outside of the gardens.  Emmy is all about picking up Rosa lately.  With a 6 lb. difference between them, this is always a good idea.  It is either met with delight as pictured above or extreme distaste, which I will not even photograph.  You don't want to see that.

Happy Weekend!