Labor Day Weekend!

Our last weekend of summer was packed full of things to do! We left home Saturday morning by 9:30 am. Grandma Nola and Grandpa Gary had 'breakfast-for-lunch' waiting for us around 12:30 when we pulled in their driveway. Lexi, Jill and even Kaitlyn shoveled in pancakes, sausage links and scrambled eggs. Then we had 2 different weddings to attend... Cole and Kristy got married at 4:30 in Montpelier, OH. Brittany, Kaitlyn, Kyle, Bethany, and Lexi ventured to their ceremony. Matt sat home with Jill (who was still napping) while Nola, Gary and Benny went to Alison and Josiah's wedding ceremony at Middle Creek. We then all met up at the Paulding County Fairgrounds for Alison and Josiah's reception at 6 pm. We were there until after 9 pm and finally took some very tired children home and to bed. Sunday morning we went to church and then (after a quick nap for Jill) treked into Van Wert for the fair! The four of us met up with Ben and Erin Culler and their 2 boys - Jack and Nate - for some fair fun. We all saw the animals and then Jack and Lexi rode about 7 different fair rides. They are just so cute! Jack, on several occasions, had his little arm around Lexi's shoulders and often helped her buckle into the rides. Maybe a blooming romance?!?! Nate and Jill just chilled in the stroller. We all grabbed some delicious fair food before heading for home. We pulled back in our driveway right at 9 pm Sunday night. Whew! What a fun and exhausting weekend. Can't wait til next time we see everyone!

Sesame Place!

For those of you who don't know... Mommy and Daddy promised to take Lexi to Sesame Place once she was potty-trained. Well, a few months ago (early Spring) she did just that and we had been counting down the days ever since. We left uncle Andrew at our house with Banky, and took Jill to stay with Grandma Chris and Papa and took off for New Jersey on Saturday. Our hotel was in Princeton, NJ (an 8 hour drive from our house). With traffic accidents and construction, we made it in about 9 hours (stopping to eat at McDonalds on the way). We enjoyed the hotel pool and Lexi even got to sleep in her very own pull-out couch/bed! She was so excited the next morning. We left the hotel and drove 15 miles back into Pennsylvania - right across the border - to Bucks county. The address is actually Langhorne and it was right off the highway. The tickets were buy one day, get one day free, so we decided to spread it out and come for 2 days. Sesame Place is a theme park centered around... you guessed it! Sesame Street! It is one big park with water rides/slides mixed in with dry rides and also shows/attractions. A lot of people just wear their swim suits all day with water shoes. We chose to stay dry the first day, since we had lunch reservations to dine with the characters! First thing we did was the Carousel. Next, we watched Elmo's World Live! Elmo and Mr. Noodle put on a real-live edition of Elmo's World complete with piano and even Dorothy! Then on to the Spinning TeaCups and Big Bird's Balloon Ride. Mommy attempted to get stuck in the net tunnels (it's a good thing daddy didn't try to go with Lexi on that one!) while Lexi made her way through with ease. By then it was time to go eat lunch with all the guys! They had a great buffet of food and 6 of the Sesame Street guys came and met everyone while we ate! We met and took pictures with Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Zoe, Bert and Ernie! Then they each sang a song and ended with a huge Conga line! Lexi was skeptical at first, but by the end she wanted to go up and give everyone a 'high-5' and tell them bye. After lunch we headed to the Vapor Trail - Grover's roller coaster. Lexi rode with Daddy the first day. She was scared, but ended up liking that ride the best! Then we made our way to the parade route. Every day at 2pm, all the guys line up and have a parade down Main Street. Telly and Count von Count were even in the parade along with Abby and Oscar the Grouch. The only one missing was... GROVER! We had yet to meet Grover (Lexi's favorite). She was starting to get worried that she wouldn't see him, then he appeared! She ran over to him and was the first in line to take a picture with him. Grover got a great big hug from Lexi and a 'high-5' as well. She professed her love for him and said he was her favorite. Lexi then climbed Cookie Mountain - a huge climbing mountain that you slide down once you make it to the top. She didn't want to come out when time was up! Next, we made our way to the photo-stop where we got pictures with Abby and Elmo. We decided to call it a day after that. We were all pooped! So we drove back to the hotel, bopped into TGI Friday's to eat, and then went swimming again to cool off.

Day two at Sesame Place started early. We had breakfast with the characters at 9:30am. This time, we were decked out in our swim suits. Once again, they had a great breakfast buffet and we met some of the characters again. This time no singing, but Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Elmo and Zoe once again came around to the tables and met everyone. After breakfast, it was already hot outside so we headed for the water rides. Mommy didn't have her camera with her because it would have gotten wet, so we have no pictures of the wet fun we had. Let's just say we went on a Ramblin' River with Big Bird (Lexi had her own inner tube on a lazy river), many water slides at the Count's Splash Castle, a HUGE inner tube (that easily holds 2 families of 3-4 people) that made it's way down a HUGE hill - Lexi got drenched, and many other small splash play areas. A few hours later, we saw Abby's Treasure Hunt show and Grover was in the show! Lexi was sitting on the end of the bench and Grover even gave her a 'high-5' during the show. She was SO EXCITED! Then we went back to Conut's Splash Castle and Lexi did a few more slides before we ate a little lunch and decided to put our dry clothes on. We then met Grover AGAIN and gave him a huge hug AGAIN and this time we got a family picture with Grover - the only one with all 3 of us in it! There was one more show we hadn't seen yet... Elmo Rocks! It had Zoe, Elmo, Bert, Ernie and Cookie and they formed a band! After the show, there were a few rides Lexi wanted to ride again. The TeaCups, Cookie Mountain, Big Bird's Balloon Ride and finally Vapor Trail roller coaster - this time with mommy. We all had a great time and drove back to the hotel for one more swim (after eating delivered pizza). Early Tuesday morning we were out the door headed for Ohio. Back to see Jill and Banky dog (who, as Lexi would say, "watched uncle Andrew"). All in all a great trip. Hopefully we can take Jill there in a few years to enjoy just like her big sister did this year. Enjoy the pictures!

Kyle's Baptism

Brittany and Matt had Kyle baptized this past weekend. It was really special, because both of Matt's sisters and their families were able to be there (one lives in California and the other in ITALY!). Despite a flat tire, I think things went well and we also were able to celebrate Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday. She opened her gifts and I believe the favorite was a Sponge-Bob musical card from uncle Benny! Anyway, the baptism was great and we enjoyed a good meal at the Red Pig afterward. Enjoy the pictures... and congrats to the new Godparents Jen and Joe!!

Also, how could I forget to share... Lexi learned how to write her name this weekend! I am so proud.

Transition Time

It has been a very busy time for us. I have changed jobs from Sam's Club to Walgreens. It was a move that just had to be made. Things were going down the tubes quickly at Sam's and I just needed to get out! Thankfully, Walgreens took me back and I only had to train for 4 days (instead of the usual 10). The ins and outs of the computer system are all coming back to me fairly quickly after being gone for nearly 3 years. The schedule is nearly perfect for me and I am also home with the girls for at least some part of the days - even on the days I work. Hopefully I will be with Walgreens for a long time to come... this changing jobs is for the birds! No pictures this time... but soon!

Father's Day Weekend

Matt had to work this past weekend, so the girls and I spent the daynight at the Beach House with grandma Chris and Papa. We went up on Sat. morning and came back on Sun. afternoon. It was a lot of fun. We even went to the African Safari Wildlife Park and fed the animals! Jill loved it, but Lexi still wasn't too sure about all those big animals with their heads in our car. All in all it was a great weekend and the weather was perfect. We were even home before daddy got home from work on Sunday to wish him a Happy Father's Day. Enjoy the pictures!

Maely & Garrett's Wedding

For those of you who were not at the Alexander wedding (Maely and Garrett) on Saturday, here are a couple slideshows (one pre-wedding and one post-wedding) of the great time we had! Enjoy!

Pre-wedding

Post-wedding

Zachary Benjamin Gadfield

Matt and I took Lexi and Jill to Columbus for a quick overnight trip Sunday and met uncle Benny at COSI for a few hours. It was a lot of fun and I think Lexi really enjoyed it. There were still some things that were over her head, but we concentrated on the younger-kid attractions. After COSI, we went to visit baby Zach (and Ben & Julie of course). Lexi had been talking about holding him all week and she finally got her wish. He is just adorable - and black hair! The new family seems to be adjusting well. We can't wait to see them again soon. After visiting for a couple hours, we made it to the hotel. Lexi was more than ready to swim, so we all 4 put on our suits and hit the pool. It was really nice to just relax and both girls love the water. We are so excited for the summer and many more swim days! Enjoy the pictures.