Pumpkin Festival and a Train Ride

Chris's brother works for the railroad and they have their company picnic every year, complete with train ride. Last year, it was a work type train we went on, not very comfortable, but cool nonetheless. This year, they refinished a 1945 passenger car and it was soooo neat inside. It made the ride much more enjoyable.

Aww, isn't he precious?

Me and Addison

From left, Aunt Kari, Presleigh (Addison's cousin) Cali, Addison, and Sydney.

These are just some random park pictures that I thought were cute.

I especially like this one.

And these are from a local festival my friend was responsible for heading up. It was the first year and I'd say it was a success. Here, Sydney's playing a casting game, where they teach you to cast, which she already knows how to do pretty well. She had fun and got a bag of rubber bait worms that she LOVED and insisted on taking to church the next day.

Here's Sydney and Anna, my friend Jennie's little girl. Sydney's a pink poodle and Anna is a cat. They had fun chasing each other, barking and meowing.

Pony rides!

Decorating a pumpkin for the contest.

And this is what I found one day, right before we were headed somewhere. She was just calmly laying on her bed, writing and coloring. It was so sweet.

A Few Sydney-isms

Not much going on here lately. I don't have any pics to post or anything, but I wanted to get on here and document a few of the cute things Sydney says. Camel is "canimal." She cannot, for the life of her, get that right. And it cracks me up. Clothes are just "clo." Like "mommy, I want to wear these clo today." I love it, I could just eat her up! And last, but not least...her friend across the street had strep throat and so Sydney and I decided not to go over there for a little get together. A couple days later, she asked me "do the kids have stroke anymore?" I laughed to myself and then corrected her, but she still says that, so I just laugh now. The cute little twisted words are getting fewer, so I guess I should enjoy them while I can.

Also, we had the coolest experience. A few weeks ago, Sydney found a caterpillar outside and put it in her bug container and brought it in. Within a day or two it had made a chrysalis. It was a couple weeks before it finally came out as a butterfly. It was sooo cool! Yep, I didn't need to buy one of those kits they sell, she did it all on her own! When it came out, we set it free of course.

So, aside from that stuff, not a whole lot going on. Just getting ready for my favorite season, fall, and all the festivals and nice weather that come with it!

Labor Day!

Today, we went to a local church's "Familypalooza." We didn't know what to expect, but I was very pleased with everything they had to do there!

There was face painting. And here are my two cats

And there was this thing.

And some "golfing"

And crafts

Free sno cones (along with free popcorn and cotton candy.) And if you wanted a hot dog, a cookie and a drink, that was only $1!

There were slides

And pony rides!

And a dunking booth. Notice the guy is in mid fall and Sydney is strategically placed, hoping she'll get wet. So, after hours of fun there, we dropped Addison off and went to my mom's for a cookout.

And I got to see my cousin's little boy, Jeremiah, for the first time since his birth in January. I stole him for most of the night. I couldn't help it!

And Sydney had to love on him too! He's a very sweet little baby and didn't mind that he'd never seen me before. And now, we're home and getting ready to head back to the grind tomorrow!

Chris took Sydney hiking in a local state park a few days ago and he took these pictures of her with this lizard. I, for one, think this lizard looks different than the usual ones we see around here. I don't know how on earth she was able to catch it or why it didn't just jump right out of her hand, but it made a neat picture.

Water Time, First Day of School and more water!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, but nothing too exciting has been going on. And then when I did have something to post, my hard drive went bad and Chris had to order parts and take time to fix it. So, it's now fixed and I can once again post to the blog. However, most of my pictures (including Florida and Pennsylvania pics) are lost forever. Besides what I uploaded here and to FB, they're gone. =( I've posted a couple pics here of Sydney playing out in our yard with a sprinkler thing my friend got her a couple years ago for her birthday. She's really been playing with it a lot here lately.

She was taking the bowl you see in the background, filling it with water, dumping it in a low spot in the yard, making mud and then dancing around in it. Oh, to be a kid again!

First Day of First Grade! Who is that rockstar?

We were planning on taking our nieces and Sydney to Kings Island this past weekend. But when we awoke at 6 am to severe storms and lots of rain, I checked the weather for OH and it was just as stormy. So, we decided it would be best not to drive 2.5 hours to take our chances, and we went to a nearby indoor water park instead. Turned out to be a good decision. They all loved it!

Outside the entrance.

Getting dumped on by the giant bucket of water above. You can see the roof in this picture. If it's nice weather, they open it, but then if it rains, they can close it again. They do have an outdoor area that we did get to hang out in a little bit. And they have an adult only hot tub area. Very nice!

Little Mac (aka Addison). She is so precious!

Cali and Sydney on the lazy river. Sydney didn't really need the life jacket, I think she just wanted to wear one because Addison was wearing one.

Chris, just chillin'

I have no idea what possessed him to go down the kiddie slide, but he did. And the girls enjoyed it! They went down this slide hundreds of times that day!

Cali convinced me to go down a slide with her in a double tube and it was the one that shoots you out into the bowl that you go around and around in it and eventually go down another slide. Let me tell you, I only did it once. We ended up going down the second slide with me facing backwards and I did not like not being able to see where I was going. But it was an experience for sure. And we all had a great time!

Pennsylvania trip

A couple of weeks ago, Sydney and I took a serious road trip to visit my friend and her kids, who live in Pennsylvania. I was so nervous about the trip, but it turned out just fine. We were busy too! There were lots of things I wanted to see. First, we went to the Jersey Shore and hung out on the beach and did the boardwalk.

If you click on this picture, you can probably get a better look at Syd's face. PURE TERROR! And this was a kiddie roller coaster. By the end of the trip, she was riding a much larger roller coaster with no worries.

Aaliyah and Sydney riding bumper cars.

The slide!

The next day we went to NYC baby! Here's a pic of the New Years ball in Times Square.

The lego statue of liberty is as close as we got to the real thing. Maybe next time. This was inside a 3 story Toys R Us!

The huge Toys R Us also had ferris wheel with all different cars. The girls got stuck with the lamest one, but they had fun, nonetheless.

Radio City Music Hall

Sydney eating a hot dog

The girls with an alien at Mars 2112, the martian themed restaurant we ate at in NYC. It was pretty neat!

Rockefeller Center

In Times Square

The next day was Philly. This is the Betsy Ross House.

A bust of Benjamin Franklin made entirely of pennies and keys.

A replica of the inside of Al Capone's cell at Eastern State Penitentiary. Obviously, he was treated a little differently than most inmates.

The prison is in a state of ruin.

The courtyard of the prison, with the Philly skyline in the back.

Me and Syd at the top of the Rocky steps! Adrienne!!!

Inside the Franklin Institute

The girls found a fountain to cool off in.

The second to last day we were there, we went to Hershey Park and played in the water and rode some rides, but no pics there, I was too busy having fun. We spent the night there and did Chocolate World the next morning. We left from there. We're glad to be home, but will definitely go back soon!