Geneva on the Lake

So, for Memorial weekend, we ended up heading north to Lake Erie. We found a quaint little cottage to rent for a few days in this bizarre little town called Geneva on the Lake. We found a "beach" to visit at the state park there and really just hung out, relaxing and playing. It was a pretty great escape even though we seemed to be the only ones there who didn't arrive on motorbike...

Kallen could not get enough of the beach--"I luva da beach!!" Katherine spent a good deal of her time studying for school finals despite our labelling her a "total nerd." Kora loved the playtime on the beach almost as much as Kallen! Certainly the break that we all needed!

Spring Break in NYC

 

Once the Easter festivities had finished, we made plans to leave early the next morning (before Kallen awoke) to head to NYC! We had promised Katherine and Kora a trip--Katherine wasa eager to return and Kora had never been. Katherine had previously planned out our entire trip. The few days that we spent there were jam-packed with tons of sights to see and places to visit. Among our stops were Statue of Liberty (including a hike to the crown!), Ellis Island, The MET, The MOMA, The Natural History Museum, the NYC public library, Grand Central Station, several areas of Central Park, The Dakota, seeing Wicked, Times Square (including several stops at Toys R Us, Hershey's Store, M&Ms World, and souvenier shops), Mood fabric store, FAO Schwartz, The Apple Store, The Plaza, The Empire State Building, Top of the Rock(efeller), and more that I can't remember right now. We had SO much fun! The girls are eager to go back again. Next time we hope to take Kallen. She got the spend those few days being ridiculously spoiled by her Aunts.

Easter Eggs and Scranton

This year Easter Sunday was spent in the Scranton area with the Beeman family. We had a very yummy dinner at Marlo's house and went to the lake for our Easter Egg Hunt. Marlo was an especially fantastic hostess and took us to some fun Scranton sights while we were there as well. One significant event that no one was fast enough to get photo proof of, came when a Bald Eagle flew over the lake when we first arrived there for the hunt. We all saw it and no one got a photo. So bummed...but incredible nonetheless!






















Marlo took us to Nay Aug Park (I don't think I had ever been before)--we hiked around and saw some cool sights. The girls all had a good time!

Kallen Obsesses...

Over the last few months, Kallen has decided to start obsessing... She started with her books. She LOVES to be read to and developed a nightly routine of convincing someone to read ALL of her favorite books to her just before bed. I was especially pleased by this obsession. Reading is all good.




Her most recent obsession began when Eric decided to use my upcoming birthday as an excuse to indulge his obsession and be one of the first to own an iPad! My birthday gift quickly became a household obsession for everyone except me! Kallen has mastered the iPad and can operate nearly every app on it with little problem. Her favorite place to visit is YouTube. She knows how to find the history and watch her favorite videos. She can then find other videos similar to her favorites. It's an endless entertainer for her. I find myself pretty constantly monitoring her viewing as I haven't yet figured out how to filter out the inappropriate...what fun for me!

Our February Snow!!!

February brought more snow than we were expecting here in the Cincinnati area. It did make for some fun snow days and plenty of opportunities for Snowmen. Kora could play in the snow all day long. Katherine enjoys brief but intense snow play. Kallen decided it was fun to eat the snow. Eric and I got plenty of exercise keeping the driveway and sidewalks free from snow.

Playing catch-up in Honor of Dad, yet again...

So, I guess it's a good thing these occasions keep coming around or I would never get my blogging done. I know Dad is missing the blog updates so for Father's Day, here are some of the things that our family has been up to for the last 4 and a half months. It's not complete, but these are the occasions for which I have photos...