We love the zoo!

We've been trying to take full advantage of our zoo membership. It is a nice way for even just Emily and I to spend the afternoon. What's nice is that since we're members, we don't feel like we have to stay all day or see everything to get our money's worth. Here's some pictures from one of the afternoon's that we spent at the zoo. Which-by the way-is now ranked the #1 zoo in america!!! Yeah Columbus Zoo!!!!

Emily stopping for a picture!

Cheese!!

The tiger was up close this day!

I couldn't get Emily to stand in front of him :)

She's still a big fan of the merry-go-round.

I can't get over the pure joy she has when she rides it!

Later that night, I went to Shadowbox with Crystal for her birthday-happy birthday Crystal! I can't believe we've been friends for over 20 years!!!! Yikes!

More Fun

Emily looking at the party catalog to see what kind of birthday party she wants. Oh, so serious!

Our favorite daily activity-dress up!

Modeling her new Tinkerbell dress-so stinkin' adorable!

Emily taking pictures of me

She is so much fun!!! Such a girlie-girl!!

We spent some time playing in the rain recently.

She thought it was pretty cool to be playing out in the rain!

Just Playin'

Emily's favorite breakfast treat!

This is the last season of the tricycle-I'm thinking she'll be on a big girl bike next spring!

She can really get around on it though!

When did she get so big??!! Where did my baby go?

Watching Daddy power wash the house

She's got her purse and her baby-always!

Pensive

Having fun playing with her hat!

Emily likes to take pictures now-every now and then they come out pretty good!

Self portrait-of course!

Lake Buckhorn

This summer we went and spent a couple days at Lake Buckhorn where my Great Aunt and Uncle have a house. It was a great get a way for the night. So peaceful-well, as peaceful as it can be with Emily around! I wasn't sure how Emily would be, but she had a great time (besides the weird non-sleeping, crying fits in the middle of the night!). We went out on a boat ride, did some fishing, ate some good food, and just relaxed.

Emily was surprisingly super excited to get her life jacket on.

Checking out the lake.

Mom, Aaron and Emily. Emily's a little nervous!

Took her a few minutes to get comfortable...

then she loved it!

Getting ready to do some fishing with Aunt Amy and Uncle Tom.

I sooo know nothing about fishing! Emily was having fun though.

Her pole wasn't in but a minute and she had a bite!!!

Emily didn't quite know what was going on-of course we were all cheering and excited for her!

Family picture with Emily's first catch!

Back at it again!

She was so calm and still.

Our little fisherwoman!

What a fun weekend! Looking forward to doing it again!

Weekend at Grandma's

Aaron's brother was in Toledo, so we went up to visit with them and his mom. It was so nice to get to spend time with Uncle Todd and Aunt Kristie! We don't get to see them too often since they live in Wisconsin. We went to the Butterfly House while we were up there. The entire room was filled with butterflies. It was kinda cool. Kinda creepy too-'bugs' landing on you and flying by. Aaron and Kristie weren't too sure about it. Couldn't quite fight the urge to swat at them! It was neat though. The next day the guys got to go play golf and Kristie, Cheryl and I took the kids to the zoo. We didn't end up staying too long because it was about a million degrees outside!! But the kids had a good time though. Jack plays so nice with Emily, and Emily really looks up to him. I hope that it's not too long before we're able to see them again!

Playing skee-ball at dinner.

Smiley Jack...

Smiley Emily!

Watching the butterflies eat.

Getting a little more comfortable. (Wearing her butterfly shirt was actually a coincidence).

This one was just laying there the whole time. They assured us that it was still alive :)

The park by Aaron's mom's house had some fun inflatables to play on! Here's Jack going down the big slide.

Playing on the obstacle course.

Jack's turn!

Wheee!!!

She kept putting her toes right up next to his while they were in line. Kinda cute :)

Playing in Nature's Backyard at the zoo.

State Fair

Emily and I went to the Ohio State Fair with Grammy, Aunt Shell and Saylor. We were mostly excited to go to get the yummy fair food! That's the best part!! We found out the next day that Emily had strep throat! Poor girl!! I had it the week before and must have given it to her. :( I'm still blaming my strep on the ear infection she had over vacation. It's just been antibiotic after antibiotic in this house!! So, poor girl was starting to have a fever and stuff as we were out in the hot sun. She was a trooper though-a little Motrin and she was ready to keep playing! What mean parents we are always making her go go go out in the hot sun when she's sick! First in Disney, then at the Fair! She did end up being pretty sick though after this day-she had 103 degree fever for 3 days straight! I had to skip work for a couple days-and Emily had to skip daycare all week!!! Poor girl was pretty miserable for a few days. Bonus (for Emily and Mommy) was that she slept with me in our bed. That's my favorite part! She actually did okay going back to her room after she was better-I was worried that we were starting a new bad habit! Hopefully we can all stay healthy for a few months now!

I had to take a picture with Freddy and Freida!! Go Falcons!!! We did keep my chocolate covered frozen banana in the picture too :)

We watched a few of the horse competitions. Emily and Saylor actually liked it a good bit-and it was air conditioned in there :) They were so cute holding hands sitting on Grammy's lap.

We were checking out the baby cows-only a few days old!

They are so stinkin' cute!

The whole day Emily wanted to ride the merry go round. We finally rode it before we left. After it got started, she ended up crying the whole time around! She loves to talk about merry go rounds-but the only time she enjoyed them was the one in Disney World. She had to ride that one at least 3 times the day we were there. It truly is a magical place!

Even with a sick little girl-it was a fun day! We got to eat yummy food, see lots of animals and had a great time!

Smarrelli Wedding

We got to go to Pennsylvania for a friend from college's wedding. Jonny was on the golf team with Aaron. We don't all get together too often, unfortunately, so it was great to have the wedding as an excuse to see each other!

The guys at the rehearsal.

Everybody at the rehearsal dinner-we seemed to have posed this well!

Dawn and Andy-I love them!!

Brian, Jenny and their baby girl Kylie-10 weeks old! She was a saint the whole weekend!

Otto, Miller, Dusty, Aaron and Gerky after dinner.

Dawn and I with our must-have bathroom shot!

I love this picture-I wish Aaron was completely in it though!!! We stayed up late and acted like we were still in college. We're a bit older now though and paid for it the next morning!! I should find some pictures from school to compare with this one!

Clearly it was a good time :) She didn't spill though!

Some things never change.....jumping into an empty jacuzzi.....

Before the wedding. All dressed up!!!

Awwww

The wedding reception was really nice! Dusty, Mikey, Otto, Miller and Gerky enjoying some drinks before dinner.

'Dancing' together during the wedding party dance. Wow....

Our usual self-portrait.

He was claiming to be 'THAT' guy all night long. He lived up to it well!

Good times! You can tell we've all had wedding pictures taken the way we pose so nicely for group shots!

Gettin' down!

Unfortunately the best picture of the bride and groom together that I have! Oops!!
Jonny and Michelle Smarrelli!

AAaanndd-one more time for good measure....

We had so much fun hanging out with everyone! Unfortunately it's the last wedding we'll have! No more excuses to get together. So-now we've got to make an excuse! I'm thinking there's a Vegas plan in the works for the spring :)