Hours of Fun

We had been promising the kids a playground ever since we moved to Terrace Park. We finally broke down and got one from Sam's when they had a deal we could not pass up. The only problem was if we paid for installation the deal went from "great" to "not so great". So, we decided to build/install it ourselves.

When the semi truck showed up with four huge boxes of wood and another huge box of hardware, I began to wonder if that "great deal" was worth it. Well, I am happy to say it was. It took me, John Moore, Grandpa, and Emily 4 solid weekends, but the playground is up and running. It was not that difficult a job, just needed some extra hands and few other eyes on the instruction manual.

The kids love it too. The other day they went out on the playground at 9 am, had lunch out there, came in for a rest/nap at 1:30, then went back out from 3:30 until dinner at 6. The playground is in the shade, and we can see and hear the kids from inside the house. I'm glad we got it up and running just in time for Summer.

The Mean Green Machine

Tom finished his first season of soccer on Saturday. The above picture is his team, "The Mean Green Machine". All the boys got a lot better from our first practice to our last game. I had a lot of fun coaching them too. Tom has already signed up for Fall soccer, so I know he had a good time.

Watch Out Messi, Here Comes Tom

Tom had his first soccer game a few weeks ago. It was pouring down rain, the temperature was just above 50 degrees, and the kids were not all that excited to be out in it. You can see in the video that most of the kids were just standing in one spot waiting for the game to end. In fact, about 2 minutes after Tom scores the ref cancelled the rest of the game due to thunder.

I volunteered to coach his team, that is why I am out on the field in the video. All the kids on his team are from Terrace Park. We have had two games now and are a perfect 2-0 on the season. The kids seem to be having fun (when the weather is nice) and Tom looks forward to every Saturday for his games. I am having fun watching the kids learn the game that I loved and played my whole life.

Easter Bunny

Not only did the Easter bunny leave lots of eggs, toys, candy, and change behind, this year he also left behind one of his babies for us to watch. The kids named the bunny "Easter", hence Easter Bunny. He has not been too hard to care for, so far. The biggest issue is the food. I dropped a 50 pound bag on the basement floor and all the food spilled out everywhere. After almost an hour of shop-vac time, I got most of that up.
Then Sarah Jane decided to feed Easter, but instead just spread bunny food all over the basement floor, again. This time Emily got the honor of sweeping up the mess. Rabbit food is a little bit messy and very hard to keep in one place, apparently.
Easter may stay with us, or he may live at the farm, that decision is still up in the air. Either way, the kids have had a lot of fun with him since he has been at our house.

Terrace Park Easter

Terrace Park does an Easter Egg hunt and little fair the day before Easter up at the Village Green. They had a lot of fun games, pony rides, and the Easter Bunny showed up on the Terrace Park fire truck. It was a great way to start off the Easter weekend.

Washington DC (Part 2)

I was pretty busy having fun so I missed out on some good video moments, but I think this one will work. The first part was a massive playground we went to after a morning at the museums. I was trying to compare this playground to one in Cincinnati, but could not think of one that was this size. Maybe if Beech Acres and Sawyer Point joined together and threw in a Merry-Go-Round?

The second part is the Great Falls, just outside of DC. As you will hear, it was very windy that day, but even more so right by the Falls. Very cool park, very cool waterfalls. You will hear Tom's theory on where waterfalls come from in the video (think Dorothy and Kansas).

Finally, us saying goodbye to the Millers. It was a very nice trip and it was great to catch up with them in their town.

Washington DC (Part 1)

Last weekend we visited Kate, Jeff and Freeman in DC. We all had a very good time. The Millers showed us some really cool stuff. Museums, a massive playground, waterfalls, and all the airplanes we could stand! It was nice to get together and let the kids have some fun. Kate is due with baby #2 very soon and then it sounds like they are headed back to Cincinnati in the Summer. We're glad we made it to DC before they moved back.

Part 2 of this post will have some video, if I can find my flip!