Hiking + Biking

I love my little trailblazers! And they loved "hiking" in the woods this Saturday afternoon. Kenzie & Lexi would run ahead on the trail and pick up sticks and rocks along the way. What a fun little adventure!







Apparently that little pebble was of great interest to them both :)



We also went for a bike ride, but this wasn't quite as big of a hit with Lexi. The first few miles were smooth "riding" but then Lexi had had enough and we had a lot of whining and soon had to turn around and head back to the car.



Oh well, we still had a great afternoon and we'll try it again hopefully with more success.

Farmer's Fair

On Saturday we visited the Farmer's Fair in Covington, KY. It was basically a glorified farmer's market with a petting zoo and some speakers promoting the benefits of eating local food. We love a good farmer's market and it was a beautiful day so it worked for us :)



I love that my girls are such good eaters. They enjoyed some fresh watermellon and grilled corn on the cob at the fair...



... and some farm fresh apples on the car ride home!

happy 100th birthday ault park!

Ault Park is our favorite park in Cincinnati! We are lucky to live within walking distance and we spend a lot of time at this park. It is where we took some of our first walks with Tobi when he was a puppy. It is where we took our maternity pictures, and also several photo shoots of the girls already. It is where the girls had their first picnic and where we eat dinner frequently on nice summer evenings. We love the tree trails, the playground, the beautiful gardens surrounding the pavillion. The girls visit the playground almost daily. It is where they learned to swing, climb and slide. Ault Park is a place where we meet friends and enjoy time together as a family.



Ault Park is celebrating its 100th year and tonight the girls and I walked up for the 'Big Birthday Bash'. We had such a great time! There were games, there was a band and dancing, there were people dressed in period costume and old fashioned Reds uniforms, there was cake and ice cream. Kenzie & Lexi had a great time dancing and playing with all the other kids. We met up with friends and neighbors and had such an enjoyable night. We just wish that Daddy could have joined us, but sadly he is out of town. I'm sure we'll be back at the park together as a complete family again this weekend :)

a perfect weekend

Friday was a beautiful day and a spontaneous neighborhood happy-hour was the perfect way to kick off the weekend. The girls had so much fun playing with all of the kids on our street. I love that there are so many kids so close in age. They loved playing together on the slide and both Kenzie & Lexi fell in love with Ayla's baby doll stroller.



On Saturday while the girls were napping I went out and bought them each a doll stroller. When they spotted them out on the back porch they were sooo excited! We immediately had to take their baby dolls for a walk.



On Saturday evening Audra, Kyle and Maddie came over for dinner. The girls love "babies" right now and they were very smitten with Maddie. Kenzie tried to share her goldfish with Maddie ... now that's love :) We had such a fun evening with the Schlegel's!



On Sunday morning we took a trip to the Farmer's Market and of course the girls insisted on bringing their baby dolls and strollers along. They are such good "mommies". Lexi is gentle with her baby and stroller, while Kenzie is a bit rough. She will pick up the whole stroller and correct her course, at times inadvertently losing baby in the process. They were quite the hit at the market :)





On Sunday evening we took a family walk up to Ault Park and met up with some friends at the playground. The girls have graduated to the "big kid" side of the playground ... wanting to keep up with their older friends. They went down the tunnel slide for the first time on their own... they seem to have no fear!



I am so happy that the girls are finally feeling better and that we were able to have such a wonderful weekend together as a family. Life is good.

"hot" in pictures

The girls were feeling a bit better this weekend so on Sunday we took a family trip to the park. The girls had so much fun running around on the soccer field, but were quickly soaked in sweat. You can literally "see" them get hot & sweaty through these pictures ...
















All tuckered out and ready for some A/C!



The girls were so happy that Daddy came home from Panama on Friday night (a day early ... yay!) and enjoyed some Daddy-daughter time this weekend. I love these moments between them that I was able to capture on film.

playing dress up, pigtails, potties and other random tidbits ...

It has been so hot recently, so between the heat and illness we have been spending a lot of time inside trying to stay cool & get healthy. Here are some pictures from our indoor adventures over the course of the past week.

The girls love reading ... this remains one of their favorite activities and they can entertain themselves quite well. Love Kenzie's pose :)



Tobi hasn't been feeling very well lately and the girls have been especially sweet to their brother. They both snuggle up to him and give him hugs and kisses when he's down. Lexi has also started to help feed Tobi. When she notices that his food bowl is empty she will pick it up and carry it over to the door where his food is. After we fill it up she puts it back where it belongs, beaming with pride :)



The girls have started to enjoy playing dress up. They love putting on hats, tutus, capes and most recently have discovered my high heels. Loving Lexi's little pigtails :)



The girls aren't talking much yet, but they are starting to expand their vocabulary a bit. Lexi has more real words than Kenzie, but Kenzie will babble so adamantly that you swear she is saying something profoundly important ... " a wheee a wheee a whaa?!" Lexi's favorite words beyond dadda and momma are cheese and shoes. Girl knows what she likes :)



We picked up a potty at the Target the other day, just to start exposing the girls to the idea. Apparently I potty trained myself in 1 day at the age of 18 months after watching my slightly older friend use the potty. Not that I am expecting my daughters to do the same, but a girl can dream right? :) So far they really enjoy sitting on the potty but nothing beyond that has happened.



Kenzie and Lexi are interacting with one another more and more each day. A common part of their daily routine now includes "sister wrestling", which starts with hugs and kisses, then transitions into full on body tackles and lots of giggles, and often ends with kenzie crying as lexi is the more aggressive one when it comes to this sport. While i don't like it when it ends in tears, it sure is cute to watch the giggle stage :) Love my girls more and more each day!

my baby sister is having a baby

I am so excited that my baby sister is going to have a baby boy. I can't wait for her to experience the joy of motherhood and I am so excited for Kenzie & Lexi to have a new cousin who will be so close in age. While I have been excited for Inken and Andrew since they shared the great news early this year, part of me was still in disbelief that my baby sister was actually going to have a baby. But last weekend, I surprised Inken and flew out to San Francisco for her baby shower and getting to hug my sister with her baby boy in her belly made it all very real. Real and amazing and magical! Inken is a gorgeous, glowing momma-to-be and I am so happy that I got to see her in this incredible stage of her life.



It was a perfect baby shower weekend. I got to see Inken & Andrew's beautiful new house and explore their new neighborhood. I was able to spend some quality time with Inken and my mom, and the shower itself was perfection! Hollen & Carolyn did such an incredible job. Inken is so lucky to have such great friends and Baby Boy Chrisman is one loved little boy already!





Kenzie & Lexi stayed home with Daddy for the weekend. They had a great Friday night and a fun filled Saturday. Unfortunately Saturday night did not go well at all ... Kenzie was screaming and refused to go to sleep and Randall ended up sleeping on the floor of the nursery. At the time he thought it was separation anxiety, but I took the girls to the doctor on Monday since they were still really fussy and running a fever, and it turns out they both have the Hand, Foot and Mouth virus and have painful blisters in their mouth and throat. My poor baby girls :( Daddy left for Panama on Monday so it is just me and the girls for the week ...