Fall Festivities

This past weekend, we had a hodge podge of activity.  On Friday night, we enjoyed "Techno Night."  Now when I was younger, that would have meant lots of strange music and lights bouncing off of mirror balls. Not so with this generation.  Sophie taught Pa how to play "Angry Birds" on the "evo".  What a sight! 

Everyone had their own equipment:  iphones, ipads and laptops. Now that lingo alone is enough to make your ears perk up.

Pa seemed to be engrossed in his game.

On Saturday, Pa was cleaning up outside so he blew the leaves into a pile so we could jump into them.

Sophie enjoyed the activity

but Laynie didn't think it was fun.

Em's World

Sunday was Em's party to celebrate her first birthday.  Lots of people were there.  Here are a few samples of the day.

Her cake made by none other than the famous Erin Alsop of The Cake Kitchen.  Fabulous as always.            
                              


Abram slept through the entire party.





Laynie enjoys the festivities.

  
 Sophie poses with the birthday girl and her mom.


Em enjoys her "E" cookie



Check out the size of the piece of cake Sophie shared with Olivia.





Is this how you do it?




Heidi fixed Em's hair so pretty-for a while.




Cute cake!




Raegan enjoyed the party also.



Looks like a perfect angel doesn't she?

It's About Time

Yes, early this morning, our country fell back in TIME.  We gained another hour.  I wondered to myself, "what will I do with this extra hunk of excess TIME?"  Well, I decided it was TIME to blog again.  The girls have been on my case since July.  Not that nothing has been happening, just that I did not have TIME.  Well here goes.

 Anthony was my partner all evening. What 13 year old kid likes to dance and with an old woman at that.  We had a blast!!

This was Pa's position for the do si do!

John and I were invited to a square dance last night.  It has been 20 years since I have done that!!  We (I) had a great TIME!!!!!  John was very gracious to go with me.  The McFaddens like to have fun, so there was a potluck and lots of dancing.  We stayed out until 11:00 ("levim") which is way past our bedTIME.  I got lots of exercise and some sore hips. John enjoyed being a wall flower, but he did smile the whole night.  I promise to post more often if TIME permits.

The Ohio State Fair

In keeping with a very old tradition, T took Sophie to the State Fair today.  It was all about animals today. Soph is not fond of the rides, although she did try out some of the tamer ones.  Both of us went down the giant slide together and I must say, neither one of us were prepared for the experience.  Needless to say, we only did that once.  Her favorite was the pony ride and she enjoyed the horse shows in the coliseum all day long.  It took three tries before she had the courage to milk the cow.  With tired feet and legs, we called it a day and what a day it was.

This was the favorite activity.  Too bad it didn't last longer. Go cowgirl!

This has been a favorite for three years now.

Sophie was all smiles until the ride started and then it took her by surprise.  We had to stop the ride and get her off.

Ahhhh....bumper boats.  Sounds like fun but Sophie thought the other kids were being mean when they ran into her.

I think Sophie managed to feed every animal in the petting zoo.

The turkeys were a fun stop.

One of our rest stops to enjoy fresh squeezed lemonade--the coliseum!

What a cowgirl!!

Hello everyone.

We finally got some milk!!!

Next year, all the girls get to go--put on your walking shoes.

The Sikora girls come to Bainbridge

We finally got all five of the girls together. What a great time we had! Getting a picture of all of them was not so easy. Aren't they a lively group?

Annie finally met "king kong"

Sophie and Annie got pretty brave on the slide with some help from wax paper.

Sophie and Em share a loving moment.

The triplets actually argued over the ball.

At bedtime, Hayley took a turn at reading stories.

We all agreed that Em looks like she could be Heather's daughter.

Millie enjoyed the jump-a-roo.

Matt and Annie enjoyed an evening swim on their last night with us.

Pa enjoyed some swim time with the girls also.

Heidi helped Annie find the courage to "let go" with swimmies on.

Thanks to Jeremy for sharing his family with us.  We missed having you here Jer!

Happy Birthday America!!!

The fireworks were great as usual. The finale was especially good this year! Thanks Matt.

The little ones enjoyed sparklers!

Blake filled in for Jeremy and wore the "July 4th glasses". As usual, he borrowed an old pair of John's trunks. The basketball game was rough as expected.

Emmalyn and Laynie enjoyed the day!

Soph loved the sparklers.

The weather was great this year. We missed Jeremy, Heather, Annie and Millie. It was great to have Katie and Damian here for a little while. The fourth of July never dissapoints with great food, family, fun and fireworks.  Happy Birthday USA.

Taking Care of Things

Pa and I have been working hard on the yard. Although we are not where we hope to be, we are further than we were. (How's that for optimism?) We think the yard is shaping up nicely. By the time July 4th rolls around, we should be done - that is until the grass needs mowing again. Oh well, what else do we have to do??????

Beautiful day lilies

I know it is sideways, but I couldn't fix it!

It's still gorgeous!!!!

This is our idea of a garden this year.

We got it on sale and it had a ripe tomato on it.  Just

goes to show, good things come to those who wait for the sale.