Last day of school

Today is J's last day of 1st grade. He took flowers for his teachers and his lunch request was a lunchable. The kids all even get an extra hour of summer since they get out of school an hour early today! Yesterday, they had field day and Jakob had a lot of fun and got pretty sunburned. Jakob did a great job at school this year and is looking forward to 2nd grade. And, yes, he wanted his hair like that!

First Fruits

Jakob, Noah and I just split the first fruit from the garden. It was a strawberry about 1 inch long. It was tiny, but it packed a punch! We only got one little taste and I had to be careful not to drop the pieces, but it was worth the wait! I guess we could have had some sooner, but they are being eaten by something.
Currently the two boys are on the back porch enjoying a homemade watermelon pop. I needed something to do with the extra watermelon from yesterday so I tossed it in the blender with some ice and had enough juice to make 4. They seem to like it, and it's a perfect treat on a hot, muggy day.

Hocking Hills

Sunday was a beautiful day so we, and a multitude of others, decided to spend the day at Hocking Hills. It's a historical recreation area with tons of hiking trails, caves and waterfalls. After a picnic lunch we took the trails to Old Man's Cave, Upper and Lower Falls, and the bridge over the gorge. The bridge had some little cut out areas for kids to look through and Ben took full advantage of it. Keely had fun but she is not very 'dog friendly' so she had a few issues with the other dogs that were around. After about the half-way point she was too tired to really care about them anymore so she was a lot calmer. She even got her feet wet at the bottom of one of the falls. Jakob's favorite part was the tunnels that we had to go through to get to some of the trails. Noah's favorite part was going to the waterfalls. Ben's favorite part was climbing up the hills and scaring Mom to death while sticking his head through the bridge.
Jakob was so tired after all the hiking that he needed a pillow, Keely had to suffice.

Outdoor Living

A delicious dinner on the back porch. Followed by the boys playing in the yard, which they did much of the day because there was finally no rain.
Ben actually ate meat tonight. He's been chewing it up and spitting it out lately. Noah used to do that too. I think it might have something to do with getting his molars. Jakob didn't really want to eat more than just bread and carrots but he forced down the chicken, and Noah ate everything without complaining. Keely enjoyed the few tasty morsels she was given too.

Ben was having issues with an itchy diaper (time for potty training?) But a pre-bedtime bath revealed that it was Noah who ended up with a tick! EWWW! Steve got it out with only one try. Keely wishes that I was that good since it took 3 of us to hold her down and 10-15 minutes to get hers out in Virginia.

A good thing about Steve's trip back to Lodi was the vino he was able to bring back with him. We had a toast to the late Robert Mondavi, founder of Woodbridge winery, who passed away last week at age 94.

California Here I Come!

I headed back to Lodi last week with a group of operators and a supervisor for some training. It was great to be back and see everyone! While there, we hit some of the favorites, Lodi Beer Company, Matsuyama (sushi, which is surprisingly sparse in Ohio), In 'N' Out, and others. We also all got a tour of the Woodbridge Winery.

On Wednesday, I had a training session up at Incline Village (Lake Tahoe). It was a great trip. I just wish the rest of the family could have come!

Barrels of wine at Woodbridge Winery
Lake Tahoe, from the dock at the Lone Eagle in Incline Village

Finally, a game!

Jakob finally got to play a baseball game again. After the first game, the next four games were rained out. Jakob had a great game. The teams were pretty evenly matched. There were some great hits, some strike outs, and some pretty good plays, and lots of foul balls too. Jakob was higher up in the line up so he got some better pitches. A couple of the kids even slid into 1st (Jakob was one of them!).
Jakob's first at bat was pretty nice. He got a base hit, but Ben grabbed the camera so I missed it. There were already 2 outs, and he got stranded of first.
His second at bat (shown on the video) took a little longer. Coach King was getting a little tired so his pitches weren't all great - he struck out his own son 2 times. From where I was standing when he finally hit the ball, it looked like a foul ball, but apparently, it was fair. I put his base running in the video too, so it almost looks like a home run.

Z-Pack

So Jakob's eye was kinda crusty last night after he played in the rain for 15 minutes while we waited for his baseball game to start yet ultimately be canceled. Then he said it hurt, but I thought it was more for sympathy and getting to stay up longer than actually hurting. This morning he said that his other eye hurt and his throat and chest hurt. So, I made an appointment at the doctor and after wasting over an hour waiting in the room, it turns out that he has a little bronchitis. Is it me or has he been to the doctor more times since we moved here than in his whole life?! Anyway, we got a z-pack and he should be just fine.

Oh, and congratulations to Justin and Erica who welcomed little baby Ella Rose into their family on Friday!