Challenge, Accepted!

Mom challenged Aunt Di, Aunt Di challenged Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe challenged Aunt Debbie, Aunt Debbie challenged Megan and Me!

The Big Apple & The Jersey Shore!

Now that we have gotten into the "back to school" routine, I realized that I did not post anything about our family trip to New Jersey.  Back at the beginning of August, Mom, Pops and I took a long weekend and went to visit Aunt Alexa, Uncle Ivan, Amelia & Edwinn in New Jersey!  It was a great road trip.  We left on Thursday night after work, drove through Ohio, West Virginia and stopped in Pennsylvania for the night. Friday morning/afternoon we finished driving through PA and on into New Jersey.  I liked driving through Pennsylvania, because we drove through some tunnels dug into the mountains. 

Once we made it to the Knapp's house, we got settled in and rested for a bit, then headed to dinner and explored their community and some of the neighboring ones too.  I was really excited for Saturday, because we were headed to NYC!.  We visited the American Museum of Natural History, stopped by the Guggenheim, made a quick stop in Central Park, then Aunt Alexa drove us home by way of Times Square!

 

 

Ready for a road trip!

Watching a movie during the car ride.

One of the PA tunnels!

Day at the Museum!

One of the many dinosaur skeletons.

Pops and me with one of the Easter Island statues. 

Enjoying a NY hot dog!

Me with Mom and Pops!

The cousins in Central Park

Times Square

 We made our way back to the Knapp's house and later in the evening Mom and I went with Aunt Alexa, Amelia, and Edwinn to a birthday party, while Uncle Ivan and Pops had some brother time. 

On Sunday, despite the threat of rain, we decided to take a chance and head toward the Jersey Shore.  We were glad we did!  The day started out a little overcast, but the wind blew the clouds away and we had sunshine and blue skies.  I was especially excited to go to the beach, because this was my first beach visit ever!
 

 

 After a great day at the beach, Mom and Dad decided that it might be good if we started driving toward home.  We pack the car, said our goodbyes and gave one more hug!  We all had a great time and can't wait to go back again!

Pops and Uncle Ivan!

Cousins!  Amelia, me, Edwinn

1st Grade

This year I am off to first grade and to a new school.  I am attending Mother Teresa Elementary.  The first couple of weeks have been great!  I am back together with friends from pre-school and I have made lots of new friends too!

Ice bucket Challenge!

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was all the rage this summer!  It was pretty amazing to see it take off and raise that much money so quickly.  There are lots of causes and organizations that could use that kind of support!  Mommy was first up in our family to be challenged!  Here it is!

Mommy had a great cheering section for the challenge!

Megan, Katelyn, and I cheered on Mommy!

And since Mommy challenged Aunt Di, we wanted to cheer her on too!

the Last of Summer

One of the last things we did this summer was visit with one of Mom and Dad's friends from BGSU.  Heather was in town with her kids and we met that for lunch and the Neil Armstrong Museum.  Lauren and I are just a few months apart, so we had fun hanging out together and catching up on "girl talk!"

On the way to the museum!

Aren't we stylish?

Girl talk!

Mommy and Heather!

Fun for Mom and Pops too!

This year Mom and Pops celebrated their 10th Wedding anniversary.  To celebrate they went to Columbus for the evening and saw Michael Buble in concert.  I hope next time they go see Michael Buble they take me with them!

The view from their hotel room!

Dinner at Ted's

Before the show!

My souvenir!

Michael Buble's entrance!

Michael during the show!

More Summer Fun!!!!

Looking back we did a lot of stuff this summer!   There were a couple of trips to the zoo, including zoo camp; miniature golf, play dates with friends, and birthday parties.

A little putt-putt!

Playdate at the park.

Another play date and we found a caterpillar.

Birthday party at my friend Avery's house, and I met their new puppy Charlie.

Water balloon fight at Avery's party!

Cramer Visit

This summer Aunt Di, Alex, and Gabe came to Cincinnati for a visit.  I was lucky to spend one of the days with Aunt Di and the boys at the zoo. 

Alex and Mommy

Gabe and Mommy

Alex and me at the zoo, Gabe was at Zoo camp.

Hangin' with my cousin

Alex, me, and Aunt Di!

Me and Aunt Di.

4th of July!

This year for the 4th of July we were invited to a party at my friend Jordin's house.  We had a great time at the cookout and the evening ended with sparklers, fireworks, and lanterns.  Below are some pictures of me dancing with the sparklers.

Dance Recital 2014!

Here are some pictures from my spring dance recital!  I really enjoyed ballet and jazz class and can't wait for dance to start again in a couple of weeks!

Before we headed to the recital!  Our show was called "What a Character!"  I was a mermaid.

With Mom!

The start of our ballet routine.

Here I am during our jazz routine.  I was having fun!

For part of our show we had a free dance, which meant we could dance anyway we wanted too.  The music was "Let It Go" and I danced Elsa's part from the movie.  This is when Elsa builds the ice castle!

Here I am with some of the soloists!  I hope to dance like them some day!