Company from Iowa

Last weekend we were very lucky to have Logan's dad, his twin brother Luke and Luke's little girl Harper come to visit for the weekend. It was great to have a house full of family and get the chance to spoil our niece.  She is an absolute doll and such a good little girl. Thankfully even though we don't see her much, she thought Aunt April & Uncle Logan were pretty cool so we got to play and snuggle a lot.  Of course it was fun to hang with Luke and Bruce too.  We picked crabs, went to the guys' favorite restaurant in Annapolis and downtown to see the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. Can't wait to have more family come to visit!





Watching us pick crabs on the deck



Picking crabs!

Deciding what to order

Harper's 1st trip to Middelton's

Luke, Logan, Bruce, Harper



Uncle Logan feeding her dinner

Riding the Metro with Aunt April

Martin Luther King Memorial

Harper and her daddy

New & Improved Guest Room

This has been kind of a different summer for me. I spent June cleaning out my room at school and then figuring out where to put 12 years of teaching stuff here at home without making a mess of the place. Oh and somewhere in there I spent hours on line searching for a new job. I'm happy to say I found one and will be a classroom assistant at a Catholic school about 5 miles from home. The best thing about that job is that for the 1st time in 12 years I have actually had time to myself this summer. Now I know many say "teachers are off all summer every year" but that is a total lie when you work at a private school and when you switch grades and classrooms every year like I did. SOOO in between a couple weekend trips I have been spending the month of July working on projects around the house. It's been so much fun to finally do things to make the house more ours after living here for a year. Logan has been a great help on his days off though I think some days he doesn't quite know what to expect when he gets home after work. My most ambitious project was to paint the downstairs guest room. I worked a couple days on my own and then Logan helped me finish it up including adding blinds. There was a 2 fold plan in working on that room- more practice before we tackle upstairs and most of all it's nice and cool in the basement and it's been really hot this summer. :)  So here are some before and after pictures. We still need some painting practice, but we're getting there. I'm still amazed what a difference just a can of paint can make.

Before

Before

Before

After

After

After

Toby Keith Concert

So after a boat ride we get to River Bend. We along with many other boats achored to listen to the concert. We couldn't hear real well, but it was fun. The coolest thing was when we pulled up some guy in a big boat shouted "that's my boat" at us. Turns out he owned Mike's boat 2 owners before. What are the odds?! So here's some pictures of us goofing around in the boat listening to the music. After listening for awhile we took our time heading back down the river to dock the boat. Was fun to see the city all lit up. Now for more pictures!

 

 

You don't want to know!

Riverbend

So cute! :)

Boats listening to the concert

3 friends!

Girls gone wild! Thanks Charlie!

Repeat of a picture from many years ago

Back of the boat

We all had to move for a barge

Cincy after dark

Enjoying a great night with great friends

Good night to the boat!

Boat Ride

Paul Brown Stadium

So after dinner we all got on the boat and headed toward Riverbend to listen to a Toby Keith Concert. Here are pictures of  downtown Cincinnat and New Port as we cruised through on the boat. Was neat to see the cities we hung out in from a different view.


Bridges connecting Cincy & NewPort

Cincy

Cincy

River Queen



Linda driving the boat

The Majestic Show Boat





Great American Ball Park



The wall

 

Newport



The bridges

A college hang out of Logan and friends



The Delta Queen

Alex and Logan

Montgomery Inn Boathouse

Trip to Cincy

After not being back since Mike and Alex's graduation 2 years ago we finally made it back to visit. It was wonderful to see everyone and get a chance to catch up. Saturday we spent the day on Mike's boat with Mike, Alex, and Chris. It was an extermely relaxing and fun day of tubing, swimming, and just floating on the Ohio river chatting. Mike was a great captain and I know Uncle Fred would be so proud. It's awesome to see how much they have grown up. It's hard to believe I've know them since they were little 3rd graders drinking 2 chocolate milks (as they always remind me). Now they are a wonderful young lady and two amazing young men.  I have to say as their "big sister" I'm so proud of them! :) 
After about 5 hours on the river we docked at a resturant and met up with Linda, Linda and Charlie for dinner. Here are pictures from the first part of the day.

Logan & Chris

Mike and Alex

Chris tubing

Logan on the tube

Swimming in the Ohio River

In the water

The parents :)

Me & my little sibs!

Logan & Chris

April's 35th

Yes, it's true- I'm 35! An old woman as Logan would tell me. Isn't he so kind? :) So my 35th was a  bitter sweet day. One one hand lots of fun because it was the last day of school and well I love my birthday. BUT it was also the last day that I will be working at my school because we are not opening next year so I had to spend part of my birthday in the closing service for the school. Thankfully Logan has been with me through many birthdays, last days of school, and unfortunately even a school closing so he knew I'd need an extra dose of fun for the day and he delivered! After work we put in our appearance at the school picnic and then headed to hang out with friends for some adult beverages, cake, and lots of goofing around. It was a great time filled with much needed laughs, picking on me and story telling- the more embarrassing the better! Besides a fun b-day "party" I got a cute new summer outfit and lots of well wishes, phone calls, and birthday drawings from my students and my family. Overall I'd say turning 35 was a lot of fun. Thank you to all who made it fun and special--especially Logan! Here are a few pictures from the night.


I guess when you're 35 you get to
cheer when you blow out 2 candles!

Yummy coconut cake!



more friends



Celebrating with friends




Thank you Logan!