Our fun weekend

Yay!! Chris and I had so much fun on Saturday!! We went on a real-live grown-up date!

Chris got me tickets to The Lion King for Christmas and we went on Saturday. Deb came down to watch the kids for the day while we had a fun grown-up day. We went to the 2:00 matinee and the show was amazing! If you have a chance to see it, I highly recommend it. After the show we weren't ready for dinner yet so we went to one of the local malls to wander for a bit until we got hungry. We went to one of my favorite places for dinner, Biaggi's. We had yummy calamari for an appetizer, then I had roast duck (which I'd never had before, but is now one of my favorite things on their menu) and Chris had chicken parmesan. Very yummy! We even had creme brulee for dessert ~ my favorite!! After dinner we decided to stretch out our date a little more and headed over to the movie theatre to see Fools' Gold. It was really cute and funny. Definitely one that I'll be buying when it comes out on video. We had such a fun time and decided that we really need to try to make time for more dates! We're going to see the opening night of Evita in April (or May, I can't remember). I can't wait!

This morning while we were all getting ready to go to IHOP (David's favorite) for brunch, Lauren had fun stealing mommy's purse. Over and over again.

Lauren and grandma Deb played with my phone while we waited for our food.

We all had a great breakfast. David had his favorite ~ chocolate chip pancakes and chocolate milk. Lauren had what is becoming her usual, a bowl of fruit. We are having the hardest time getting her to eat anything but apples, bananas, grapes, green beans and broccoli! Every once and a while I can get her to eat an egg, but not today. Maybe tomorrow . . .

Well, it's way past my bedtime so I'm off to bed. The "spring forward" thing always throws me off for a few days. I'm going to be tired tomorrow!! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Chris, Megan, David & Lauren

More fun with grandma Schel!!

On Saturday Chris was feeling better, which is good because he had to go to work! We all decided to head to Smokey Bones' for lunch so we could see Chris in action. I love it when family comes to visit because we usually go to Smokey's!! (For some reason, Chris never wants to eat there when he's not working!)

David always enjoys chicken fingers and fries from Smokey's. Here is David watching "Sponge Bob" on one of the TVs at the restaurant.

This is David after watching "Sponge Bob". (This is why we don't let him watch it at home! :oD)

Lauren loves eating at daddy's restaurant too. On Saturday, after she polished off her chicken fingers, Lauren enjoyed stealing all of mommy's broccoli!

After lunch we stopped off at one of David's favorite places to look around ~ the Harley Davidson shop. We tried some helmets on for size. Lauren decided this one was her favorite, I think she'll have to grow into it a bit.



David found a few helmets that he liked, too. He also had fun looking around with Dave, who has his own Harley (which David thinks is very cool!)


When we got home, Lauren had fun playing 'short-order cook' with a hairnet from daddy's restaurant. After she was done cooking dinner, she got ready for a night on the town.


David had fun playing games on daddy's computer for a little bit. (By the way, can you tell what is wrong with this picture? Silly Chris!!)



On Sunday, we had to say goodbye to Schel and Dave. We decided to head to the "Claddagh Irish Pub" for lunch. Chris and the kids and I went to the Claddagh in Cincinnatti and loved it. It had a fun atmosphere, great food and we got great service. The one in Toledo was not as impressive, but we still had a good time.

Poor David, being forced yet again to take pictures with mommy!! (The one of him smiling was taken right after I told him I would stop taking pictures of him if he would give me one good one!)

Chris loves posing for pictures too!!



Lauren kept busy with her artwork.


David's attempt at photography. We call it "scowling Schel behind a kid cup".


After lunch we walked around the mall a bit to kill time until we had to head for the airport. David and Lauren rode their first "roller coaster".

We had a pretty busy week after grandma Schel and Dave went home. Monday I started taking my "aqua jog" class at the YMCA. I actually really like the class, I think I'm the only one in it who isn't a senior citizen but each person sets the pace of their workout so it can actually be a very good workout. David started the winter II session of swimming on Monday too, so we were there twice!

On Tuesday I had MOPS and it was nice to have some "mommy time" with my friends (not to mention that I love the fun breakfast buffet we have at MOPS!) Lauren started "Punkins" on Tuesday afternoon. It is the cutest thing, it's kind of like baby gymnastics at the YMCA. It isn't a structured class, it is a parent-led class where the toddlers get to explore the gym and climb on the equipment. Lauren's favorite is the trampoline, although she did have fun on a mini balance beam too.

Wednesday was a snow day so I set up a playdate with one of the MOPS moms, my friend Jill. Her son is about David's age and she has twins that are about 1 1/2 months younger than Lauren. David and Jill's son Toby played outside for about an hour and a half, then spent a good part of the afternoon playing with Toby's toys. Lauren and the twins got along pretty well once they got used to each other. (But I think Lauren liked it the best when the twins took a nap and she didn't have to share any toys!)

Thursday the kids were kind of tired after their long day on Wedesday so they both took a good nap. We just kind of hung around the house and took it easy.

Today was catch up on laundry and cleaning day!! We had to go to the store for a few things after David got out of school so we stopped in at the new Super Wal-mart that just opened this week. Tonight I'm (supposed to be!!) finishing up some ironing and then off to bed. I need to get a good night's sleep because Chris and I are going on an actual date tomorrow!!

I am sooooo excited!! For Christmas Chris got me tickets to "The Lion King" at he Stranahan Theatre in Toledo. Deb is coming down to watch the kids for the day so Chris and I can head out to the matinee show and then out to dinner (at a grown up restaurant with real table cloths and a wine list and everything!!) After that we may go to a movie or out for drinks or something. I'll try to get some pictures of us and our evening.

I hope that all of our friends and family are having a wonderful week as well!! We miss you and hope to hear from you soon!!

Love,
Chris, Megan, David & Lauren

Kids, never let your parents cook un-supervised!!!

Hello, hello :oD Well, yesterday kind of started with a "bang"! Mischel and her boyfriend Dave came to visit for the weekend. They got here on Thursday night and I thought I would be all "hostess-y" and make a big breakfast on Thursday morning. I got up early and came out to the kitchen to start making sausage, eggs and french toast ~ mmmm. I started out well, I had the oven set to "warm" to keep the french toast and sausage that were already done from getting cold as I cooked the next batch. Somehow when I turned the burner on for the 2nd batch of sausage, I turned on the back burner instead of the front. This would not have been an issue, except there was an 8x8" pyrex pan on the back burner that was full of brownies that I'd baked the night before. Everything was fine for a few minutes, but I couldn't figure out why the sausage wasn't cooking. I turned the (wrong) burner up. Lauren came up to me to ask for some cheerios and then she walked off to the living room to watch Mickey Mouse. When I turned away from the stove to get the cheerios there was this loud "bang!". I turned back around to find that the pyrex (and the brownies) had exploded and were all over the kitchen and in the dining room!! It was not a fun mess to clean up, but thank goodness no one was hurt! Luckily I had already made enough french toast and sausage to feed everyone, so after the mess and the glass were cleaned up we sat down to eat what, by that time, was brunch. (Dave bought me a large griddle later so I wouldn't have to use the stove for french toast or pancakes anymore. :oD)

This morning breakfast was much less eventful, Dave offered to make pancakes for everyone. He said I could just relax (and stay away from the kitchen) while he cooked :oD Lauren watched Baby Einstein and munched on cheerios while she waited for breakfast.


It started snowing large, pretty snowflakes this morning too!! It was sooooo pretty outside today.

Lauren was surprised and excited to watch the snow. She decided to move from the tv to the window with her cheerios.

Sometimes, Lauren gets tired of mommy's camera!

When David woke up he came out and joined us. He brought his newest leggo creation with him to play with.


David likes to explain his new creations to everyone. Lauren and Grandma Schel listened intently.



This is what usually happens when I try to take a picture of David!!



Lauren has finally figured out how to climb up on the furniture by herself and she's soooo proud every time she does it! She likes to climb down just so she can climb back up again.



Our kids both love being silly for the camera!



Poor Chris was feeling very sick on Thursday night and luckily he had today off because he ended up in bed sleeping all day! I felt so bad, but it was good that he got to sleep all day. Dave, Schel, Lauren, David and I decided to go for a drive and out for dinner after David got out of school so Chris could have some peace and quiet. We drove out to the new outdoor mall in Maumee so I could show it to Schel and we tried to eat at Red Robin there, but it wasn't open so we drove to the other outdoor mall, Levis Commons in Perrysburg, and ate at Max'n'Erma's. David had chocolate milk, you know, because he doesn't have enough energy already!



The kids had fun playing and coloring with Dave and Schel.



David LOVES Hot Wheels cars!! They do a good job of keeping him entertained while we wait for our food at restaurants.


Lauren had to admire her work of art after she was finished coloring, and then she had to check her face before we left.


After dinner we headed home to play with the kids and get them off to bed. Hopefully they'll sleep very well because they've been to bed late the last two days and we've been busy! I'll post again soon with more pictures. Have a wonderful weekend, I'm off to enjoy a bit more time with Schel and Dave before they have to leave on Sunday afternoon.

Love,
Chris, Megan, David & Lauren