A post I started a few weeks ago about our trip to Ohio...but neglected to post...

We just flew back in from Ohio...and boy are my arms tired! Seriously, my arms are tired...Olivia fell asleep about 20 minutes into the flight and it wasn't very comfortable to hold her that long. I was afraid to move because I wanted her to stay asleep! I think we all ended up catching a few zzz's on the flight back to Denver. When we left Ohio is was 97 degrees and horribly humid...Denver was a sweet 75...breezy and wonderful!

Anyways, I can't remember exactly what we did while on our trip but here are some photos (in the next post) of a few things we did in no particular order, but chronologically arranged.

Random Photos from Ohio!

Annie, Luke and Kyle wrestling Uncle Tony in the basement.

Here we are at the Shawnee High School Football game...where the Indians thoroughly whooped on Kenton with a K. (as opposed to Canton with a C). Annie was pretty excited to see the marching bands at halftime...I say they weren't as good or as big as when I was in the band...she was also pretty excited about the 2 for a quarter suckers at the concession stand.

Two fatties at Cousin Mayme's wedding, I mean Uncle Justin and Unkle John, fighting over the rights to dance with Nana during the mother-son dance, which was followed by the father-son dance, then the sister-second cousin dance, then the bartender-busboy...etc, etc.

Annie breaking free from the sand at Lake Hope State Park...apparently there are places to camp at in Ohio. We spent a few days there with Aunt Andrea and company, and then Grandma and Grandpa Nuetzel joined in the fun for one night. We went for a hike one day and found 2 box turtles...cool!

The Life of a Fish...or Two...or Four

While we were on our vacation in Ohio 2 of Annie's fish, Flick and Flack, kicked the bucket. Okay, I made up those names, but I feel bad that we didn't name them in the first place. Anyways, our friend Amanda was house-sitting for us when one day Flick (or it may have been Flack) was found belly up. Apparently Flack couldn't live without his dear friend because he decided to part ways with the fish tank the next day. Honestly, I was surprised that they lasted this long...with Annie overfeeding them, and playing with the tank water...I mean we only bought the fish that were on sale for 99 cents or less...I really didn't think they would survive much past Valentines Day. Amanda felt bad so she took a photo of the departed and headed to the pet store to replace them. Well, those 2 fish took a one way ride down the toilet the next day. Anyways, we've been back from vacation for about a week and Annie just realized the other day that the population at the fish tank has been cut in half. I told her that Flick and Flack went to live with Amanda and she seemed okay with that answer and would occasionally tell me that the fish went to live somewhere else, but then yesterday she told me that we should get the fish back from Panda - I'm not sure if she remembered Amanda or thought a Panda had the fish (we had just watched a cartoon about a panda). Tonight Tim was on the phone with someone trying to get our Tivo to work again and Annie insisted that she had to talk to the repair man about getting her fish back from Panda. When Tim told her no, she couldn't talk to the man, she told Tim, "Okay, you tell him the fish are living with Panda." It is kinda amusing...I'm wondering if we should get some more fish to replace F & F, or just hold out a bit longer to see how many more comments about the fish she has.

That's My Baby!

Here is Olivia, all dressed up for her 5 month photos. We took them at the greenbelt down the street. Of course Annie had to take some photos for me (unfortunately they didn't make the cut to be published on our blog). So what is new with Olivia this month? She's a rolling machine! If you lay her down on a blanket she is not there for long. She'll roll towards anything than catches her eye and then proceeds to stuff whatever she found directly into her mouth. She talks and babbles a lot, and just discovered the joys of banging toys around to make loud noises. She is getting better at sitting up if she is supported with a boppy. She is getting more and more spoiled each day and will throw a fit if things are not going the way she wants them too. Lucky for me she still sleeps through the night like a baby (a good baby)! Annie is absolutely in love with her and babies her constantly. It is really cool to see how tender Annie is with Olivia and how she gives kisses and hugs. I love the fact that Annie will always drop everything to run and get a fresh diaper for me, or get a new toy for Olivia if she thinks she needs one.

Future Olympian...or Future Clutz?

The other day we were watching the Olympics and they had a human interest story about a Chinese acrobatic school for orphans. They showed each kid do a back bend one after another. Annie got excited about it and exclaimed "I can do dat!". She got up, put two legs on the couch and one arm on the other couch and proceeded to support herself with one arm on the ground. I was pretty impressed by her feat of strength, but I had to give it a 3 (mainly because it really wasn't technically correct form for a back bend and secondly because feats of strength such as that should really be saved for Festivus). Next came Annie's version of the floor exercises which turned out to be a bunch of running in circles with a few jumps mixed in and then a fall to the floor. She was practicing a new move last night...a high starting value dismount from the couch. Unfortunately she didn't stick the landing...she ended up landing on a toy train engine that was (no surprise here) just randomly sitting on the floor, and hurt her foot. So now I think she will have some trouble qualifying for more events...we think she may have twisted her ankle a bit because she says it still hurts her and she is walking a little gimp-ily. There is nothing quite as sad as a 2 year old with a limp (okay, a 1 year old with a limp is sadder - she injured her ankle last summer too)....well forcing orphans to do back bends is pretty sad too, I guess.

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Last weekend it poured poured poured rain all day on Saturday...just in time for Grandma and Grandpa's visit to Denver while on the way to Denver to visit the girl's newest cousin Faith. Since it was pretty cold and wet outside we decided to check out the Denver Aquarium....along with the rest of the people that live in Denver. I didn't think that Olivia would get much out of it, but she had a good time, and loved the tanks featuring bright ocean life. Here she is checking out some...not sure what these things are but apparently 5 month olds love them.

Grandpa bought some of the most expensive sardines for Annie to feed to the rays. She wasn't afraid to hold the fish, but when ever a ray would swim by she would pull her hand out of the water. It was fun to watch and I think this photo tells the whole story!

On Sunday, the rain settled down somewhat so we went to check out the Colorado Railroad Museum...and then to Golden for some pizza. Our waiter was possibly from Italy, and offered us appetizers for dessert. The pizza was great and I highly recommend Tony Rigatoni's...so delicious that Annie almost cleaned her whole plate. After lunch we wandered down the street to an art fair, complete with free rides on a little train with a crazy driver who weaved around the streets narrowly missing parked cars and pedestrians. We also took a free ride on a horse drawn carriage. Here is Annie and Grandma talking things over with Doc, the horse.

Olivia's first phrase!

I just heard Olivia utter her first words!

"Why Because"

No, I'm not asking why I heard them...those were the words! I swear it to be the truth. Well, okay it was a bunch of baby babbles that from across the room sounded exactly like "why because" but at least now we know she has the capability to say those words with meaning in the future...great!