Family Reunion

This weekend, despite more stinkin' storms, we trekked down to Btown to visit with family. Cary's uncle was visiting from Cali and his cousin was in from Tx too, so it was a great time for a get together. It was so nice for us to catch up with everyone.

McKinley got to meet some family he's never met before, as well as spend some time with his G&G, Aunt & Uncle and big-boy cousins. The weather held out and was BEAUTIFUL, thankfully. All in all, it was a great day.

We ended the day at Grandma & Grandpa's house, where McKinley got to go on a walk with his Grandpa. He went all the way out to the big fence where he gripped on and wiggled his little toes in the grass. So fun!

Below, Grandpa shows McKinley how to hang on to the fence.

What a fun day!

Lynn

Strawberry Festival

Yum! It's that time of year again! They painted the GIANT strawberry in the middle of Ohio Boulevard, so it was time to get ourselves to downtown and dive into some yummy-good strawberry shortcake.
Guess who went with us this year? Yup...McKinley had his first taste of authentic strawberries! He's had strawberries in his baby food and puffs many times (and loves the taste, thank you), so it was only fitting that he would enjoy this little adventure. Oh yeah...there may have been a HINT of whipped cream on them too. And he just might have really enjoyed that part as well. hahaha...bad mommy moment? Don't think so.

Um, I should explain the horse with all the strawberries...last summer after the Colts WON THE 2007 SUPERBOWL, BEATING THE BEARS...uh hum...our local art museum sponsored this really cool competition for our city with these fiberglass horses. Many local businesses puchased colts and painted them, some to match a theme of their business, or just in an artsy way. Most of them are downtown and a lot of them are back on display this summer, they are all so beautiful too. This one belongs to the church who puts on the Strawberry Festival every year. We just could not help ourselves...I did look for a sign that said, 'DO NOT TOUCH' and found nothing, so picture time!

Above, Daddy gives McKinley his first taste of the sweet fruit. And...he

looks at me as if to say, 'Mmmm, WHAT was THAT and HOW can I get some MORE?!!'

Loads of fun, can't wait until next year when McKinley can have his own little shortcake!
Lynn

Crazy times and a little vacation too

I've been so bad about updating lately...
Life has been at warp speed and there just isn't enough time for everything we want and need to do! Aren't we all this way? It seems that the last 3 months have seriously pushed us to live at even faster paces.
Well, The Vernon's have been busy, busy, busy and here are just a few things that have been going on:
*Bathroom reno - we did it again. We picked a weekend project and just went with it. I'm so loving our new bathroom color (GREEN!!!! BRIGHT GREEN!) and the new sink and cabinet. It is so different from anything else we've ever done. I love it!

*Vacation - We hit the road and went to Myrtle Beach, S.C. last month. It was much needed break and so beautiful there. McKinley was an A-N-G-E-L on the road, we were pleasantly surprised. We stopped off in Asheville, N.C. for the first two nights and were able to visit Biltmore Estate, which was one of my favorite trips as a child. The three of us truly enjoyed the beautiful day together as we toured the huge estate (LOTS more was open than I ever recall), the gardens (my favorite) and the winery. It was such a lovely day and the weather could not have treated us better.

At Myrtle Beach, we did just what the name says...we hit the beach. McKinley was obsessed with the sand and the ocean water as it rushed up to him. It was quite a sight! During our trip we visited some really cool outdoor shopping and adventure places, Cary bought a Harley (just kidding! Gotcha!) and we just chilled, enjoying the ocean view from the condo . It was so much fun. The worst part was running out of time...we forgot to do a few things we'd intended, like I really wanted to parasail again and we wanted to hit a museum. It's okay! Next time! The highlight of the trip was certainly spending some family time out on the beach and in the pool. We had a great week and cannot wait for our next vacay.

*Road trips - Lately we've been making many a trip to Indy, and let's just say that we will be until September of '09m if ya know what I mean. Oh well, we get to enjoy each other's company and get away from the norm for a couple of nights.

*GNO aka Girls Night Out - Jodi and I (and two other friends) made a night of it on the eve of my 30th birthday. We went to dinner at Outback, ordered cocktails (I had the most amazing Strawberry martini) and then headed over to see Sex and the City, the Movie. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see it again...and again...and again. Love those girls.

*BNO aka Boys Night Out - while the four of us were sobbing and laughing away at the movie, Cary and Jodi's boyfriend Dave hit the town as well. They smacked around a few golf balls, played a little pool and had a beer or two. Jodi and I met up with them after the movie...good times, kids!

*Mother's Day - Hard to believe I haven't updated about that. It was quite a day for me. It has always, always been an important day for me to celebrate all the women in my life, but this day I got to be in on that celebration as well. It was nice. The best part of the day was relaxing together, just the three of us before bedtime. McKinley was playing with us and so happy! It was wonderful. That sweet little boy and his Daddy gave me the most beautiful and touching cards and a new Coach purse for my first Mother's Day. Good goin', boys.

*Father's Day - This past Sunday was Cary's First Father's Day. McKinley is such a good boy...he got John Mayer tickets for his Daddy and Mommy to go next month. What a thoughtful little boy!

*Party planning - seems someone we know is turning a whole year old very soon, so we're hard at work planning a great day for everyone. Can it be possible that McKinley will be a year old? Whew! Look out, we're gonna have a very active little man on our hands!

Can't wait until McKinley's birthday!
Lynn

My Big 3-0

Well, my birthday came and went all too quickly. I had such a wonderful day! Mom and Cary...and McKinley, of course threw an awesome surprise party for me. I had no idea. No kidding. I got suspicious a few times, but was very quickly thrown. Trust me, when I heard the many voices singing, "Happy Birthday to You" in unison on the rooftop terrace of the restaurant...well, I was just very surprised.
The funniest thing was, we pulled up to meet my Mom for lunch at this great new place that I really like. As I'm getting all of the McKinley stuff out of the car I heard the singing and thought...what the? I looked up and saw Mom's and Jodi's faces and then all of these other heads started popping up from the terrace and the crowd grew and grew. It was HILARIOUS.
It was so nice to have some of my friends and some family to share the day with. I got to see some faces I had not seen in a long time, and the best part was everyone knows everyone now! I love that.
Mom and Cary put all this together...sneaky little things...they sent out invitations and emails without me being any the wiser. I didn't think I'd be that easy to fool.
I loved all the decorations they put together, the personalized M&M favors...in purple, of course and even the crazy-giant b-day hat, sunglasses and #30 lei they made me wear. It was pretty funny.
What a fun day!
I put together a slide show to make it easier to share all my pictures. With my lack of updating, I figured it would be easiest to share them that way.
To being THIRTY AND THRILLING!
Lynn