Maases Visit - Baseball and Bikes

We drove to the butterfly house - only to learn about the effects of our warm winter...The butterflies started coming back early, which was so exciting for the people at the butterfly house - until the first cocoons started opening.  Expecting a beautiful creature to emerge, they only found nasty bugs.  There is a bug that plants its eggs inside a caterpillar.  When the eggs hatch, they eat the caterpillar while it is in the cocoon.  Thus, when the food source appears early and lasts longer, the predator (not quite the correct word but it will have to work) also increases its population.  Grand effect...very few new butterflies this year.  They don't know what the long-term effects of this off-weather will be because this hasn't happened before in the history of the butterfly house!

 I just love Emily's face below.  I so love when the girls play happily together.  They went to 'watch' Ben's soccer practice...

 A typical meal that isn't removed the second the patron is finished...

 An Akron Aeros game complete with AWESOME fireworks!  We love going to the Aeros games!

 The kids all love the food.  Annie makes her own entertainment... I got a ball!!!  Nope, I didn't catch it.  I made friends with one of the guys in the dugout while wearing Annie's pink glove.  Towards the end of the night, he got a ball, pointed at me (around a bunch of little kids begging for it) and tossed it to me.  :)

 Ben had a Cub Scout activity with his school troop.  We went to catch the Cuyahoga Valley Railroad.  You can ride for $2 or $3 with your bike and then you bike back to your car.  Super duper fun!  It was a 6.5 mile ride and we didn't think Emily and Annie would be able to do it on their little bikes, so we asked Gma and Gpa to take further on the train.  They checked out part of the Erie Canal and then met up with us at the end!

 Mitchell LOVES riding on the bike...just not for over an hour...We had a great time and can't wait to do it next year when we have some bigger bikes at our house!!!

Maases Visit - Museum and Zoo

 Mitchell loves to cuddle with Annie.  Annie loves to cuddle with Mitchell.  Annie has learned that whomever gets to Mitchell first in the morning tends to get the most cuddles.  Therefore, if Annie WAKES him up, she will get the most cuddles...It took me a few days to figure out why in the world my baby kept waking up so early and was ready for a nap at 10:30am!!!

 Grandma and Grandpa Maas came for a visit!  We had lots of these pictures (Emily was on a go fish kick and Mitchell is always a sucker for puzzles) with the same people and different outfits!

 We went to the McKinley Monument and Museum, to which we have a pass that we had never used (only used at other museums because of reciprocity).  AWESOME!  We all had such a great time and can't wait to go back when Andy can go with us!  Mitchell discovered TRAINS...and now I know what he needs for his 2nd birthday...

 It was a beautiful sunny day - not that common in these parts of the world!!!

 This was probably the favorite activity...running up the steps...sliding down the stone.  I tried it...I can see why the kids like it...If I hadn't been so tired and hungry I probably would have done it a few more times!

 3 generations...one electronic

 Mike and Susan brought the kids matching shirts.  3 monkeys were willing to match...one was not!

 Afternoon at the Akron Zoo!  We stopped at all the exercise stations.  I got Andy to do a few push ups and he looks GOOOOOOOD doing them!

 This is my favorite bridge and favorite type of picture.  I love the depth and the texture of the rope and the staging of the people. 

 Love when the parents come to visit because we get family pictures!!!  And I am in them!!!  Score!  We had our outfits planned out so nicely...Emily!  She is her own person and loves to pick out her clothes!  Thankfully - she picked a solid shirt this day; most days it is two different patterns, with a pair of super bright socks as accompaniment!  Happy Zoo Day!!!

Happy 9th Birthday to Ben and NERF Party

  We started off the day with yogurt and granola...and opening presents before Dad left for work!  The kids had art classes all morning and then we got ready for Ben's rib dinner!  We try to have the missionaries over for dinner on birthdays (Elder Dransfield and Elder Alabama).  Our adoptive Aunt and Uncle (the Wests) came and so did Miss Brittany from next door.  It was soooooo yummy!

 Ben couldn't decide between apple pie and brownies, so we did both with Blue Bell ice cream.  Sarah made the pie crust and decorated it for Benny-boo!

 Then - Jeff took the kids for a ride in his jeep!  AND he took the top off.  Yes, I had a turn riding too...and I drove a short bit.  SO MUCH FUN! 

 A few days later we had Ben's party.  General Maas and General West helped corral our 8-10 year old boys, who brought their arsenals...we supplied the ammunition.

 They spent time previously making barricades, complete with peep-holes for guns to shoot out of.

 Target practice with balloons hanging from the top of the garage.  Yes, Mitchell is pretty darn sure he is just as big and capable as the other guys...

 Notice the black dot in the middle of the picture - someone is shooting at me!!!

 Happy Birthday Ben!  We love you and are all having a great time at your party!!!!

 They played several different types of games (broken up with dinner, cake, and presents) like capture the flag (over and over and over again!), West vs Maas, then everyone against Andy - with games planned to keep boys working together.  Ben tends to like most people, people with very different personalities, and they all have just as much energy as he does.  The best part of the activity...after all the friends left after 3.5 hours, we kept playing for another 30 minutes!!!

End of July and THE BAR

 Above - Ben and Mitchell hanging out.  Recently I have had several comments about how good Ben is with little kiddos.  The assumption (and reality) is that he has had a lot of practice...and he has...but he has always had somewhat of an obsession with babies and toddlers.  He just loves them!  Until they get to be about 3 1/2 or 4...hopefully with Mitchell that doesn't end!  Below - two of our favorite missionaries back in the Canton area - Andy, Elder David Dransfield and Elder Davies.

 I took dinner to a friend one night - and had to take a picture because it was a YUMMY dinner!  Club salad, red potatoes with the option of horseradish, tomato, motz, basil salad, banana, blueberry bread and lemon meringue pie.  This actually looks really yummy for tonight!!!

 Again, Mitchell hanging out with Ben while he plays the computer.  I love to walk into a room and see the two of them together!!!

 Another outside afternoon playing with our family pets.  :)  They grow so much each day!

 Ben and Annie took a lacrosse camp this summer.  They both LOVED it!!!  It's the first time that Annie has been in a class/sport that she hasn't started whining about going to after the second time!  Can't wait to do it again next summer!

 Oh, one day Emily was at a birthday party and Andy was studying.  I took the other 3 monkeys to Hartville to see it and go to the flea market - something we used to do with my dad at least once a month growing up.  I told B and A they could each have a $2 limit.  While they were looking at books to buy (yea!!!!), Mitchell was in the stroller.  We paid and started walking off, when I looked down to see his death grip on a HUGE Barney.  What???!??  I asked the lady how much for him...$2.  Kids were so excited because that was how much they each got to spend.  Mitchell is the proud owner of a large stuffed Barney...which 3 months later he still sleeps with each night!

 July was FILLED with Andy studying - trying to cram for the last 3 weeks until the all-important Ohio Bar Exam.  He had 3 nights in a Marriott in Columbus.  After the first night, he asked us to come the next day.  There was room for us to all sleep, we could play, do dinner, the zoo, the temple, etc.  Only problem was we had swimming lessons the next day at 11....

 We decided to head up for an afternoon at COSI (science museum) - super cool!  Then we did dinner at a Mexican restaurant down the street from our hotel.  Getting to bed at a decent hour was a very long stretch, but we had a good time!

 Andy even had a few hours to look at his last bit of notes before the 3rd day of testing...We had a great (very short) visit!!!  And hope that he did so well!!!!!!!

Holy Toledo...and other outdoor activities!

 After several months, it was time to visit our friends in Toledo again!  So, we spent two days with the 5 Castle boys and their pregnant mama!  We had a great (HOT!!!) time with lots of running around and yummy food!

 Another family (of 4 sons), the Smiths, moved to Toledo, so we all met up at the children's museum there - Imagination Station...AWESOME!  The two middle sons were in Ben's class and on his baseball team and the youngest was in Emily's preschool class, and I just love their mom!

 We had a great time chasing all the kiddos around and trying to keep track of our ten boys and 2 girls!  Ben was thrilled to see Rory and Cayden again; Mitchell was just happy to be in the middle of the building activities.

 We were shocked to see how much our little chickens had grown in our 2 days away!  They were huge!

 Annie and Mitchell taking a break from a wonderful afternoon at the Vaughn's house...

 Ben and Andy went fishing with the school scout troop and Ben caught a CATFISH!!!!

 Our squash plants are doing so wonderful!!!!  The green fencing and the mesh covering are doing their jobs!  Along with our awesome chickens that have already scared off a ground hog!  LOVE it!  Main problem now...all male flowers, which DO NOT bring forth fruit...patience is a virtue...