You can't rain on our parade

As you know, Josie loves watching parades and as it turns out, it's even more fun to be IN the parade. We joined our friends at the CFEC (where J takes her classes) to march in the Northside 4th of July parade. It was a blast. The theme of the parade was "Go Green" so we dressed up all our little ones as bugs in "garden" strollers/wagons/etc. Lou got some beautiful fresh wildflowers from Findlay Market that morning, we dressed Josie as a little ladybug, and we were all set.
Here's our little bug posing in her costume and in front of her garden wagon:
This weekend will also go down in history as the time when Josie discovered candy. Well, we made it to almost 2 without the sweet stuff, but all the candy at the parade created quite a monster. Here she is trying to convince Louie that she should have another lollipop.
And then we were off. And then it started raining. It was a constant light drizzle, so certainly not enough to stop the parade, but enough to necessitate Grandma holding an umbrella to protect our little bug. (Thanks Grandma. You're the best!)
In case you didn't notice it in the last picture, Josie was totally passed out within 5 minutes of the parade's start. Something about the steady hum of the wagon down Hamilton Ave and the constant roar of the parade totally lulled her to sleep. It was hilarious! And adorable!
Here is Granddaddy leading our crew on his unicycle that he got out of retirement for this big event. (Grandma and DD were so sweet to join us in the parade. What better way to advertise a "Family Center" than with the whole family?)
And to fit the theme, DD even sported this great flower headband and Grandma wore a rainbow "fairy ring". DD got lots of cheers, high-fives, and fist-bumps from the crowd in addition to more than one "look at that old man on the unicycle". How cool is Granddaddy?
DD pedaled, Grandma held the umbrella, Mama pulled the wagon, Daddy took the photos and passed out candy and fliers, and Josie slipped into a coma.
Then Nelly did the same:
Then we lost little Ellie:
But Andrew just kept clapping away:
Then Josie woke up, just near the end of the parade and at the most busy intersection. Needless to say, our little ladybug was really confused!
The parade ended and the rain really stared coming down. We managed to get in one family photo before ending our big day.
Even after almost an hour nap, Josie was still pretty worn out. After all, looking adorable, getting your picture taken, eating candy, and waving to your "fans" is pretty exhausting.
Really, I can't tell you how much fun this day was. It will certainly stand out as a very special memory for all of us.

Up, Up, and Away

If you leave near Cincy and haven't been to Coney Island for the 4th of July, I'd go ahead and mark your calendar for next year. In addition to the great rides (see post below) and fireworks (which we skipped since the ones we saw on Thursday in Madeira scared the pants off of Josie), they have an amazing hot air balloon launch. We were all really impressed!
If you don't believe me, here's evidence of Josie spinning around gleefully. (Check out that hair.)
Here are my two favorite people enjoying their upclose & personal view of the balloons.
And a great chance to cuddle with my girl in the grass...
And although the balloons were really cool, Josie's favorite thing was this community band. I'm pretty sure she thought they were there to perform just for her, so in turn she entertained the entire the crowd with her dancing, singing, giggling, and spinning around.
More photos to come later this week of Josie & family in the 4th of July parade. Be sure to scroll down to the photos of Josie on the rides at Coney. The blog was down for a few days (sorry). Enjoy!

8 Years!

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary! (And about 12 or so years together overall.) Where does the time go? Here's to many, many, many, many more!

Josie's First Rides

On Friday we went to the pool (Mt. Adams pool worthy of its own blog post soon) and then cleaned up and headed to Coney Island for their most busy day of the year (according to the gal who sold us some pizza). Although Louie & I were a little timid about the idea of Josie riding the rides, she was more than ready! Really, I can't tell you how 'monumental' this memory will be. It was last night at Coney Island that I fully realized that our little Josephine is not a baby anymore.

Here she is on the little turtles - where you can see she had a blast! (We were fully prepared for pulling a screaming Josie off of the ride, but she just smiled and waved.)
Doesn't she look so proud?
Next it was on to the boats and trains - where she kept herself busy by "steering" her boat around and around.Then, after some pizza and some discussion, we decided to let Josie have her way and ride the rockets. She kept saying "Josie ride da rockets" but we were nervous because unlike the turtles and trains, these went up and down on their own. All that worrying was for nothing, she thought she was "Top Gun" for sure.

And because Louie and I were feeling a little left out, we headed over to the Carousel so that we could actually ride something too. :)
So, now I can talk about having a baby in the past tense. I loved having a baby, but it's a blast having a little girl. This weekend opened up a whole new range of possibilities for family time and we can't wait to get out there and have some more fun together!

Fourth of July

If you're in the area and aren't busy on Saturday, catch the "Three Schneiders" at the fabulous Northside Parade starting at noon. We'll be marching with the "Cincinnati Family Enrichment Center" (where Josie takes all of her music classes). We'll be easy to spot - especially since even Grandma and Granddaddy will be joining us. (DD is even getting his unicycle out of retirement for the event.) See you there! Be sure to wave! :)

Another quote

(So Josie just grabs my Macy's card and walks over to the elevator.)

Carissa to Josie: "Where ya goin?"

Josie: "Buy something."

Me: "What are you going to go buy?"

Josie: "Buy new playdoh."

(Poor thing, she'll be so disappointed when she realizes Macy's doesn't carry it.)

Oh - and one other thing - I'm sure you've noticed the absence of new pictures. Well, both of my cameras are out of commission. My big Canon is at the shop getting repaired for an overexposure problem and my little one's battery is totally dead (beyond recharging). So, all I have is my cell phone. I'll try to get at least one of those posted soon.

And I quote...

Carissa: "Josie, how do you spell your name?"

Josie: "J..O..Z"

(Get it... Jo-Z). Hahaha!

Josie on Kiwi Street

Check out Josie's cameo on the blog for "Kiwi Street Photography" - just click and scroll down.

http://www.kiwistreetstudios.com/blog/

Maybe next summer...

Louie and I went with my dad and Bill (old tour buddy) to see PHISH on their first summer tour since reuniting earlier this year. As many of you know, we are total "Phish-heads" and spent many-a-night seeing Phish in our pre-parenting days (this was show #69 for me to be exact). Anyway, while we thought about taking Josie, we decided to wait until she's a little bit older - and thank goodness we did! (More on that in a minute.) But, I had to share these videos taken before we left for the Phish show, because as it appears here - she's ready!







I just got the photos from Grandma who watched Josie while the rest of us went phishin'! Promise to post those soon. For anyone interested, here's the review of the Phish show - including the epic rains, unbelievable lightning storm, and amazing music!

http://www.jambase.com/Articles/18548/Phish-06.19-Noblesville-IN

Josie's Greatest Hits, Volume 1

Shutterfly Updates

Until recently, I was woefully behind on Josie's Shutterfly collection. But - yay - it's finally all caught up. So, head to www.josiemarie.shutterfly.com for three new albums (April, Easter, and May). Enjoy!

Findlay Market Fun

Two weekends ago, we met our friends Fred, Liz & Joey at Findlay Market to kick-off the summer season at the city Farmer's Market. Here are a few photos from what I hope will be a regular even this summer.
This is Josie drumming along with a few Rastafarians...
Here is Joey politely sharing his flowers with Josie. They were both so intrigued by them. What's not to love about a fresh bouquet?
And, who can pass up a shot of their little girl sniffing a daisy in the sunshine?
For those of you in Cincy who haven't made it down to Findlay in awhile - get your buns down here. It's better than ever! :)

22 months old!

It's hard to believe that Josie is going to be a two-year old in just two months. But, when I look at her, it's increasingly obvious that she's just not a baby anymore. Here are a few pictures from the last week or so that I had on my camera of Josie just clowning around.
These are actually poses following "Mommy, picture Josie! Picture Josie!" which is what she always says when she sees the camera or cellphone.
Here is Josie in the sweet little dress from Mexico that Katie brought back for her last summer. It finally fits! And it's adorable! (Manda - we'll have to pass this one down to Lylabird for sure! Notice too how well the red sandals you got her match this dress.)

Oh, and in other exciting new, Josie's hair is long enough to french braid. (This is the handywork of Carissa, Mama is still working on this skill.)

VIP treatment at the zoo

Last Friday was "Member's Night" at the Cincinnati Zoo. Although I wish they would've done a better job of promoting it (we almost missed it), it was a great night. Josie had a very good time getting to know some of the animals up close and personal.

There were friends of the cute, tiny, fuzzy variety (have you ever seen anything more adorable than a 9 month old wallaby)...

There were friends of the big and furry variety (aptly dubbed "Mr. Cheetah and Mr. Rhino" by Josie)...And there were friends of the not-so-cute and not-so-fuzzy variety, like these giant mantises (is that a word) and this huge snake...
Once again, we were impressed by Josie's bravery (although she was a little leery of the snake) and she really does love animals!
The zoo also had lots of other fun activities - like the carousel (her first one since SanFran all those months ago)...
And this great mural that allowed Josie to "make her mark"...
I will say though, that the funniest thing to happen (although a close second was Josie chasing the peacocks screaming "Come Here Peacock!") was Josie doing her impromptu cockatoo impression. If you've ever been to Cincy Zoo, you know they have them just hanging out in a tree. This one was particularly 'squawky' so Josie decided to chime in. Here's Josie in her debut as a cockatoo (and the real thing in the background, plus the giggles of passers-by). Enjoy!