A dark, cold (and cool) detour!

For the moment, you'll just have to just trust me when I say that we spent a week at the beach in Florida. I'm still so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of blog-worthy photos that I just don't yet have the courage (or energy) to tackle them. So, in the interest of posting something, here are the photos from our detour to Mammoth Cave on the way home. It would've been a great trip on its own, but that the fact that it perfectly broke up the journey home with a chance for us all to stretch our legs and run around - well, that made it fantastic! Here are some photos from our journey down to about 10 stories underground. (No small feat for this claustrophobic-mama.)
At the starting gate (we opted for the self-guided, leave-when-you-wanna-leave option)...
The Descent...

Josie's "I think we're in a cave" face...
I think we were allowed to touch it...
It's harder than you might think to take a photo in a cave...
So the problem with taking pictures in a cave is that all the pictures look like they were taken in a cave...
Not just any park bench, this one's 100+ feet below ground...
Josie decides to sit for a spell...
Finally, we figure out the "night mode" setting on the camera and manage to snap some good family photos that include a little cave backdrop...

Notice the cuddling, because it was um 54 degrees.

Josie was getting very sleepy and also a little bit frozen...
So we played a little bit more...
Then resurfaced (whew)...
And, mission accomplished: Josie was back asleep before we even hit the highway.
Oh, one last thing - we "promised" Josie bats but there were none. So Louie and I did our best flapping-batwing impression while Josie called out "Here Bat, Bat, Bat". We also had fun playing with the echoes. Josie's repeated quote if you ask her about the cave - "Bats in da cave, Cave kinda dark, Cave very very cold." Couldn't say it better myself. :)

Now, like bookends, you have the beginning of our trip and the end of it. I promise that the good stuff from the middle will be coming soon! And I hope it will be worth the wait. :)

Follow the lines going South...

Friday morning we loaded up the car - complete with handy rooftop carrier, a ton of snacks, some DVDs from the library that ended up costing me $50 in late fees, and a full arsenal of toys, books, music and "surprises" for Josie - and hit the road about noon. Our goal: Montgomery, Alabama! And, after 12 not-so-bad hours in the car, we had successfully made a 9 hour drive.
Conversion to toddler time: add about one hour of driving for every three estimated by google maps. Note to google: Add this feature.

Besides the fact that Josie wondered why on earth we were waking her up from her peaceful sleep in the car at midnight to sleep in a strange hotel in downtown Montgomery, Alabama - everything else about our stay there was great. We decided Josie would enjoy the state farmers' market more than the trip to MLK's childhood home that we had originally planned and were SO glad to take the time to visit it.
The rows of fresh produce were unbelievable. And, besides the fact that peanuts were freaking everywhere, it was a blast. (BTW - did you know you can get boiled peanuts, green peanuts, roasted peanuts, spicy peanuts, etc all in one place?)

It was not easy to keep Josie's hands off the produce...
In fact, it was not easy to keep her mouth off of the fresh produce either...

They even had their own hen coop which allowed Josie to work on her chicken impression.

Pose for a quick photo, then back to the car to drive it around to one of the big doors to load it up with some fresh surprises to share with the family in Florida -

One humongous watermelon that actually weighed more than Josie, 30+ ears of corn, enough peaches (picked the night before) to feed 13 people for a full week, some sweet onions and bright red tomatoes. What a nice way to start our vacation! (Although it was not so fun to ride the rest of the way to Florida with a watermelon in the front seat and my feet on top of dozens of ears of corn in the back seat.)


Oh, and I forgot to mention - they were having a VW convention there. As Louie put it, "America is funny." And if you ever want a real slice of America, I highly recommend the Alabama State Farmer's Market in Montgomery. It's the only place I've ever been where you can get proper instruction on how to choose the best melon, freshest peaches, etc. But if you're going to buy corn, I recommend using a fake Southern accent. Otherwise you just might end up with 15 ears filled with worms. (Those of you there for the shucking know what I mean.) Here's one of the VWs.

Florida photos coming soon. There really are over 1000 of them, which will take awhile to sort/edit/etc. What an amazing, relaxing, wonderful week!!!!

Sneak Preview

My sister posted a sneak preview of a few pics from our Florida vacation on her blog at THREE AUSTINS. Lots more in the coming days/weeks...

To hold you over

We're leaving tomorrow for the great Schneider adventure to Florida where we will join the Austins, my parents, my Dad's sister and my Mom's brother and family (all the way from England). It promises to generate lots of blog-worthy pictures, videos and stories. So, keep your eye out in the coming weeks for that. In the meantime, here are a couple videos from this week to hold you over. Hugs!

Here is Josie saying her "long name"...


And here is some general silliness of Josie singing, dancing, and clowning around. Enjoy!




(I should mention, the song "Wagon Wheel" that she wants to hear is the Old Crowe Medicine Show song that she's been dancing to with her daddy since birth. This video started with her own version of the song, as the real one does not actually go "Wagon Wheel, Wagon Wheel..." Told you she got the song improv gene! )

Our new favorite place

We love the Mt. Adams Pool!! So much in fact that we just decided to have Josie's birthday party there in a few weeks. It's great - just one foot deep on one end and three feet deep on the other. Could there be a better place for our little fishy?
There will be lots more pool pictures to come - with our big family vacation to Florida coming up in a week - and then August in Cincinnati so I thought I'd get you started with a few of Josie actually enjoying the sunglasses more than the water.
She has some really cute purple shades, but it didn't take long for her to trade them for Louie's sunglasses and make him defenseless against the glare - give his sunglasses to me, then take my sunglasses and put them on - even upside down. Good times.
Josie's always a hit at the pool, earning cheers from the crowd like "Yea Girl, Sing it" when she bursts into "I Found A Little Baby Bumble-Bee" poolside or makes up her own songs while splashing around in the shallow end. Our personal favorite so far went something like "Splashy, Splashy, Splash, Splash...Swimmy, Swimmy, Swim, Swim...Fishy, Fishy, Fish, Fish." She definitely got her Granddaddy's song-improv gene. And with the extra encouragement from Lou who is sort of an expert at "Adam Sandler-esque" song creations just for Josie, there's a good chance Josie will continue to turn out the hits!

Wedding Weekend

On Saturday, we went to the wedding of our good friend Kelly to our soon-to-be good friend Nick. I think Josie got swept up in all the excitement of seeing us dressed up, because she decided to play a little dress-up herself. Grandma & Granddaddy arrived to find Josie clicking around the house in my heels.
And I'm really hoping this photo captures how hilarious this moment actually was. Carissa (who was there to watch Josie while the rest of us went to the wedding) was sitting on the couch to Josie's right and I was on the chair to Josie's left. Grandma & DD were standing up. We were all just standing there talking and then Carissa pointed to Josie who had silently put herself up on the couch, covered herself in a blanket, grabbed a bear, and put on a hair bonnet from her doll clothes collection -- all while wearing Grandma's heels. She was just sitting there silently kind of nodding along like she was involved in the grown-up conversation. Luckily my camera was sitting right next to me, so I was able to snap this little gem.
Kelly & Nick's wedding was a blast! Aside from "Tia and Tio," I've honestly never seen two people more happy at their wedding. I have no doubt whatsoever that Kelly and Nick have many, many, many years of happiness ahead of them.

One more thing about the 4th

I'll post some more recent photos soon (both of my cameras are back in action) but I had to just share one quick detail from our big Fourth of July weekend...

Josie HATED the fireworks. They scared the heck out of her. We went to our friends' house for the Madeira parade & fireworks on Thursday. When the fireworks started, she buried her head in my chest and kept pointing back to the house and our car repeating "Over there Mommy, Over there Mommy". To this day, if you say the word "Fireworks" to her she says "Fireworks be LOUD...Very scary scary." And, she has woken up on more than one occasion and repeated the same phrase. Poor little thing. I think she's honestly having nightmares about them.

Josie was also scared to death of the Shriner cars. Almost two weeks later, she still says "Orange and Red...Mans go fast...Mans be loud."

Needless to say, she was a little traumatized, but as you have seen in the posts below about the remainder of our holiday weekend, everything turned out just fine!

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.