Spring Review

The first of many wedding shenanigans this season

Spring was packed with baseball games and fun.  This year was D's 3rd opening day and it was interesting.  All of a sudden he does not like clapping or fireworks.  Anytime the crowd went wild he ran into the bathroom crying.  We've been up a few times since and he's getting better.  He loves to come out to the balcony to dance to the walkup songs.  His personal favorite is Michael Brantley's.  Andy got to leave his mark at Jacob's Field, the family room girls asked him to leave his handprint on the wall like the other players children.  Andy's is slightly larger than the rest!

My grandpa celebrated his 80th birthday right before I celebrated my 30th.  What I thought was going to be my "dirty thirty" ended up being an "uneventful thirty".  It was spent over Swenson's cheeseburgs and our DVR.  My grandma gave me a letter my mom wrote to her after I was born.  It was so neat to read.  She wrote about how much my dad loved me and I would not want for much, and that is still true to this day!  (He just washed my car last time I was home.)  I always heard you are never done raising your kids and I am so glad my parents haven't!  Andy took me to supper in Kent that weekend to a restaurant owned by a family I use to work for, The Bistro on Main.  The food was as good as I remembered but the city was not how we left it in 2006.  The development of downtown of Kent is amazing!  We were shocked and it made our love and pride for Kent even stronger.

My sweet Aunt Sally

One wedding down and all my bridal showers are over.  I have one more bachelorette to go this week.  We will be so bored come fall!  The first wedding was of high school friends of mine.  It was so good seeing everyone, it was like 1998 homecoming again!  Shelly's bachelorette day long extravaganza was last weekend.  We had so much fun starting at the spa, dress fittings, dinner at Bar Louie and going out in downtown Cleveland.  It took a few days for this old lady to recover but I wouldn't change a thing.

D's in a big boy bed!

Other than my New Orleans trip we did some light travel to central Ohio.  My beautiful cousin Courtney graduated so we went down for her party.  We were able to visit with our Lancaster family and see my Aunt Sally who's been battling pancreatic cancer.  Made a stop to visit with our Hollow Rock friends and their twins.  We went for Jeni's Ice Cream, I was happy it lived up to the hype.  It was a quick trip but totally worth it.  Now on with the summer of love and our 3 other weddings!!

In the family room at the Jake

Shelly and her sisters and her sister-in-laws as bookends

New Orleans Bachelorette Weekend

A little Kent, a little Wilmington all in New Orleans for Megan!

*One of our many great ideas

But Lori didn't you go to New Orleans a month ago, why so long on the post?  Because I had to get my FUN-SAVER developed.  Yes, they still make them and are very cheap.  Not trusting myself or my surroundings to take my Canon, I took the next best thing - a throw away camera.

My college roommate Megan is getting

Cafe Beignet!

married this summer.  Lydia and I met her our freshman year and the rest is history.  A quiet girl, who we forced into a vneck to go to the under 21 dance club.  How could she not love us?  Against her better judgement she lived with us when we moved out of the dorms.  We were two of a kind, short and blonde.  We even made a song about it and would perform synchronized kicks for our house guest.  I've watched Megan go through hell and back during our 10+ years of friendship.  No matter what has happened in her life she always emerges a better, stronger person.  After graduation she headed south back to Wilmington, NC.  She brought her groom up to Ohio a couple summers ago.  D took a liking to him as did the rest of us, so the news of their engagement was what we were all hoping for.  I absolutely cannot wait to watch her walk down the aisle and become Barry's WIFE!  Ha!  Who would have thought?  I'm a mom and Megan's about to be married.  We once got in a lizard cage together.*

This was right before I caught
beads with a Kenny Lofton
like grab!  (No, I didn't "earn" them.)

I've quickly realized when you get married into your 30s things are more lavish!  Unlike me who married straight out of college, if you wait until you're more established, you get to do fun stuff like have your bachelorette in New Orleans!  When Megan put this idea out there I was so excited.  I had never been to the Big Easy and figured we would never take D there.  It was hard leaving D, it was my first full weekend away and yes I cried a little...  I am thankful for facetime so he and Megan could compare their weekend battle wounds.  After a delay getting into town (I'm still mad at you Delta!) we went on to have a blast.  Frozen irish coffees, po' boys, Pimm's cups and parades everywhere you turn.  I am showing my age when I say I enjoyed the day more than night.  Things get a little wild for this old mama and Bourbon Street stinks, I mean it literally smells.  I brought D tons of NOLA gifts.  Doesn't every kid need a Louis Armstrong book?  We went on an amazing ghost tour, which my dad's response was, "You got ripped off!"  (Apparently he does not believe in ghosts.)  With all the history, delicious food and fun I would defiantly say you need to experience it.  I can't wait to go back and take Andy, but if D ever decides he needs to go I will throw myself in front of the plane.

Thanks Megs for a great trip and can't wait for your big day!  

Po' boys anyone??

Are you taller than me?? @ The French Market

Absinthe bar