Tag Archives: soccer

September 1-30, 2020

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September started off with a pretty big day – Griffin’s first day of 2nd grade! As per tradition, Kevin prepared custom, made-to-order pancakes which this year was a laptop (appropriate given the nature of distance learning) and a Tiger paw to represent the Tyler Run Tigers. We have enrolled Griffin in the Committed Distance Learning program for the first semester of school. He is in a digital class with his teacher, Miss Peacock, along with several other friends he’s either had class with or that he knows from Tyler Run. There are also other kids from another elementary school within the district. He has a pretty solid schedule and will have live meetings several times per day. He was a bit reserved and shy during his first couple of days (which I was able to be home to help and see how everything is going to go!). Hoping he’ll come out of his shell and warm up as he adjusts to the new normal.

We’ve been really impressed with his teacher and the way everything is organized this year. There is a regular structure to the day, live morning and afternoon meetings with the entire class, and live meetings for math and reading on alternate days, in small peer groups. We have certainly had challenges with Griffin and his attitude and his tendency to complain and fight doing school, especially the writing assignments and some of the independent work. We’re hoping to work through these challenges and improve his mindset.

 

Even though Griffin isn’t going to in-person school, we wanted to get our annual School Bus stop picture this year. These kids are getting so big! And new to the mix this year is Hadi, a new friend who moved in down the street. His family moved here a few weeks ago from Lebanon. We’re happy to have another friend in the neighborhood – he certainly fits right in with so many boys!

Lexi is turning our basement classroom into a fun space for Griffin. She’s fun and creative and has made several posters and various wall art that helps to remind Griffin of certain rules or encourage a positive mindset. Reid chimed in one day with his for his Gym class, Lexi sent me this silly pic of them doing class together. A really fun part of school from home is all the fun places you get to have class. One day Griffin’s teacher asked them to find a fun place to do their reading for the afternoon and to have their grown up send a picture to her. Griffin chose the driveway outside on a sunny day :).

 

We have enrolled Reid at NPCA in the Tiger class, but have chosen to keep him home for now. We still wanted to go through the fun traditions so I took him to preschool for a meet-the-teacher and friends playground gathering. There are only 8 or 9 other kids in his class this year. He enjoyed playing with all the toys and on the playground equipment. Some bit of normalcy for a short stint.

Lexi has been doing fun arts and crafts and teaching Reid all sorts of things. She’s doing a great job having them both at the same time. I’ve lost my cool on more than one day when I’ve been doing it all solo. It’s a lot to keep Griffin on task, keep Reid from interrupting or being distracting or from having a fit if he isn’t allowed to do something he wants to do in the moment. Whew, it’s taxing!

 

We continue to enjoy the nice outdoor weather and some fun family time. We continue to either eat at home, or eat on a patio. We took the boys to Liberty Tavern on evening where we were able to enjoy some sunshine and live music from Local Roots a few doors down. We followed that up with dessert from Rita’s. We’re fortunate to have a cute downtown area with a lot of options – all just 5 minutes from home.  We woke up on a Saturday morning and decided to have a great family adventure starting with a bike ride to Tim Horton’s for breakfast (sound familiar?). When ready to leave, we discovered that  Griffin’s back tire was flat! We had already planned to go to Wheelie Fun Bike Shop in Powell to get him a new helmut (as his had broken on the inside), well, we were definitely headed there now! First, a stop at Grismer where they kindly filled the tire with air. At Wheelie Fun we got new helmuts for each of the kids (Reid’s was too small for his noggin) and bike mirrors for Kevin and me so we can see each other more easily when we’re riding in a single line! And of course, a new tire for Griffin. We continued on our trip, which by the end of the day was 16 miles. We went far up Sawmill Parkway, stopped at DQ, a park, and Nocterra. All while using lots of hand sanitizer and masking up when around others. It was nice to be outside for the day. We ended the day pretty tired with pizza and movies in bed.

I’m really liking having red, green, and yellow peppers this year!

Reid is doing really well on his “fire bike” with his training wheels. He is so excited to go on walks with me and Brutus and be independent.  Thank goodness for nice weather and outdoor play. Our neighbor, Abbie, put together a neighborhood flag football game complete with a hand-drawn invitation, organized teams, and a real referee (her dad!). From what I hear the game was pretty intense and a bit of frustration ensued from some of the interactions between the kids. Argh! A learning lesson for all!

 

Griffin is really loving playing soccer. He has really become more intense and aggressive this year just running his hardest and going after the ball. He’s been scoring nearly every game and has had some really great passes too. It’s been fun to watch.  Lexi knows American Sign Language and has been teaching the boys some from time to time. One afternoon when I got home they wanted to show me what they had learned.

 

Mr. Reidy went a bit fast on his fire bike and ended up with a little scratch on his forehead. He insisted on having bandaids put on like this and wore them for a couple days. Can you see his personality shine through in all these pics?

 

Griffin had quite the fan base at one of his earlier games as Grandma and Grandpa came along with all of the Bethunes! He gets so excited on Friday nights, the night before game day, that he has been setting out his uniform and complete outfit, down to the shoes, shin guards, socks, cleats, and ball.  Reid likes to dress just like Finn, so he wears Finn’s jersey from last year along with his cleats to each of the games.

 

Upon returning home from one of my morning walks with Brutus I discovered our Rising Sun tree branches looking like they were hanging low. Upon looking up close I was devastated to find not one, but two huge splits in the tree trunk. The one had apparently been there awhile as it didn’t look at all fresh. The other, I believe was from recent high winds. We are so bummed. This is the tree we take the yearly first day of school pictures in front of and so many friends always comment on how beautiful it is. The new growth always emerges pink so it is constantly having pink tips and the rest of the tree is yellow. We’re going to have to replace it.

Here are the pics from Reid’s first day of school. While he didn’t actually go to school, he got all dressed up in his first day of school outfit (a repeat from Griffin’s first day, can you tell?) and posed for numerous silly pics.

 

Reid is signed up for a “potty trained” preschool class, yet we haven’t quite made it there. We are, however, making great progress. Sorry for the potty pic, but wanted to remind ourselves in years to come where we were!

 

Haya came to visit again with baby Summer and the boys were just over the moon. It’s always a bit chaotic at first with so much energy and excitement. Reid and Finn constantly ask to hold her and take turns. She is getting so much bigger and more aware. Growing up fast!

 

Griffin pre-planning yet again – this time for school pictures!

 

While Kevin was away at his annual golf trip outing in Michigan, we had a super busy weekend – perhaps the busiest since Corona began. Started out Friday morning waking up to Brutus’ 4th birthday! Pardon my morning tired eyes and face – took these pics at 6:30 in the morning! We love this big boy. He was SOOOOO excited to have birthday cupcakes and receive new toys. He literally would not put down the duck and carried it with him in his mouth during our entire mile-long walk! See the video :).



 

Friday evening we had dinner at Culver’s on the patio with the Bolan’s and then gathered at our house with friends in the driveway. Saturday was a super busy day, starting with flu shots for the boys, followed by Tim Horton’s on the way to the soccer game! Then we had a long-planned neighborhood camp-out, which was scheduled for a couple of weeks prior but it was terrible weather and this weekend was the backup date. Each family setup their own tent in the Craig’s yard. We had pizza, glow sticks, dancing, glow-in-the-dark-football-fly-playing, campfire, s’mores, and all around fun! We were sad daddy wasn’t there with us though. I must say, I was pretty proud of myself for pitching the tent all by myself and keeping track of these two kids into the dark and sleeping in the tent at night. It was COOL at night and I hardly slept at all between being cold and just thinking about Brutus being home in his crate for so long. I took Reid home at 6:30 to let Brutie out and feed him breakfast, then we ran a quick errand to pick up donuts for the crew. It was a great weekend!

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Progress pic of the cemetery, they’ve now re-seeded the area.

 

George (and Lynda, posthumously) were the 2020 recipient of the HILA Award (Horticulture Industry Leadership Award) so we held a surprise celebration for him at Millcreek one morning. Normally he would have received his award in person at the Cultivate Trade Show, which didn’t occur this year due to Corona. We all think George is a great leader, a wonderful person to work for, and Fred put together a nice summary of the many contributions George has made at Millcreek and within the horticulture industry. George was also featured in the September issue of Greenhouse Management magazine, which was a nice surprise.

Sadly, September wasn’t without heartbreak. On Sunday, the day after our super long bike ride, Lily was having a normal day. I was upstairs in our bedroom doing laundry and when Lily walked in the door from the white steps and she seemed to be struggling some. Not sure why, so I went and talked to her and ended up carrying her to her bed in our room. From that point on, she wasn’t ever able to walk again. Being a holiday weekend, we weren’t able to get in touch with our vet. She ate dinner on Sunday, but on Monday and after would no longer eat. Kevin or I carried her in and outside each time for Sunday and Monday and Tuesday, and on Tuesday afternoon we took her to the vet. Dr. Shearer did a complete exam on her and gave us some possibilities that could have happened, perhaps an injury to her spine or disk (like slipping down the stairs, which she had done a couple of times in recent months). She proposed a couple of treatments and left the decision to us. We decided her quality of life, even with proposed treatments, would not be ideal. She was unable to stand or walk and no longer wanted to eat. We knew it was time to put her down – but it was still an agonizing time and decision. She was down to only 59 pounds. Our hearts were broken. She was the last of my original trio of three. She was the sweetest girl, who loved small and quiet spaces and loved to be around her people at all times. Even with her bad joints and arthritis in recent years, she made it up and down the steps numerous times a day. She went into each of the boys rooms at night – every night – for bed time routine. She was sassy, had impeccable hearing and sight, and loved playing with Brutus. He’s not known life without her. We are going to miss our sweet girl.

 

 

 

 

September 1-21, 2019 ~ Reid starts Preschool!

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Well, these last few days of September have felt more like summer with the heat! But these bathing suit pics and water balloon fight were from earlier in September at Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein’s house with their cousins. Though I’m not sure who enjoyed it more, the kids or Grandpa? I love Reid’s joyful smiles. We enjoyed a tasty dinner followed by smore’s on the deck.

I’ve been taking the boys out once a week for dinner after swim lessons. Most weeks we end up at Culver’s or Cane’s so we’ve accumulated enough scoopie tickets that each Finn and Reid were able to redeem it for a fun toy. We went home with another plush Scoopie and football!

Griffin has gotten rather creative in his room lately. He’s taken to making cages out of his books for many of his lovies. He’s organized them by animal type (tiger, bear, etc). I must say he put a lot of thought in to it and it was pretty neat to see the cages all over the perimeter of his room. Then he told me he slept in his closet, lol.

I’m not sure how it can be, but our little baby’s first day of Preschool arrived on September 4th! We woke him up that morning so we could snap some pictures before Griffin got on the bus – and he was so sad he began crying that he wasn’t getting on the bus too! I told him he gets to take the Mama bus, ha! He was excited to go to school though he was over me taking pictures and at one point in the kitchen walked over to me (as I had my phone up) and said “No!”, “no more pictures” and then he came over and swatted at my phone 🙁 . This boy, he is sassy. When he’s mad or frustrated he’s a hitter and a biter! Thankfully, he knows he shouldn’t do it and shortly after he says he’s sorry. I felt bad doing it, but I actually wrote that on his pre-school papers for his teachers this year. I figure it’s better I tell them up front and hope it won’t happen at school.  He also threw a fit on the kitchen floor, I can’t even remember why anymore, but by the time we got to school he was happy and ready to head inside. He happily walked down the hall (after we convinced him we weren’t going in to the sanctuary) and he put his bag in his cubby, his water in the carrier, and his lunch in the basket. And off he walked right in to the room with a big old smile on his face!  I went back to pick him up at 1 pm and he was all smiles from ear to ear. I asked him how his day was and if he was ready to go home. The first thing he said was “go home and have pbj?”. I asked him if he wanted a sweet treat to celebrate his first day and at first he said no! But after a few minutes he said he wanted ice cream so we stopped at Graeter’s on our way home for a special treat.

{this picture was in the app his classroom teachers use of lunch during the first day 🙂 }

Griffin has been enjoying first grade. He arrived home one afternoon with a “Paws-a-tivity” note for spreading kindness! He particularly seems to enjoy math and has on a few occasions said he wishes he was at school so he could do math! I was like “we can do math here!”. We went to the Scouting Carnival held at his school to learn more about Scouts. I can’t say that I really learned anything as the Den leader for 1st grade wasn’t able to be there and I basically chased Reid around trying to keep him from interrupting kids while they were playing the various activities. At one point it was a screaming fest in the lobby. Kevin wasn’t able to join us as he wasn’t able to get out of work and we had to leave at a specific time to get to soccer – but I decided to sign him up and see how he likes it. As it turned out, the first “pack” event was the following Saturday which was a camp out at Camp Lazarus. Kevin and Griffin had quite a fun time and got to know some kids and parents. The kids in his Tiger den did a skit about Tigers (which Griffin was a tiger and he got to do his favorite tiger running on 4 hands and feet as he escaped his den). The enjoyed smore’s, a nice night in the tent, and bacon and stuffed french toast the following morning. That same Saturday the popcorn sale began too. Kevin and Griffin had gone and picked up a “show and sell” package of popcorn, etc., from the leaders and also made it to the Scouts store as you have to be in uniform to sell. Grandma Beilstein was the first customer as Kevin took the options to Mansfield when he picked up the MG TD to bring it back here for storage. On Sunday, Griffin and I headed out around part of our neighborhood and he was really successful selling to every house that answered their door! He was pretty excited about that. On Monday, there was no school and I was scheduled off though I had to go in for a meeting so Griffin got dressed into his uniform, we took his popcorn, and he setup a station in our shipping department and had another successful sales hour. We’ve been having swim lessons, soccer skill development class, and i9 soccer each week so we’re on the go a fair bit.

One weeknight our neighbors had invited us to join them in visiting the Tecumseh Land Trust field of sunflowers in Yellow Springs. I wasn’t sure about going as I knew Kevin wouldn’t be able to make it leaving as early as they had planned to go, but I decided what the heck – let’s do it! So I got home from work, loaded the kids in the car, and we hit the road at 4:30. We walked the field of sunflowers with Cole, Cooper, Brian, and Lisa and snapped some cute pictures. It was hot! And it had been hot the previous few days also and the sunflowers were just beginning to perhaps pass their prime. It made for a fun memory and then we headed to Young’s for dinner, ice cream, and a quick goat feeding session before heading home. It was a late to bed kind of night!

Reid has been doing some fun artwork at NPCA. They have a structured plan to what they go through each week (letters, numbers, bible verse, etc) and he’s brought home some of his creations. He was super excited one day when he got to ride in Griffin’s seat (one time, special treat!) in the Jeep so Haya could have the van to pick him up. It’s been another season of car seat installation and switching around here! The class pictures are from his teachers. He’s also had a fun couple weeks, including an excursion to the Powell Splash Pad during it’s last day of operation for the season. It was super warm!

My new “snack plate” idea that I tried at dinnertime so the kids could have make their own choices from a few different options of fruits and cheeses. It went pretty well. There’s a pic of the Harvest Moon from our patio and some giant turkey vultures on our roof recently!

Haya took Reid and visited Griffin for lunch this week. He loved having her there and introduced her to all of his friends at lunch. Reid was a handful and basically stole Griffin’s chocolate milk, so Griffin had to go get another one for himself! His art teacher is using Artsonia this year, an online site where the kids artwork will be uploaded and you can then order things with their artwork and part of the money goes towards the school. I surprised Griffin with a mug that I bought with his crocodile sharpie/watercolor painting. He did it all himself and I thought it was super great!

Daddy has been away for a couple days on a guys golfing trip in Michigan. This one appeared in my room Friday morning before my alarm went off! We spent a wet Friday night attempting to go to the Hilliard Davidson versus Olentangy Liberty High School football game but got rained out (or at least lightning delay and then we met our expiration!). Saturday morning was picture day for Soccer, which didn’t happen due to the rain. Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein came to Griffin’s soccer game and essentially sat in the rain for an hour! Most games had been delayed/cancelled during the thunder so games resumed starting with Griffin’s but many kids didn’t show up, so they ended up combining the two red teams and two blue teams to play against each other. We lost 0-2, but Griffin played really well. He’s one of the quickest kids out there and he had several really great kicks and stops. He also used some of his new tricks he’s been learning at weekly soccer skills class – like running toward the ball, stopping it with one foot while he runs over it, and then turns and kicks it the other direction. Good stuff! I’d liek to get pictures, but usually Reid is sitting watching YouTube on my phone. It’s the easiest thing I can do to keep him off the field or not have to chase him all over the back 40.

On Wednesday, I took Brutus to the trainer where he will be spending the next 4 weeks. Ugh, it is so weird around here without Brutus! Even though he can be a piece of work sometimes I find it so odd when he’s not where I he would normally be – like his face at the dinner table, laying at my feet, waking me up in the morning, etc. Jeff, the trainer, sent me a picture of him the first night and has given a couple of updates via text. He seems to be settling in well from the sounds of things.

The MG TD made it’s way to our house thanks to Kevin and Jim making the trip up to Mansfield to bring her down using the Jeep and a rental trailer. We were able to get it off the trailer, took her for a spin around our neighborhood and got a couple quick videos, and then parked her in the garage for storage until she meets her new owner.

The Millcreek Open House was another great success.  Our new Shipping and Growing Facility is {mostly} complete with the exception of the overhead doors and irrigation lines. It’s a pretty one! The weather was beautiful and we had record attendance for the day. Both seminars were really well attended and the food was delish. I was exhausted at the end of the day!

 

August 2019

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We spent the last couple weeks of summer packing in all sorts of activities and wrapping up our Bucket List. We did super-great this year, accomplishing most everything on our list with the exception of a couple things! It definitely was a busy summer and seemed to fly by faster than any other yet.

Summer baseball wrapped up on a perfect sunny morning. Griffin did really well this season both fielding and getting some great hits. He is pretty focused out there.

On Saturday afternoon we headed to the Irish Festival. We essentially spent several hours in the kids play area and then had some dinner under one of the tents. Reid is at an age where it makes it challenging to really do much other than kids stuff. And like most his age, waiting doesn’t come easy for this toddler. So while we’re happy to have gone, Kevin and I decided next year we’ll get a sitter and go for an adult afternoon/evening where we can take in more of the actual festival!

One of the items on our summer bucket list was riding our bikes to downtown Powell for dinner and ice cream, which we were able to (mostly) accomplish! Kevin rode his bike to Library Park by our house where he met me and the boys. We took my bike and Griffin’s bike in the van and parked there so we wouldn’t need to bike on Jewett Road as there aren’t any sidewalks. We rode all the way to City Barbecue and Graeter’s on another nice evening. Once dinner was over we hopped on our bikes and about 10 feet away from City BBQ the pedal of Kevin’s bike fell off.  It had been loose on our way there and we were hoping to make it home, but it wouldn’t stay on. We switched Reid’s chair to my bike and the boys and I headed thru town and back to Library park. We tossed our bikes in the car and drove home to drop them off and then headed to pick Kevin and his bike up at Village Green Park. A memorable trip!

This was my version of showers for the boys on this particular night, lol. The both thought it was great and I must say it was actually quite fun and full of laughter.

Another summer bucket list item was camping in the back yard and making s’mores! We had the perfect night weather-wise and Kevin and Griffin had setup our camp in the back yard complete with our neighbors fire pit. Lily and Brutus joined us outside for pizza and ginormous s’mores. Then we got ready for bed and the boys watched a show on the tablet before lights out in the tent – all 4 of us plus Lily and Brutes. After about 15 minutes in the dark of Reid still getting up and wondering around inside I decided to throw the towel in and take Reid inside. So that night Kevin and Griffin and the dogs slept in the tent. The following day was a busy one starting with a birthday party for our friend Sammy, then a baseball game for Finn, followed by a fun night at Crew Stadium, which we got tickets through Locker Soccer for a special night where the kids got on the field before the game to play, they sat on the benches during the team warm ups, and then a halftime got to go to the tunnel and smack hi-fives to the players as they returned to the field. It was a nice evening – another perfect fall temperature night – so Griffin and I took a turn in the tent when we got home.

The following day we headed to my friend Jaime’s house for a pool party with my college girl friend crew and (most of) their families. We enjoyed a nice cookout and all of the kids and adults were in and out of the pool and hot tub for several hours. Another great afternoon of sun and fun! It’s crazy how quickly these kids are growing up – Audrey turned 13 this month!

On Tuesday, 8/13, we headed to the Open House where Griffin met his first grade teacher, Mrs. Hale. He explored his room and put away his school supplies in his desk. It was a short but fun visit. Afterward we headed for haircuts which were in dire need before school started Thursday!

I’ve been working on being more prepared with meal ideas for the week and having easy and quick dinners to make on the weeknights. It’s been working out pretty well and the boys have been eating well too. I actually snapped a pic of Reid eating spaghetti, yay!

The first day of school was on Thursday, 8/15. Griffin was so excited he walked into the kitchen fully dressed with shoes and socks on at 6:50 am! He went out and talked to the middle schoolers at 7:30 am (our driveway is the bus stop for all – elementary/middle/high). Kevin prepared a fun pancake breakfast, including a tiger paws and 1st! Griffin has the most genuine, huge smile with his plate of cakes. We hung out in the driveway with Haya and our neighbors and all of the kiddos awaiting the bus. Haya brought Griffin a 1st day of school present  skeeball! Wowzer, this boy has it made! We love having our driveway be the hub of activity :). I’m really liking his teacher, Mrs. Hale. I enjoyed going to the Curriculum night and learning more about her and her teaching philosphy and the plan for the year. She uses an app called Bloomz and regularly posts class updates, including photos, throughout the week. Some of the pics below are from the app.

We headed to Nocterra for a spontaneous hang out with our neighbors on Friday afternoon at the end of the first school week. The kids had a lot of fun and were sweaty messes by the time we went home.

I found this selfie on my phone and while it’s dark I think it’s a cute one of Finn :). This boy is growing up too fast for my liking….he’s got a tooth starting to poke through on the bottom and hadn’t lost one yet, that is until on Sunday night, after the first couple days of school Griffin asked Daddy to pull it! Kevin made a lasso using floss and sure enough that baby was so ready to come out it flew across the bathroom and hit my leg! Griffin said it didn’t even hurt! He was excited to use his Tooth Fairy box for the first time. Earlier in the afternoon on Sunday we gathered with the Bethunes, Mom, and Dad at the Dublin South Pool to celebrate Rowan’s birthday. It was quite a warm day and many others had the same idea but we had a great time. Reid has really become a water bug and Graham walked all around the pool with him. Dad and Rowan tag teamed the water slide too :).  Later in the week on Wednesday, Griffin came home with a tooth missing! His tooth came out in class and he got to go to the nurse who gave him a tooth necklace in order to safely get his tooth home. I was amazed, it made it all the way home even on the bus! This kid has had a big week!

On Wednesday, Reid had his “meet the teacher” morning for a half hour, where he can play in his classroom, meet his teacher, and get comfortable with his surroundings. His Guppy class is in the same room he is in on Sunday’s during church so he’s already pretty comfortable there. He will be going to school on Monday and Wednesday’s from 9:30 am – 1 pm.

On Friday I took Reid with me to Millcreek for a couple hours to get some things done on my “day off”.  He enjoyed pretending to drive the golf carts and tractors. He did really well as we were there for just less than 3 hours. He watched some Peppa , his most requested show, on the tablet to keep occupied.

Later on Friday Griffin and I went to the St. Joan of Arc Festival just down the street. Reid stayed home and went to bed and Daddy got some quiet time.  We met up with our neighbors Abbie and her dad Bernie and the two kids went from ride to ride for a couple of hours. It was cool outside by the end of the night – I could have used a jacket!

We’ve signed Griffin up for i9 Soccer for the Fall season and the first game was Saturday. Griffin is all about sports. He is the most intent player out there, so focused and hard core! He did really well considering this is the first time he’s done soccer on a team that plays games! One of his teammates scored at the end of the game to tie it up for a 2-2 tie. Kevin is coaching along with Brian, our neighbor, and Cole and Griffin are on the team together. It will be a fun fall season.

After soccer we headed to Enon for the night. The boys stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while Kevin and I headed to Dayton to have dinner with Sarah and Kara before heading to the Lauren Daigle concert at the Nutter Center. After dinner we had 1.2 miles to drive to the concert – and would you believe it took us more than an hour to get there! Traffic was insane, unlike any traffic I’ve sat in for Buckeye games or concerts anywhere I’ve ever gone! But we made it after the warm-up artist (don’t even know who it was!) and before Lauren began playing. It was a lovely show, she has one of the most flawless voices I’ve heard especially in a live concert. It was great.

On Sunday we enjoyed a lazy start to the day and then were off to Young’s for a bit of fun in the batting cages, the barrel rides, playing in the corn bin, and ice cream – of course! We fed the goats too before heading back for dinner at Grandma and Grandpas. Another great weekend of fun!

Now that school has been in session a couple of weeks we’ve got a good routine down. Weeknights are busy as Griffin has swim on Mondays and Soccer on Tuesdays, then soccer again on Saturday mornings. We grab dinner after swim (as it starts at 5) and this week stopped at Culver’s. There was a face painter there so both boys got Spiderman on their cheeks. They were delighted. Afterward we had to make a quick pit stop at Target, in their skeleton pjs nonetheless. My little skeletons were crazy characters running around Target. Then it was home and to bed.

And here are a few more from the end of the month. Haya sent me this picture of Reid which I thought was perfect! Griffin is becoming more and more brave as he’s learning to climb trees. It makes this mama nervous though I’m encouraging him to do as much as he feels comfortable doing! On Thursday night the boys and I went on a 35 minute bike ride going through several neighborhoods near us. It was a lot of fun as we explored new to us places on bikes and then finished with a sweet treat in the driveway.

We kicked off the Labor Day weekend on Friday with pizza at Dewey’s, Ice cream across the street at Graeter’s, and then putt putt nearby in Westerville. We hadn’t been to the Westerville Golf Course before but are glad we went as the mini-golf course was fun and beautifully landscaped. We will go back when we can spend more time and take in the batting cages!

Saturday morning it was up and at ’em for breakfast followed by a short trip to COSI to see the Jim Henson exhibit before it leaves! We were able to see many of the Sesame Street characters and various artifacts from Jim Henson’s puppeteer career. We also explored the dinosaurs and got wet in the kids water area. Then we headed home to watch the Buckeyes win the first game of the season. Go Bucks. The boys enjoyed playing flag football during the game, lol.

I’m excited that we have two canteloupe and one watermelon growing this year in our garden, however, they’ve come down with powdery mildew and I’m not sure the fruit will mature before the plants die off. Ugh. It’s a good thing cucumbers are easy – that’s about the only thing we seem to grow reliably in our garden each year.

 

 

And here are a few shots at Millcreek. We took several members of our team up to Corso’s in early August. Many of our staff hasn’t seen the new shipping process in action, they’ve just heard us explain it. To get everyone a bit more comfortable and to see things with their own eyes we took a field trip. Then a couple weeks later our consultant was in town and we did a “mock up” in our new facility. We took the team out with batch pull tickets to pull the mass items from the greenhouses, then took the racks in and ran them through the process in the new facility and got them staged in the supermarket. Then we shopped the supermarket for individual orders.  So many moving parts!! It is really cool to see it all come together, but there are so many details to still iron out. This spring will be quite different.

The electric and dock/driveway areas are nearly complete. This week we were able to have our main driver pull down into the dock and “mock” position the truck in each of the 4 dock lanes. It’s going to be good  – and tight – with the western most dock lane, but he got in and out and says it will do – Woohoo!