Welcome Home Daddy

Chris had a long day Wednesday. He put in about 13 hours with a full school day and an away cross country match. When he got home, he just wanted to devour his Chipotle dinner. However, Ty and Maddie needed some quality time first.

Morning Birthday Party

Alyssa celebrated her birthday Sunday morning. Kindly, Alyssa let Maddie participate in the card and present opening. This card didn't have any money in it (it was attached to a present), so Maddie asked, "Where's the money?"

Ty got into the presents earlier and started unwrapping them. Oops!

Ty was hanging out with the boys after Matt gave him a mohawk.

Maddie modeling Alyssa's new rain boots.

Maddie and Ty kept asking me where the birthday cake was. They didn't understand that the donuts and the pecan rolls took the place of a cake!

Dillon and Dinner

I picked Ty and Maddie up from Lynda's promptly at 4 pm Friday afternoon. I found them in Lynda's bathroom where they had dumped about a thousand Q-tips and they were covered in powder. They had been helping Lynda get ready to go to the Red's game! The three of us then went to Dillon park to play for about 30 minutes before going to Chris' Cross Country Team dinner at the Newsom's house. I thought it would be fun to go because one of their sons was a previous student of mine. I was right, the kids had fun playing with Andrew, his helmet, and his football. Andrew let Ty tackle him over and over. When it was time to leave, Maddie wanted to take Andrew home with her!

Through Maddie's Eyes

At Bryan and Matt's soccer game, I pulled out my camera in hopes of getting a few good action shots. Well, Maddie wanted the camera to take pictures which is her new hobby. I picked the top 10 pictures even though she took over 20!

Ice Cream Cones

Ty and Maddie's new favorite evening snack is mini ice cream cones. Mmmmm!

12 Hour Day

It was time to return to the zoo. We like to go at least once a month. The four of us left the house around 8:30 and were at the Columbus Zoo by 10 am. Even though it was a holiday weekend, it wasn't very crowded.

Since it felt like the zoo was empty, we decided to do some things we haven't done before. First, we went on a boat ride.

We watched the geese in Scioto River.

Ty wanted to feed them.

Next, Daddy fed the birds. They flew right to him and began drinking the nectar.

Of course, we had to eat our picnic lunch.

At noon, we went to the "Animals on Safari" show. It was so cool! Maddie and Ty were mesmerized by the animals. They sat completely still for 30 minutes just staring at the stage.

Chris and I truly enjoyed the show too.

After a few hours at the zoo, we met Ma and Pa at the Cheesecake Factory at Easton. After lunch, we walked around and did a little shopping.

On the way home from Columbus, we stopped at Mimi and Papa's to get fruit to take to a cookout. Then we went to Watton's. This pic was taken by Maddie!

Ty got to spend some time with Lauren. She even gave him a silly band!

Ella and Maddie generously stopped playing long enough for us to get a quick pic of them. Maddie is wearing Ella's hand-me-downs from head to toe (literally, she is wearing her crocs too!). I love hand-me-downs!

Ty played in Gray's walker when he vacated it.

It was almost 9 pm when we pulled into our driveway. Maddie and Ty were still awake and in good moods! We quickly got them in their pjs, gave them their Flintstone vitamin, put them to the bed, and crashed on the couch! Thank goodness it is a long weekend!

Special Walk

Saturday night we joined Team Taylor and participated in a special walk. Team Taylor was created to raise money and support for Cameron Taylor, a second grader at Adamsville, who has bone cancer. Team Taylor had over 200 walkers including the TVHS football team, lots of TV teachers, and numerous community members.

Team Taylor members supported Cameron by wearing a yellow ribbon.

There was a record number of particpants this year. All 850 runners and walkers had to be bused to Rosecrans High School from the library. There was only two buses transporting people. Therefore, we waited two hours before starting the walk. Maddie and Ty were well behaved considering the circumstances. At some point before the walk Ty was in Braxton's stroller.

So Brax had to sit in Ty's stroller. Brax was a little frustrated with Maddie. She played photographer for a while but was holding the camera backwards. Maddie wouldn't listen to Brax who was trying to tell her how to hold the camera. They were hitting each other and then Brax tried to bite Maddie. Then Maddie kept putting her hand in front of him trying to get him to bite her again! At least she doesn't just tease her brother!

The runners began the Y-City mile first and then the walkers were let loose. Somehow we got right behind the runners and took off. It was an awesome view in front of us. Chris and Nate thought we were walking too fast. They wanted to know if this is how fast we always walk when we go for walks! Actually, we walk faster, they were slowing us down!

Then Chris told us to look behind us. Wow, there were tons of people behind us!

We finished the walk in just under 15 minutes. Chris and Nate "drafted" off Tiff and I the entire race. Then, with about 30 feet left they sprinted to the finish line, so they could beat their wives!

It is really amazing how people pull together in hard times. We were proud to be part of Team Taylor and will keep Cameron in our prayers as he continues to receive chemo treatments. He is scheduled to have a mid-thigh amputation on September 13th.