Harry Potter, Patoka and more...

My trip to Universal Studios to see the new Harry Potter park was great!

All you Harry Potter fans will appreciate these pics....

(we took a ton of pics so not all of them are on here,

but everything was straight out of the books and movies!)

Extendable ears outside of Zonko's joke shop

The wand choosing experience at Olivander's

(it was an exact reinactment of Harry's experience in the movie!)





Puking Pastilles outside of the Weasley brother's joke shop (Zonko's)



Hogwarts Castle




The entrance to Hogwarts

We thought this sign was funny

Defense against the dark arts classroom.

Harry, Ron & Hermione were talking to us.

Expecto Patronum

Devil's snare in the Herbology lab

Mandrakes in the Herbology lab

The actual wands of Harry Potter, Voldemort and others

Mirror of Erised

Entrance to Dumbledore's office

The Pensieve

Inside Dumbledore's office. A hologram of Dumbledore

was speaking to us, but it's hard to see in this pic.

The moving/talking pictures inside Hogwarts

Drinking Butterbeer and Hog's Head Brew at the Hog's

Head Tavern. We made good friends with Troy, our bartender.

Chocolate Frog from Honeydukes

The frog choir was really good. They

sang/harmonized several songs from the movies.

The Monster Book that tried to eat Harry

The book growled and went crazy.

The talking Sorting Hat.

A die-hard Harry Potter fan that we met.

He was 16 and was dressed to a "T" in all the Harry Potter gear.

He even had a latex lightning scar on his forehead.

Everyone wanted to take a pic with him. He was quite popular.

Watching Jace eat oreos was pretty hilarious.

He was wolfing them down like no tomorrow!

We've been on Patoka Lake a few times

with the Noble family. Here's Matt skiing.

Me skiing at Patoka

Two peas in a pod

Lexi likes her new hairstyle method of smashing

food in her hair and then spiking it

Another attempt at a hug (not a headlock)

Lexi at 17 months wearing a dress

made by her great-grandma Derybowski

Where Has July Gone??

July has been full of fun and traveling for us. We went to Michigan for the 4th and spent time with Matt's family and watched Aunt Lisa play in a volleyball tournament. Matt was superdad and stayed home with Jace and Lexi while I went on vacation to the new Harry Potter World at Universal Studios for a week. It was awesome and a nice break for me! I'll post some pics as soon as I get a chance...

Enjoy!

My little Dr. Suess Characters

Staredown in the tub


Swinging at Community Park

Scrub-a-dub-dub, Jace in the tub

Braden and Jace at the Noble's Annual Backyard Bash

Jace was preparing for cooking camp and Lexi

was pumping me up for the midnight viewing

of Twilight's Eclipse.

Lexi thinks Edward and Jacob are hot!!

Not sure what I just ate...

My little thing at 16 months

Whatcha lookin' at?

Lexi took a trip with Matt to the Science Center

My little Twilight Fan

Crackin' up in the tub video

Swinging at the park video

Moving into a new house and more...

It's been pretty busy here since the big move into our final destination. We are in the new house, but still have a lot of work to do. Last week we had Bobbie Jo's wedding, I ran in a 10k race, Lexi turned 16 months, and we went strawberry picking at Hubers. Take a look and enjoy!

Family pic of all the grandkids/great-grandkids at the wedding

Who is that kid that stepped in our family picture?

Our new home


The back of our new home


Lexi at 16 months

I ran the Huber's Barnyard Dash (6.2 miles)

and got 3rd place in my age division

Let me out!

Mad scientist hard at work with playdough

Strawberry picking at Hubers-

Jace ate at least a dozen of them while picking

Jammin' on the piano

Jace on the swing at Hubers

Lexi wasn't feelin' the strawberry picking

Yum, strawberries!

Taking back our tub of strawberries on the tractor

Grandma Nancy with Jace and Lexi

Jace and Lexi jammin' to the piano music

Lexi dancing next to the speaker at the wedding

Jace's Swim Attire

Jace was attempting to hug Lexi for this picture,

but it looks more like Lexi is in a headlock

Lexi 15 months

Well, for the past 2 days Jace has been enjoying

the hot weather by playing in his pool and

water table. The only problem is that he

refuses to wear his swim trunks. So he's

been running around in the buff all day in our

backyard. Our neighbors probably think we're

wierdos. Matt did make some progress with

Jace last night, though. He was able to get

Jace to swim in his undies. Today he swam in

his undies for a little bit, but then it was back

to playing in the buff. What are we

going to do if we try to go to a water park?

Shakin' it

School's Out!

School's out! School's out! Teacher let the monkeys out!

Jace finished his last day of preschool yesterday.
They ended the year with a party and pinata.
Each kid got to take a swing at it with a yard stick
(which was pretty comical to watch).
Of course, no one broke it, so the teacher ended
up smashing it and then it was every kid for himself :)
20 kids tackling each other for candy.
I forgot my camera, as usual, so I didn't get any
pics of Jace's last day, but here's a few pics from the last couple of weeks...

We are cool

Lexi walks in "real" shoes for the first time.

She is fascinated by the lights on them.





Jace in the tunnel

Video of Lexi and Jace dancing

Video of Jace jammin' to the radio

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Matt snuck up on us and took a pic of Jace and I napping.

I didn't know that Jace fell asleep like that on my leg.

Matt survived another birthday. The big "32."

Jace and I made him a cake and attempted to sing,

but Jace was only interested in blowing out the candles.

Cheese!

blowing out the candles

Lexi jammin' on her headphones

Lexi is now 14 months and has officially graduated into
her new big girl carseat. She is liking this much
better now that she can see all the action
(and watch movies with Jace).

Loves playing with the box of wipes

Video of Lexi in her new carseat