Zoar Community Festival

The local Lutheran church hosted a community fall festival this past Sunday. Since we are lucky to live in town, it was only a few blocks walk. The weather was perfect!

At the festival they had a free barbecue, horse drawn wagon, pumpkin painting, games, bouncy house and face painting. A friendly church member, Jerry, painted on Elise's face. There were dozens of Halloween/fall choices to pick but Elise picked a spider. If you recall, she loves spiders. 

Getting our face painted

I wonder if Elise was the only toddler to request having a large
tarantula painted on her face? She sure looks happy
with the final result!

My favorite picture of the day

Elise modeling her new 'sunglasses' she won playing games at the
festival. She's in her pajamas under the red heat light in her bathroom...
hence the red glow. Gotta love old homes!

Here are the same 'sunglasses' worn in the previous picture. Wait! I guess
they aren't sunglasses at all but rather a plastic pumpkin box! Ironically
a spider ring was hidden inside. How appropriate!

People ask me if Elise still sleeps with that big plastic spider. The answer is 'Yes'. She refers to her as Betty Web (ironically named after Jeff's Aunt Betty Webb... but with 2 b's!). Unfortunately she's lost 2 legs within the past year but we love her just the same.

Baltimore

Elise has officially been on her first vacation- flew on her first airplane- stayed in her first hotel- and attended her first wedding... all thanks to her Uncle Kevin and her new Aunt Rachel and new cousin Amelie.

On the Thursday before the big festivity, we boarded our Delta flight in Detroit- bound for Baltimore. Elise wasn't interested in sitting near the window but found all the new (and old) books that mommy had packed to be the most fun. Of course the snacks helped too (Daddy had bought a cookie as a treat). After a trip to the bathroom, complete with turbulence while Elise was sitting on the potty and I was smashed against the door (praying I wouldn't touch anything... yep, germ-phobe!), we landed.

Right now everyone is sizing us up and saying' I hope they don't sit by us!'                                                                                 

This is a dark picture but truly, Elise read by herself almost the entire flight!

Yes, we didn't exactly nap while in town but our little girl did well under the circumstances. We now can laugh (well, almost) that on the one day she did fall deep asleep during naptime, a fire alarm went off in the hotel and we had to evacuate. Of course by the time we trucked down the stairs, we learned it was only a false alarm. 

Elise and I at the Inner Harbor

Our first wedding festivity was the rehearsal dinner thrown by Nana and Pops at the Dogwood. While we enjoyed Beef Short Ribs and Catfish, Elise snacked on Chicken fingers and mac n'cheese. Yummy menu. But, Elise thought the pears (used as the gift-- 'The perfect pair') were the best. She ate three..

Elise checking out her new outfit before leaving

Here we are minus one pigtail. 

Grandma, Elise and Grandpa

Nana's toast for the couple-- 'It's about the small, everyday stuff that makes a relationship'. How true!
Jeff, thanks for pouring my coffee every morning :)

Nana and Elise

Amelie with her mustache

Jeff and Uncle Kevin. Nice mustaches! So handsome.

Grandpa, Uncle Rik, and Uncle Steve

The next day was the wedding day! The ceremony was beautiful and we were able to keep Elise quiet with Nana's ipad... Desperate times call for desperate matters! I can't say that I am happy we had to bring along electronics to make it through the ceremony but a toddler doesn't really understand the concept of 'No talking'. Right before the ceremony started, Elise shouted 'More music!' when the pianist took a break between songs. So, that's when we knew we had to take matters into our own hands.

Look at the shock on Elise's face when I said there isn't any talking during the ceremony!

The new Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Nilsson

But, not to worry, the reception was the place for Elise to get out some of her energy... and enjoy the music. Enjoy the music she did! The girl danced for over 3-hours (no exaggeration!!!) straight on the dance floor. While she refused to eat her dinner (dancing calls!!), we weren't too worried as she filled up on popcorn and snacks beforehand. We kept her hydrated by bringing her water on the dance floor. Did I mention she likes to dance?!?

Pre-dancing popcorn snack with Daddy

Nana and Pops

Uncle Steve, Aunt Dawn, Alexis, and Stephen

The head table

Brother and Sis

Here we are wondering if Elise will really
dance all night long!

Us cousins

Rachel, Kevin, Pops, Me, and Nana

Just a dancing blur

Early on in the evening... before the sweater came off
and Elise turned into a 'sweat head'.

After a late night of dancing, we headed back to the hotel for a good nights rest. When Elise woke the  next morning, her first words were 'More dancing'. What fun we had!

There was something stinky on the plane ride home

The tiny dancer heading home

Finally home. Not looking too bad even though we skipped a nap. Little did

we know but Elise would sleep 13-14 hours a night for the next

four days. All the fun wore her out!

 We had another busy but fun fall packed weekend!

On Saturday we went to Waterville's Roche de Boeuf festival (named after a 1700s French settlement along the Maumee River). We met up with the Hebekas where we enjoyed a parade (and more candy!), car show, crafts and food. Elise is finally learning her friends names too. In the past she only would talk about 'Tommy' but now knows his sisters 'Annie' and 'Eliza' too. It was a cool morning but luckily the rain held out.

On Sunday, Jeff, Elise and I did the Race for the Cure. There were over 17,000 other participants as well. Elise rode in her stroller which suited her as she brought along a snack to munch on while Mommy and Daddy did all the work .

Let the Fall Festivities Begin!

Let the fall festivities begin!!! I don't know about you, but there is something wonderful about the beginning of autumn. There is so much to do all the time and the weather, when it's cooperating, is crisp and filled with excitement and color!

Mommy went away for the night and left Daddy and Elise home alone. They spent Saturday at Perrysburg's Harrison Rally Day. Harrison Rally Day is named for William Harrison, the president who also is credited with building Fort Meigs. It's a day for local businesses and artists to come out and support the community. Of course the parade was a hit. Daddy said that Elise was a candy magnet.. as she gathered a bag full from the people in the parade. Elise ate a box of nerds and apparently has forgotten about the rest (Whew! Because I've eaten it all!).

Boppy (in a headlock) and Elise
waiting for the parade.

So, what was I up to? I met Nana in Columbus and we went to the Country Living Festival. Don't be jealous but we met (and had books signed) by the Beekman Boys (Josh and Brent).  We knocked over a few old ladies to secure a great place in line- well worth it! 

On Sunday, we took a family drive to the Fleitz Pumpkin Farm. Ok, so it's not pumpkin weather yet but if you want to beat the crowds..... and beat the crowds we did! We had the place almost to ourselves-- that's perfect when you are bringing a toddler. It was a bit of a a autumn wonderland!

Almost 3 feet- that's according to a big pumpkin!

Inside the barn, they had bales of hay and a sliding board. It was a hit!

Friendly goats! 

Getting ready for our hay ride. 

Did I mention we were the only ones on the hayride?! Elise is enjoying her donut that
daddy bought. It was a bit messy!

My little farm girl!

We had a lot of fun- even lost our pony tails along the way!
Elise picked out her own pumpkin and Mommy got some
mums. We'll be back for more pumpkins
when it gets a bit cooler out!