Weekend with the V's

We spent the weekend upstate (that's my fancy way of saying Cleveland) with our dear friends, Ben and Kylie. Ironically, we made a similar trip up to see them almost exactly a year ago. If you look at last years post, you'll see that Addison had a lot of fun in the swing. After she made herself at home by exploring every room in the house, she headed right out to the swing set.

They had a bar, too. She was in heaven!


Ben quickly became her favorite person for the weekend. They played together a lot. Babies, sticks, you name it.

Ben and Kylie live across the street from a small lake. Kye and I took Addison and the dogs for a walk and stopped to feed the ducks.

Though it wasn't just the ducks we fed. Check out the gigantic fish that were fighting for the bread (and winning at times).

After our walk, Kylie and Addison decided to take a rest on the Adirondacks. It was picture perfect, hence the many photos. I'm not sure what Kylie was doing that was so funny, but Addison was having a great time. Enjoy "The Adirondack Series".

One last picture (or two) with our hosts before hitting the road. Thanks for having us, guys!

The coolest park ever

Addison and I took a couple days and went to Cleveland this week to visit with Julie, Josh and Noah. One of the highlights of the trip was our voyage to an amazing park near their house. I stole the explanation of the park below from Julie. I actually didn't even realize what the park was all about until I read it on her blog just a few minutes ago. It makes the wonderful experience we had even better!

"The Inspiration for Preston's H.O.P.E. came from very special friends and family of a little boy born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). They believed that if his dreams were to play in a park with all other kids, then there must be many, many other children with the same dream as well... they found out that there were over 26,000 kids in Cuyahoga County alone with some type of disability. Kids that wanted the opportunity to play with their brothers and sisters and their best friends... a place that was boundless. Many of these kids met one day and dreamed together the way Preston's H.O.P.E. should be. A place where you could get up high, feel movement, play things you've never been able to, or just be quiet if you want. And that is how it all started.

Then the real work began to make these dreams a reality. After seven years and almost $3,000,000 raised, children have the unique opportunity to enjoy all of these children's dreams and still create many of their own.

Specific components of Preston's H.O.P.E. include The Imagination Village, with make-believe houses that are connected by a Raised Walkway, Play Theatre, Sand & Water Area, just to name a few, as well as play areas with Swings, tunnels, and slides!"

I took a lot of pictures and barely captured the essence of this place. Enjoy the scenery!

Park Entrance


Town Center


Clothing Store


Inside of store

Addison trying out a new look at the store

Zebra

Schoolhouse

Inside the schoolhouse


Addison and Noah on teeter totter

Slide


Wheeee!

Putting Green


Poppy's Gym (which is extra cool because we think they must have named it after Addison and Noah's Poppy).


Bank of America

Addison and Noah on Motorcycle

The coolest park ever - cont'd

Firehouse

Firefighter Addison

Addison and Noah in Fire Chief car

Fire Chief Addison


Addison in police car and Noah in fire chief car (in background)

The prettiest jailbird I ever did see!

Noah had visitation rights

The prettiest girl on a swing I ever did see!


She loves the swing

This is one of her new expressions. We think she watched too much of Adam Lambert on American Idol. Keep an eye out, you will probably see it in other pictures.

Addison and Noah riding the front of the train

Where have we been???

So, where have we been the last 2 weeks? Well, I'll tell you this much. We haven't been outside! We have officially come to the realization that the 70 degree November weather is gone and winter is here. We've woken up to a dusting of snow on the ground quite a few days lately. It's beautiful, really. I can't wait until it gets deep enough to play in. I am going to build a snowman and throw snow balls at Daddy!

Along with winter come our two favorite holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mommy and Daddy have always loved these holidays, but they've meant even more to them since I was born. Why? Because my birthday is on Thanksgiving Day this year and I came home from the hospital on Christmas Day last year! You can definitely tell the holidays are fast approaching in our home. Maybe Mommy is making up for the lack of holiday decorating last year since it was kind of a crazy time. Our Christmas tree didn't even make it inside. Instead, it went straight to it's permanent home in our backyard. Our Christmas tree last year was a palm plant that Grandma and Grandpa F. quickly decorated for us while Mommy and Daddy were at the hospital with me early Christmas morning, trying to find out if they were going to be able to take me home! Mommy and Daddy said that my NICU nursery was decorated more than our house last year. One day soon, we're going to look at all the decorations that the NICU nurses and NICU alumni made for me. Those decorations are so special to me, just as much as our decorations this year.

Your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a 12 footer! Not.Easy.To.Decorate.


Butterflies are my favorite and Mommy and Daddy put some on the tree for me!

And just so we never, ever forget how good God has been to us....


That's not all the decorating that's been going on. As you know, my playroom is no longer under construction, so Mommy and I have been busy trying to make it pretty. It seems like every day there is something new in there and I notice right away. I go into my playroom, spot something that wasn't there the day before, point and say "oooooh". Mommy loves it!

My reading area

Butterflies, of course!

The kitchen that Grandma and Grandpa F. got me for my birthday (a little early)!

My dining/craft table

Some of mine and Mommy's artwork in the craft area

There's lots more decorating to do in my playroom, but we're off to a good start. See, I told you we've been busy! But, that's still not everything we've been up to. We have been so busy, busy, busy playing and visiting with family and friends that we haven't had a spare moment to blog. Honestly! We have had something happening every day. Here are a few of those things....

Visiting Aunt Julie, Uncle Josh and Noah in their beautiful new house.

I had so much fun playing with my cousin! We even took a bath together. It was a little crowded, but I had fun tickling his toes and taking turns drinking from the cup.

While there, my "Aunt" Kye Kye and "Uncle" Ben came over and brought me some birthday presents!

Thanks for the toy, book, and outfit...I love them!

Later that week, Ariana came over to play.

During which time I got my first shiner.

What's that? No, it's not eye shadow. It's a good ole fashioned black eye (3 days post accident)! Isn't it purdy?

The next week, Aunt Beth came into town to interview for a residency program. As usual, I had lots of fun with Aunt Beth! I'm hoping she had enough fun with me to convince Uncle Matt to move here???? Uncle Matt says "fat chance". :(

Then my friend, Raegan, came over to play. Well, she can't play the things I can (yet), but she did enjoy my activity mat!

I'll leave you with a couple videos!

I'm getting really fast walking behind things. I am so proud of myself though, that I have to stop every few feet to clap.

Bubba and I are becoming the best of friends. I have learned how to tease him with his toys and make him chase me!