What We're Reading

Books & blueberries!

(That's not a book title.)

What a wonderful combination!

(And P.S. - Providing a snack is a great way to keep my busy toddler still long enough to actually read a book. I'm sure you know who I mean.)

Sophie ran out of blueberries so Will shared some of his. :)

We've had a very good book week... well, weeks actually since we didn't return them on Saturday as usual. Will really likes them all.

Grandma & Papa Riedeman brought the kids a couple books back from Alaska and Will requests them frequently.

1. Kiska & Kobuk

This one is simple and short about Alaskan Huskies on a sled dog team running with their Grandpa & Papa.

2. Alaska's Three Bears by Shannon Cartwright

We really like this book. It tells about the different homes/habitats of a big, white, polar bear, a medium-sized, brown bear, and a small, black bear that all live in Alaska. It's interesting to know that they're all bears, yet they live in such opposite environments. And at the bottom of each page, there's a lot more educational information in smaller print to enhance the learning opportunity.

3. Where's My Teddy? by Jez Alborough.

Very cute and comical with some fun rhymes.

4. The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle.

Love the fun surprise in this one! I first read it to them while they were eating lunch one day and you should have seen the confused (and then excited!) looks on their faces when they heard the chirping.

Take a wild guess what kind of books Will selected on his own...

If you guessed baby board books with a farm animal theme and Dora/Diego books, you would be right! :)

5. Everywhere A Moo, Moo by Scholastic, Inc.

6. Baby Lamb Finds a Friend by Laura Gates Galvin.

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10. When an Elephant Comes to School by Jan Ormerod.

A silly book about how a young elephant would behave in a human school.

11. How Did You Grow So Big, So Soon? by Anne Bowen.

Guess who picked this one... It was another book on the "back to school" display and it's about a boy going to his first day of school (Kindergarten actually) and he and his mother recount how he's grown and talk about his first day of school. Once again, Will requested this one a bunch! Love that kid. And I enjoyed it and got teary as I expected. Why do I do that to myself?

Happy Reading! Maybe next summer we'll join the library's summer reading program.

God Bless Cecilia

Cecilia Mae Munoz was baptized into the Catholic church on Sunday!

Craig was asked to be the Godfather and give a reading. The ceremony was intimate and lovely, held at Our Lady of Lourdes in Genoa with Father Al Ceranowski (a family friend and retired priest).

Miss Cecilia was sooooo good! Smiling and cheerful. Not a whimper out of her.

Proud parents

Steve's sister, Diana, is Celia's godmother.

Oh my gosh! Check out this dress! My mother-in-law MADE it out of the fabric of her own wedding dress! So sweet.

Thankfully it was just a small, private ceremony because neither of my kids wanted to sit still. Will wandered the church carrying his cow figurine (of course) and Soph and I had to stand and move around a bit too.

This was after the ceremony.

Riedeman kids and grandkids.

Here's Will leading Sophie around by the hand again. :)

Cecilia changed into a lovely party dress afterwards and we all enjoyed some very tasty food at her parents lavish home. What a nice celebration!

Sophie actually napped before we went to the ceremony and then again in the pack 'n play at the party. But Will just skipped nap and this is how he looked about two minutes after leaving their driveway at about 4:30-ish. :)

Lakeside & Marblehead Lighthouse

One of the things on our summer to-do list was to visit the Marblehead Lighthouse.

It had been three years since we were there last in the summer of 2007 just after Will was born. Both then and now, I invited my mom and grandma to tag along since it's pretty scenic out there and the kids always enjoy spending time with them.

Will's got a thing lately about holding Sophie's hand and leading her around.

Obviously, this picture didn't turn out. But it's a great picture of my mom, so I saved it.

Let's take a look back at August 2007, shall we? Baby Will cradled in great grandma's arms.

And now August 2010 and my 74-year old grandma can still hold 3-year old Will.

Isn't my grandma lovely?

I had hoped Sophie would sleep on the hour drive out there that morning since we left shortly after 8:30. But it took her until just before we got there to fall asleep and then she woke up as soon as we stopped the car. So she's still a little sleepy here:

Being bashful with great grandma.

Marblehead was the location of one of the first battles in Ohio during the War of 1812. We visited the cemetery for confederate soldiers and Johnson's Island where a Civil War POW Prison used to be located.

A few random pictures around the cemetery:

The kids were climbing the statue. Will is trying to mimic the soldier at the top.

Now, Johnson's Island is loaded with beautiful, ritzy-looking homes. Wow.

After our scenic drive, we found a playground and stopped to eat a picnic lunch and play.

And finally, the lighthouse.

Me and the kiddos.

I wish I had a scanner so I could scan in the old pictures of my siblings and I on these same rocks as kids. And I actually enjoyed the overcast morning. It wasn't too hot and it makes for nice lighting in pictures.

This picture makes me laugh. I have no idea what they were looking/laughing at, but don't they look like goofy, little kids?

Sophie's goofball smile.

Will spent the entire time pretending he was Diego and scaling, jumping and climbing the rocks. He told grandma she was Alicia (Diego's sister) - LOL.

Kisses and hugs for Nana.

Sophie initiated both of these!

After seeing her brother jumping off all the rocks, Sophie kept lifting her leg up when Nana counted "1, 2, 3!" as though she was about to jump too.

A few randoms in and around the lighthouse.

Heading back to the car for one last stop: ice cream. (Note: Sophie's still "jumping". Haha!)

One picture of each of the kids running at me.

Mmm! Strawberry sundae!

Yum! And fresh peach sundae too.

We still have a handful of things on our summer to-do list that may have to be pushed back into fall or saved for next year. But we've checked off the majority of them and we still have a little time left. Although, we've also got some house projects in the works that will consume some weekend time coming up.