Pigtails!

Boston Marathon

As most of you know, Kyle participated in the 111th running of the Boston Marathon! His body has almost fully recovered, but his mind is still swirling with thoughts of new races to conquer.

This was our first long distance trip away from Isabel, but we handled it like pros. We only called home maybe 6, 7, hundred times! She was in good hands and enjoyed being spoiled rotten by her Oma and Opa. There were quite a few new toys in her possession when we got home!

But back to Boston... Saturday was gorgeous, so we took a "duck" tour. This is a tour on a WWII era amphibious vessel, meaning it can travel by land or water. This is a shot of our duck reflected in a building we drove by:


And this is what a duck looks like in the water:

Sunday we did a little more exploring and then attended the pre-race pasta dinner. We got to talk to some other marathoners and Kyle got some tips from people who'd run Boston before. The dinner was held in a government building, but to entertain us while we waited, the organizers had the line go through the visiting circus tent.



I wasn't able to snap photos of Kyle actually running (marathonfoto.com did a much better job of that than I ever could), but I did get a few shots of the awesome marathon crowd. It was a blast cheering on the runners.

In between all that we managed to squeeze in dinner in Harvard Square, an uninterrupted movie (hallelujah!), and even a little shopping. And when Isabel saw us after we finally returned home, she greeted her hero, Daddy! It was tough being away from her but it was a great experience for us and I'm so glad we went.

Catching Up - Zoo

It seems like the older Isabel gets, the harder it is for me to find the time and energy to make a blog post. But enough bitching and moaning, it's time to make some headway on this backlog of entries. So cast your mind back, back in time to the end of March...

It was the beginning of a wonderful week of freakishly nice weather, and Dad and Pam were here to enjoy it. For once, Columbus didn't greet them with rain! It was so nice, in fact, that we were able to go to the Columbus Zoo. Although not all the animals were there (they go someplace warm for the winter), the Columbus Zoo is so big that we couldn't have seen them all anyway. By the time Isabel had napped and gotten into her sassy, leopard-print zoo outfit...
...it was 3PM, and the zoo closes at 5 in the spring. However, we found out that zoo guests who are already in the park at closing time get to stay an extra hour. This was great, since at that time some of the notoriously lazy animals are starting to get more active. We all had fun watching the dueling bear brothers, Pam's favorite was the gorillas (who were pounding the glass and laughing at us silly humans), and Isabel really liked the aquarium. My favorite part was the kangaroo exhibit, where people and roos can mingle freely.

Here, Isabel discovers a new species:

Easter Eggs

The last week has been pretty rough. We went from lovely spring weather to cold and snow. Isabel got sick Tuesday and is still not herself. Easter came along just in time to help brighten our moods.

We spent the weekend in Cleveland where I found out the real meaning of the term "snow belt". The day was sunny, if cold, until we got to the east of Cleveland. Then it was as if we were transported back in time 3 months; we were greeted by dark skies, snow, and even some unplowed highway lanes.

Finally we arrived at our destination, and soon after Isabel and her cousins were treated to an early Easter egg hunt.




Unfortunately, all the fun and excitement, combined with being sick and sleeping in a strange place were too much for Isabel and she (and her parents) had a rough night. Or maybe it was the Easter bunny that kept her awake. Whichever the cause, the basket she found the next morning helped her mood.



And last but not least... the Easter dress!

Special bonus! See what a difference a year makes!