Four Schneiders

Friday, July 8, 2011

Lou and I hit ten years of marital bliss on Wednesday. In keeping with tradition we watched our wedding video on our anniversary. (Showing it this year to Josie who thought I was dressed up as a princess then declared about twenty minutes in that "This wedding thing is so boring; I am actually very bored.") Tonight we will celebrate with a fancy homemade adult dinner after bedtime, our favorite champagne and reciting on vows like we do each year. And hopefully I will find some time soon to do a full Ten Years of Marriage post (complete with wedding photos if I can find them).
In the meantime, the stargazer lillies bloomed! On our anniversary! Funny little coincidence actually, since stargazer lillies are my favorite and Lou used to always buy them for me on our anniversary.

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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Nature in our Neighborhood

Finding letters on our walk - a "Four Schneiders" tradition

When we moved last summer from our condo to in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, we wanted desperately to find a neighborhood that was "the best of both worlds." That is, if such a place existed, we hoped for green space, parks, our own yard, families in the neighborhood, and diversity - still within the city limits and close to downtown. Mark my words - East Walnut Hills is that place. We really do love it here, and this is just some of the evidence as to why.

We've been taking regular walks after dinner. Usually Josie rides her bike or scooter, but last night we decided to just walk. Bea hit the Moby wrap and we were on our way! There's actually quite a large patch of woods just one block over (and we hear bird sanctuary) so it is incredible what you can find right here in the city!

We decided to play "count the squirrels" and saw 13, plus two "bonuses" as Josie called them - a bunny munching grass and a deer munching leaves! Oh and "at least about 100 birds probably."

See the deer right there in the center? We didn't want to scare it by getting any closer.

Josie was insistent that we put the letters all in one place -
thanks to a mushroom and gingko tree in our yard ,
we had everything we needed.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Holiday weekend preview

Loads of photos on my "real camera" but here are a quick few for preview's sake.

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Coney island for fun

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Eden park for fireworks

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Neighborhood parade and pool party

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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Inaugural Schneider Family Campout

Way back when we were just Two Schneiders, Louie & I used to camp out quite a bit. As our family grew, we looked forward to the day that we could start taking Family Camping Trips and that day came a couple of weekends ago.

When we found out about this great annual family campout through the mom of Josie's best friend at school, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. And while it seemed just a little short of crazy to take a newborn camping, it worked out wonderfully and we'll always look back on our first camping trip with big smiles on our faces!

It was the perfect combination of friends, great people (and very well organized so we all had everything we needed), lots of kids and all that camping has to offer - chasing fireflies, singing songs around the campfire, making s'mores, running around barefoot in the grass, playing games, making crafts, and having adventures that are the stuff of happy childhood memories in the making.

Here are some photos. Enjoy!

Josie & Lucia in "their" tent (which they swore they were going to sleep in, all by themselves, all night together even though neither of them typically make it through a night at home by themselves, yet alone in the great outdoors all alone, which didn't actually happen but it was so sweet that they tried). Oh and one more thing, it was this tent that prompted the end of Josie sleeping in overnight diapers. When she and Lucia changed into their pajamas and she noticed Lucia was going to (gasp!) sleep in panties, she declared right there once and for all that there were going to be no more overnight diapers for her - now or ever. And bless her little heart, she was right. She hasn't worn one since. (Thanks Lucia!!)

Bea, chilling in the camper:

Breakfast, fireside:

Josie and Lucia, either telling one of many secrets, talking about "Mr. Nobody", planning their next adventure, or composing their "We Are Best Friends" song:

S'mores!

Bea, wrapping up her 12 hours of sleep in the camper!

Stomp rockets!

The VW Camper - Lou's brother's VW Camper which really made the whole thing possible (thank you thank you thank you Robert):

Thanks again Amy! We had a blast!

Most of the whole crew (that would be Josie & Lucia cuddling down in the corner):

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that this whole adventure took place at John Bryan in Yellow Springs! So, we made a group field trip to Young's Dairy for some goat-feeding, lunch, and ice cream. (Sidenote: this no-dairy thing is easy most days BUT it was really hard to pass up the s'mores then really, really, really hard to pass up Young's!)

Baby Bea of the forest:

New friends:

Time for a hike:

I should mention, if the VW Camper gets the MVP award, breastmilk get an honorable mention. Because really, what else does a baby actually need? :)

My guess is that this was just the first of many campouts. Now go forth and start planning a camping trip of your own! (Invite us. We're game.)

Oh - I forgot one! Cute story. On the way up, we stopped at GroceryLand in Xenia to pick up something for the potluck. While we were in there, Josie (who doesn't get candy very often) told me I had to come to the front of the store to see something. When we got there, she pointed at this big display and said oh-so-sweetly, "Mommy, I am not saying that you have to get me one of these. I just had to show you how beautiful they are!" Yea, so I had to buy her one. And, it is quite obvious that she was overjoyed about it!

{I love these little moments.}

Thanks Cousin Morgan!

Last weekend when the whole Schneider family rallied to get the swingset assembled in the backyard, Cousin Morgan opted to spend the entire day playing with Josie! They did art project, played dress-up, put on a ballet show and a concert, read books and stayed busy, busy, busy. Here are some pictures of the three girls after Morgan played Fashion Director and dressed both girls up.

Look carefully for evidence of playing with scented markers :)

How is it that this one has already gotten so big?!

Thank you Morgan for all of your help! And thanks also to Sweet Katrina, who left for a movie playdate with her best friend before we could snap her in a photo. Next time we will definitely get all four Schneider girls pictured. :)

Oh and thanks to "Sisis" for the super cute dresses. Josie is now obsessed with all-things zebra print. We just ordered a zebra print swimsuit and she wants a zebra print chair for her birthday. Hilarious. :)