March in Review

We started the month attending the high school's lip syncing contest.  Pumpkin participated.  It was riot.  Just wish the song choice was a bit cleaner - guess it is the age - he wasn't the only one!

Our first local and our first traveling soccer tournaments.

The Big Guy and I went out with friends to the Grizzlies' game.  I made a mental note to make that happen more often.

My days at the yogurt shop are winding down.  I started a new job at a pediatric dental office on 3/27/12.

We spent a few days at the beginning of spring break in Cincinnati.  We had a wonderful time with my family.  It was a lovely visit involving two college tours.  We spent the later part of the week at home watching lots of March Madness!

Peanut took first in his age group for the Cross Country Winter Series.  He picked up a tile as an award.

The Big Guy and I worked the concessions at the middle school dance.  It was fun scamming on Peanut!  We were pleasantly surprised to see him sort of dancing.

I have not had a Diet Coke the entire month of March!  I miss the carnbonation, but am not sure if I will go back or not.

The weather's very warm.  Praying for a cool April.  If not, we'll be in for a scorching summer!!

Another Driver??

Someone wanted to help us drive to Cincinnati...

It took a little bit of coercsion, but we finally got him into the way back.

The weather was fabulous while we were there.  Every chance we got, we loaded Bud in the car and brought him with us.  These photos remind me of the song lyrics, "the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind..."

What a great friend our four-legged dog is!

PROM ?

She said, "Yes!"

Thanks to a wonderful Aunt that embroidered the towel and made it all possible.

What better way to ask a fellow swimmer?

Blue Ash Chili

After the Xavier tour, we met some of my family at Blue Ash Chili.  We'd seen that the restaurant was featured on Diners, Driveins and Dives.  Can't pass up the chance to see what is so special.  We normally hit Skyline when we come in to town.  We appreciated the opportunity to compare this to it.  Pumpkin went for a double decker.  He had to wipe the pickle juice off the plate - just in case.

The funny thing - Peanut did not even know what a double decker was.  We explained it and realized they are not very popular in our "neck of the woods."

Peanut ordered slaw dogs, hot dogs topped with chili and slaw, and a huge side of onion rings.

Mom loves a good sandwich.  Look at the corn beef on there.  She only managed to eat half and packed the rest to go.

Pumpkin was barely able to get his mouth around the sandwich.  Needless to say, he ate it all!  It was his one meal of the day.

I opted for the Guy 6 way.  It is the normal chili with fried jalapenos on top.  I did not eat too many jalapenos, but had to try them.  I think I only made it about half way through the chili plate.  I really liked the spices.  The pasta is thicker than Skyline's.  It was different but just as good.

After lunch, we walked across the street to see the war memorial.  Blue Ash has a statue for all the wars.  It was interesting to see how the uniforms changed.  The day was beautiful.

After the park, we grabbed the dog and brought him back to my sister's.  He loves her yard.  It was so nice to just hang on her patio enjoying the fresh air.  We ended the evening with a trip to Ikea.  We left the boys at home for March Madness.  It was fun to walk around Ikea, a place filled with endless ideas.  Surprisingly, I only bought a few things.

Campus Visits

While we were in Cincinnati, we took advantage of the location and did a couple campus tours.  We started with Miami of Ohio in Oxford, OH.  The weather was grey and rainy.  Fortunately, the rain held off for the walking part of the tour.  I was surprised to see that they now offer degrees in engineering.  Way back when, I had to scratch them off my list because they did not have engineering.  I did not take any photos.  Can you believe it?

The next day, we toured Xavier University.  Who knew?  We were all pleasantly surprised!

I embarrassed the boys by asking for a photo in the Cintas center.  Our guide was a freshman and she was wonderful.  She was as excited to be in the Cintas center as we were!  Xavier did a fabulous job with the entire package.  It is amazing how the info session/tour can really sway your opinion of the school.

After the tour, we met with the swim coach.  It was just an informal meeting on the pool deck.  The pool is older and smaller.  But, we've heard good things about the coach.  You have to cross Victory Parkway to get back to the main part of campus.  I snapped this while the boys were waiting for the light.

For filling out the survey, Pumpkin got a free t-shirt.  Again, that was a nice touch.  Xavier is on the list.  Miami may even be a contender depending on the swimming.  Their facility is very nice.  I do like the idea of Pumpkin being close to my family if he can't be close to me!

When we got home, we watched the movie, Ides of March.  Peanut spent the night out and we jumped on the chance to watch an R rated movie.  I was intrigued by it.  There are many scenes from Miami, Xavier and Cincinnati.  It does leave you questioning our political system - even more!

CoCo Keys

We went home to Cincinnati for a few days over spring break.  On Sunday, a bunch of us headed to Coco Keys for some indoor waterpark fun.

We had a great time - hanging out, playing with the kids, eating pizza, riding the slides and enjoying our time together.  The best was the Vanderbilt win over Kentucky.  Even I made my way over to the TV at the bar to watch the last few minutes.  Vandy won the SEC Conference Championships!  It was the first time in over 60 years!  Go 'Dores!!

Soccer Weekend

Lots of soccer this weekend

Some of it was really rough

Peanut ended up with quite a few bruises

The boys pulled it off and won their age group!

It seems like we spent so much time at the field

I am kind of wondering where the weekend went.

Oh!  Yeah!  The Big Guy and I went out on Saturday night with some friends to the Grizzlies' game.  Two games in less than two weeks may be a record for me.  We had a nice time and were grateful for the time to catch up with friends:)  We need to do it more often.