Easter.

So we went to Hop Bottom, or should I say Brooklyn now, for Easter this year. Traveling with Geneva these days is a lot more time consuming due to the fact that she no longer sleeps the entire way. Nick packed us some sandwiches, so we stopped at a rest area for some dinner. G found a stick so she was not interested in eating anything.



We arrived late Thursday night, but that did not stop Aunt Sa from getting a hug before G had to go to bed.


Good Friday was spent running to town and looking at the future new residents of the Bode household - some baby chicks. We went to church later that evening after a nice visit from my friends Justin, Patience, and their children Jack and Sammy.

The next morning was the annual Grace Lutheran Church Easter egg hunt. Due to the rain, the hunt was held at the empty parsonage.


Geneva helped "hide" or rather throw the eggs. Now that is standard Geneva, which is not a desired quality as she does not distinguish between fake and real eggs!

Later that night, we went out to dinner and Sa taught G how to stir her drink.


Mom and Dad took G home giving Lisa, Paul, Nick and I a much needed night out to Gins for shuffleboard. Paul was hurt that we never took him to the Mountain Side, a real dive bar in Hop Bottom, so we stopped there on the way home. As soon as we entered the bar, we were approached by Karl who bought us a round of drinks and begged us to play pool with him. Karl was not much of a player by the time we got there and had to be nudged awake. We decided to stay for another round after Karl left as we did not want to be anywhere need the roadways when he was :(

The next day, we woke up and found Easter baskets. Geneva's was by the bird feeder, which was her favorite activity while we were there. She loved filling the bird feeder, and cozying up with Grandma or Grandpa watching all the birds. Geneva got a tiara in her basket. Here, she is handing it to Grandma to show her how it is done.



Looking good Grandma!


She got a lot of gardening things in her basket so she can help me in the garden. She needed this wheel barrow to carry all of her loot!

Grandma did an awesome job picking out her Easter dress. I don't know where she gets the nickname Geneva the Diva.


We stopped at a Sonic for tots on the way out of town, and we ran into Lisa and Paul! Bonus lunch!

It finally happened!

Geneva took her "first steps."

New Goings ons

We have had a pretty busy last couple of months. Geneva started crawling around and just loves the computer. Anytime she is awake and sees either of us using any sort of electronic device, she must have it.

You can teach a new baby new tricks.

Geneva is taking leaps and bounds when it comes to learning new tricks. This morning she finally mastered clapping. It is nice to be applauded no matter what you do - I walk into the room, applause. I bring her lunch, even more applause.

She is starting to get into everything. Bit by bit we are beginning to baby proof the house.

Our summer has been great so far. Since put-in Bay, Nick and I were afforded a weekend sans Ginny thanks to my parents. We spent the first night camping and the second night bar hopping in fun and exciting Wilkes Barre, PA. We got lost late at night, but really enjoyed sleeping in and having some time to ourselves. We even made it to a movie. When we weren't sure what to do, we just asked ourselves, what can't Geneva do?

Labor day should be exciting. My sister is coming in from Baltimore with her boyfriend. She said she wouldn't mind watching Geneva while Nick and I go out for a light dinner and drinks for our anniversary. It will be six years.

Put-In Bay

Last week, we went to Put-In Bay which is a small island in Lake Erie next to Sandusky, OH with Nick's parents. We stayed in a small cottage about a mile away from town.

We started off on Saturday, and took the ferry across to the island.


The cottage was very nice and right on the lake. Nick and I got to the cottage before Joe, Shelia, and Michelle, so we had a quiet Saturday night.


The next morning, we woke up and had our breakfast and coffee outside.

Geneva enjoyed hanging out at picnic table

Sunday was the World Cup final, so we had to go find a bar on the island with a TV. Luckily, there was one just up the road. The "restaurant" only had nachos with Cheese Wiz.

A rock band who was playing in town later that night, came in and caused quite a ruckus. One guy ended up naked in the parking lot.

Monday, Mom and Dad were heading to Chicago, so we drove down to Bob Evans and met them for Brunch.


After we ate, Dad found a little park a few minutes away that we were able to sit and mom and dad could play with Ginny.

Monday night, Michelle took us into town where we went to the world's longest bar. It was quiet in town - so we had the run of it. The Put-In Bay brewing company was very disappointing. Nick had a whiskey stout that tasted just as it sounds. I had a smokey lager that tasted like a fire pit after it had been drenched in water. We ended up finding this place called Tony's that had a whole room full of old arcade games including a small bowling game.

On Wednesday, Joe and Sheila babysat Geneva for the day while Michelle, Nick, and I went to Cedar Point! Nick and I have wanted to go for some time, so we were very excited to have the opportunity. This is the Top Thrill Dragster. It shoots you from 0-120 mph in less than four seconds corkscrew almost vertically up and then vertically down.


Geneva enjoyed her time with her grandparents and especially loved the lax bedtime rules.

On Thursday, we played a round of golf at the Saunder's golf course and toured the Heineman's Winery and the world's largest Geode. We brought home plenty of wine.

On Friday, we took Geneva on her first carousel.


After the carousel ride, Nick, Michelle, and I stayed in town where we had mojitos in a bar that had swings as bar stools. It was kitschy, but the mojitos were great. Friday afternoon in Put-In Bay is a lot different than a Monday. The best image I can give you at the rampant drunkenness is we saw a man driving a golf cart and his buddy was laid out in the back seat.

On Saturday, we returned back to the main land. We were relieved because the standard policy is that check out is at 9. We were running around trying to get everything packed up when Mrs. Saunders told us we could take our time. That was a huge relief.


Ginny had a great time with her grandparents.

We decided to meet up with my Uncle Craig and Aunt Mary in Cleveland on our way back through. Mary had to work until 2, so we had about 5 hours to kill. We stopped at this cheese store because I was hoping for some squeaky cheese.


We stopped at a state park and enjoyed our cheese and crackers.



We played a round of put-put and this wacky place. It was so hot - there was no shade. We should have realized this was not a great idea because we were the only people out on the course.



We had a great time. We visited a winery, walked inside the world's largest Geode. It was a very well deserved week.

A trip to Rochester

We had no plans for the weekend of the 4th, so we decided to take advantage of Jess and Russ' free weekend and traveled to Rochester. We had a great time including, but not limited to dirty martinis and Eclipse! It was great spending time with similar minded parents and Ginny had a great time watching the Brusome Twosome. We had a great time on the slip-n-slide until Aunt Amanda broke it. That is the saddest look a person can see is a four year old looking up, "Aunt Amanda, you broke my slippy slide." Before I broke it, everyone had a chance to go down it.

A trip to Baltimore and a dip.

Jessica picked up these pajamas for Geneva. Even though they do have some pink in them, they are my absolute favorite!

A few weeks ago, Geneva and I took a trip out to Baltimore to spend some time with Lisa. We had a great weekend


Nick's sister, Michelle got us season tickets to Sandcastle which is a local water park. We had a great day. Nick wanted to get Geneva this "girly" bathing suit. I liked it because it had ears. She might not wear it again. It is very had to change an infant in a one piece bathing suit.



These are my updates for now. We just spent a terrific weekend in Chicago at a friend's wedding. Everytime we go to Chicago, I love it more and more. It is so nice to be surrounded by friends who are at a similar place in your life. We had such a great time. Before that, Josh came out to Pittsburgh to watch the White Sox take on the Bucco's. Of course, the Bucco's lost.