A weekend in Cincinnati

In mid October, we headed to Cincinnati for a weekend. MB was going to be in town for her 20th high school reunion, and Alli was coming up from Lexington, so we drove down so Ben could meet his two aunts. To break up the drive a bit, we stopped at the Neil Armstrong museum in Ohio. The boys were probably a bit young for it, but they still enjoyed it, and so did we--so much space history that I just didn't know anything about!

 I particularly loved this decal on the bathroom mirror:

The boys didn't totally "get" it, so taking these pics was a bit challenging.

TJ took this shot for me so Ben could be an astronaut too. I left the museum a bit earlier than Ed and the boys so I could feed Ben before we got on the road again. My surprise souvenir from the boys: astronaut ice cream (which I love!).

Here's Aunt Alli with Ben. He's wearing the outfit she bought Thomas when he was born.

Aunt Mary Beth with Ben and her youngest, Rachel.

A little rough housing at the Sisco house. Ed is dangling Jojo over Eli, and TJ is tickling Jojo.

Then Rachel got a turn!

Some snuggle time with Eli

Five cousins hanging out! Usually there are five more when we get together, so it was nice to have a little one-on-one time with Rachel and Eli.

The Sisco Inn was a bit full this weekend, so Ed and the boys slept in Mickey and Mary Ann's camper parked n the driveway.

Peeking through the half door.

Bedtime! They bounced around for about an hour before actually falling asleep. Meanwhile, Ben and I slept in the house in the extra bedroom. The joke was on me, though, as Ben woke up at 6:15 and didn't want to go back to sleep--I thought that by being apart from the boys, I'd get to sleep in!

Saturday morning tradition: dancing to the "football song"

Snuggling with Aunt MB on the couch

We also visited friends while in Cincinnati. I got to introduce Ben to Kelly, who was on her way up to Columbus to run a race.

And we hung out with the Sams, Dreyer and Kuhn families Saturday night. Pizza, football, and Nerf dart guns...what could be better?!

Ben turns 2 months! and other pics

And the smiling continues...

Touchdown!

Yep, the big boys still want in on the photo action! Note how they both have an arm around him.

Ben and his monkey

Here's a great view of his fuzzy head:

And chubby cheeks:

He always looks worried when Jojo holds him. :)

And we have a smile!

There's nothing better than a baby smile...they usually start out slow, with one side going up, and spread across the face into an all-out grin. Love it! Ben started smiling near the beginning of October (so about 6 weeks) but was a bit stingy with them at first.

We went up to bed one night to find these goofballs sleeping in the hallway outside our door.

A dose of cuteness

Ed's and my dinner one night--pulled pork nachos, with a layer of macaroni and cheese, topped with BBQ sauce and blue cheese crumbles. Ridiculously delicious.

Niki stopped by to visit (and meet Ben!) on her way back from a trip to see Corey.

Speaking of Corey, I neglected to post this photo back when he passed through before Labor Day. Even though he's 1.5 hours away, it's fun having him in the same state as us again!

This was the scene I returned home to one Sunday after shopping for groceries. I was not happy and made that clear; the boys got their mattresses back on their beds and were even able to put the sheets back on their beds. Good to know for future reference!

Jojo had his first preschool field trip--to an apple orchard! It was a misty, cool day, but we had a fun wagon ride, got to pick apples, got to watch cider being made, and then sampled cider and donuts. Yum!

 His class:

After baptism party

After the baptism, we all headed back to mom and dad's house for a brunch. Mom had these decals printed to go under the clear plates--a very cool and personalized touch! As usual, we had delicious food and enjoyed hanging out with the group--larger than normal because of the double baptisms.

The coffee table turned kids' table

Me and Kathy--friends since preschool

Jojo and big Jojo, Pat's youngest brother (and the inspiration for the Jojo nickname!)

Me and Jenn. Yes, we still look a lot alike!

The Packer game was on during the brunch. Happily  they pulled out a last-minute victory!

Double baptism!

We held a double baptism for Benjamin and Isaac on October 12th. Ben wore the Demko family dress--he was the 17th baby to wear it, starting with Ed's Aunt Peggy and including Ed's mom, Ed and his siblings and Josiah. Isaac's gown was first worn by my Great Grandpa Reg, my mom, me and Jenn, and Thomas and James. So much history in both of those gowns!

Here's Ben, pre-baptism. Jojo came down with pink eye Friday night on our drive to Milwaukee; Benjamin woke up with it on Saturday morning. We got it treated right away, and you can barely tell in the photos! 

One other side note: whenever one of my babies wears these old gowns, I'm always concerned about the possibility of blow-outs. By the time we dressed Ben, he hadn't pooped in 24 hours. I was nervous! Right as his baptism started, he let loose. It was loud enough for everyone to hear, but fortunately stayed in the diaper!

Ben and his parents

The actual baptism taking place

I love how this photo captures both boys with their hands folded, praying.

Our family, Pastor Bill, and Ben's godparents

Benjamin and his daddy

Ben with his godparents, Pat and Kathy

Cousins in their baptism gowns!

Sisters and cousins

Grammy and Buppa with both babies

Pastor Bill with all of the kids at the baptism!