Julia Visits Ohio!

When I was in St. Louis for spring break, either Julia or I mentioned how fun it would be if she could come visit us in the summer. I mentioned the idea to Tyler and he was totally on board. So we kept bugging Lisa and we made it happen!  Since I had the summer off from teaching and Julia had the summer off from school, it worked out great! Here's what we did while she was here: 

We made up our spare room for Julia's visit, which we are now stuck referring to as Julia's room. :) 

We had to wake up pretty early so we could meet up half way in Terre Haute, IN. This was our first picture of the visit! 

Unfortunately I had to spend most of the day in meetings for my new job, so I missed out on most of the fun on Monday. Tyler took Julia to the Air Force Museum, which they both said was fun! It was also rainy all day, so we did some hula-hooping before bed to expend some energy.  Julia is a pro hula hooper! 

We also read some of my pop-up book collection. 

The next day Julia decided she wanted to go to the pet store and play with the animals. She was in heaven! There were lots of super cute puppies and kitties! 

Then we played in our backyard and invented our new game of "Lennis"! One of us would throw a tennis ball with my lacrosse stick and the other person would try and hit it back with a tennis racket. It was pretty fun and we played it a lot throughout the week. 

We also used my paper cutter to make some fun cards for various family members! Julia did a good job making them! 

The Dayton Art Institute 

Tuesday night we decided to visit the Dayton Art Institute. I had never been before, so it was a new experience for me as well! When we arrived the lady at the front desk told us admission was complimentary that day, so not only was it a cool museum but it was free! Win-win! 

They had a children's section we hung out in for a bit that was really fun! 

Julia's artwork

My artwork

Julia's fashion show. She's a natural....

The Greene

After the art museum we stopped by a nearby outdoor mall for a bit and took some fun pictures at one of my favorite stores, Charming Charlie! I LOVE that store and could spend sooo much money but I'm so indecisive I don't usually end up getting anything. But I still love going! 

ehhh...sorry Greg and Lisa! :) 

Tyler was being very patient! 

At the Beavercreek board office....Elizabeth I think you'll appreciate this...

"Lennis"

more lennis fun! 

Young Women Activity

Julia was a good sport and came with me to our Wednesday night Young Women's activity where we made value pillows! Hers turned out SUPER cute! 

She looks like she fits right in! How did that happen??

After mutual we got some ice cream at McDonalds and played at a nearby park.  This slide is so fun and someone let us use their wax paper after they were done with it, which made it even more fun! We spent a while going up and down, then played a couple rounds of tag, then finished up on the swings!

The Narrows

Thursday morning we went on a little hike on a trail by a river called the Narrows. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed the scenery! 

Carriage Hill

We told Julia about the penny candy store early in the week and she was really excited to go! We finally went and got her nice and loaded up with candy! (Which I'm not sure how much made it back with her to STL like we planned...:)) 

at the penny candy store! 

Nail Time 

We squeezed in some girl time while Tyler was at work and did our nails and listened to some music on my phone that Julia picked out. 

Thursday night we drove out to Springfield to see a (free) aerial show.  We were a little hesitant, and parts of it were pretty weird, but overall it was really fun! The human body can do amazing things!! 

By Friday, Julia was dying to go back to the pet store! So  we went and played with even more cute puppies!!

Then we convinced her to be goofy with us and dress up like cows for free Chik Fil A.  She was a little skeptical, but did it anyways and came out relatively unscathed :) 

We also played a lot of games throughout the week, but here's a picture of one of our favorite games, Blokus. 

Friday night, we invited Tyler's dad over for dinner (his Mom and brother were in Florida visiting her parents) but our plans didn't really work out very well so we ended up going to Red Robin for dinner. Then we went out to Young's Dairy for ice cream and mini-golf. It was so fun! Julia really wanted to do a second round of golf, but it was pretty late so we had to go home, sadly. 

Julia trying her first Ohio Buckeye

Her yummy ice cream treat! 

I had signed up to do Super Saturday months ago before I knew when Julia was coming, so Julia was a good sport again and came to help me with my crafts. We made a sacrament picture book and a necklace holder. 

I had to bring a side, so I made some patriotic Jello :) 

Then due to some changes in our plans, we decided to meet up with Lisa on Saturday instead of Monday :( 

While we were driving, we watched a really really scary semi-truck accident happen! We were driving behind and next to two semi trucks, when the one next to us swerved into, and almost hit, the semi in front of us. We think he must have fallen asleep and then woken up and over corrected because then he swerved and ran off the road, hitting some signs, and flipping over onto its sign, all while we drove along side it.  It was SOOO scary!! We didn't see if anyone crashed into him from behind, but we pulled over and called 911 and said a prayer.  Needless to say, we felt very blessed and protected by God's hand! 

We were very happy to make it to Cracker Barrel in one piece! 

We loved having Julia visit us in Ohio! It is so fun to see her growing up and get to spend time with her even though she doesn't live near by! Hopefully we can continue the tradition in the future!! We love you Julia! Thanks for coming!!