Fun Day with Grammy

 The boys, my mom, and I took the day to explore a few downtown Cincinnati treasures. Old buildings are so inspiring to me. They're filled with textures and colors and layers that tell quiet stories of past inhabitants.

 Algin houses floor after floor of used office furniture. I love it. Put a cup of iced coffee in my hands and I could explore for hours.

Urban industrial beauty.

Restoration.

These chairs. I want these chairs.

That's Carew Tower through the window. The highest point in Cincinnati. We'll end up there in a bit!

Next up, Ohio Book Store! 5 Levels of beautiful, used books to explore!

Hudson is a cultured, sophisticated adult trapped in an 8-year old's body. His favorite things?--- old books, fine leather, fancy shoes, herbal teas, handcrafted pipes (just to hold, not to smoke...though he would if we let him), wood working, and dressing up. Yesterday he waited on the front porch for thirty minutes for the mailman to deliver the shoe polish he ordered from Amazon. He needed it to complete his homemade shoe polishing kit. This kid.

From there we headed to Carew Tower, a wealth of art deco design. We rode the tiny elevators up 49 floors to the very top to enjoy the view on a beautifully sunny day.

 The top!

 Ohio on one side of the river, Kentucky on the other.

 I love days like these. I love the city. We finished the day with sushi and iced coffee. Pretty perfect!

Arian

Ah, Fridays.

Happy weekend! Hope yours is off to a good start! We took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and went on our first family walk to Starbucks. I survived my first week with Daniel back to work (thanks to meal, cleaning, and laundry help from family and friends--pretty awesome.) And it was good to ring in the weekend with a celebratory soy latte : )

I made this skirt today! It's still a work in progress but it's inspired me to make more like it! The challenge with clothing a recently pregnant body is finding cute outfits that are forgiving of my still-changing shape and are also nursing friendly...this combo seems to work! I'll post a how-to on the skirt when I get the process a bit more refined ; )

We're slowly falling back into our weekly/weekend routine. Tonight--Friday night family pizza and a movie night. Feels good to be back to something regular. I even got a few more rows done on the family movie night afghan. My goal--to finish it within a year of starting it. I think that gives me about one more month. I can do it!

Happy weekending!

Arian :)

The week in Instagrams

These past two weeks as a family of 5 have been overflowing with cuddle time, family from all over, lights, presents, yummy food, cozy nights in, and afternoons at some of our favorite spots around town. We introduced Eli to the art museum, one of our favorite coffee spots, and my new favorite little fabric shop. I hope your celebrations have been merry too!

Welcome Spring!!

 Oh man, I am so pumped for spring!! The trees know it's here. All these flowers popped out over the weekend.

 We went for a walk yesterday evening to enjoy the early spring flowers, the warm(er) air, and the sunset over the spring rain-filled river.

 Our future new house (5 days til moving day!) has a deck and yard and lots of windows so I am excited to soak. it. in.!

 Hope you had a great weekend! Ours was filled with packing and family time.

Thanks, Nana and Pappy, for hanging with the boys!

 Mom, aunt, cousins, grandpa...

Happy spring!!
Arian : )

Instagraming!

I too am smitten with the instragram iphone app. We've been busy prepping for our move next weekend and spending time with family and friends. But there's always time to snap a few fun instagram photos! This week we...

...welcomed mom/Grammy home! She had tons of adventures in South Africa, Egypt, and Paris but is glad to be home. Yay! Did you hear the clip of her and my sis singing?

...worshiped and prayed with good friend four great nights in a row...

...played in the mud and looked forward to having our own yard soon. (own yard = big BIG mud pies)

... and double dated with Daniel's parents downtown at one of Cincinnati's best restaurants

So yeah, what a week!!!  Hope yours was great too!

Arian : )

EnterTRAINing Weekend

Daniel's wonderful parents took us all to EnterTRAINment Junction over the weekend to celebrate Jude's 3rd bday. It's a wonderland of model trains and fun house amusement. I knew Jude would LOVE it but I think we ALL had more fun than expected.

Jude was mesmerized by all the trains.

But my favorite was the fun house full of optical illusion rooms, mazes, etc.

The tilted room was soooo funny.

And this spinning tunnel totally messed with my mind. The walkway wasn't moving but the tunnel wall was spinning and I could NOT stand up straight. 

Mirror maze...craziness.

It was almost too much fun for sweet Jude to handle. He was out and drooling before we got back on the highway.

Thanks for such a fun Saturday, Nana and Pappy!!

Arian : )