Trick or Treat

We took Ava to the mall for trick or treat. It's pretty cool that Tuttle Mall does this! Most of the retailers stand outside of their store and pass out candy to the kids who come dressed up. It feels really safe, especially to me (mary) who can be really overprotective! :)
Anyway, these are some pictures of Ava in her other costume, We think she made a very cute pumpkin! Thanks Mom J for the costumes!

Boo at the Zoo

This past weekend we went to Boo at the Zoo here in Columbus. It sounds like it would be kinda scarry, but it's not. It's basically just people passing out candy in random stations throughout the zoo. Kids can dress up, so Ava was a bumblebee for the day. My parents came, as well as the Pierces, and their family from PA. It was fun times and the best part was that Ava got a bunch of candy that she is too little to eat, so Michael and I got to eat most of it! :) This is probably the last time we will get away with that before she starts to notice.
We also went to Noah's B-day party, He turned 8. Ava got to participate in the pinata' for the first time...again more candy for Michael and I! :) My mom and dad babysat again, we are getting so spoiled.. It was great! We went minigolfing... Michael won by one putt! We are very competitive at minigolf... but, it was a good game. Then, we went to Easton to walk around and we got our first starbucks carmel applecider of the season, many more to come, I'm sure! Thanks mom and dad for giving us a little break!

The Creek

Well, my wonderful wife let me go camping with my dad last weekend at the creek, and it was awesome. It was the most beautiful fall day we could have asked for, and the creek was crystal clear, and for those of you who have ever been to the creek, you know that doesn't happen often. Since my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease last summer, I have tried to make a point to spend more quality time with him, and thankfully my wife is very encouraging and selfless in this effort. We had a great time hiking, canoeing, skipping rocks, and talking around the fire. He shared memories he had of him and his father, and I was thankful that we were there creating memories of our own. I love my dad, he's a good man. He has chosen not to complain about his illness, and as far as I have observed, he has kept an incredibly positive attitude. I respect him and love him so much, and I know that I am very blessed to have him as a father. I couldn't have had a more fun and relaxing time than I did. As always, I took a ton of pictures, and I hope you enjoy the ones posted here.

Michael

Freeman's Farm

We have really enjoyed going to Freeman's Farm the past couple of weekends. Its a really fun place about 20 minutes away where they have pumpkins, hayrides, food, and a petting farm. The first time we went Ava especially liked looking at all the animals, even though she didn't touch any of them. The second time we went, Julie, Jason, and the kids came, and it was a really fun time. Ava loved crawling in between all of the pumpkins, it was like a little maze to her. We snapped some pictures (as always!)

Freeman's Farm 2

Completely Crazy

Normally we post pictures and summaries of our family activities on our blog, but today I saw something that made me so mad, that I needed to share.
I had heard that a few weeks back Rosie O'Donnell had said some really crazy things on "The View." I hadn't seen the footage until today. Check it out if you haven't already seen it or if you are interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsonEPOIn64

Not that I watch that show very often anyway, but now I definately won't be watching it. She is so ignorant.

Date

Thanks Mom and Dad Johnson for watching Ava for the day so we could go out on a date! It was really fun- we went to see the movie, "Click" which was really sweet and touching, but unfortunately it was also kinda crude (I guess we should've known-Adam Sandler!) Then to Olive Garden which was really good..(also we got a Smores milkshake at Steak & Shake, it was awesome- everyone should go try it!) We even had time to go to a pumpkin patch and walk around. It was a really fun day. Ava enjoyed getting spoiled at grandma and grandpa's house with lots of toys, chocolate milk, and snacks.

zoo pics and other random stuff

We bought a season pass to the zoo this weekend and went to check it out. Ava seemed to enjoy it.. she especially liked the aquarium where she could see all of the fish.
We had a fun weekend at home, we try to take advantage of weekends that we aren't traveling (which hasn't been very often) to just lay back and relax.
We took some other random pictures and thought they were cute, so we're sharing them.