Hockey Night In Ohio

Hockey Night In Ohio has arrived! The Toronto Maple Leafs are my favorite team and they made their bi-annual trip to Ohio last night. Dad and I were dressed and ready. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa C I had this awesome sweater to wear.

We went down to the arena early to see practice so we could go right down to the glass and get a close up look at the team.

Here we are right beside the Leaf bench. There are lots of Toronto fans living in Columbus so we had quite the cheering section.

Go Leafs!

At the end of the practice I was lucky enough to be given an NHL practice puck. I was pretty thrilled and immediately asked Dad for a hockey stick. I just know next time I go to Grandma's this picture will be blown up and displayed!

During the game I managed to consume an entire box of popcorn. Mmmm.

Faceoff!

We had a good view of the action and I made it through the entire game!

Good game - by the way, we won! Come back soon Leafs!

Still Travelling

After Toronto we kept heading north to go visit Grandma & Grandpa.

We got to visit with Great Grandma as well and had lots of fun playing with her.

Aunt Vanessa came over with her giant dog. He is almost as tall as Sarah. Claire thought he was great and was petting, Sarah wasn't so sure.

Grandpa and Dad took us to the park to look for wildlife. We saw woodpeckers, insects and a porcupine!

When tired, ask for a ride!

We had a great trip, but by the end we both had colds and were ready to head back home for a little R&R. Of course as soon as we were home the countdown to Christmas began....

Meeting Melodie

After the wedding we headed to Toronto to meet our newest friend, baby Melodie and play with our buddy Jules.

We both got to hold and kiss our little Melodie. We are in love already!

After snuggles the three musketeers went to the park to burn some energy. Here we are pretending to be dogs in a pet shop. Who wouldn't want to take them home.

Miss Melissa let us decorate our own cupcakes for desert!

Claire & Jules

We went to a local farm to visit some animals and decided to cover Dad with leaves on our walk. He is a pirate after all so we had to find ways to defeat him - he never saw it coming!

In Toronto the squirrels are very friendly and will go right into your stroller to look for snacks. We decided to help the problem by feeding them more cookies.

The funny part is Claire read a book about Christmas before we left that told her elves often disguise themselves as squirrels to keep an eye on kids who are being naughty. So she was talking away to the squirrels asking them to tell Santa she was being good.

Wedding!!

After months of anticipation it was finally time to head to Canada. We were so excited to go to a real wedding, stay in a hotel and go swimming we could hardly stand it.

We had a great time hanging with our family, posing for pictures and being cute.

Claire and her cousins.

Sarah and Grandma.

Claire and Darren having a tickle fest.

Of course we were all there to see the happy couple - congrats Amy & Shawn. Claire's comment was wow, she really is a princess!

We even managed to pose for a new family photo. Despite Mom's best efforts we were exhausted by 9:30 and Dad took us back to the hotel to sleep.

Conversations With Claire

Conversation #1

Mom: (reading newspaper) Wow, it says doctors reports show that cheer leading is the most dangerous sport for kids.
Claire: I didn't know cheerleaders used light sabers.

Conversation #2

Mom: (as Rememberance Day celebrations are going on and jets fly over our house) I explain to Claire what this day is and that her great grandfathers fought in a great war.
Claire: Is that where Great Grandpa got all those cracks in his face?

Conversation #3
Claire: Mom you are beautiful. Dad is handsome. Sarah is gorgeous and this day is glorious. Can I have a lollipop?

Conversation #4
Mom: Okay girls time for bed. Let's go.
Claire: Mom, my body doesn't need sleep anymore. I have enough energy for forever.
Mom: Oh really? Well you are going to bed anyway.
Claire: Can you carry me there mom I can't even walk.

Conversations With Claire

The Nutcracker

Continuing my quest to become a great dancer I met up with my friend Kara at Ballet Met this weekend. They had a special open house for kids to experience the Nutcracker Ballet they are preparing.

They walked us through the story and many of the characters came out in costume to dance for us and teach us some moves. Those evil mouse didn't scare me (okay, maybe a little)

The toy soldiers, gotta throw something in for the boys I guess.

Ah, this is more like it. The sugar plum fairy came out to dance for us. She was awesome and I have been talking about her for the last 12 hours straight! I also thought of a new gift I would like to tell Santa about - her costume would look great on me!

We all got special streamers and pretended to be snow. I took mine home and have been showing everyone my new dance non-stop.

Kara and I showing off our moves.

Prima Ballerinas!

We had a fantastic time! Can't wait for more dance lessons. I was only upset that there was no Clara there so I am trying to talk mom into taking me to the real ballet to see her!