Keepin Emma Entertained!

So we have noticed since being back in Ohio that Emma is sure a social butterfly. We think she did so well in Utah because she had so much to look at and do. She loves seeing and being with new people. We have been trying to keep her more "entertained" lately so that she is not just stuck at home being bored. It is nice because it gets us out and going as well. This past week, as Mike mentioned in the last post, we were able to go to the zoo as well as the Metro Park. The Metro Parks are these really nice state parks were they have walking and hiking trails, ponds and rivers for fishing, playgrounds, picnic sites, etc. They are really nice and well maintained. Anyway we have been meaning to go forever but have never gotten around to it. We went for the afternoon and had a picnic and went for a walk. It has been nice being able to spend so much time with Mike this summer. Once his research starts up again we won't be so lucky so we have to get our time in while we can.:)
We had a really nice day at the zoo as well. Emma did pretty well. It's always fun to see all of the animals and just take a nice day to be together as a family. We decided to get a season pass. You may wonder why we got a season pass when we are hoping to be moving in December. We decided it would be worth it to get Emma and "Mom" out of the house for awhile and when you get a pass to the Columbus Zoo you are able to get free or discounted tickets to most of the zoo's across the U.S. We decided that once we move we would hopefully still be able to use it in that way as well. So hopefully we'll get our moneys worth.

Setbacks

Well, I thought that I would be super busy with my research once I got back to school. I have an intense 3 week experimental design that I was hoping to start up once we got back from our Utah trip. When I got back I found out the vanilla samples that we ordered before we left for Utah, were never shipped. Yesterday, I found out that one of the analytical machines I'm using is down for repair for another week. So, I've had to push things back at least two weeks. The good news is this gives me plenty of time to write the 80 page introduction to my thesis that is expected of me. As writing a thesis is very tedious and boring, I've also found time to go to the zoo (Amy will post some pictures later I think), backup our entire hard drive, and write this blog post.

Our Utah Trip

So Long, Farewell...

So we had a WONDERFUL vacation to Utah and are finally back in Ohio. We had such a good time it has been hard for us to come back. We didn't realize how much we missed being with family all of the time. We were able to do so much and see so much of our families. It really was nice. Thanks to all of you for setting aside the time to spend time with us or letting us stay at your homes, we really appreciated it. Emma had such a fabulous time. She is soooo social and we love it. We just need to make sure to let that great quality shine even though Mike and I are both a little socially shy. It is amazing to see how much she has grown in the past month. She is smiling all of the time and starting to laugh. Her giggle is so cute and she can always put a smile on my face. Emma did pretty well on the flight home and slept for 8 hours last night. I was a little worried about her when I realized I hadn't woken up with her in the middle of the night. I guess we all have a little jet-lag.

Today was quite the adventure. It was such a nice morning that Emma and I woke up and went for a walk. After getting ready for the day Mike discovered that our car wouldn't start. We had to get someone to come and jump start it for us. After the car died 3 times and having to have 3 jump starts we decided that it was probably time for a new battery. After getting a new battery as well as stalking up our bare kitchen cabinets I realized that I had a message from Mike. He had called to tell me (3 hours prior) that he didn't have anything he could work on up at campus yet and asked if I could come and get him. Needless to say he didn't have a very productive day just sitting in his lab for 3 hours with nothing to do. I better turn my phone off of "silent" mode eh?

So we are slowly getting back into the swing of things, but it may take a little while. Once exciting thing is that I am going to see Harry Potter tomorrow. Woo Hoo. I'll let ya know how it goes.