My sister-in-law Nicole has a photography business specializing in kids portraits. She did a photo shoot with Ali while we were in Ohio at one of my favorite places... Fellows Riverside Gardens in Youngstown. The pics really captured Ali's spirit and personality at this stage of her life. Thanks Aunt Nic for the awesome photos. These are some of my favorites.
My hometown has the #1 Best Ice Cream in the World... as rated by National Geographic. Handels. Ali has become a huge fan. Everytime we talk about going to Ohio she says... "Handels!" Her favorite flavor is grape, just like her mama.
Lans is in Vail, CO for the week at sales meetings for his company. Yesterday they rode gondolas to the top of the mountain. He sent this pic for us.
Ali and I are still having a blast in Ohio. We spent this morning at the Canfield Fair. An annual county fair that is held over Labor Day weekend every year. It was a favorite of mine growing up. Today was the cheerleading expo... it brought back memories of the days when my team used to be out there! 
Ali enjoyed seeing the cows, bunnies, chickens,... the roosters scared her a little bit. Her favorite thing was getting to see a sheep take a bath! She enjoyed a corn dog, her first taste of cotton candy and even a Strauss Malt (my dad's favorite)! There was a giant steam engine that Ali got to go explore. She kept saying, choo, choo.... She played a game where we picked ducks out of a pond, but instead of wanting to choose a prize, she couldn't understand why she wasn't able to keep the duck that she picked. So, funny. All in all it was a great day at the Fair.
Yesterday morning I got up and went to the airport, flew up to Cincinatti to meet up with 5 of my very best friends from college. It was the first time we were all able to be together in three years. We had the best time together, wandering around the city, sitting and talking and catching up on all that has happened in our lives over the past three years. I flew back to Charlotte later that night and was home by 10:00 pm. Thanks to Christa and Lans for helping me watch Ali. It was a whirlwind day, but it was so much fun and I was so glad that I was able to be there. It made me so grateful to have friends that last a lifetime.
Caroline spent the morning at our house, we went to the pool for most of the time, but after lunch we decided to dress up like butterflies. The girls were fluttering around the house, laughing and giggling. Yes, these two are really getting into dressing up. Fun times.
This morning we took the light rail uptown to Discovery Place with our friends Caroline and Samuel. Ali loves riding the "Choo-choo train." There are so many things to do at Discovery Place, water tables, a grocery store, a farm, tunnels, an aquarium, etc. The Kids Place was Ali's favorite spot. It was a wonderful morning. We are definitely going to go back.
Ali and Samuel playing
Dinosaurs are cool
This past weekend we got the chance to spend a few days with our dear friends Steph and Jaime Terhune and their adorable daughters Christiana (2 1/2) and Isabella (2 months). Ali loved playing with her buddy "Tiana". We spent nearly the whole weekend at the 
pool. 
Green is a great color for cupcakes!
"Aunt Jenny, aren't ballons great?"
Ali playing her birthday "tano"
Every 4th of July we make the trek up to Ohio for a Jeren family reunion. It is one week that I look forward to every year. Growing up I spent almost every day of the summer at the lake, water skiing, canoeing, swimming, camp fires. I miss it. My parents host a huge 4th of July party at our lake on the 4th. It is a wonderful chance to catch up with extended family and friends as well as my immediate family. This year was sooooooo much fun. Ali had a blast with her cousins Caris, J.J., and Liam. I even got to go water skiing for the first time in years! Here are some pics from our trip.
Mimi shows Ali how to shuck corn!
Ali and Caris take a moment out for some girl talk.
"Mimi, I love your lake!"
Corn on the cob... yum, yum!
What a great campfire!
Making Smores.
Lans had a conference in Orlando the second weekend of June. It was a "Family" conference, so Ali and I were allowed to come along. We had an absolute blast. Ali was an angel on the plane. We stayed at the Orlando- Ritz-Carlton... a very family friendly resort. They had fun family parties each night, the first night they had clowns, fireworks, a kiddie dance party... We went to Sea World twice and to Disney World once. We only stayed at the theme parks for a few hours each. Ali LOVED the shark encounter at Sea World, it is a giant heavy duty plastic tube that you walk through and there are giant sharks swimming all around above and on the sides of you. Very cool. She kept shouting "WOW", "BIG", "FISH!" She was absosolutely amazed, as you can see.
The Kiddie Pool at the Ritz was a really neat set-up, it was a rubberized surface wading pool that was connected to a playground. Very fun! Being in Orlando in June was very hot as you can imagine, so we spent A LOT of time at the pool. 
This is the life!
We went to Disney World's Magic Kingdom on my birthday for a couple of hours late in the day. What a fun way to celebrate. We took Ali on the teacups, "It's a Small World", and the Winnie the Pooh ride. Her favorite part was riding the monorail!
Ali and her Daddy enter the gates to the Magic Kingdom
Ali on the Small World boat ride
For my birthday Lans had roomservice bring up every dessert they had on the menu. They even spelled "Happy Birthday" in chocolate syrup! Fancy Schmancy!
Waiting for the dolphin and bird show the 2nd trip to Sea World!
Ali loves to dance. The last night in Orlando they had a big outdoor family dinner complete with a band. Ali literally danced the entire night away. She was moving and groovin' all night. 
What a totally fun family trip!!!
