Photo Shoot

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.

Handels

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.

Colorado and the Canfield Fair

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.

Fearless

Ali has no fear of water... that is for sure. We are spending the week in Ohio. After a 9 hour drive this morning, we went out to the lake to burn off some energy. Ali was thrilled to take her first Jet Ski ride with Uncle Rob and her cousin Robert. She was hooting and hollering and having a blast. She loved swimming in the lake tonight too. She sure is a water baby.

American Idol

Yes... I admit it, I am an American Idol fan! It has become an annual tradition for the Slack women to go to the American Idol concert when it comes to North Carolina. Last year Teresa and I went the concert in Greensboro and this year Jean (my mother-in-law), Teresa, and Christa and I went to the concert in Charlotte. We took the light rail up and had a pre-concert dinner at the Rock Bottom Cafe. The concert was awesome. David Archuletta and Brooke are still my favorites!!!!

A 12 hour trip to Cincinatti

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.