Granddad's Back!

Last year, my Dad had a conference for work in San Diego, CA that he attended and was able to stop by Columbus, OH for a little rendezvous with us on the way back to Germany.  This year he was able to attend that same conference and make another stop in Cbus to visit!  The best part about this last visit was my brother was able to fly into town for a couple days to see my Dad too!  I can't remember the last time the three of us were together, so it was so nice to just be able to enjoy each other's company!

Trav, Bri, and Dad!  ♥ them!

Grocery shopping for taco night!

My Dad is an outstanding cook!

Travs shows us all how to pose!

Taco night was a staple for my Dad, Travis and I.  We
always looked forward to it!

Tacos dressed to perfection!

We're a fine looking bunch!

Jack once again thought that my Dad was there specifically to see him.  Sometimes I think my Dad is a dog whisperer and I kind of want him to take Jack and train him so that he walks next to us, doesn't bark at the animals on tv, listens to what we say, (fill in the blank here).  But then I'm reminded of the old adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  Even though Jack is only almost 5 in human years, that's still approximately 33 in dog years.  I think he is set in his ways now.

And Kate warmed up after a little while to Granddad too!

Look at Mama and smile!

A Granddad and his Granddaughter!  

Fortunately, I was able to take some vacation time off again while my Dad was in town, so we got to spend some good quality time together which included lots of pool play!  Kate has been LOVING the pool this summer!

Jack?  Water?

Why won't he drink it, Mama?!

I heart this!

I've mentioned this before but I love when we have visitors at our house. It allows us to focus 100% on them and it's really nice to be able to keep Kate on her schedule/have her sleep in her own bed.  We've learned that less disruption of schedules = more predictability!

I miss my Dad already and can't wait to see him again soon.  Sometimes Germany feels so far away.

Love you, Dad!

Hot Ribs, Cool Jazz

Jazz.  Ribs.  Festival.  What more could you ask for?!

People watching?  Check.

Crazy big birds...that you could hold.  Check.

Walking on walls?  Check!  Check!  Check!

The Jazz & Rib Festival did not disappoint!  My brother, Travis, flew into town to meet up with my Dad who is also in town, but before my Dad arrived, the four of us headed downtown to the Jazz & Rib Festival. We had no expectations here but as we walked around and got our bearings we stumbled upon the best seating spot and the best jazz musicians at North Bank Park!  We made sure that we planted ourselves in said seats for both once we decided on just the right rib station, which was a task in and of itself...

Every rib joint boasted awards.  "Best in 2014!"  "Award-winning BBQ!"  "#1 Ribs!"  We thought the best way to tell a good one was to see how long the line was, but ALL of the lines were long, so out went that logic.  We ended up picking randomly and landed on Smokin' Joe's Hog Wild Barbeque out of Kentucky. In the end we decided that we couldn't go wrong with any of these BBQ places.  They all looked and smelled delicious!

And we didn't go wrong with Smokin' Joe's either!  We all shared a few items from the menu, sat at North Bank Park, and enjoyed the fabulous live jazz musicians playing with the Columbus, OH skyline in the background.

Oh yeah, and we stumbled upon this crazy bird set up where we got to hold some really exotic birds.  (I'm not entirely sure how the birds go with the jazz and/or ribs, but they were there, so we got in on the bird action too!)

Travis and Bri at the festival!

First stop, beverage tokens.

Uncle T and Kate!

Smokin' Joe's!

Walking on the wall ledge!

I cannot believe Daddy allowed this!

Uncle T with a big blue bird!

Kate and I opt for the green one!

But we had to X her trying to pet him...
I could see that going terribly wrong.

We had a great time enjoying the downtown scene together for a bit.  The weather was slightly cloudy but still unseasonably cool, and the company, jazz, ribs, people watching, bird holding and wall walking was all top notch!

Summer Celebration

A few weeks ago I noticed a Summer Celebration ad in one of our community forums that we got in the mail and I immediately placed it on our family calendar.  The Summer Celebration is a free festival that our local community puts on each summer for one night.  I wasn't entirely sure that we would go or what it would be like but I wanted to be sure we remembered that it was an option come the one day that it was held.

Being that Brian had to head out of town again for work, and the Summer Celebration was held tonight, Kate and I decided to head on over for a look-see!  Folks, we were SO IMPRESSED!  We arrived at the Summer Celebration just after 5 pm, right when it started.  There was a row of blow up bounce houses, slides and obstacle courses!  There were arts and crafts, balloon artists, train rides, hot air balloon rides, LOTS of other kiddos and parents, and live music!  In addition, it was a perfect and unseasonably cool summer evening to partake in such fine festivities!

Bounce house row!

Kate is WAY TOO DISTRACTED for Mommy & Me selfies!

When we first arrived, I showed Kate the toddler bounce house and slide and she wanted nothing to do with them.  She had her heart set on one slide and one slide only: THE BIGGEST ONE THERE!

Seriously, Kate?!

I decided we had better go big or go home, and if that is what she wanted to do then either she would love it and want to do it again or she would hate it and be scarred for life from the trauma.  I trust my little girlie and figured that we'd be able to handle this bad boy together if nothing else.  If we got to the top and she didn't want to go down, well, then we'd figure that out.

Fortunately that wasn't the case!  We got to the top and she barely wanted to sit for a photo with me!

First slide down the biggest slide at the celebration!

The slide was FAST!  And Kate *loved* every second!

We got back in line because she got of an immediately said,
"More?"

So we slid down one more time into this ball pit!

Once Kate saw how much fun bounce houses are, she was
ready to go into the smaller one!

Trying to climb to the slide.

Kate says, "Hey?  Hey you in here?  A little help here?"
(There was a volunteer sitting in the corner.)

That's more like it!

Ready to...

SSSLLLLIIIIDDDEEE!

We then ventured to the big bounce house!  This was Kate's
first bounce house experience.  We saw one at the Clippers
game but you had to be 2 to get in...there were NO
RESTRICTIONS on this one so we gave it a try!

Bounce house love!

Bounce house exit!

Doing some arts & crafts!

Kate made a butterfly keychain/got paint on her shirt that I
still can't get out.

And then she did a little dancing in the street...

...while we waited for this train ride!

CHOO-CHOO!  Chugga Chugga!

We saw the hot air balloon getting filled with air on our train ride!

And while we waited for our butterfly to dry, we watched
some kids make some t-shirts!

Then we topped the night off with a grape snow cone!

The Summer Celebration will be going into the Hendricks' summer traditions!  This free festival was awesome and so much fun for our weekday summer night!

Brazil

My husband.  Let me tell you one more thing about my husband: he has had some pretty incredible opportunities in his life because of his hard work and networking and he continues to amaze me each and every day with new stories and latest adventures.

This one is no different.

When Brian found out that the 2014 World Cup would be held in Brazil, he was ecstatic.   Like I mentioned, attending a World Cup Final was apparently on his so called bucket list.  (So was attending a Super Bowl Final which he did in 2012, for the record!)

The World Cup Final being held in Brazil meant that was a feasible destination that Brian could get to.  He was getting to Brazil one way or another!  We had originally talked about making Brazil a family trip.  And then we heard stories and learned about rioting and fighting and shots for malaria and hepatitis, and we decided that we had better save Brazil as a family trip for another time.  After all, Brazil IS still considered a third world country and while there are many, many great things about Brazil, there are still third world problems that way bigger than we can even comprehend.

Saving Brazil as our family trip for another time was our good decision, but Brian was still 100% committed and if there ever was a chance to go to a World Cup Final, this was his.

The stars aligned perfectly.  Flights were books, tickets were purchased, lodging was arranged, activities were planned, and Brian found himself in Brazil...on his 38th birthday...attending the World Cup Final. Germany would go on to win against Argentina 1-0 but the experience in and of itself was one of a lifetime.

Trust me, I wasn't even there and I know how much this meant to Brian.  And, knowing Brian, he had everything planned to perfection.  Brian met up with a friend that he knew that lives in Brazil.  He went to dinner with him and his family and had a personal tour guide take him around. He visited Christ the Redeemer and the infamous Copacabana beach, met famous people, took a Favela tour, met up with another great friend, Matthew, and attended the World Cup Final.

My words won't do his experience justice, but some of the photos that he took are so moving and so thought provoking that I had to share [some of] his story through images.

View from the first night's lodging!

And that, my friends, is Copacabana beach right below!

Christ the Redeemer is on the top of Corcovado Mountain -
the third "hump" from the left...and straight on til morning.
(Just kidding!  I had to throw that last bit in!)

Fuleco - the World Cup 2014 mascot.

Famous hotel on Copacabana Beach.

Entrance into Fan Fest on Copacabana Beach
in Rio de Janeiro.

Pre-game before semi-final.  Brian apparently didn't get the memo...

The BIG screen for the semi-final game.

The atmosphere was amazing because of the fans!

Sand art!

This will go down in history!

FIFA Fan Fest fans!

View to fan fest.

Team USA's Clint Dempsey...

...on the wall that told the story.

Brazilian flag at Rocinha - the famous favela.

Inside Rocinha.

Rocinha street soccer.

This is real life.

Favela view.

Favela decor.

Favela residents get electricity by
"borrowing" it from the city.

Looking up at Rocinho.

This place is unreal.

Brian met Ronaldo - a very famous Brazilian soccer player.

Brian also met Wyclef Jean...

And Carlos Santana...

Argentina team pulling into the hotel prior to the final!

Tickets in hand!  It's official!

The famous Maracana stadium!

¡Increíble!

World Cup robots!

The pitch.

History, my friends.  History!

Brian's seat mate: Daniella - an Argentina fan!

And on the other side, Sebastian - a Germany fan!

The World Cup trophy awaits its victor!

Honoring each team's national anthems!

The stadium.

The fans!

Team Germany - the Champions!

The wall in the works...

...now has a story that has ended.  Compliments of
pictured arteest!

This trip was the epitome of Brian doing his thing, working with the contacts he has, and pulling together an experience of a lifetime.  I am so happy that Brian was able to pull something so incredible off.  It meant the world to him to be there and I know it will be another experience that he will never forget!

There is never a dull moment with Brian Hendricks by your side!