New Year's Weekend

Happy New Year!! We spent New Year's weekend in Cincinnati with David's Mom and Rick, enjoying a great end to 2011 and a wonderful beginning to 2012!

We arrived on Friday afternoon {Ryan and I drove to Kentucky on Thursday to meet David}, and after getting settled and doing a little relaxing/napping, football watching, Christmas present opening, and game playing, we enjoyed a nice dinner at LaRosa's Pizzeria followed by ice cream at Graeter's {both local favorites}. And on the way home, Rick took us by a house with a crazy amount of Christmas lights and decorations. It was by far the most decorated house we have ever seen!

A little Christmas gift exchange :)

The house in the daytime ... crazy, huh?!?

And at night!

Saturday morning -- New Year's Eve, after a breakfast of goetta {a breakfast sausage that is popular in the greater Cincinnati area, which David loves} and eggs, we headed to the Cincinnati Zoo for a few hours. We had a great time, and enjoyed walking around and seeing the animals that were on exhibit {it was a very pleasant winter day, much warmer than I was expecting}. And what a nice zoo! The white lions were our favorite ... we even got to hear them roar several times :)

The polar bears were sleeping :(

This monkey family was so cute!

The rhino came outside long enough to have his picture
taken and go to the bathroom, and then went back inside.

Florida Manatees

There were some gross and huge insects in this exhibit!
We were all glad that they were contained!

Watching a penny swirl around and around and around :)

We stopped at Skyline Chili for lunch on the way home {yet another local favorite}, and then while Ryan took a nap, Rick took David and I to Findlay Market to get steaks for dinner. It was a neat place!

We had a nice, quiet New Year's Eve night together at home. We had a yummy dinner {in addition to the steaks, we had green bean casserole, potatoes, and bread}, enjoyed a few drinks, made snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies, played Rummikub while Ryan watched 101 Dalmatians, and watched Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve as we rang in 2012. And I brought some New Year's hats, noise makers, and party blow-outs that we put to good use as the new year approached. David and Rick also had some fun shortly after midnight, firing two shots from Rick's shotgun {in place of fireworks}.

Ryan was determined to get a sip of my juice
{aka, champagne}!

Having a good time ringing in 2012!

And yes, Ryan stayed up until midnight with us :)

On Sunday -- New Year's Day, we lounged around the house, watched more football and another movie, played with Ryan's toys and with Buddy {the dog}, David helped Rick buy a new computer and set it up for him, and we went to a party at one of Rick's longtime friend's house, the Mustards.

Ryan loved Buddy!

Racing cars with Nana :)

We woke up to light snow on Monday morning {it got A LOT colder on Sunday}, which was a nice treat for Ryan, but turned into a little bit of a problem as we made our way back to Kentucky -- there were tons of accidents including a 30 car pile-up that held us up for at least an hour on I-75.

Playing with Buddy and his friend before we left to go home.

We finally made it back to David's office safely {thankfully}, and spent the evening watching some good college football bowl games, having dinner, and trying to stay warm. It was a cold and windy night!

And now, after all the fun we had over the holidays, it is back to reality! David is hard at work in Kentucky, and Ryan and I are back in Georgia and getting into our weekly routine again -- playgroup, MOPS, and preschool.

We are looking forward to a great 2012, and wish you all a wonderful and happy year as well!!