Book Giveaway

So maybe this is more than a little shameless, but here I am pimping out my own blog. Again.

In case you didn't know *gasp* I have a book blog wherein I discuss all things books. Mostly I just review whatever I've been reading but this time I am giving away a free book: Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer. I loved it, you'll love it. Trust me.If you want a chance to win and read it, head over to my other blog, seemichelleread.blogspot.com, for a chance to win a hard copy all for yourself.

FYI: the book is a YA novel featuring a teenage girl which has a bit of teenage drinking and promiscuity - nothing over the top, just thought I'd warn all you tender souls or manly men out there. This is my review of it all.

When the Bontornos come to play

My old roomie and bestest friend Ashley and her hubby Pete came to visit us this week. Since Smashley and I only usually see each other in hour increments, two whole days of fun was an extra treat. I took them up to the John Bryan State Park our first day together and we hiked around for quite a bit. Peter actually fell asleep in Pete's arms - I think he liked having them here. I especially enjoyed having them around to help corral the little monkey. Thanks guys! Aren't you excited for your own little rugrat to come??

Here we are checking out some nice puddles and moss along the trail.

Playing Pooh Sticks

The next day, we made the trip to Cinncinati to visit the Taft Museum of Art. It's a house that has been converted into a museum and all I can say is: Goya, Rembrandt, Ingres and beautiful furniture: I was in heaven. Not to mention how nice it was to have two extra sets of hands to hold onto one wiggly boy.

Petey especially loved exploring the grounds. I thought for sure he would fall in this fountain.
Me and the boy on the grounds. It rained all that day so we got pretty wet, but Petey didn't seem to mind.

No surprise there - my son quite loves the rain. Whenever it rains he cries until we let him go outside and then he'll play and play until he's absoultley soaked. He especially enjoys the rain gutters. What a turkey. Okay, a cute turkey.Thanks again for coming out Pete and Ash! We miss you guys already!!

Momma's takin us to the Zoo tomorrow...

Trav left me and Petey for the weekend to interview with Dragonfly Pictures out in Philadelphia, PA this weekend so Peter and I took the opportunity to have a little fun by ourselves. We went to the Columbus Zoo on Friday and ate out and played around on Saturday. Here's some of our favorites from the Zoo:













This little guy was born just a couple of months ago...awww. I loved watching the mother elephant herd her little one all around the yard - she was never more than a foot away from her baby.













Peter loved watching this tiger who kept pacing (more like stalking) back and forth the across observatory window. He was HUGE and only 2 inches of glass seperated us from all those teeth.













The zoo also boasted a decent sized aquarium which Peter loved. This is one of the manatees, better known as the sea cow. If you haven't seen Jim Gaffigan's bit about manatees, please do so now.













Needless to say, we wore the kid out. This is how he looked all through seeing the monkeys and gorillas.

Me and the boy hanging out on the dock - the zoo was located right on the river! We had a wonderful time but were more than happy for Travis to come home.

Blue-eyed boy

Just wanted to share my beautiful blue-eyed boy. Doesn't he look all grown up? Notice the cookie in his hand - when I ask if he wants one he'll look at me with these eyes and say 'ook-eee.' Could you say no?

I love Summer

Nekkid kid with a popsicle.

















And if you don't know the definition of 'nekkid' it means: no clothes and up to no good. This is the face a nekkid kid wears.

Happy 4th of July!

For Independence Day we took Petey to his first ever fireworks show in Dayton. It was packed and the 20 minute show was incredible. It was no Patio of Fire but still good. Surprisingly (or not) he got pretty scared and had a death grip on either me or Trav during the entire show. It's hard to explain to a toddler that we celebrate winning the War of Independence by shooting off bomb-like projectiles. I'm sure he'll grow to love blowing up objects as much as his father one day.













We caught this man pontificating during the Fairborn 4th of July Parade. See the striking resemblance to Rodin's Thinker?
Who says intelligence can't sport a mullet?

Little Turkey

Peter is such a turkey. Not only has he turned into something of a climber, but when I closed the blinds the other day I noticed this:













He doesn't even hardly color on paper! About 75% of our blinds have little scribbles right at Petey height. At least I know it comes off with 409.

As for the climbing, he loves to get up on the tables, chairs and furniture. The other day I had to take out the trash (for all of 2 seconds) and Petey had been playing in the other end of the house for half an hour and I figured I could run out for a couple of seconds. Oh no. When I came back he was sitting on top of the sink (in the dark no less) just giggling away. I was gone all of 2 seconds!! Needless to say we have to keep the bathroom door closed these days. He's a turkey.