Florida Gators at Kentucky

I was raised a Gator fan. My mom and Dad both graduated from the University of Florida, and after 25 years I finally got to go to my first Gator game. Although it was in Kentucky we really only got heckled by one drunk college kid, for which his friends all apologized for him! Talk about awesome tailgating, these were two HUGE schools playing each other. The parking was ridiculous. The whole town was crazy, we finally had to park in the front lawn of some random college house for $20 and pray our Florida Gator bumper stickered van was still there after the game. On the walk to the stadium every corner had people selling shirts that said "Gator Hater". Still, this was so much fun. My parents got the tickets through their alumni association so we were surrounded by Gator fans at the game. Florida won easily, but this was the game that Tim Tebow (QB) got a concussion. He ended up puking on the sidelines and stayed the night in the hospital, but he had gotten his team a big lead, so the back up QB was in no trouble at all. I actually was video taping the play he got the concussion because it was third down and I was thinking, oh they'll probably score here again so it'll be cool to have one on tape. You can hear the whole stadium yell "OOOOOH" and then go silent when he didn't get up. Luckily he ended up being okay after a couple weeks off to recover. I love Tim Tebow, he's so cute and sweet and comes from such a good family, his parents are missionaries. I think he was actually born in the Phillipines while they were on a mission there. Anyway, off track here. So the 5 hour drive to Kentucky was so worth it. Toledo plays at Florida in 2013, and I will do anything to go to that game!

1st quarter

My mom and brother

Me, brother, mom and sister....last few minutes of the game

My parents and brother

The girls.....Game Over.

Toledo vs. Ohio State

It was a home game for Toledo, but since the stadium is not big enough to hold all the stupid OSU fans we had to go to Cleveland Browns stadium for our HOME game. This was actually my first time at a football game against a BIG college, it was cool to experience how BIG colleges tailgate. They don't mess around. Nick and I were sitting in our little Ford Focus waiting for our posse to arrive when this huge tricked out Red and Gray RV pulls up right next to us....with a retractable awning to cover the huge grill and block the glare so they could watch TV on the outside of the RV's built in Flat Sceen. We still had great food with our tiny grill big enough to hold a frying pan to make omelettes.

Tailgating......most of the group, it was hard to get everyone in one place.

The Scalzo Fam:

Kate and Me, if there was a best outfit award, she'd have won!

Nick and I in the stands, watching Toledo lose 34-0

Seriously, not even a FIELDGOAL! Okay, they did almost score once, but fumbled at the ONE yard line. Depressing.

Family Portraits

In August Nick and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary and Macina's 2nd birthday, so we thought it was a perfect time to get some family pictures done. We went to Portrait Innovations and were very happy with the result. We have over 50 pictures on the CD they gave us but of course I'm only posting a few favorites.

I swear she looks and acts older every day now. She is so much fun! (Oh, and she is done teething!)

Vacation

Every year we go on vacation with my family: mom and dad, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, all 19 of us. We spend a week on the beach, at a fun kid-friendly resort. Basically we are beach bums for a week. It is such a nice relaxing vacation.....well except for the fact we had a toddler getting her two-year molars in......she had a very fussy week. But now looking back at the pictures I almost forgot how cranky she was...luckily she looks happy as a lark in all the pictures!

Dinner at Sharky's

Daddy and Macina relaxing in the hot tub:

Running from the wave

Beach play at dusk (her hair was so curly with the humidity!)

Swimming, she loves the water

Nick and Me

Me and my girl laying out (slathered in sunblock of course!)

We saw this face quite often:

Hopscotch on the deck, the beach is right outside our back door, our front door opens to the pool.

Macina at the bottom of the Turbo Slide, with Daddy close behind:

Oh looking at these pictures makes me miss vacation, the weather was pretty good we only had one rainy day (Shopping Day!). It is so fun having my whole family there all together. Already looking forward to next year!

My Best Friend's Wedding July 11th

My BFF Kristen from high school tied the knot, it was a long time coming considering she and Larry dated since the 8th grade! The wedding was a blast, it was so great to see all my old friends. It was literally like a high school reunion, but FUN!

Kimmy, LeeAnn, Kristen and Me after Rehearsal Dinner (we were all friends since junior high)

Kristen and I before she walked down the aisle:

The Girls:

Limo ride to downtown for pictures

At the reception

And that is the last picture I got, the night gets fuzzy after this......my husband was there but I have NO pictures of us and the wedding reception was at the same place we had our wedding! Needless to say I had a LOT of fun! Kristen I am soooo happy for you, you had a beautiful wedding and you were a beautiful bride!

4th of July

For the 4th we all headed up to our friends' cottage on a lake. Although we were disappointed with the chilly weather, at least it never did rain. Macina had fun with her new little friend Ava, they were inseparable. Of course Macina refused to nap which was frustrating but overall she was okay. She enjoyed the fireworks but I had to cover her ears the whole time!

Holding her first Sparkler:

Attempting a boat ride, not happy about the life jacket:

So of course we gave in and ditched the life jacket. It was just a small pontoon boat:

Nick getting ready to take out the Jet Ski

Just playing in the yard:

Nick Turns 29

For Nick's birthday we just went out by ourselves to celebrate. We have so much fun together, no matter where we are. So our little celebration consisted of some bar hopping followed by dinner at Calvino's. Happy Birthday sweetie!

Our dinner was sooooo good. I love this place!

This is what a breastfed baby looks like:

Nick says it's weird, I say it's cute. You decide! (But if you think it's weird you can keep your opinion to yourself!)

Chicago Wedding June 20th

The Bride, Groom, Nick and I

Nick's friend from high school got married in Chicago so we got to go for a little getaway for a night. The plan was actually to go for a long weekend but I chickened out last minute not wanting to leave Macina that long, so it was just a Saturday to Sunday trip! Still, we had a great time. We're so happy for the newlyweds!

Happy Hour

Our table at the reception, except for Ryan taking the picture:

Hair Like Daddy

Macina is finally getting more hair so I am able to do the little fountain pony tail on the top of her head. It's been humid out lately so when we're outside it gets really spiral-curly. After her bath I comb her hair (it gets so tangled and knotty) and then we have to put a little mousse in the back to tame the frizz and get nice little ringlets. She hates me doing anything to her hair but she's getting more patient (or maybe I'm just getting better at doing it quickly and painlessly).

Here's a shot of the back a couple weeks ago.

And yes, she gets this blonde curly-sue hair from her daddy.

Nick on his 2nd Birthday:

Not sure how old he is here but I'm guessing closer to 2 1/2 or 3:

I think this one is more like 3 as well:

Strawberry Picking

Last week we went strawberry picking for the first time. It was a perfect day. There were tons of strawberries at this place and the cost was just $1.25 per pound. Macina mostly just picked them, took one bite out of them, and then tossed them. She liked it but got bored quickly so once again Nick ended up doing most of the picking while I walked up and down the rows with Macina.

Showing me the "baby" strawberry she picked.

(anything little is a "baby" in Macina's eyes. If I say "Macina just take a little bite." She looks at me and says "Baby?" and I say "Yeah, a baby bite." If there's a few drops of juice left in a cup, she refers to it as a "baby" amount. She is obsessed with all things baby.)


Sour strawberry face!

I think she looks so "old" in this picture! :(

Daddy and Macina leaving with 10 lbs. of strawberries.

This was a fun activity to do but next year I will do it when I know we will be home for the next week. We went away for the weekend right after we picked these and of course I never got around to freezing them so now I have 9.5 lbs. of detereorating strawberries in my refrigerator.

Memorial Day Weekend Part 2 & 3: Cookouts

After the farm and a nap we went to a friends house for a cookout/pool party. Macina loved swimming with Daddy while the other guys played Pool Beer Pong.

Playing cornhole with daddy

Hanging out with Rob

Then on Monday we went to Nick's parents house for a cookout. There's a pond in their neighborhood so we all took Macina down there to check it out.

Nick and his Dad took Macina out in the paddle boat, she insisted they try to catch the goose, but they were too slow!

Riding on dad's shoulders, watch out for that ceiling fan! (when Nick was young, his babysitter had her boyfriend over and put Nick on his shoulders and walked into the ceiling fan, i think Nick has a scar on his forehead from the impact)

Aunt Kate sharing her corn on the cob with Macina