Only in Cleveland

Today I bowled on my bowling league.  While waiting for my turn I was talking to another lady who was telling me about a Captains game she just went to (The Captains are our minor league baseball team).  I haven't been to one so she was telling me that there is more than just watching the game such as the fireworks, and things for the kids to play on.  Then she got really excited and said that they gave out some free things such as "one guy won a free funeral".  Only in Cleveland...

Kiwi

We received this awesome little guy today from New Zealand.  I can't tell you how excited I was for Lincoln to get this, I'm kinda jealous.  Lincoln loves to chew on his beak.  Thank you New Zealand Ellsworths for the super cool gift.

The Ice-cream Truck Pays A Visit

Our house is right down the street from a park, so the ice-cream truck comes by our house often.  So we can't escape the summer without getting ice-cream once.  So here's what they picked a Dora ice-cream, watermelon popsicle, and a Sponge Bob ice-cream.  

Ice-cream = 3 happy kids.

Do You Ever feel Like This?

This last week has been kind crazy!  Our lawn mower decided to break in the middle of mowing the lawn.  The next day I decided to do a load of wash and our washer was making the worst sound imaginable.  Then no joke, the next day I took the kids to the library and couldn't get the car to start until the twenty something time of trying.  

The washer was fixed today!!!  We had to have the transmission replaced in it.  Luckily the part was under warranty we just had to pay for service and labor.  The car was fixed yesterday after they worked on it for two days and did a number of mechanical things to it which I can't even pretend to understand.  We are still working on the mower thing.  Ryan knows some about mowers since he worked on them as a teenager.  But it looks like it is something he can't fix.  

All you can do is just laugh and wonder how they all have such great timing to break at the same time!

Fishing

Last night we went fishing as a family,we try to go a couple of times each summer.  In Mentor there is an awesome park which has tons of fish.  You can see all the fish swimming in the water right next to the dock.  You'd think that they'd learn their lesson but each of the kids were able to catch at least five fish.  We used hot dog pieces and bread as bait. Mmmmm!  Really, though the kids each ate a piece of the bread we brought for the fish, it must have been good bread.  It was such a fun and relaxing night!

Kaitlyn was not all that fond of getting close to the fish.  Can  you tell?

Look hard and you can see a fish off to the right.

We are going to miss the Thompson's

Last night was a sad night!  We had to say goodbye to our friends the Thompson's.  They are on their way to North Carolina.  I am really sad to see Michal go!  She has been such a good friend! 

Reuben ended up crying himself to bed last night because he doesn't want Dylan to move.  It was heartbreaking!  Here are some pictures of the kids all together.

Lincoln and Corbin taking a nap at the pool.

Reuben and Dylan

A week ago or so Reuben said "Dylan can't move I'll have no one to be crazy with"

The gang.  Dylan, Ashlyn, Kaitlyn, Reuben, Evie

This is our biggest tree in our yard.  The boys are constantly climbing up it.

We'll miss you guys!

Trip to the Zoo

On Friday we went to the zoo.  It was super hot!  The kids loved the black bear, rhino's, and butterflies. Here are lots of photos of our trip.

Since it was so hot we broke down and bought some slurpee's.

Another Night At The Ellsworth's

Lincoln is growing too fast!  He is getting a little small for his bed! :)  (He is such a mellow baby!  He puts up with his silly family!)

I was making dinner and walked into the family room and found Eve like this.  I thought it was super cute!

When you know your kids have watched too much T.V.

This morning I was driving in the car on my way to a baby shower and my kids kept on telling me all the advantages of Roll and Grow and Aqua Globes.  They have seen the commercials on TV and seem to know everything about them.  Do you think they've been watching too much?!  

Tortellini al Prosciutto

I was just typing this up for a friend.  This is one of our favorite recipes and really is easy.  Enjoy! 

1 package fresh tortellini – it tastes best if it has Italian sausage with chicken in it.  We are on a budget so I use frozen tortellini with cheese in it and I think it tastes just as good.  **One package of tortellini serves about four people

½ lb. honey ham from the deli

1 cup whipping cream

3 oz. butter (6 tablespoons)

pinch of grated nutmeg

¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese – I like Locatelli or Romano cheese

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Combine the ham, cream, butter, nutmeg and half the Parmesan cheese in a saucepan and heat slowly.  Do NOT boil or the sauce will curdle, season with salt and pepper.

 

Bring a large pot of salted water (1 tablespoon salt) to boil and cook the tortellini in it until done.  Drain.  Serve topped with the ham sauce and the remaining Parmesan cheese.

 

If you use more than one package of tortellini, you will need to double the recipe for the sauce.

What would you do for free Chick-fil-A?

Today we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch.  Today is cow appreciation day.  So if you dress like a cow you receive a free meal!  The kids dressed in white and we cut out spots and taped the spots to them.  The kids really had fun cutting out all of their spots.

The free grub.

There was free face painting too.

We had a late lunch so the store wasn't as busy.  The manager took the kid's picture and took their picture with the staff behind the counter also.  When they finished their meals they were allowed behind the counter to serve up their own ice cream!

Outside there was a guy with model trains and the kids were allowed to control them for free!  

Thanks for the fun free afternoon Chick-fil-A!

The Boys

Reuben asked me to take a picture of him with Lincoln the other morning.  Lincoln is usually really happy in the morning so he was pretty smiley.  Reuben is a morning person too.  Maybe it's a boy thing.

4th of July

We were able to meet up with Kaitlyn's friend and her family.  The girls had so much fun together.

The fourth was a relaxing day for us.  Ryan studied for boards in the morning and part of the afternoon.  I mowed the lawn for the first time without a self propelled mower!  It was a workout!  Hopefully I can do it more often!  In the afternoon we went on a bike ride as a family which was soooo fun!  I love to ride bikes!  In the evening we went to the Lowes down the street from us and parked there.  It was perfect to see the fireworks.  We loaded up the bed of Ryan's truck with blankets and pillows.  It was so fun!  I love the fourth!  I like to pick out my favorite fireworks while I watch them.  My favorites are the gold ones that look like glitter almost.  What are your favorites?

Summer Nights

One of our favorite things to do on summer nights is to have a fire in our fire pit and make s'mores.  Here are some fun pictures taken by our friend Noel.

Liquid Gold!

This is not the best picture, but last week we received a package of enchilada sauce from Ryan's parents!  Yes, there is a difference in enchilada sauces!  We have tried others but no enchilada sauce compares to ROSARITA!   Unfortunately they don't sell it out here :( .  Thank You Ellsworths for the wonderful package!