down on the farm

Mikaela's birthday was saturday - and for those who dont know "wookie", she is straight up a naturalist/biologist. She is getting her masters by defending her thesis about birds and mercury levels...she has done field studys in alaska, mexico, tucson...you name it. love that girl - BF from high school. anyhoo - she is in town for a month or 2 and for her bday all she wanted to do was go to her familys farm in southern ohio and hike in the morning. well, i was down for it!

1st stop friday night was the circleville pumpkin festival. it was pouring rain on us but we saw unbelievably huge pumpkins and made fun of locals.

so after that, we headed to farm....1st the chain across their driveway wasnt up, 2. there was light on in the house when we drove up. 3. the door wasnt locked - yes we still entered and i had a broom in my hand while mikaela yelled....then she noticed the bathroom light was on but the door was closed - we ran out of there, got in the car and called their neighbor who is a local cop! he was working a friday night high school game but came - turns out he wasthe deputy sherrif! he went in and secured the house for us! woo hoo! we sat outside till 1am, grilled brats, had a few beers and looked at the stars.
the farm is beautiful. there wasnt sun on saturday but at least it wasnt raining! no matter still gorgeous with the leaves.




then we drove to hocking hills for some hiking. we hiked 6+ miles. was super fun.

i hate heights.
cedar falls:





i told wookie to climb this rock and she fell straight backwards....
hil-arious!
the birthday girl!
then that night we went to our friends Justin and Debi's for their annual halloween party. we went as "Justin and Debi" - our costumes were perfect! BUT I didnt get any pictures except for a few with their baby Grace!! she was the great pumpkin - adorable.

TOUCH THIS!

So of course Im a MAC kid - been my whole life (remember the apple 2Gs with the green screens as kid?). Anyhoo - ive got 2 mac computers at home and the nano. well ive been itching for an iphone (have a crackberry) and i heard verizon is going to get them next May....now I heard next Dec. What the heck! I cant wait that long. People at work are always talking about it and Im jealous! My BBF got an itouch last month (Joni in AZ) and then my twin brother got one yesterday....well I want one!!!

So i was joking with danny about it via emails at work. He was like "maybe christmas". Well i beat him home today. He came in and I greeted him in the kitchen. I walked past the counter - took a double take - BAM itouch!!!!! I LOVE THIS MAN! He has been playing with it more than me....I think Ill have to buy him one now :)

who doesnt like a blue tiffany's box...or 3?

ok i need to brag about my husband...i thought i did awesome on our anniversary gifts this year. I got him some cool bears stuff including an autographed jim mcmahon photo PLUS tickets to the bears/rams game in chicago Dec 6th (we'll already be intown for a wedding so perfect - not to mention the 1st anniversary is "paper"). haha, im soo clever. well danny got me a new laptop battery for my mac (which I got the monday before we left on our trip). SCORE! I needed 1 and they arent cheap. well later that night, I come back to my laptop and BAM there is a tiffany box with a bow! Awww an awesome thick silver square ring - totally margaux!

so then on our trip, i come out of the bathroom, BAM another box on the bed - another ring - double score! then on our last night at dinner, he pulls out another box....ok seriously? another ring. unreal! I did end up exchanging that one for this other (which he was actually torn between that and the other that I exchanged for hehe) but I tell you....how did i get so lukcy????
ya - he is all mine!

golden delights

FINALLY! after a week of gloomy weather, the sun was out! we could finally enjoy some of the changing leaves on the trees. We woke up early and took Parker to Creekside (where we got married) and walked around bundled up with coffees. We watched the ducks (who should be flying south soon if this weather keeps up!), and walked the park grounds. Then took the girl to the dog park to play. She had a blast. I think fall is her favorite time b/c she matches the leaves :)

At home playing the yard.

The backyard and creek is covered in leaves!

the underworld

well we got our snorkeling shots back - ya not that good but actually better than i thought. i bet if you look close, you can see the jellyfish!! dannys loved it...me not so much.

If you click on the pic to see it bigger, you can see all the fish near dannys legs!

That was some sunken ship thingy....dannys legs are at the top right....thats how deep it was!

anniversay in cozumel

Year 1 - down! Danny booked us a trip to cozumel a while back and it finally came!

Our hotel and room was amazing!
The hotel has a beach area too which was so cool b/c you could walk out a ways and not feel scared – ok I get scared :)




Just arrived!





Joni surprised us with this in our room! love that girl...



Yes! here is the best part of our trip - the room! this is our patio that walks out to the water!



Our Igauna "mac"...they are all over the island.



Time for some water and drinks





Sunset from our room





Breakfast in the open air restaurant



After breatfast we rented scooters downtown! I was terrified at 1st but I ended up loving it. We looked like C.H.I.P.S.

We rode to the middle of the island and saw some mayan ruins.





The we went to the other side of the island which was amazing. Big waves.





We rode down the whole coast. There arent any hotels on this side so its you, rode and lots of beach and every few kilometers a bar!





1 of a few pitstops: playa bonita!



Another pretty pitstop for a beer and sights



That night we went downtown for some food and saw another beautiful sunset.



More hotel shots :)





Dannys loved the snorkeling there...i on the otherhand got stung by a baby jellyfish - naturally...






Saturday was supposed to be shopping day but then turned into tequila shots at senor frogs, making friend with some girls from a cruise, and drinking a little too much :)





That night we went for a romantic dinner to The Lobster House...and the head butler drive us! Which after a while we thought he was going to kill us in the jungle b/c it was far! We got there and it was a little shack with open air and candles but really cool. They even have a crocodile in the front that lives there. They only have lobster tails that were caught that day. Danny was freaked out since it was very rustic and only us but after some drinks was cool. Then while eating out of no-where, a crab ran past our chairs! He went behind a shelf and we tried to lure him out! We didn’t want him to get stuck and die there! He eventually made his way out, poor thing. So turns out they only take cash – hello! We didn’t know that but he let us leave it at the hotel for him in an envelope...shady.





he was a big crab!



was a great trip and we are 100% going again!!!