Operation Nick-conciliation COMPLETE

Nick Lachey and us on what was surely the best day of his life.

Like we um, “mentioned” yesterday, Emily and I headed down to Cincinnati to Paul Brown stadium, home of the Bengals to meet one Nicholas Scott Lachey, entertainer extraordinaire. Nick is working with one of our favorite brands EVER, Tide, on their “Show Us Your Colors” campaign with the NFL. Since Nick is a HUGE Cincy sports fan, it’s a great campaign for him. If you go to Tide’s FB page (linked above) and click on the Show Us Your Colors tab, you can upload a pic of yourself in your favorite NFL team’s colors and be entered to win a trip to Super Bowl XLVII. So go do that! AFTER you read the rest of this facscinating post, of coouuurse.

What we really wanted from Nick was not to embarass him with inappropriate questions, but rather to use our sparkling personalities and feminine wiles to make him love us and THEN confront him about why he STOOD EMILY UP for lunch two years ago. In our minds, he’d end up on his knees begging Emily for forgiveness. Possibly, he’d produce a bouquet of flowers out of nowhere for Emily. Maybe even declare his undying devotion.  Something like that!

So, what actually happened is that Emily and I got to sit down with Nick, just the three of us, in a really, casual, relaxed environment – and we had a nice little chat. Nick totally acted like just a regular guy, and not a “celebrity”. We really felt like we were just talking to someone we’d met out and about!  (Though we don’t normally meet hot guys  and strike up convos with them when we’re out and about – FYI.) We talked about his new baby boy Camden and his roots in Cincinnati and we even found out that Nick’s dad is from the Dayton area and that Nick spent time here as a kid! And then after he divulged that little factoid, Emily was all…

“Speaking of Dayton…I was supposed to have lunch with you in Dayton two years ago and it never happened.”

I gotta tell you guys, I was rather proud of Em in that moment. I wasn’t sure she’d have the cajones to bring it up!

She then went on to let Nick know that she’s a true stalker and that she entered that contest to have lunch with him every darn day!  (I think at this point, Nick began inching backward a little bit…)

Believe it or not, Nick was really gracious even though Emily was like a rabid woman scorned and began shooting red stalker death rays out of her eye. (Just kidding, she was, to my disappointment, the model of decorum.) He totally knew and remembered what she was talking about. He confirmed what the radio station had told Emily, that the ultimate cancellation of the event was due to his parting ways with his record label. And he was rather sorry that the record folks led Emily on for ten months! He was all, “Let’s go get a croissant and break some bread together so I can make it up to you!” (Wait, Em? Was he asking you out??)

So after THAT awkwardness, we chatted a few more minutes about the work he’s done with Cincinnati Children’s hospital, his new lullaby CD he’s recording for his son, and the fact that he and his wife Vanessa plan to move back to the good old Cincy area and raise their kids here by the time they’re in school.  Oh, and we also talked about this guy:

Because every Cincinnatian-Daytonian who returns home after a period of time away needs to know the status of Big Butter/Touchdown/How Big is This Fish JEEBUS. It’s common ground, people!

Before we left, Nick gave us picture of himself and his baby boy Camden wearing their Bengals team colors and he signed mine “To Jenny: now that I’ve met you I don’t know how I’m going to go back to my real life. Your wit and charm far outshadow that of your stalker cousin’s, but it’s nice of you to let her hang out with you. Also, you’re totally hot. Stay classy. Love, Nick. P.S. Isn’t my baby cute?”

It’s kind of hard to read his writing but I’m pretty sure that’s what it says.

All in all, Nick was pretty awesome. I think Emily’s really sorry for being so mean to him two years ago after he left her at the lunch counter. And you know what else? I have a feeling, just a feeling, that Nick and the Supercousins have not seen the last of each other!

 

 

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More Fun at the Museum: The Mystery of the Mayan Medallion

One of the things I love about living in Dayton is being near to such a great children’s museum – the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. This weekend Bobby and I took the kids for an afternoon of family fun and learning. Bobby and Jonah enjoyed some of the areas for smaller kids while the big kids and I checked out what is always our favorite part of every visit; the museum’s latest and greatest rotating exhibit. Up and running now is a really fun one and probably the one I learned the most from: the Mystery of the Mayan Medallion.

Joshua was extremely excited to find that there was a Mayan glyph for “Star Wars”. The stars were a very important part of Mayan culture.

This exotic exhibit takes you into the rain forest of Palenque, Mexico to learn all about the Maya people and their culture – as well as to search for a lost team of archaeologists and their sought-after treasure! At the beginning of the exhibit, each participant takes a paper with questions identified by a symbol. Each station in the exhibit also has a symbol that will help you answer the specified question. I loved this because the kids and I had to really look carefully at each stop to get all the info we needed to answer our questions and unlock the Mystery of the Mayan Medallion!

Each station had loads to learn about Mayan culture – here’s Sophie absolutely THRILLED to learn the glyphs for Mayan numbers. She chose to make the number four:

After we went through all the stations, we figured out which four Mayan glyphs we’d need to unlock the Mystery of the Mayan Medallion and get a glimpse of the mysterious treasure! I won’t give anything away on that score, though! You have to go solve that mystery for yourself!

Joshua is re-constructing a Mayan pot

This is a really fun exhibit, and it is chock-full of information. Definitely plan to spend a good chunk of your time here; I’d say it takes at least 30-45 minutes to do it right!

The Mystery of the Mayan Medallion is at the Boonshoft through January 4th, so make sure and visit while it’s here – definitely on your kids’ holiday school break if not before. You’ll be glad you did!

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The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is the sponsor of this post. All opinions about the exhibit are my own.

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Happy 6th Birthday, Sophia Diane.

Last night I wrote a really great 6th birthday post for Sophie.  I scheduled it for 5 a.m. today.

And it’s gone. Like it never existed. Not in draft form, it’s nowhere! I’ve searched and searched. This is the first time this has ever happened to me in the 5 years I’ve been blogging.

🙁

So I’ll try again.

Dear Sophie,

Happy Birthday baby! When you were born, I was SO excited to have a little girl. Of course, I also had no idea what I was getting into!

Maybe your crazy hair should’ve been a clue!

From the moment you were born, you brought us so much joy. I loved seeing your big brother’s love for you, too.

As you grew, you only got cuter, and sweeter, and more crazy! And I loved you more each day.

You’re exuberance and joy for life has brought light and levity to our family.

I wish I could remember every single moment of your precious life, my girl. You are growing up SO FAST! How did I get from this:

 

To this:

In just the blink of an eye? I can’t believe how grown up you are, my kindergarten girl!

Sophie, two years ago today, on your 4th birthday, I wrote you another letter. And I cried my whole way through. I was scared and discouraged because your very first IEP meeting had been the day before. At your evaluation you had screamed and cried and pretty much acted like a crazy person and so you gave your evaluators pretty much no idea of who you really were, what you knew, and what you needed to know. And so, they thought some things about you that just weren’t right.

But I knew. I knew who you really were, what you knew, and what you needed to know. And I knew what you were capable of. And I believed in you, sweetheart.

Two years later, you are 6! And so much has changed! You love people and school and friends and learning. You make it very easy for everyone to see who you really are, what you know, and what you need to know. You’re kicking kindergarten’s tail and taking names. You’re having fun and making friends and loving others in a way that makes me so, so, proud.

I love you, Sophia Diane. I love being your mommy!  And I’ll always believe in you, be proud of you, and love the crap out of you. No matter what.

Happy Birthday, baby!

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