fresh pics

Hiya! Random post with fresh pics from this past weekend of Kaiya in PA. Pics are of Kaiya at the zoo and hanging out with Kinsey Filbert as well as shopping with Laura

Everyone Loves Our Beach Girl

Despite some airline challenges, we took a family vacation to Florida in the middle of April. We were able to get some much needed R&R. The weather was a lot nicer in Daytona than it was in Dayton, but we had a few cool days.

On the coldest day, we went shopping in St. Augustine. Here Kaiya is demonstrating her excellent bargain-hunting skills.

Kaiya absolutely loved playing in the pool. The condo we were staying in had both an indoor and outdoor pool. We tried to take her in at least once each day.

Believe it or not, she did get sleepy from all the shopping we did. Check out her totally cute ruby slippers :-)

There is a Nascar restaurant in Daytona that I had never been to. Many of the booths are set up to look like racing cars. Here we are in one of the booths. (The waitress absolutely loved Kaiya and made her a special fruit smoothie, just because she was so cute!)

We also went to this activity center near the condo. They had a water park (closed when we were there), miniature golf, an arcade and go-carts.

Here is Kaiya after a swim. She has a cute little tankini and duckie robe.

It was at this restaurant we discovered what kind of music Kaiya really likes. Any guesses? She was dancing almost the whole time we were there... dancing to reggae! I guess the Bob Marley song really hits home for her: "I've got to have Kaiya now..."

Kaiya had a great time playing in the sand. She even got sand on her hands, feet, arms and legs. Only once did she get fed up with the sand and want out. That's so much improvement from our trip to Florida in November.

She also liked playing by the water. She let the waves splash up around her ankles, and she played in the wet sand. She also liked chasing the birds :-)

Here Kaiya is looking like a BIG girl in the airport. She was such a great traveler, and on the way back we had a layover in North Carolina. She is a well-traveled little girl.

(Yes, I realize that this is a pretty unflattering photo of me, but it is cute of Kaiya. And, NO, I'm not pregnant!)

We had a great time, and we will definitely need another family vacation soon. It was hard coming back to Ohio!

State Count: 16

Country Count: 1

Trip to Michigan

At the end of March, we took a weekend trip up to Michigan to see Kaiya's Uncle Rich, Aunt Becki, and cousins Ashleigh and Hailey. Hailey is just 5 days older than Kaiya, and it was a lot of fun watching the two of them play. I was amazed that, even though they go months without seeing each other, they are doing so many of the same things. They were just too cute!

State Count: 15

Country Count: 1

Scotland Knodels visit

Dick and Susan came for a visit in February. For those of you who don't know what they look like or haven't seen them in ages, here are pics of Chris' parents. (And, no, his mother is not a sheep!)

(Guess where Kaiya gets her red hair from...)

We took a trip to the outlets in Jeffersonville and went shopping. Here we are at Wendy's having lunch.

Here we are looking through all our bargain buys. And, Kaiya is borrowing Gran's cell phone.

It was a great visit, but didn't last nearly long enough!

BTW, Dick just received his Doctorate of Philosophy. Congratulations! Though folks in Airdrie offered to call him Dr. Knodel, he is insisting on Dr. Dickie. Be sure to give him a shout out next time you see him - with or without the sheep.