My Little Lions

We have moved to Ohio.

My husband grew up in Cleveland.

To say he's excited about being back in Ohio is an understatement.

Me? Eh. I'm glad we're in driving distance to family. Have you flown with 3 kids? Not so fun. I'm glad to be closer to the East Coast where I belong, but there are a few issues I have with Ohio.

Ok, 1.

Tom is an Ohio State fan. I went to Penn State. This is a BIG problem. so when I was contacted by Fanatics about writing a post about how I'm creating the next generation of Future Fanatics, I thought this would be a good opportunity to share why I think the kids will be Nittany Lion fans all the way ;)

Now, I have to throw in there, for the team mommy side, Tom did not GO to Ohio State. He is just a fan. I actually WENT to Penn State. Heck, I've been going to Penn State football games for almost 30 years now! Also, ask Tom how many Ohio State games he's been to (the answer is 0) and then ask him how many Penn State games he's been to (2). I have clearly made a much stronger case from day 1 of our relationship that Penn State is the school the kids should cheer for.

Being the good brain washing mommy that I am, I have decided to start them young.

Their first Lion Shrine picture in December 2013. I don't see any pictures of these kids at Ohio State. Just saying.

We obviously had to take time to visit our friends in State College while we've been visiting home and as one last push to make these kids my little Penn State Nittany Lion fans before they go to Ohio, I had to get them tshirts and take a few pictures for memories.

Tom insists that now that we're near Ohio State we'll be able to go there all the time, but he doesn't have the connections I have at Penn State (friends, professors, a dad with season tickets, knowing the campus well...because, ya know, I actually went to school there), so I have faith I've won this battle.

Plus, Amelia is obsessed with the Lion and roaring like a lion. She made some alumni there for their 50 year reunion very proud ;) I was pretty proud of her too. And then we gave her creamery ice cream. She's a Penn State fan for life, I guarantee it ;)

Let's just say, Tom is going to have to put up a really good fight to win this one ;) These kids are my future Little Lions and Future Fanatics!

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Viva Las Vegas!

The week before Veteran's Day weekend, Tom and I were sitting up and discussing life in California. I told him this place was getting a little old (what can I say, we move a lot, I get bored in 1 place for too long). Obviously, we don't have a move in our immediate future, so we decided to check out hotels in nearby towns and states and plan a trip!

And just like that, 2 days later, we were hitting the road to Vegas! We've wanted to go since we got here, but with the twins so little and high maintenance (I'm looking at you Jackson and your oxygen, monitor, medicine, and bottles) we'd been holding out on the trip...then I was pregnant. Then we had a newborn. And just like that, we've been in Cali for 2 1/2 years and had not been to Vegas yet.

I knew I had some college friends coming into town and I texted my sister to see if they had some free time to hang out with us and it worked out as the perfect weekend to road trip!

The trip out there goes like this...

For a long time. A whole lot of nothing with some mountains in the distance. The mountains are pretty and all, but the whole lot of nothing is a bit scary. I can't imagine breaking down on this road in the middle of summer. Luckily, it was much cooler and there's a lot of traffic so hopefully no one would leave you too desolate ;)

A finally you reach civilization and just like that you're back in civilization and around the corner from Las Vegas!

We parked, headed to the strip to meet up with some clowns I know...

Guys from my hall freshman year of college. They had partaken in some more adult like Vegas activities so they requested we find a place to eat right away. Where this happened....

oh my sweet baby ;)

Then we wandered the town while trying to recreate moments of the Hangover.

Again, my poor sweet child. This was Mr. Hahn's first time using a baby carrier. Hahn liked it. Ben did not.

We saw fountains at the Bellagio and the kids were really excited about the fish at Caesar's palace.

 Jack really wanted to gamble but we eventually convinced him that some kids games were practically the same thing. I mean, they light up and take all your money too right?

and after walking up and down the entire strip, we decided to call it a day ;)

The kids were pretty tired so we headed to my sister's house for dinner. It was nice having some quiet family time after a crazy day of driving and exploring the strip!

Then back to our hotel where the kids all crashed hard! Too much for one day ;)




I was a little nervous how the hotel stay would go, and there were some trouble moments at about 3am, but overall, they did really well.

Their favorite part was definitely the free breakfast the next morning ;) They had a blast picking out food.

We got dressed and ready for day 2 of Vegas fun!

 Day 2 we spent a good chunk of the day wandering on our own. We tried out Serendipity 3.

But spent the majority of the day at the Venetian checking out the boats.

Obsessed much? Literally, all day watching boats haha

By early afternoon, without a nap, the twins were ready to be done. So we said bye to my friends and hit the road back to LA. We would have stayed the entire long weekend, but we had big plans for Monday morning. 2 days was enough Vegas fun though for us. The trip back took a good 7 hours (ughh!) but included a trip to Sonic so it wasn't THAT bad ;) Overall, we had a really fun time in Vegas and I think all of the kids thought it was really fun to check out all the sights. Until next time Vegas :)