monday at the madhouse // trip to Ohio

Oh man. What a weekend. First off, I talked about that lovely flight into Columbus on the blog last week (thank God I'm not going through that again this week), but then our time there was just fantastic. We were visiting my buddy Julie and her family -- and she has a daughter Ezra's age. Because of this, everything was so easy. They are on the same schedule as us, so dinner was easy. Naptime was easy. Driving was easy because they loaned us their car and carseat. It was the best way to travel ever.And on top of that, they are just super fun and relaxed people, so a visit with them is always wonderful.On Saturday, we all went to the zoo, and that's where that top photo was taken. I love the look on Ezra's face in the reflection.This was Ezra at the airport after the epic meltdown on the airplane on our way into Columbus. Stone cold passed out.These were some of the attractions at the zoo. I am always a sucker for flamingos, but I really love those ruffled feathers in the back.The penguins were SUPER close to us (which was cool) and they just watched us. All lined up like we were gonna feed them!This is Julie's daughter while we ate lunch at the zoo.Here we have the kids while there was an otter feeding show going on BEHIND THEM. They were looking at people down below on boats. Apparently they don't think otters are cool yet.Are you seeing a theme to this weekend? Lots of stroller and carseat naps.Julie's daughter had AMAZING toys that Ezra loved. Lots of push and ride toys, and this here airplane starts up (the propeller goes), lights up and plays crazy music. And there is no off button. Julie is a much better person than I.Ezra loved walking around with the push toys. They were super fun for his age right now, and they did help him with his balance.We also played with bubbles! And yeah, Julie doesn't even look pregnant. She's the hottest mom-to-be ever.They also made us dinner for Jamie's birthday this weekend. As you can see, it was amazing.A little boy time on the back porch.And I *love* this photo of the two kids. She really wasn't mad at HIM per se, but this photo could have so many captions. We will save it for their wedding. ;)For your internet share of the day, I made this fantastic recipe tonight and it was a huge hit with the guys. It's not the kind of food I normally make, but it's chilly here and Ezra didn't eat very well when we were traveling, so I was aiming to get a lot of calories into him quickly. Done and done.