FROM THE DESK OF BRIGHTON...

My mommy and daddy and I are just as busy as ever, living life in order to bring you more blog news! So, we will catch up with you in li'l bit. HAVE A GREAT WEEK...and for those that are watching...HAPPY OLYMPICS! U-S-A!

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

On one of our group play dates, a bunch of us visited the Cox Arboretum here in town. This place is massive (189 acres) and there is quite a bit for the kids to do, including a butterfly house, an outdoor maize, rivers and streams, flowers, etc. Brighton enjoyed playing in the stream, despite the ice cold water.

And I have to admit and I'll probably get booed, but nature photography is just not my thing. But, just to give you an idea of our day, I took a few snapshots of the beautiful scenery.

SLOW DOWN SUMMER!

As usual, Summer has gone by way too fast. It started to become more evident when the weather guy said that our highs would be in the upper 70's. And that the lows would be in the 50's! Did he say fifty? So, unlike Arizona, where we take for granted the 300 plus days of sun - our sunshine days are numbered here! We head outdoors as much as possible because before you know it, we'll be stuck inside the house trying to stay warm.

Having said that - we've been taking Brighton swimming a lot lately. And since it's been a while since his swimming lessons, we try to practice as much as we can. No matter how many times he gets dunked, he keeps going and going. He loves the water. Luckily, our city recreation center has an indoor pool, so we'll have to get our swimming fix there during the Winter. Here's an old clip from when he first started his swimming lessons in Arizona and then a few recent photos of the little tadpole. And don't worry - no little Brightons were harmed in the making of this video.

WE'VE GRADUATED FROM THE HALLWAY!

For the past year and a half, Brian and I have been busy with this little boy during church - walking up and down the hallways with the occasional attempt to sit inside a class. And obviously, that never lasted long.

Well, those days are O-V-E-R!

Last Sunday was Brighton's first day in nursery - hooray! I went in with him and sat there for a minute until the nursery leader told me that if he seemed okay, that sometimes a clean break was the best. He could have cared less if I was there or not, so after taking a few proud parent photos, I left. And then came the unexpected. Brian and I sat awkwardly in Sunday School wondering what to do with ourselves! Was it possible that we could actually sit there the entire two hours without having to corral anyone? Or pick up smashed cheerios and goldfish? Or having to keep saying "shhh..." because he repeatedly bursts out yelling, "UH-EYE" (his way of saying uh-oh) as a result of him purposely chucking one of his snacks into the air? I guess it is - at least for the last two hours anyway.

When we picked him up - the minute we opened the door he was right there - about two inches in front of a little girls face talking away. It was so funny and I wish I had taken a photo of it. He finally saw us and do you think he ran to us? Nope. Not only that but he was chanting a new word he learned while he was there for the two hours - BUB-BOWS!

He had a great day and I think he is going to love going every Sunday. And as Martha would say, "It's a good thing."

HERE IT IS!

I know you're just itching to figure out what the big hoopla is about, right? Well, we were on our way to see the Nickels this past weekend and decided to swing by this place that everyone here insisted was a MUST see. And boy was it ever. So...what's our big discovery?


It's...(drum roll)...

JUNGLE JIM'S - International Market!!!

I can't even begin to describe how absolutely AWESOME this place is. It is like nothing we have ever seen! It is THE Disneyland of grocery stores. First off - it's huge. And I mean about 6.5 acres HUGE! Do you know how big that is? Secondly, it has every type of food your could ever want...er...or not want. From the exotic stuff to the everyday item - they've got it. From fresh seafood, to cheeses from around the world, to fancy meats, to fruits & veggies you've never heard of, to every type of ethnic food you can imagine, to Amish-made food, kosher food, etc. - THEY HAVE IT ALL! We kept getting turned around because there was so much to see. As we were walking past the International Food isles - we saw everything from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, South Africa, Ireland, England and many, many more countries, which was impressive. And then - they sealed the deal for us when something caught our eye...

What can I say? This place is a food lover's paradise. Another thing we loved about this place was that each section is decorated in its appropriate theme.




Brighton was mesmerized by the view - as were we. Notice the lady in the background? I wonder what she's thinkning. I get that "look" a lot for taking pictures in the weirdest places. I guess it's the investigative journalist in me. A blog without pictures would be boring - right?

And the last thing we, or I, loved about the place -

Of course, I forgot to go check it out (because my brain is automatically programed to let my urethra know that we do not use public restrooms) - but I will definitely make a trip in there the next time to let you know if their potty is worthy of such a title. It's almost an oxymoron if you ask me. Anyhow, it took us forever to just run through the place, so we will be going back from time-to-time , so we can really take advantage of this goldmine. We managed to grab a few things on our way out. If you are ever on this side of the pond - this is definitely a must see, in my opinion. The photos I managed to sneak are a bit blurry because I had the flash off (but I always say better something than nothing). Sometimes, believe it or not, certain places have issues with people taking photos inside their establishment. So, I was undercover on this one. And at first I thought that maybe I shouldn't take so many photos - so that it wouldn't ruin it for people that might want to see this later on. But, after seeing it in person - I am positively sure that there is no way that these photos can convey this place's uniqueness. If you want to check it our for yourself - on tv - it has been featured on the Travel channel and the episode will re-air this month. Check out Jungle Jim's website for more information: http://www.junglejims.com/


Enjoy!

Our loot - (clockwise) a fresh butter crumb pastry (this thing was almost a foot wide), mini sliced pumpernickel bread, cherry tomatoes, mochiko flour, Chinese style sausage (or lup cheong, for you Asian folks), Aloha Shoyu (from, you guessed it), a mango fruitroll from South Africa, Ritter chocolate from Germany (Grandpa Seavey used to bring this home from his trips there), plums, and Amish spice roll/cake (as you can see it was about 75% gone by the time I could take this photos) - yum.

NEED A HINT?

Without giving away too much, here are a couple more clues from our mystery discovery. Any ideas? Find out tomorrow!

CAN YOU GUESS WHAT MADE OUR TOP OHIO DISCOVERIES LIST THIS WEEK?

This could very easily rank as THE BEST DISCOVERY, in my opinion! You're gonna love this one - and I'll give you a clue: it's not the zoo! Any guesses? Stay tuned...

Baby Dance Party

Just a quick clip from Brighton's wild weekend at the Nickel's. He loves those boys. Here he is debuting his baby clubbing skills.

And then, in less than 30 minutes...

AN OLD-SCHOOL, EAST-COAST FAVORITE

As we were driving today, Brian spots a White Castle restaurant ahead and suggest maybe we should just drive-thru and grab one of those mini hamburgers just for the fun of it. We figured since it's such a big deal out here that we had to try it at least once. Brian grew up eating lots of these, but they were a first for myself. Upon pulling up to the menu, I realized that their special value items are super cheap. It makes the $.99 menus look overpriced. We each grabbed the plain mini hamburger and within one bite - they were about 50% eaten. Brian would probably have to eat about 20 of these to appease his ginormous appetite. As far as the quality of the burger - it's definitely not In-n-Out, Red Robin or any of those places. And it wasn't bad - it was just different. I'll leave that decision up to you - if you ever head out this way. There certainly was a "special" ambiance that was felt in and around the restaurant. Of course, with any fast-food chain, you get all types of people. And this was no different. If you're looking for cheap, or for portion control or for nostalgia - look no further. White castle dining - check.

STUFFED

Someone pass me a toothpick and some of those overly-saturated alcohol napkins - 'cause I just ripped into about a half rack of ribs like a wild animal!

Our banker recommended this place to us - and he wasn't joking. It is seriously good stuff. It has now become one of our top places to eat. But don't come here unless you've got an empty stomach. And I'm not talking like - you had lunch empty - but like you haven't eaten ALL day empty. Be forewarned you will also be leaving a few pounds heavier, with BBQ sauce in your hair, clothes and face, and with a ton of leftovers. My favorite is the half rack of ribs with Texas Toast, two donut holes (kind of random) and two sides of your choice - to which I usually choose the corn pudding (this is VERY good) and baked beans with brisket. Brian likes the brisket sandwhich with smashed potatoes and brisket beans. Whoa Nellie. And if you are planning on visiting us anytime, plan on coming here, and bring some stretchy pants.

And ten bonus points to the person who guesses the show these sodas were featured on. Brian recognized it right way - I had no clue. Any guesses?

IT'S A SIGN!

As I stated in an earlier post, I do sometimes post backdated info because I usually get sidetracked and forget about the photos - and then they pop up days later. So, here is one of those times. Without retelling the five-hour story of how the actual move went - from Hawaii to Arizona to Ohio - I will tell you that it did involve Brighton getting Croup the night before a 6-hour plane ride. It also involved a trip to the ER the next night (getting home at 2:30am) AFTER packing up everything into the moving truck. And then another trip to the doctor's office the next morning to find out he also had an ear infection. Lovely. So, the night we were in the ER, I busted out my camera - not sure if that was the journalist or the blogger in me - and took some poor, pathetic looking photos of Brighton (I had to turn the flash off just in case of some weird rule about cameras in the ER - and for the fact that everyone would probably think I was looney, for taking pictures at 2am inside an ER). Actually, they don't even convey just how sick he really was. And while we were in our fabulous curtain-divided ER room, I happened to see the following on an instrument. And the next photo was of a car we parked in back of, the day before leaving Hawaii. Coincidence? I think not. :)