What a great weekend!! Our dear friends (Aubrey, Ottis, and Cameron) trekked it out to Jersey to spend a few days with us. I hope I'm not just speaking for myself when I say that a great time was had by all. It was so nice to be able to spend quality time together. Aubrey and I always make it a point to hang out when I'm in Cincy, but the hubbies usually aren't with us, and we don't usually get a lot of time visiting with the kids. I feel like I finally got to know sweet Baby Cameron--he's the spitting image of his dad, and such a sweetie pie. He also still has that yummy baby smell and I couldn't get enough of his deliciousness. He's at such a fun age, although I do feel bad that Aubrey and O had to spend so much time shadowing him as he tried to maneuver the stairs!

One of the funniest parts of the weekend was Kate's creation of Ottis's new nickname--"other daddy." This is one of those times where you're seriously wishing you could get inside of her brain to figure out her thinking process. It's not like the girl has never been around other fathers--but for whatever reason, she decided that since Ottis is indeed a daddy, and he isn't HER daddy, he would thus be known as "other daddy."

There was a whole lot of over-indulgence while the Coates family was in town--lots of fatty food and lots (like crazy lots) of adult beverages. Aubrey and I took Saturday afternoon and evening off--we lunched, saw a great movie (Ghost Town, see it NOW if you haven't already), and then went out for apps and drinks. *SIGH*--how I miss my time with my girlfriends!! We had to go to New York (not the city, just the state) to see the movie, and go figure, I missed our exit on the way back to Jersey. Aubrey was quite gracious about the fact that our detour took us (almost) to the Catskills and ate into over, oh, like 2ish hours of our time! At least the autumnal foliage was out full force so the scenery (I hope?) made up for it!!

The maniac men took in the Bengals-Jets game on Sunday, and I'm not going to even get into the shenanigans that occurred. No need to revisit that drama--although I am glad they had fun. Truly, I am :). Scott doesn't get many opportunities to relax and do something he truly enjoys--like going to NFL games with friends. He got stuck taking me to the Browns game last year, and I'm quite sure he had more fun with Ottis than he did with me.

Saying goodbye to the Coates fam was bittersweet--it was so nice having them here. They're such an important part of our family and we miss them. I can't let myself dwell on just how much we miss them, or how much fun we had hanging with our Cincy crew, or the endless Trivial Pursuit games and the shit talking and the Cranium and the birthday parties and the cookouts and the bar-hopping and the Basco incident and the whispery "hi" phone call or the.......you get the point.

So, Aub, Ottis Other Daddy, if you're reading this, thank you so very, very much for spending the weekend in the 'wood--we LOVED having you here! You guys are a big part of the reason we miss Ohio so much and we're so touched that you came to the Garden State to play--smooches!