They, whoever 'they' is, say "Home is where the heart is."  I don't know if I'd go so far as to say Marion, Ohio is where my heart is, but it sure feels comfortable every time I go back.  Things just feel a little more relaxed there.  Where Dallas can often feel busy, congested, competitive, and somewhat materialistic, Marion has a slower, relaxed, community feel to it.  I miss that sometimes.  It could just be that I get all nostalgic when I go back about my childhood and growing up there, not to mention I'm usually on vacation when I'm there. It probably is that, but either way, I always look forward to going 'home' for a bit whenever I get a chance. This time Kylie and Saige came with me, and as an extra bonus, Kylie's parents made teh 6 hour trek from Indiana to spend 5 days with us while we were there.  I can't say enough about one of my good HS buddis, Michael, and his wife Amanda who let us all crash in their house for the week while they were on a family vacation with their kiddos in Michigan. What a blessing it was for us to have a free place to stay and just hang out with Kylie's mom and dad.  And, like like we planned it or somethin', whenKylie's parents left on a Friday afternoon, the Styers returned home that night from vacation, so we got to spend some R&R time with them, too. Awesome sauce. Here's a few images from our stay back in O-H... I-O! First up, playground time with Saige and the in-laws...

"Grammy" helpin' Saige across the rubber bridge.

Saige gettin' ready for her own American Ninja Warrior tryout on the rings...

... but not until "Grandfather Garry" (btw, his self-chosen nickname) gave it a run first.

Oops.  Head-banger.  Oh, and if anyone wants to give it a shot, the wooden support beam to Saige's left (camera right) says "Call 387-6477 and ask for Lee".  Lemme know how that goes.

Kylie's dad... still a big kid at heart.

Columbus Zoo day!  First up, ridin' the stationary baby rhino, of course.

Saige's goin' through a crinkly nose phase right now.  You can see it a little bit here. Love that crinkly nose face.

Saige's chariot came with a driver.

Finally some AC in the aquarium.

Fishies are funny.

I don't have a lot of images like this of me just hangin' out with Saige, unposed. Love these kind of images so much more than any of the posed images of us.

So sweet how she was afraid of the penguins, but Grandfather Garry helped her work it out.

Me with my brother and my dad.  This is the first time we've all 3 been in the same place and in the same photograph together since my wedding in January of '09.

Early morning bed-head reading in the big window bay.

Saige loved Michael & Amanda's daughter's boots.  She woulda worn 'em all day if we hadn't finally pried them off her feet.

This image is such a true vignette of life on this trip;  Kylie's mom playing with Saige, her dad looking on adoringly, and Kylie enjoying the parenting break spending time on her iPhone. [grin]

Future doctor who plays games and wears someone else's fashionable boots in her spare time.

Giving Barbie a check-up to figure out why she's so thin.

There's that crinkly-nosed face again.

Love. This.

Peek-A....

...Boo!

Kylie checkin' out some animals at the Wings of an Angel Organization's Angelpalooza event.

Children of the Beans impersonation.

And finally, Michael & Amanda's friends were sweet and invited us to come hang out at their daughter Ava's birthday party along with the Styers. They even gave Saige a little gift bag even though they'd never met us.

Michael and I and a couple guys doin' the guy thing at the party.  It's much more of a workout these days with the extra baggage.  Oh, and the blue t-shirt and khaki shorts?  Yeah... not planned.

Saige & I and Michael and his som Cole.

It's bittersweet to see these two images.  I've barely blinked, and already 16 months has passed.  Obviously I know she's grown since we first brought her home from the hosiptal, but it's hard to fathom how much until I see this.

Was back in Marion, OH last week. I grew up there, and it will always be 'home'.  While I was there, Kylie, Saige and I were invited by proxy to a birthday party for a sweet little three year old girl who's the daughter of some friends of the friends we were staying with.  Got to bust out a football and play catch with a couple of the guys for a bit.  My high school quarterbacking days felt like they were 20 years ago. Oh, right... they were 20 years ago.  In any case, I miss outings like this, and it was fun to visit with our formerly athletic selves... only now it feels more like we're in slow motion.  Good times.