Summer '10 Reflections

This has been the most amazing summer that I can ever remember. The kids are at such fun ages and you name it, we have done it. Looking back I only took Seth to the sitter once and Leah 3 times because I just didn't want to give them up for even a day. I have enjoyed each and every day with them and I am the luckiest woman ever to be able to have summers off to spend with them. It is time that I cherish. I am finding it very difficult to go back to work this year and haven't stepped foot in my classroom. I have a big task ahead of me tomorrow, but I just wanted to fit in every last bit of fun that I could before the dreaded routine starts again. I wanted to take a look back at our summer and reflect on all of our adventures.
* Mt. Carmel Feast
* Dinners with family and friends
* Trips to Lowville to visit Gram and Gramp
* The LACS playground in Lowville; Seth loves the giant spider web to climb
* Wednesdays at the Farmer's Market with Mom; chocolate covered strawberries, tater twisters, fresh lemonade and strawberry rhubarb pie
* Lunch play dates with Kristen
* Shrimp boil/seafood bonanza
* Many many boating trips; swimming, pizza from The Shack, rides and family time on our floating cottage
* Adventure Camp
* Me and My Shadow Kidnastics
* Family road trip vacation; Albany to Methuen to Boston to Lake George
* The Magic Forest
* Duck Tour
* Penis Shrimp (such an experience)
* Adult obstacle courses
* Walking the strip in LG
* 4 pools in 3 hotels on our trip
* Pizza Jerks
* Can-Am Parade
* Monster truck rally
* Lewis County Fair and parade with family and friends
* Seth's sleepovers with Grandma and Poppy
* White water rafting
* Sesame Place and a visit to Kristen's parents
* Going to the witch doctor for my foot (interesting place)
* Wine Day with the girls
* Pedis with the girls
* Ro's golf tourney's for Pepsi
* A visit to Sheryl's new home
* Seneca Park Zoo
* Our 8th Anniversary
* Alex and Laura's wedding reception
* Enchanted forest
* Breakfast at Tin Pan with Mom and Gram
* Jungle Camp
* Bunco
* Making new friends
* Visiting with Kristen's family on numerous visits to Watertown
* Sweet's BBQ
* Trying zumba
* Biking in Sackets and picnics on the battlefield

WOW, what an amazing and blessed summer we have had!

Last Summer Play Date

Out with the old and in with the new, giant water slide!

I had been scoping this slide out all summer long just waiting for it to go on sale and when it finally dropped I sent Ro right out to snatch it up. The kids have such a blast on the slide that I wanted to get a bigger one. I am so happy and the kids had a blast on it today. Oh and so did I!
Lindsey is such a water girl and she played in the pool part for an hour.

Leah played a little, but ended up tooling around the yard.

I took both babies on the slide and it was hysterical!

It goes so much faster than you would think.

Then Kristen brought over the supplies for crab cakes and Caesar salad. We ate our faces off in our true lunch date fashion.

The boys ate outside since they were soaking wet.

So delicious!

This was our last summer play date, but bring on the fall ones because we have less than a year left to enjoy our lunch/play dates! Thanks for the amazing lunch Kristen!

PS~ Happy Anniversary (tomorrow) to Kristen and Lee!

We hope you enjoy your chocolate covered strawberries. Sorry Lee we will get you some when you come home for R&R!

Torturing an 82 Year Old Woman

We had my grandparents down for dinner last night and I think they seriously went home utterly exhausted. First Gram played outside on the play set with the kids, after dinner Seth dressed her up and finally we took them to the Sherman playground and they followed the kids around. My Gram emailed me this morning and said that she slept excellent and that was the most exercise she had gotten in a long time. My Gramp stood to the sidelines while Gram did all the work. Isn't that always the case! Ha Ha just kidding!

A quote from my Gram last night, "Don't you dare put this picture on my casket some day!"

We love you guys!

Lazy Sunday's

We took full advantage of the beautiful weather on Sunday. Ro and Seth headed down to the boat a couple of hours before Leah and I did and fished off the dock. Seth LOVES to fish and had a blast practicing his casting and reeling. He caught three fish and he will tell you one was big, one was skinny and one was long. It is his new favorite thing to do. Since we technically don't have a license he threw them right back into the lake quickly. Note to self...get Seth a fishing license next season.

As soon as Leah and I arrived we headed right out to the water. It was much wavier than we had thought, but we still had a blast in the water and on our new trampoline.
We bought a rechargeable air pump and it blew this up in 30 seconds!

It also doubles as an extra large tube to float on.

Quick story...the very first time I jumped on it I instantly fell off and right into the cold water. It was hysterical and I laughed my butt off. Next time we need to jump in deeper water.

Seth and Ro have the best time together playing in the water.

I wouldn't trade this life with anyone!

When we got back to the dock Seth wanted to show me how he can cast and reel. I was very impressed with his skills AND he even caught a fish for me!

Proud little man

Leah thought the fish was amazing!

Say a little prayer that this coming weekend is just a beautiful as this Sunday was for us!

A Sweet BBQ

Saturday night we headed to our friends Lisa and Zeke Sweet's house for a BBQ. I have fallen in love with their house and their yard. I'd like to pick it up and move it to Watertown. It was the perfect spot for the kids and adults to eat, drink, set off fire works, sit by the fire, go on a giant water slide and play hide and go seek with glow sticks. Seriously, you name the summer activity and we did it. It was such a blast and we thank them ten times over for including us in their event. I took tons and tons of pics, but here are just a few.

Leah and Charlotte playing in the water table.
All of the bigger babies think that Noey is super cool so they flock to her at any event.

It was a little chilly, but that didn't stop the big kids from trying out Annabelle's water slide.

When the sun went down I took the opportunity to put Leah in this super cute hand me down from Jen to keep her warm. Ironically she was eating ice while staying cozy warm.

Lisa and Zeke have the best outdoor fire pit ever and we all sat and enjoyed it or should I say we took turns. One would watch the kids while the other sat and vice versa.

We had such a great time with Kristen's sister Becky this weekend. What a sweet and fun girl!

Sparklers and fire works galore!

Thank you Lisa and Zeke for an amazing evening. It will be our turn to host next!

Blossoming Friendship

My friend Jen and I took our kids to the zoo this week and we all had a great time. Seth and Vincent have really taken a liking to each other so they were over the moon excited to see each other. Leah loves to check out Alexandra too!

We are trying to pack in as much fun as we can in this last week of freedom and fun in the sun!

Seafood Bonanza

Kristen's sister Becky came to town this past weekend and we had planned ahead of time to have a cookout or should I say seafood bonanza! We wanted to do clams on the grill and since we were in the seafood frame of mind we decided to throw together a small batch of shrimp boil too. All of the food was fantastic and we all ate our faces off, had seconds and then thirds. Here are a few pictures from the festivities...

I can not believe that Noey is old enough to chill out on a blanket in the backyard. She is the best baby ever and we love her to pieces.
Of course no one can replace this little lady in our hearts. We enjoy every minute with our god daughter Lindsey. She is quite a character now. She is a crawling machine and Kristen calls her Godzilla because she will crawl over any and everything in her path plus she makes this growl that is hysterical. Love you Linds!

The kids had fun as always!

Round 1: 100 little neck clams and stuffed mushrooms.

Becky and her friend John (aka The Candy Man) played all sorts of games with the kids.

Round 2: Shrimp Boil and fruit salads.

Give Leah an ear of corn and she is happy for quite some time.

Don't forget the kids dance sessions on their stage. Leah desperately wanted to be a big kid so we let her get up and dance.

Seth was teaching the kids the hand jive. Look out Broadway he is coming in a few years!

S'mores by the camp fire.

Thank you to everyone who made this night extra special. Thank you also to Becky for all of my new Maybelline makeup and to John for all of our candy. (Becky works for Maybelline in NYC and John works for Tops Candy in NYC) We are truly blessed!

Jungle Camp

Since this was the last full week of vacation I decided to sign Seth up for one last week of camp. This time around it was Jungle Camp. As always Seth made some new friends and enjoyed every minute of it on M/W/F. It is such a great place for him to run, be creative and practice all of his gymnastic skills.

He was more than thrilled that on the last day the stamp given was a dinosaur too!