Old McDonald Has a Farm....

...and we went to visit it yesterday!

It seems as if the summer is passing by so quickly that we haven't been able to go to certain places that have become summer tradition. We were able to go to Old McDonald's Farm otherwise know by Seth as Old McDonald HAS a Farm yesterday. It was also Leah's 1st trip to the farm. She wasn't overly impressed, but that was because her nap was cut short.

Last year Seth loved feeding the goats, but this year he was a tad scared. He pushed through though.

Thank you Poppy for paying for the pony ride!

On a side note... I think the dreaded teeth are coming because Miss Leah was up many times in the night crying and fussing which is not like her. The teeth are definitely a catch 22. We want them in order to eat, but the process of them actually breaking through is just horrible.

Right Around the Corner

Even though I don't want to words to pass through my lips, school is right around the corner now that we are in the month of August and this year is very special because our little man will start nursery school 2 days a week. Being the planny mom that I am I already ordered Seth his 1st backpack. He is more than thrilled with the color and especially since it says his name.

Where did the last three and a half years go?

Thank You Orange Crush

Thank you to all of you out there that buy Orange Crush soda, because of you we are now the proud owners of a Bose Ipod Docking System. The sound that comes out of the speakers is amazing and we love it. Basically I had nothing to do with it, Roland won it by selling a certain amount of Orange Crush, but I helped in the selection and love reaping the benefits! Now, where to put it???

Happy 5 Month Birthday Leah Bean!

Where has the last 5 months gone because it has literally flown by so quickly!! I can't even remember a time when you were not a part of our lives Leah. You fit right into our family and join us in every adventure we take. From the day you came home you have been a go with the flow baby and you have been to many many places in your 5 months here. We have travelled to Lowville, Syracuse, Clayton, Alex Bay, Sackets Harbor and many areas in Pennsylvania. I am savoring each and every milestone and loving every minute of my time with you.

Right now you love all baby foods and get so excited when you see that spoon come out of the drawer. You love to be outside in the swing, to go for walks, you desperately want to sit up on your own, but that will come in time. You roll all over the place and scoot backwards to get to things. You love to hang out with your big brother and watch him play and you love to go swimming in Grandma and Poppy's pool and the lake. You smile all the time and giggle the cutest little giggle. We can't wait to see what is on the horizon for you!

FRAMER

Our two sweet girls in their matching dresses

Mariana 3 1/2 months

Leah 5 months

Record Breaker

On Monday we had a record breaking amount of children at our house for a water slide play date. We had 6 infants ranging from 11 months to 3 months and 5 toddlers aged 3! The kids had a blast in the water, the moms got to chat and the babies checked each other out. It was a wonderful summer morning.

MJ

Annabelle and Seth

Marra, Mariana and Leah
Brady
Annabelle, Seth, Morgin and MJ
Thank you to all of my wonderful mom friends and especially to Beth for driving up from Syracuse to see us all!

The Weekend in Pictures!

Basically we had to BEST weekend of the entire summer and we owe it all to our friends Nina, John, Grace, Joey and Lulu who braved the drive from Massachusetts with a 6 month old and two other kiddos to spend time with us. We love you all and had the best time. I took 105 pictures from Thursday night to this morning so I will share the best of the best with you!

Grace (6 years old) and Lulu Gilbert!
Up close and personal with Miss Lulu; 6 months old
Joey Gilbert; 3 years old
Leah found a new friend in Grace
We can't wait until next year when the two girls are running around and playing.
We attempted a letterboxing adventure until we got there and realized that the bugs were the size of our head and on a feeding frenzy. We had to abort our mission.
The Gilbert's took a mini trip to The Bay and got the kids Vikings hats. Lulu looked priceless as she tried on his big sisters.
Saturday morning our two families hid our very own letterbox. If you are interested in finding our box go to letterboxing.org and search for the box placed in Sackets Harbor, NY.
Before lunch on Saturday we hit the water slide and the kids had a blast.
Saturday later afternoon we headed back to the lake to introduce our friends The Voss' to our friends The Gilbert's. It was the perfect day to be on the lake and so much fun was had by all. Everyone hit it off so well that we ended up ordering pizza and wings and staying until 8pm. Thanks for having us Rod and Jen!
The kids had a blast jumping off the dock!
They even caught some fish!
The kids instantly loved he each and played well all weekend long.

Get ready Gilbert Family we will be heading your way next year and we can't wait!

Lake Happiness

On Thursday night we were invited to the cottage that our friends rented for the week. Roland had to golf in his league so I took the kids down by myself and we had a wonderful evening. Summer has finally hit here in NNY so we are taking full advantage of every waking sun filled moment. Seth was finally able to fish; something that he has been asking to do for a long time. We bought him a little Diego fishing pole and he was in love.

Seth's very 1st catch!
He isn't quite to the point where he wants to touch it tough!
Since Seth's attention span is still rather short, fishing was short lived and swimming came next!
Seth, Sophia and Maya had a great time jumping off the dock and swimming out in the deeper water.
Leah got in on the swimming action as well. She isn't afraid of the water and loved every minute of it!
I have to say a special thank you to Sophia. She is always playing with Leah and keeping her happy while I try and eat. Leah just loves her!

Creativity!

Now I can't take complete and total credit for the idea for this driveway highway, but I did work hard to create it for the boys! Today I watched Jacob for a couple of hours while Kristen went to get her glucose testing done so I felt what it would be like to have twin 3 year olds and an infant. Actually, the boys were great and so was Leah. We created a driveway highway so of course I had to take some pics to remember it by because it rains here daily so it won't last too long! They rode their bikes on it a few times and then were on to their next activity.Thanks for the idea Miss Kristen, I told you I wouldn't take full credit for it!

My Hubs the Planner

On Sunday Roland packed up a picnic lunch in the cooler and surprised us all with a little impromptu picnic in Sackets. I love when I'm not the one to make all the plans, it was GREAT!

Our happy kids!

The picnic planner!
He loves his Daddy!
She wants to move move move all the time!
Throwing rocks in the water or attempting to!
Growing up way too fast!

Thanks for a fabulous day Roland! We all had a blast!