Part 2- Vacay pics

Part 2:

Nana's 60th birthday was during our vacay! It was low key, although we tried to make it special for her by buying balloons the night before and decorating the house with them so she woke up to a house full of balloons. IT WORKED! I think she liked it! Jason and I also researched great places to get a massage, and got her a gift card for a magnificent massage. It was a fun day. I hope she had fun!

Jason's aunt and cousin drove from New Jersey to visit for a couple days too. The picture below is Lauren and Juliana. Lauren has driven to see us each time we have visited. How sweet! The kids look forward to Lauren hugs every year. Aunt Debbie aka "Dee Dee" came too, and it was fabulous to see her too since it had been years since we'd seen her. Many more memories together.
Pictured below is Juliana, Sadie, and Kevin walking on the streets of Providence. Going to see Sadie and Auntie Shannon is always one of the biggest highlights of our vacations. Sadie gets so big every year, and now she's even verbal, which is one of the most adorable sounds EVER!
On our last full day, we headed to Scarborough Beach in Rhode Island. In the picture below are Nana and Grampy all cozy with their feet in the water watching Juliana ride the waves. I thought the pic was cute, even though it's far away.
On the flight home, there were huge storms in the midwest. Not just itty bitty storms with random lightening, but lightening for about 1000 miles. It was GORGEOUS, but admittedly, it was a wee bit scary too. Here is a pic over Indiana or something like that.
We are home safely and adjusting to our own routine again. The kids were ultra-spoiled by Nana, Grampy, and even Uncle Kyle too. It's taking a bit to deprogram that way of life, but they'll get used to mean ol' mom and dad again. :)

Summer camps resume again on monday, along with 6 weekends in a row that are full of parties, weddings, and even my high school reunion too. Hope you enjoyed our vacay pics!

On a vacay far far away....

There are so many pictures to choose from, so I just chose one pic from each event on our vacation. Here it goes...

Day 1: Naps and playing in the backyard. We were recovering from a red eye flight, and catching up on time with Grampy, Nana, and Uncle Kyle.

Day 2: The four of us headed to Cape Cod to Plymouth. Jason and I both knew that seeing Plymouth Rock is a bit of a joke, but it is an experience that every person should have during their lifetime. The kids will hopefully have something to say in November when their classes are discussing pilgrims and the Mayflower.

Day 3: I had a great night with my college girlfriends. We went out for dinner, then headed to Patriot Place/Gillette Stadium to an uppity bar for drinks. We really just wanted drinks and bar food, but they only had things like, popcorn fried in duck fat, rabbit legs, and exotic (yucky) things like that. The drinks were oh-so fabulous though!

Shannon, me, and Maureen-- Roomies! There were 5 of us at the dinner, but the only pic with 5 of us is horrible quality.

Day 4: Jason and I took the train into Boston to meet with our friends Kerri and Jeff. Kerri and Jeff now live in NY, although we met them while they were living near us. They are fantastic friends! We walked around Boston, went to the top of the Prudential Center, lunch at Legal Sea Foods, and of course, we had to either stop for iced coffees or frilly drinks to ease the heat. Such a wonderful day to catch up!
Day 5ish (I'm losing count now): The kids went to the lake where Uncle Kyle and Auntie Jill live. Kevin caught this bass while fishing, although he was afraid to hold it, so Juliana did. She was afraid too, and threw it in the sand once the pic was taken. Poor fishy died during the photo drama. OOPS!

Day 6ish: Jason and I headed to Boston again for our DATE OVERNIGHT! It was so nice to go on the dinner cruise and to stay in a nice hotel. We ate in some interesting restaurants too. They were what most would consider "hole in the wall", but they were super yummy. Here is a pic from the cruise.
More pictures coming.

Almost goodbye

Tomorrow is our last FULL day on vacay! I'm torn. I'm so so sad, and so so happy at the same time. I'm sure you can all understand.

It's an early wake up for us so we can head to the beach for our last big event of the vacay. No event at the beach, it's just jumping in the waves and building sand castles. Not much can get better than that.

Next time I write, it'll be from my own house, in my own space, awaiting my own pillow. Pictures will accompany the next few posts. I have a TON to share.

Vacay part 4

July 25, 1996... the date that Jason and I deem as our dating anniversary. It is just a random summer date that we made our anniversary 14 years ago. No plans at all since we have a real wedding anniversary, but it's still fun to kinda sorta celebrate.

Ohhh, by the way, my camera is totally working overtime on this vacay. I've taken about 200 pictures thus far, with many many more fun things yet to happen. We're havin' fun, what can I say?!?!?

Good night. Kids are behind me sleeping right now since the house is full. All four of us in the same room... thank goodness it's a BIG one.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Vacay part three

I am not a fan of my new layout and background, but this is all I have time or energy to do at the moment. Don't worry, I'll change SOON!

Vacay is still wonderful! Today is Six-Ohhhhh for my mother-in-law! Par-tay tonight! Haaa!

Vacay part deux

Sleeping in until 8am (or later) has been incredibly wonderful! We've had some loooooong nights with friends, or just staying up late for the heck of it. Nana and Grampy have been getting up with the kids, feeding them breakfast.... every meal really, but who's counting?... and often getting them dressed too. I could get used to this!

I'll go into our fun times once we get back home. Pictures will tell the whole story, as usual.

Jason and I are looking forward to using his award getaway that he received for leadership at work. We'll be going out on a dinner cruise and staying in a snooty-snotty hotel. Haaaaa, I can pretend that I'm snooty-snotty for a night. That's all day tomorrow and whichever day is after tomorrow. I'm all mixed up.

Bye bye.........

VAAAYYY-CAYYYY

We're in the midst of a fantastic vacation at the moment! I'm loving almost every second of it... the mosquitos aren't really my friends and neither is the humidity, but I'm loving the fun times we've already had and SUPER SUPER excited for the times that haven't happened yet.

Wish I had pics to share.

GREAT moments

Yesterday we had the best day we've had in a loooooong time! We headed to Great America! I took 110 pictures, although I just chose these to capture our day. They aren't necessarily the best pics, but they capture our day.

Daddy n' Kevin on the kiddie roller coaster.

Typical scenario around here. Juliana is terrified and Kevin just laughs the whole way through. Poor kiddo.

There she is getting dumped on! Haaaa, she loved that though.

The Star Tower ride. We ended the day with it and the kids say it was the best ever. It is just a quiet elevator-like ride that gives great views. I'm pretty sure the kids were exhausted after the long day, so deemed it their favorite ride. Haaa!

A view from the Star Tower.

Off on our next adventure today. Another camera worthy day... super excited!

Blessing

I just got the best news! My good friends Kitty and Nikki were just awarded rights to adopt a very special little boy. They have had Kaden since he was a few days old, although his biological father came into the picture a few months ago to fight for Kaden. The biological mother has had nothing to do with Kaden since she delivered him. Well, today was the official decision, and the biological father waived all rights to Kaden and gave his blessing to Kitty and Nikki to adopt Kaden. Adoption will be official in October!

Kaden's first birthday is next week... his two mommies can celebrate with clear minds and open hearts! I am so happy for them! Adoption is such an intense process for all parties involved. There is nothing better than to know that a child will be raised surrounded by goodnight hugs, smiling faces, and fun memories. Congratulations Kit, Nik, and the giggliest boy I know, Mr. Kaden James.

New chapter

On 7/7/07, we closed this chapter of our life....

... and opened this chapter nearly 2000 miles away.
My mom showed up about 6pm at our soon-to-be "old house", then we walked across the street to say one last teary goodbye to our friends MaryAnn and Dave, then piled in the car to head to our new stomping grounds. Kevin, Mom, me, and Shadow were all in my car, along with every photo album I owned. That's right, I refused to allow the movers to take my photo albums just in case the truck blew up or something. :) We arrived at our new home on 7/11/07... just as lucky as 7/7/07. Believe it or not, I actually miss Michigan. Oh wait, let me clarify, I don't really miss Michigan, I miss the people that we met, the friends we made, and our house/backyard too. We made a lot of memories there, most importantly, Kevin was born there. We've made many memories in this house too, but there's something different about it, and I can not quite figure it out. CHEERS TO MICHIGAN... hope to see you again one day!

Last, but not least... my head must be in the sand, because I had NO idea that today is Auntie Joyce's birthday! Auntie Joyce is Jason's aunt, but I'll claim her too since I can!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE JOYCE!!!!!!!!

Our 4th weekend

Having a ton to do is both a blessing and a curse. I try hard to keep the kids involved in activities, especially during the summer. It's fun to see them have fun in the moment, and fun to meet new friends all around the city. We rarely go anywhere and not run into someone we know. I love it! Here's our life in the last few days...

More swimming lessons.

The county fair. The kids loooove to pet the animals, so this one is Mr. Piggy's turn.

The sweetest fawn n' Juliana became very close friends.

The goats. They were actually very sweet, unlike cranky goats we've met in the past.

Gotta have ice cream at the fair. It got messy due to the nearly 100 degree temperature. A good washdown at the closest bathroom was all we needed, and a shower at home, of course.

4th of July parade! We've become a real local.

This picture makes me laugh. Kevin was pissed at the NRA for firing their guns and yelled at them for being rude. Haaaaa, I couldn't help but laugh. Military firing guns is a lot different than a bunch of random people doing it in the middle of a parade. YES, I know they were blanks, but geeze, not really necessary with so many kids around. And the military never even did it, soooo, I'm just sayin'. Juliana was actually just as terrified as Kevin, but for some reason decided to smile for me. Lookin' darn cute too.

We drove about 40 minutes to attend a free fireworks show. We'd never been to this place before, but it was super nice, and FULL of people. We brought our own hot dogs, BBQ chips, and bottled water to enjoy the night. This is a pic of the kids dancing to the music. The band and DJ loved them, well, most of the time. :)

A fabulous fireworks show!

We got home about 11pm. It was worth every second. We could have found a much prettier place to watch the fireworks over the ocean, but sometimes the crowds can be a bit too much for our family, soooooo this was perfect for us.

Daddy has the day off today. Off to enjoy our day together.

STINKY

So yesterday wasn't exactly our lucky day, nor the day before yesterday. I should probably stay home for the rest of the day since crappy luck happens in three's, BUT with my luck, an airplane will strike the house or somethin'. :)

I'm hoping like heck that nobody else hits my car, and that no more skunks invade our yummy smelling family members, and/or home. Jason came home from his nightly walk, he bursts in the door and says, "GOOD NEWS... I RAN A WHOLE MILE! BAD NEWS... IT'S 'CAUSE WE WERE SPRAYED BY A SKUNK!" That was the beginning of 5 hours of putting chemicals together and doing internet research to get out the horrid smell from the skunk oils.

BUT...

Our house, cars, dog, and people are back to smelling like roses again. Jason actually burned his skin last night with a bad combination of vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide. He knew to make the combination, but he made it a paste on his body, and didn't add the one gallon of water. It got the smell out though... that was his 5th shower about 1am. Shadow is currently at the groomers, and I am hoping that he can be de-skunked too. He had 4 baths last night, so we'll see. Our washing machine is the only thing that still has skunk smell. It is going through a second bleach cycle right now.

Well, at least we get to buy new towels for our house. Jason used 4 on Shadow and 5 on himself, and the smell won't get out, so they are in the trash, along with his 2 week old sneakers, and beloved walking clothes too. Haaaaa! I'll be going to BBB (Bed B@th & Beyond) tomorrow for new towels... darn!

I'm kinda wondering if anyone is gonna crap on our front doorstep, 'cause that would be icing on our crappy cake o' life these days. This too shall pass. At least I have some new conversation pieces to add to my collection.