July Round-up

It's hard to believe another month of summer has gone by... We finished up the month with some fun and lots and lots of rain.

We took some time to relax as a family after our big trip to the lake. Going to a new park and long walk was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.
Owen decided we were taking a train to Florida

Back in June Owen attended a cooking camp. He learned about 4 different countries (actually 3 since he missed one for the face incident.)

Maddi joined a new classroom! She is now a "waddler." It was a bit of a rough transition but she is doing much better now.
As a thank you to her infant teachers, I made them these special tote bags. The purple handprints are Maddi's and the blue are Owen's.
This one was for Ms. Mary who such a sweet woman.
And this one was for Ms. Rahel who also taught Owen. She is such a wonderful, loving person and has truly been a second mom to our children. It was hard on all of us to see Maddi transition and I am so thankful that our children had the good fortune to have her as a caregiver and teacher.

Catching up on some artwork/pictures from the kids at school:
Owen-

I had to include this hilarious note from one of Owen's phonics classes. To quote Owen, "We only eat the mushrooms from the store, not from the ground." I'll remind him of this as a teenager...

Owen is getting smarter and smarter every day. He's really good at tracing his letters now and is beginning to write some of them on his own. He is also recognizing what letters make up the beginning of words based on how they sound. Scary how well his little brain works.

Maddi-




Maddi is getting so big. She can say burp, ball, shoe, up, dog and a variety of other words that she'll repeat when she hears them. She's walking/running so fast now which makes it a fun challenge keeping up with the two of them now. She can make an elephant and cow noise and has recently learned to shake her head yes or no as an answer and not just a movement. Incredible.

We finished up July by endlessly cleaning up water in our basement. Ugh. Luckily we are off to vacation in OC, Maryland so we can get away from it all:)

Trip to the Lake

We made our annual trip to the lake and I swear it gets better every year.

Saturday
We arrived late afternoon and Brett hopped in a car to go to the shore. His friend Ed's bachelor party was already in progress and I'm sure they had lots of fun (have to assume since they never really tell you what went on.) Unfortunately Brett got there after the Snookie sighting...

Owen was so excited to be there.

Saturday evening me and the rest of the family just went out for a relaxing dinner. We did stop by the local Fireman's carnival quickly on the way home though so Owen could ride on some rides.

Owen and Uncle Rich on the Ferris Wheel

Owen, Maddi, Nonni Pat and Uncle Rich on the merry-go-round

Sunday
Unfortunately it rained all day on Sunday. But, that gave us a chance to go see Cars 2 at the movies which Owen of course LOVED.

Sunday night we ate in and then went to Camp 17 to hang out. We stayed out way too late (I went to bed at 3:15 and who knows when Brett did) but it was so so great to catch up with everyone.

Monday
On Monday we were dragging ass to say the least. The last time I was up that late was when Maddi was still getting up every 4 hours to eat.

In the morning we attended land events which was postponed from the day before. Owen had so much fun and Maddi even got in on the action.

Racing

Spoon Race

Ring Toss

Hanging with Uncle Rich

Fun with Cousin Kerri and Uncle Rich

Maddi and Mommy

Maddi, Mommy and Daddy

Bean Bag Toss- Owen made the first one!

Egg Toss
Sack Race

Bottle Fill

In the afternoon we all took a long nap and felt much better after that.

In the evening we had Chicken Parm night. Everyone comes over to Camp 55 and Dale cooks chicken parmesan for everyone. It's a great time to spend with family and is such a special meal to share.

This was Maddi's first parm dinner and she LOVED it! She also loved entertaining everyone.

After dinner we played bags and Owen looked for fireflies with Rob.

Tuesday
Tuesday we spent our first day at the beach and having fun in the sun. There were so many pictures that I couldn't tell what which day was what so they are all lumped together later in the post.

On Tuesday evening my Dad and Stepmom came to visit. They were taking a vacation around the Northeast and stopped by for a few nights to see us and the kiddos. We had dinner and then they headed back to the hotel to rest.

We went to the Volleyball game to watch the guys and girls play. The games were at Estling which was so nice because we didn't have to pack up and go somewhere else. Other than the mosquitoes, it was lots of fun.

Wednesday
We started off by a going on a boat ride. Owen went in the kyak with Brett and the rest of us went in the canoe.
Poor little Maddi passed out part way through the boat ride. Guess it was really relaxing!
During the afternoon we went to the beach.


That evening we stayed in for dinner and the kids enjoyed reading books with Papo and Nonna Barbara.


Thursday
We just hung out around the house and fished for a bit before they had to head out to Philadelphia.

Maddi enjoying the dock with Papo

Barbara made a beautiful (second) quilt for Maddi. All with a ladybug theme which is Maddi's special thing:) It is so beautiful and I love the vibrant colors.

Having fun playing peek-a-boo with the quilt.

Thursday night was more volleyball and waiting for the arrival of the cousins that night. Brett and I took the opportunity to go hang out with friends again. This time I only stayed out until 1:15 in the AM (still brutal the next day.)

Friday
Owen had so much fun with his cousins Ben and Caden and Maddi had a lot of fun with AnaKate, the newest cousin. I'm so happy that the boys are close in age and the girls are close in age. It will be so much fun to watch them grow up together.

Pretty girl

Here is a montage of cousin photos:

Eating lunch together

Sharing their love of the iPhone

Burying Ben

Digging for crayfish

Digging up muscles to fish with

Owen rocking his new Spiderman fishing pole. The first one to catch a fish!

Owen and his friend "worm"

They caught one!

Lots of family came in for the weekend too. Brett's Uncle Rich came back, his Aunt Carol and Uncle Ed, Cousins Kerri and Lindsay and their husbands all joined us for the weekend. It was lots of fun!!!

Maddi LOVED Uncle Rich

Beach Shots:

Maddi found a best friend- Josie

Maddi and Nonni Pat

Saturday

We measured the kids on the wall of the house. They actually removed this portion from the old house so it has measurements going way back from when Brett was a kid.
We celebrated Pat's birthday!!!! During the day we just hung out at the beach and relaxed.

At night there was a fish fry put on by the Woman's club followed by a Sock Hop. It was good old-fashion fun.

Kerri and Uncle Ed

Sunday
We headed home on Sunday:( Clearly it was a good time as evidence by the photo below.

Ride home from the airport. Dead kids.

We had such a fabulous time. Thanks to everyone for making it so special.