Garett caught a ride...

Saturday, July 29th- Our mower broke and while it is in the shop this week getting repaired our friend, Steve Lawrence, came and used his riding mower on our lawn. Steve was nice to let the boys hitch a ride.

Marissa loves Ryan!

Friday, July 28th- Our good friends, the Wilkeys, returned home from a 5 week stay in Utah. Marissa was very happy to see Ryan! We celebrated by eating a picnic by the library and going to Scoopy Doo's by the Marina.

Beach Day

Wednesday, July 26th- We spent the entire day at the beach at Lighthouse Point Park. A playground, a lighthouse, a water playground, popsicles- what else could a 6 yr. old, 4 yr. old and 2 yr. old want? Miraculously- no sunburn!

Pilates

Thursday, July 27th- The boys found my Pilates work-out video and decided they needed to work on their "core". So- I look up and see my boys totally concentrating on their abs in the living room. When they finished- they wanted a snack. They are definately my boys!

Homemade Ice Cream

Sunday, July 23rd- Kevin's half birthday. We celebrated with homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream (minus the real mint). We had tried it before using real mint leaves from a fancy Williami-Sonoma recipe. It tasted like grass medicine. This time we used a very simple and yummy recipe and it brought lots of smiles.

Toga

Sunday, July 23rd- One of Tate's favorite things to do is to raid my fabric and create all sorts of costumes. Today he chose to create a toga costume.

Sunday dress for Marissa

Tate is a Skateboarder!!!

Tate has been saving his chore money to buy a skateboard. He earned his $7.50 and took it to Target to buy his first skateboard. It has not been quite as easy as he thought it was going to be- requiring quite a lot of patience and balance.

We shoe are having fun!

Tate and Garett got a real "kick" out of exchanging shoes one morning this week. They thought it was even funnier when they came down for breakfast and saw that Dad mixed up his shoes, too.

Tate's thoughts on religion

We were driving yesterday and we were talking about the differences in religion (Tate wondered why everyone didn't belong to the same religion.) So I said that we had some different ways we did things- for instance, some religions baptized their children when they were babies. In our religion, we baptized children when they were 8. I said, "why do you think that is, Tate?" He said, "Mom- we know that babies can't hold their breath."

Kids Day

Tate and Garett thought that since we had Mother's Day in May and Father's Day in June that it was only appropriate to have Kid's Day in July. So, they reminded us of it at 5:30 am today. So, we actually had just bought them fishing poles and after church we took them to a little park to see if the fish would nibble. They did! Everybody caught a little sun fish or two- Kevin even brought them home and showed the boys how to skin the fish and cook it.

Love This

Gardener Garett

The summer is fun!

Princess

Marissa's favorite new item of clothing- Princess pajamas.

Batting gloves

Tate was so excited when he earned his batting gloves. His dad told him he had to practice every day for a week. He did it!

Curlers

Marissa's 1st curlers.

Biking to work

The kids decided they were going to go to work with Kevin. They knew they couldn't get away with actually getting in the car, so they put on their helmets and decided to follow him to work on their bikes... the 30 miles to Stamford. They actually took off down the street after him, but unfortunately they couldn't keep up.

A new bike

Our neighbor brought a bike over for Marissa. It had been her daughter's bike and she had outgrown it. Marissa is quite happy with her "PINK" bike. (We've been working on colors- maybe not quite enough!)

A boo-boo

Garett got a paper cut. He actually didn't notice it until I asked where all the blood had come from that was on his bedskirt, quilt and sheets (it just had to get on the bedskirt, right?). So, he sees that he has a paper cut and starts crying. Not a little cry- a full on cry. The first thing he says is, "Does it need a cast?" I tell him maybe a band-aid will do. He calms down after a while and tells me this, "Mom, don't call it a boo-boo anymore, okay? Only baby's call it a boo-boo. It is a hurtie."

Pirates

We went to McDonald's today to celebrate the great job the kids did on their first day of swimming lessons. The toy was Pirates of the Caribbean wraps for their head. They ALL put them on. Garett had to go potty. Since we were in the middle of lunch and we were sitting right next to the potty, he went in to go. It was taking a while so I sent Tate to ask what he was doing in there. He yells out SUPER LOUD to where people eating in the restaurant could hear, "I'm pooping you silly scallywag!" The people sitting next to us bust out laughing as did I. Here is a picture of them wearing their wraps. They wore them all day!

My little farmers

The Fourth of July

4th of July- We did a hike behind the lodge up to the little chapel on the property of the Von Trapp Family Lodge. It was a nice hike and the chapel was situated in such a peaceful private area in the woods. Then, we cooled off with a swim in the outdoor pool. The kids are becoming great little swimmers. We packed up and said goodbye to Vermont and travelled the 4 1/2 hours home. We did sparklers in our yard and listened to all the booming around us.

Stowe, Vermont

July 3rd and 4th- There is nothing like Stowe! We fell in love with the mountains and all there is to do here. First of all, it is beautiful. No wonder the Von Trapp family, after traveling the USA, settled on Vermont. We did a 2300-ft alpine slide up the Green Mountains and screamed all the way down it. The kids did a bungee trampoline and loved it! We toured the Ben & Jerry's factory (sampled nut-free oatmeal ice cream- yummier than you might think). Then, we stayed at the Von Trapp Family Lodge. Truly, a dream come true for me as a "Sound of Music" fan. This was the actual home of the Von Trapp's. They built it in the late 1940's and then added on so they could host summer music camps. Then, they added on a bit more to house the participants and families of the participants. In 1980 it burned down and they rebuilt it reopening in 1984ish. We had a room with a balcony overlooking the mountains. It was very peaceful. Kevin took the kids wading in a creek while I stayed and just walked around looking at tons of pictures of the family and soaking in the fact we actually got to stay there.

Vermont Vacation

Sunday, July 2nd- We took off for Vermont to have a little vacation with the kids. We decided on Burlington/Stowe Vermont. We wanted to see the scenic mountains and the activities sounded very family friendly. We went to Burlington the first day- we took the bikes and strolled along the water by Lake Champlain. Then, we walked along their very cute Church Street. Playing in the hotel pool is the highlight for the kids.

"Limonad" Stand

Friday, June 30th- "Limonad" Stand- Tate decided to host his annual lemonade stand. He made the sign, got the cups, had me whip up some orange Kool-Aid (we didn't actually have any lemonade). Daddy was his 1st customer- and he did not comp any lemonades! We had one very nice customer that brought his daughter by and they gave the boys a dollar! Chores are going to look like cheap labor to them now.

Thursday, June 29th- Day at the dentist! Tate got sealants on his 4 molers. Is that how you spell molers? Then, we went to Norwalk, CT to the Stepping Stones Children's Museum. They had a Safety Kids program going on- if you brought your bike you could get fitted for a free helmet. The kids each got a new helmet that fit perfectly to their heads. Then they got to ride a little obstacle course. Kevin met us after work.

Go Yankees!

Wednesday, June 28th- Yankee Day!!! Kevin took Garett and Tate to the New York Yankee game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Tate's highlight- the crazy woman who ran out on the field to kiss the Yankee. Garett's highlight- the footlong hot dog and ice cream in a helmet.

Make-up Artists

Today is the first day of summer for us. Garett's last day of preschool was May 18th and Tate's last day was yesterday. He was very sad to say good-bye to Ms. Flynn. Yet, he was excited to start all the celebrating. His big idea to celebrate the summer? Go to McDonalds!

This morning I was decluttering my makeup and the kids dove in to the trashcan to salvage all the precious art supplies! I've posted the pictures of their creations here. The painted fingernails with mascara and rosy lips were priceless works of art.