August Update

This post is so long overdue. August was a very busy month and we enjoyed every minute of it. To start the month off, August 1 Mark and I were married for 11 years but on the 4th we also celebrated 23 years together. We took the family to Rock Hall, MD to spend some quiet time together. We spent alot of time by the pool. We tried to crab but no luck. We also went to a small beach where Mark and the girls looked for crabs.


When we left Maryland, we met my mom in Atlantic City for a couple of days. Mark hasn't been there since he was about 9 years old. We had a really great time together at night in the casino when the girls went to bed. During the day, we took them to the beach and both pools. We also did some shopping. Sara took Victoria and Emma to a magic show one night. The next day, Sara and Victoria went to see Harry Potter's new movie...they were disappointed at the end. All in all I think our mini vacation was a hit.


Back home for a few days to do laundry and repack to go visit family upstate New York. We left on Monday, August 10 and came home on Sunday, 16. What a great week! The first night Kelly and I didn't go to bed...scrapped all night long. I crashed around 7am and woke up at 10am. Kelly never went to sleep until Wednesday around 3:30am. I seriously don't know how she survived. We had so much fun! We took my girls and Kelly's daughter, Angel with us to scrap at a store with some friends. The girls were so good. We did some shopping. Mom hit the casino with Uncle Henry...they love it there.


Most of all, my mom loves sitting on the bench by the lake. I took some fun videos of Kelly entertaining my mom by singing and dancing with her. I can't share the video as it has some unappropriate language...but definitely worth peeing in your pants over. As you can see below, Kelly wanted to come home with us. She can always make you smile!


Mark was on vacation again for a week when we returned. I was so sick but we were able to do some fun family day trips like; Land of Make Believe, Monster Golf, Keansburg water and amusement park....


On August 24, poor Emma had to have 10 teeth removed surgically. What a yucky day for her. She was so dopey from the anestia. Spitting up blood was no fun either. The next day, perfectly fine. She was eating like nothing ever happened. I was so happy because I was in a bit of a panic thinking what the heck would she eat. No problem...she was a trooper.


The day before Emma's surgery we took the girls to Six Flags. The kids had fun, dad and I got to walk and wait alot. lol My dad was on vacation the same week as Emma's surgery so we took a ride down south Jersey to visit more family. My cousin, Jennie had a baby girl named Jenna on July 24 so we went to see her. What a beautiful baby. The most pleasant little girl. Jennie made a great bbq for all of us and her family came for dinner as well. The kids (Emma and Mikey..both 6 and Victoria and Katie...both 9) had such a great time playing and swimming together! When it was time to leave the kids were so disappointed that Jennie and I decided it would be ok for Victoria to stay there. It was a Thursday night. My mom went to visit her sister (who is Jennie's mom) so she brought Victoria back home on Sunday. I love my daughter very much but let me tell you... the house was quiet. lol


Mark, Victoria, Emma and I hit the Jersey Shore one last time before school started. What a great couple of days. They had fireworks on Friday night as well which surprised us since they usually do them on Wednesdays. They put on a nice show.


The last week of summer vacation was filled with last minute playdates, school shopping and shoe shopping. I hate shopping with kids...never fun but we got it all accomplished. School started on Sept 9. Since I was home all summer and constantly running, I was ready for school to start so we could get back on a regular schedule. I hope you all enjoyed your summer. We sure did!

Balloon Festival 2009

We have never gone to a balloon festival before so I just had to go when I saw an advertisement for one. It was located in Readington, NJ which was about an hour south west of here. The weather was perfect... not too hot just alittle hazy. I wish there was a bit more sun so my pictures would look more colorful but they came out good enough, I guess. It was so cool watching all the balloons take form then at first one at a time took off then next thing you know, there were 4 -5 going at once. There had to be close to 50 or more balloons taking off all afternoon. It was so cool to see the girls faces and how they reacted to the colors and different shapes of the balloons. We also did some shopping, it was a mini fair as well. Sara surprised me with a beautiful hot air balloon wind chime. I was so happy, I never get surprises. All in all it was a good day!

Sandy Hook, Sun and Fun!

Yeah! We finally had perfect weather for the beach! (especially for the weekend when Mark is home). We packed up the girls and went down the shore to Sandy Hook. We had an awesome day and the girls had a blast with their body boards. Hope everyone's summer is going great!

Happy 4th of July! What are your plans today? We are going to my dad's for a bbq this afternoon, then out to dinner with Mark and back home to watch Mark light up some fireworks. Enjoy your day!

Greatest Love of All is Our Children

On Saturday, August 23, my cousin's threw a surprise birthday party for their dad. Even though the invite list was limited, it was like a mini family reunion. I have 29 cousins and most of us have 2 or more kids so you can imagine how many cousins are in total... never counted. We had a great time and the weather was perfect. My uncle was so surprised. I enjoyed playing with the kids and watching them all get together and do their fun things in their own little groups. Some played baseball, basketball, catch, tag and some of the girls helped wait on the aunts and uncles. Then it was picture time! We were actually able to get a picture of all the second cousins (above picture) and then we were able to get each family together and take their pictures. I love my family but Kids are truly the greatest love of all! (FYI - If you click on the picture, you will see a large view of it)

Van Saun Park and Zoo

Yesterday I decided that since the weather was just perfect we needed to get out and run around a bit. I surprised Emma and Victoria and took them to Van Saun Park. After getting ready, I packed us a nice lunch, drinks and snacks and off we went. They were so excited to go see all the animals. One part of the zoo is screened off and filled with budgies (parakeets). I bought each girl a feeding stick and they got to hand feed the birds. Emma was a bit nervous but not Victoria, she had 2 and 3 birds feeding at a time. Of course, I had to take a ton of pictures. After lunch we looked at the last few animals and headed over to the gift shop where they each got a pair of safari binoculars. Emma is thrilled with them especially after Victoria taught her how to use them. Next we took a ride on the train around the zoo and you can never go here without going on the beautiful Carousel. Victoria rode a dragon and Emma chose a mountain goat. I guess you can ride a regular horse anywhere. lol Outside the zoo, they have 3 parks... one for toddlers and 2 big kid play areas. After about 6 hours of fun, it was time to go home. I told the girls that I haven't enjoyed them this much in a long time. No fighting, no pushing and for me no yelling... it was heaven! Since they were so good, I told them that we can go back once a week and they were so happy.

TGIF

Good Morning! I can't believe it is Friday already! Yay, tomorrow we are going to Sandy Hook Beach.... we can't wait. The weather has been so unpredictable lately and it seems like everytime with think it is going to rain, we put off our plans then it doesn't rain. I decided to take a chance and bring the girls to the Secaucus pool on Wednesday. It actually felt a bit chilly while we were there but as you can see from the pictures, the girls had a blast! Sara's friend (my "other" daughter, Jaimie) tagged along. She is so great with my little ones. The girls made up nick names for each other.... They kept the first letter of their name and added ermie to it. So we have, Sermie, Jermie, Vermie and Ermie. They actually got me calling them by these names... LOL Yesterday, the weather was perfect so I took Victoria, Emma and Victoria's friend Gabby to the park then back home to go in our pool until dinner. Victoria and Gabby both had to leave to go to cheering practice so Emma had the neighbor, Ashley come over to swim. All in all, it was a good day. I hope you all have a great Friday. No humidity again so more outside fun in the pool today! Sara has to go to work at recreation, today is splash day.