Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Keuka!!

One of our favorite trips every year is to visit Brian's family at Keuka Lake, one of the finger lakes in upstate NY. It is one of the most relaxing places you could ever visit:One of the many perks includes boating, though Evan wasn't happy at first to be in his life vest. At one point, he was trying to clap his hands and couldn't because he was covered with so much padding:Evan might have been the youngest tuber on the waters, however, we were going about as slow as a snail:Brian had to make it interesting:This is how we spent many hours in our weekend:As I've mentioned before, Evan is at his happiest when he is in the water:Hanging out by the lake:Brian swam across the lake on Saturday morning. The small boat in the middle/right is the boat that followed him across. Then his aunt & uncle swam back while Brian followed them in the boat:Every year we do a camp fire as the sun sets, that usually lasts late into the night:And dinner consisted of "Mountain Pies". The poles sticking out of the fire shown below are cast-iron closed skillets. In them, you can cook up all sorts of creations. It is sort of like a cross between a grilled cheese sandwich and a hot pocket and they are so yummy:A pizza-flavored mountain pie:And marshmallows of course:Smores!And one little girl throughly enjoying her smores:Night time on the lake:These cousins are so cute together. Morgan takes such good care of her cousin. Here Evan was enjoying hiding behind the plants on the deck:Blowing kisses from his hiding spot:Morgan is such a sweetheart:Another peaceful morning on the deck:And the last day got rather warm, so Evan was hanging out in his diaper, reading books and enjoying wearing his father's Phillies hat (in a house full of Yankees fans):
All in all, it was a perfect weekend. We are already looking forward to next year!

Monday, July 4, 2011

4th of July

Fourth of July was always one of my favorite holidays growing up because my parents hosted a big BBQ at their house, there was a carnival that came to the park in our town and our back-yard had a first-row seat to the town fireworks. My cousins came to spend the night and we always had a blast. Sadly, getting home for the 4th doesn't happen too often anymore since we usually have to be at work bright and early the next day.

So we decided to spend the weekend at home after 4 straight weekends of travelling. Our township park hosts some great holiday events. And for the 4th of July, they hold a decorated bike parade for the kids. We didn't realize there was a stroller/wagon division or we could have decorated our stroller and walked Evan in the parade. Here is a picture of Evan with our neighbors Maeve and Kyle, who rode first in the bike division:Some of these people were not joking around with their decorated vehicles. This one took a prize!Evan wasn't a huge fan of the swing until this weekend. This was our first trip to the playground since he could start walking and I think it's safe to say we'll be going back soon:Lily wanted to go down the slide too (and did so several times). But we couldn't manage to get it on film:Evan decided that walking UP the slide was the more fun way to go:Ready to go down the tube slide:And honestly, Evan doesn't care what we are doing as long as his dog is with him. Today, I picked him out of his crib and his first word was "woof" b/c he wanted his dog. I brought him into bed and he just snuggled up with Lily. Today he was obsessed with trying to walk her himself, which he did somewhat successfully:

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Girls' Trip

Last weekend, I had the wonderful pleasure of heading to Florida for 3 days with two very dear girlfriends. Bri is a great photographer (having taught herself everything) and she has inspired me to get more into photography. She brought her camera with her so I didn't even bother bringing mine, as I could definitely not capture any shots better than she could herself :).

So, Bri & I headed down to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday where we met our friend Betty, who currently lives in Texas. Both ladies are stay-at-home moms and deserved this vacation more than I did . . . considering I just got back from the beach a week before!

Bri provides many more details on her blog. I'm taking the easy way out and attaching her posts here so you can take a look at her pics of our trip:
http://www.blog.modmemento.com/2011/06/girls-getaway-part-1.html
http://www.blog.modmemento.com/2011/06/girls-getaway-part-2.html

Family & Flowers

Grandma Janet & Pa Vinnie came to visit last weekend. Brian was doing the Philly Triathlon, which he did really well in. And I was heading to Florida for a girls' weekend. So Grandma Janet & Pa Vinnie came to help take care of Evan. After Brian's race, they all headed over to Longwood Gardens:Janet & Vinne with their hands in a topiary duck's mouth:

The flowers below are in our backyard. We planted this bush, courtesy of Brian's mother & aunts back when we moved into our house. I guess we must have the right condition for hydrangeas because this plant is over taking the backyard. I was trying to get Evan to sit in front of the flowers but that was a big failure. He is on the move and I'm afraid will never sit still again!

More hydrangea: