Ava Art

And School Returns!

My Kindergarten Girl.

My Middle Schooler.

My 2nd grader!

EVENING UPDATE!

The girls came home wired today, so excited they could barely speak about their day.

Got this from Ava - she fell at recess and had to go to the nurse. (She didn't cry and is proudly sporting a bandaid on each elbow). She loves her teacher, gym and the house center.

Amelia reports a great day. She loves her school even better than the last, and needs to wear shorts on gym days.

Drew came home exhausted at 4:45pm. I hope he comes home earlier tomorrow.

Ava will be home with me until Thursday.

Summer's STRONG finish...

I went to dinner with friends on Tuesday night. I was getting ready in my room putting on my jewelry and Jenna walked in and gasped "beautiful mommy". She then went through my drawers to find herself a dress. She found my bathing suit, made me put it on her and here we are posing.

I caught Amelia in this position this week. Can you guess what she is doing? She's keeping warm on the bricks outlining the pool. The pool water is already cold!

Here's Drewsie at Marcia's PT appointment - finally we can say..... "he's taller than Marcia!".

Here's Dave and Ken goofing off, and NOT hurting their backs!

Jenna in Wiggle heaven. Kenny passed on his cherished Wiggles toys to Jenna.

Here's the gang swimming.. What a busy day - swimming, 75-80 dragway, ice cream, old timey car show....lots of fun!

Our last week of summer before school starts was eventful.

Amanda, Ken and Kenny came for the weekend.

Monday was PT for Drew.

Tuesday at about 1:50pm brought a 5.9 earthquake! My mom, the kids and I were out back sunning ourselves on our porch thinking at first that our deck was caving in until we saw the pool splish, sploshing back and forth.

Thursday was open house for Amelia and Ava at their new school. The girls got to meet their teachers, see their new school and classes. I was filling out forms in Ava's classroom, while they were checking everything out. I heard Ava tell Amelia, "You think I will have a prettier teacher?" Yep, that's my girl.....

Tonight, we are experiencing rain and winds as Hurricane Irene makes her way up the east coast.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

School starts on Monday - everyone is ready!

Butterfly Bush

Our huge butterfly bush out back is bursting with life - bees, moths, grasshoppers, hummingbirds and of course butterflies!!

The Jersey Shore

The kids at the Ocean City, New Jersey Boardwalk.

A rare photo of ME on the Lewes Ferry somewhere on the Delaware River...

The ferry just pulled in..almost time to board..oh wait is that a Port Authority Police Officer?


Dave with the girls on a ride. Jenna was so excited twirling around up and down on this one.




There's Dave and the girls in the train - high above Drew and "Wonderland".

Ava and Jenna manning the boat! LOOK OUT....

Amelia, Ava and Dave about to drop!

Liked this one of Amelia on the rides..

Well..the original Jersey Shore trip was meant for two nights...that was all until...

We did not sleep very well in our hotel room the first night of our two nights. Here's a brief recap of the good and the bad of our latest adventure...

Monday - the girls and I were cleaning out our gray van for the trip (Big Red is officially retired. Big Red has a gas leak that's too pricey to repair). We apparently left one two many doors, windows, etc. open. The battery was dead right there at that minute a day before our adventure. Dave recharged the battery, but apparently not completely because come to find out you cannot run the car, the headlights and the radio all at the same time. A bit reluctantly, we did get up and go Tuesday morning to our hotel in Somers Point, NJ - (a short drive from Atlantic City). And I am happy to report we made it quite easily without incident! We took a break and then set out to explore. We randomly headed to 6th Street and decided to check out the OC NJ boardwalk. Well, lucky for our kids that happened to be "Wonderland" (the kiddie amusement park and two ticket Tuesday). The girls went on a ton of rides. Amelia & Ava decided to use their last tickets on the log plume ride. A small water track with a very significant drop at the end. My brave girls (Ava up front and Amelia in the middle) loved it! Drew and I happily enjoyed the drizzly rain and all the hub bub. We then explored the boardwalk and had dinner. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for milk at a gas station and our minivan was involved in a very minor fender bender (no fault of ours). We were back at the hotel by 7. Jenna crashed without her afternoon nap, so we all went to sleep. Dave and Drew shared a bed, and I slept with the girls on the pull out sofa. Ava and Amelia were so excited to have thier momma sleep with them. Ava asked me this..."Mom when we go to the beach tomorrow can Amelia & I use the surf board in that closet?" Sure I said, and sat there for a good 15 minutes until I figured out she was talking about the ironing board in the closet! Shows you that I don't do much ironing here at home, huh! I actually sat there pondering how in the world someone managed to leave their surf board there and not return for it!

Well, no one slept that night. Drew was up talking, and Dave and I were trying to shush him, Amelia and Ava had to deal with Dave and I switching beds and moving them in their little bed, and then Miss Jenna climbed out of her pack and play at 5:30am to say "hello dad" to me in the bed with Drew. We were all awake by 6am. The girls feasted on their hotel breakfast with their dad (a favorite on any trip). We decided to call it, and make our way home. We drove down the coast. We stopped at a few towns to check out the beach and ended at the Cape May/Lewes Ferry. We were a bit early, so we took the time to stretch out on the lawn. Drew was approached by a Delaware River And Bay Authority Police Officer and was given a hat, AND we were all given VIP treatment getting on the ferry. Employees did keep telling us "We just want your family to have a good time". Okay, then... We did have a great time riding on the ferry to DE. We stopped at our favorite crab house (Harris Crab House) and enjoyed an early dinner. Drew had his new favorite crab cakes. We made it home by 7pm...just in time for bed...in our own beds....in our own rooms....Ahhhhhhh.... sleep......

BAM, BAM, BAM!!

A post of a different kind today - a little home remodeling... This is the girls upstairs bathroom "before" picture. White walls, rose colored bath, sink, and broken shower/tub.

Here's Jenna and Dave "workin". Jenna saw Dave working and went to find her own hammer in the toy room. There she is Bam, Bam, Bam on the freshly painted walls.

Here's the finished product... after researching...the internet recommended rose colored walls with the 1990's rose colored fixtures. Obviously, this is the direction we took. We also hung mirrors with silver frames, hung towel bars, shower curtain/rod. We also had the plumber fix the drain which was frozen due to lack of use by the previous owner.

Now what can we do next around here? :)

August - Week #2

Grandpa, Jenna & Dave waiting patiently for the Carousel at Glen Echo to open. The power was out!

Drew & Dad still waiting....

but wait....the Carousel is now open!

Good thing we stuck around! - Jenna's first ride - a little hesitant at first, but then all was good!

Amelia and her bunny!

Ava rides an ostrich.

Jenna's got the hang of it - but in Jenna style, things wouldn't stay simple. Jenna wanted to ride with her sisters, go up and down, change animals, and walk around the moving carousel...... By ride number three that was it for Jenna. Amelia & Ava loved their three rides, and just in time too - we just missed the rain! That worked out perfectly.

Wednesday - we decided to do dinner out - Olive Garden. There's Amelia enjoying a favorite - mussels. See Jenna getting in on the picture action there?

There's Ava with our salad - oh wait! That's all HERS!!

For Jenna it wasn't about the food, it was about making the rounds family member to family member -standing on as many chairs as possible. This was fine at dinner. It was the after trip to Lowes for paint that brought on the parent frustration with our ever on the go Jenna.

Drew super happy waiting for his lasagna.

Another slow week. Friday brought hints of what's ahead - SCHOOL!!

I heard from Andrew's bus driver, and Amelia and Ava received their teacher assignment letters in the mail. Amelia has the "okay" Ms. Barbour, and Ava has the "singing and guitar playing" Ms. Delaney - (all the teacher information provided by the girl's neighborhood friend :).

School is just two weeks away. Where did the summer go?

A laid back week.....

Dave is visiting Ken in RI this weekend.

Cousin Collin came over last night with the movie Titantic in hand.

Yes..... Collin, my 7 year old and 5 year old stayed up until 11pm watching age inappropriate Titanic - eating pizza, smores, popcorn and chocolate milk - and guess what?

Up at 6am!! Tired today???

YES..

The girls feeding the deer at The Catoctin Zoo in Thurmont.

My gang posing with the only Lion with mane at the Catoctin Zoo.

Drew tolerating the Llama even after the Llama licked his face..

Jenna's first bird sighting - a colorful parrot! We left there just in time!

Drew at Marcia's for some PT - standing 56 inches tall!

Chuck E. Cheese on Monday for fun and lunch. Check.......Jenna can handle climbing into the ceiling with her sisters on the play gym.

28

Pretty, Pretty......at 28 months!!!!!!!!!!