Our Adventure

Lila and I decided to go on a little "adventure" today. We had about an hour and a half before Emma got home and I needed a few things at the local grocery store, so we rode our bike (that is, I rode my bike with a 45 lb. child in the seat on the back of it. It was nice. Lila remembered to wear her sunglasses under her helmet (very cute!) so she wouldn't complain about the sun and dust, and we looked for squirrels along the way. She thought it was very cool to park our bike on the sidewalk. We bought our hot dogs, buns and lettuce, and headed home.

Let me just add here for all of my "green" friends, that not only did I not use gas to get the store, but I even remembered to bring one of my reusable bags with me. I'm so earth-friendly!

It's a couple mile ride home from the store. Lila seemed quiet, but I was enjoying the peaceful ride and didn't really notice something touching my back. When I got into our garage, this is what I found:


Notice that she had removed her shoes and, thankfully, was holding them, and she still had the lollipop from the checker in her mouth. She was snoring very loudly.

A Rare Treat

The girls were thrilled that Aunt Becca actually put on her swimsuit and swam with them yesterday.

Hannah Banana

The girls were thrilled to play in the rain today! Tropical Storm Hannah is giving us a steady rainfall now, the winds and torrential rains are yet to come. So we celebrated a canceled soccer game with a trip to the video store and some puddle jumping.

3rd Grade?!?!

How did that happen?! I blinked my eyes, and my baby is going to 3rd grade?! Maybe it's harder because she was my only baby- the center of our lives - for over 5 years. She sure is ready! we went to meet her teacher and see her classroom yesterday, so this morning, she wasn't even nervous. We were asked to fill out a paper describing Emma for her teacher. How do I do that in a few lines?! She's helpful, sensitive, compassionate, loving, smart, friendly, hard-working, joyful, and gorgeous - just to name a few. We're so proud to be her parents. I know she'll have a great 3rd grade year, I just can't believe how quickly time goes by.


Here are some pictures of breakfast on the special plate, the backpack shot, and the onlookers.

NYC - Adults Only

We went to NYC last weekend ..... with our good friends ...... overnight ...... without kids! That's a pretty exciting weekend for us! Lisa and I loved shopping 5th Ave. from inside the stores - not just the sidewalk (not that we actually bought anything, of course!) Ryan and Bryan didn't even mind following us after the awesome pizza we had for lunch. Check out the inside of this pizza place:

We had a wonderful dinner at Morimoto (yes, the Iron Chef!). It was way too cool of a restaurant for this country bumpkin to be in. Here's a poor attempt at capturing the coolness of the inside:

We spent the night at he Hilton Times Square - amazing! Here's a picture of our room and a view from it:


The next day we waited in the half price ticket line and saw Young Frankenstein on Broadway. It was great - very Mel Brooks-y. Lisa laughed so hard, I thought we were going to have to carry her out.

The highlight of Ryan's weekend, was when he spotted this man on the street:
That's Glenn Beck (of radio and TV talk show fame) and Ryan. He was very pleasant and personable. Ryan couldn't have been more thrilled if he saw J.Lo on the streets of Manhattan!

Thanks Bryan and Lisa for such a great weekend!

Last Minute Summer Fun

Emma went to Hershey Park last Thursday with Uncle Rob and Aunt Meg. They had such a great time! Emma was big enough to go on everything and had no fear, I'm told. I'm glad she had the chance to do something special - just her.

Lila was a bit bummed to be excluded, so I took her and Jessica (our Thursday "Mother's Helper") to Paws Farm. They have animals, playgrounds, and pretend play areas - quite fun. The two of them had a blast!

Their favorites were the bunnies:

the vet center:

the grocery store:

Jessica enjoyed showing Lila around, since she's been there before. Lila loved having someone to play with. When we saw the tarantula in a cage, Lila said, "Good thing Emma's not here. She would really scream and freak out!" How true.

Playing With Friends

My friend Jul's kids came over to play a week or so ago, and I just came across this picture. They played house very nicely all together. The plot in their pretend play was that they were all getting ready for a family portrait. When it came time to go the the "studio", you better believe I jumped in to be the "real" photographer.

What a charming family!
(Poor Andrew - they told him it was a Superman costume.)