September 2013

Whew...one would think that after all the excitement of August, we would slow things down a bit, but alas, this family seems to move at 1 of 2 paces....fast, or even faster!  

I just love the month of September (and not just because it's my birthday month!) - it brings back memories of closing the summer, getting ready for school to start, warm but not blazing hot weather and the slight beginnings of fall, my favorite season!

We enjoyed our time here at home with no travel in September, and instead welcomed guests (my cousin Matt and his wife Alison), enjoyed our annual trip to Thistleberry Farm, watched Jane's preschool class "perform" at church, and began to really prepare the nursery and rest of the house for the baby's arrival.  All in all, a very low-key and wonderful September!

A wonderful visit with this wonderful couple!  We got to show them around Rochester, enjoyed a boat ride (the weather was amazing!), played games and just visited!

Loving life on the boat with my 2 (and a half) favorite people!

He is getting SO big!

The highlight for Jane during our trip to Thistleberry.  We love going to the farm and luckily chose a weekend this year when it wasn't blasted cold!  Jane loved this slide and went down it a least a dozen times.  The picture of her from the bottom didn't post correctly, but she was all smiles.

Jane trying to "help" Luke onto the big jumpy thing - she loved it...

...him, not so much.  He wanted off immediately!

Loving the cow train as usual

The climbing wall was a new addition to the farm and Jane took to it right away!

Huge progress for Luke as he wouldn't even go near the horses last year - he rode all the way by himself and no tears!

The hayride was less-than-thrilling for Luke

Picking pumpkins!

Getting ready for Jane's pre-school "program" at Church. 

Grammy and Grandpa Bob joined us for the morning much to Jane's delight!

Jane did a great job singing for everyone - I was one proud mama!

A fun picture of life here at home.  Jane loves dressing up and having tea parties and always invites (read: makes) her brother to join.  He obliges as you can see he'll wear the jewelry but normally draws the line at putting on her princess dress-up clothes.  This feast is fit for a king!

I love this one, they pretend to feed their stuffed animals; I have no idea why Luke is holding his arm like that, but he kept it like that the entire time!

Happy Birthday to me!  Unfortunately, I had a work meeting all day in Indy, but the guys on my team treated me to this delicious chocolate cake!

Is this my 3 1/2 year old, or someone else!?  She is so beautiful to me!

Here's me being brave putting a preggo picture up here...picture taken at almost 37 weeks pregnant.  She's almost here!!

Happy Birthday, Daddio!

I thought such a monumentous occassion deserved a post all it's own, as you certainly don't turn the big 6-0 every year!  My extremely thoughtful mom began planning for my dad's birthday months in advance (shock to no one) and it turned out to be an entire weekend full of festivities to honor my dad!  

I couldn't even capture all the great things she/we planned for him, but I do know that every single person, especially the man of the hour, enjoyed it thoroughly!  There was a special foot massage/spa session (he may kill me for writing that here...), lunch on Friday with my brothers and grandma (his 91-year old mother), surprise visitors on Friday night (my sister and my whole crew showed up with balloons, as he didn't know we were coming in), donuts with grandkids on Saturday morning (a tradition), golf with son(s)-in-law, church, special dinner out, a full day at Coney Island pool, gifts, cake, etc.  OK, maybe I can capture them all, but the bottom line it was an awesome weekend celebrating an even more awesome guy!  

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!

Jane practicing holding Baby Karis - she thought she was very grown up!

Life was complete once Aunt Tatie arrived.  #heroworship

Jane practicing to yell "Surprise" at Grandpaul

The grandkids swinging on the porch swing

The most priceless picture ever.  Keegan loves his GrandPaul and wants to be just like him.  I think he nailed it!

Luke still working on the smile-on-cue part

Family picture before heading out to dinner

The Birthday Boy and Hostess/Planner Extraordinaire

I just think this picture is hysterical...Luke is holding down the fort, keeping everyone in line

Toasting to a great guy!

The gals

Had to include one with the cake...

..that the kids eagerly tasted immediately upon getting the green light

The boys

The siblings. *My brother Brian looks like he is impersonating Chris Farley (Motivational Speaker) in this picture.  I'm confident he will agree with me!

Dad with his 2 daughters

Love this one!

A brand new bike...gotta keep him in shape for the 70th birthday!

Too much partying for Luke.  The kid loves to read and refuses to give up on the day...just like his daddy

Getting ready to head home.  I may still be the only one, but I think Luke looks sooo much like my dad!

Vacation: Part Two

After spending 4 wonderfully relaxing days in Surfside Beach, we packed up all our things and left Monday evening to head to Charleston, which is barely 3 hours from Tommy & Tracy's.  My parents have had their condo in Charleston for a few years, and while I've been a couple of times, Evan and the kids had not, and we thought this would be a perfect way to visit them and vacation together!

We arrived and couldn't tell who was more excited, Nana and Grandpaul or Jane and Luke!  They couldn't believe they were with Nana and GP, not at their house, but on vacation - something quite miraculous for these 2!  We stayed down in Charleston for nearly 5 days and had an amazing time - we ate great (naturally), went to the pool, the beach, site-seeing in downtown Charleston, visited a plantation, played games, and in general just enjoyed being together away from work and home!  As usual, my parents know how to host and the kids were excited every day to see what the agenda would bring.  In true grandparent form, my kids were spoiled with donuts for breakfast (a must!), ice cream treats, zucchini bread and many other things that make vacationing with grandparents extra special for a 3 and 2 year old!  

The time flew by and we packed things up on Friday night and awoke super early on Saturday to hit the road again.  Fearful that the drive home would be disasterous (it's never as fun leaving vacation as it is going), we were pleasantly surprised, again, that the kids did great in the car and we made it all the way back to Rochester by early evening!

An amazingly wonderful vacation for us and many memories made...we may need to consider this every year! :)

The night we arrived we walked up to a new fro-yo place right near my parent's condo.  Love this picture; 2 of Luke's favorite dudes!

A special moment with just Nana...and some yummy frozen yogurt!

An afternoon at the park

That also included some popsicles (Jane didn't hide her evidence very well)

Luke loved the water

The kids loved swimming at night...and so did we!

Evan and I were granted an entire day to ourselves, a real vacation treat!  We visited one of the oldest and still functioning plantations in the south.  It was amazing to see history preserved and learn something new while down there.  Here is the entrance to the plantation lined with dozens of oak trees

The plantation house, which is still being lived in today, although the bottom floor is used for hourly tours.  Completely and utterly fascinating for us history buffs.

Love my 3 1/2 year old!

Eating breakfast on the "veranda"

Kicking G-Paul's butt at Memory

Jammie time with Nana...

...and story time with GPaul

Chocolate donut for breakfast?  "YES!" says Luke

An amazing little trip we went on to this Angel Oak tree.  I believe the largest Oak Tree in the world - check it out!  Hard to capture in it's entirity, but you get the point.  Breathtaking!

The drive home after a jam-packed and highly memorable vacation!

My daughter who NEVER sleeps in the car bit the bullet about an hour away from home.