Firefly's

We seem to have an abundance of firefly's this summer. Last night the kids and I once again sat outside at dusk and watched them appear. So exciting. Loved hearing their giggles and laughter when they first spotted one. I read them the story "The Very Lonely Firefly" by Eric Carle before we went out to watch the show. Love that book, love the magical "surprise" at the end of the story. I've already been asked if we can stay up to watch the firefly's again tonight. Ummmmm wondering if it's a way to get out of going to bed or perhaps it just simply was fun last night and they are eager to do it again. Do you have a lot of firefly's in your neighborhood? Have you watched them yet? I suggest you find a little person to watch the show with and enjoy the excitement.

Railroad Days Parade...

Rosie figured out the whole candy thing, it was hilarious watching her run to pick up her one piece of candy. By the time she picked up one all the other candy had been picked by the other kids...being speedy isn't quite her skill just yet. She would pick up the candy and hold it up to me and just grin. So excited, so very very excited. We sat next to a 92 year old women and her daughter, who was quite concerned that I was there alone with 7 kids, she assured me not to worry they would be happy to help me out, I had a brief moment where I simply hoped I wouldn't have to help her out :) It was a beautiful night, and a great parade. The kids had a lot of fun and naturally were super excited by the time it was over, it may have been the candy? ummmmm something to ponder.

Pony rides...

One of the attractions at Railroad days this year was pony rides. Yahaira was super excited to do this, you could barely contain her giddiness. All three loved the experience and wanted to go again and again.

Soccer

Anthony took soccer for three weeks this summer, finally here are some pictures.
He had a blast! So excited and can't wait until next summer.

a sprinkler and a 1 year old....

Take a sprinkler, which creates a puddle of excess water,
now mix in a 1 year old and it all adds up to
one very happy little girl!

A tour of New York city....

We spent an incredible 5 days in one of the most amazing cities on earth.
The sites, the sounds, the overload to your senses, the smells, the people....
combined to make it a trip full of energy, excitement and memories
Above is the most energetic place in the city... Time Square
simply wow!

Central Park
an oasis in the middle of chaos. So fun to roam and explore.
So easy to forget you were in the middle of city full of millions of people.

are you on overload yet?

The two shows we attended Hairspray and Phantom of the Opera.
Our tour guide Larry, Our bus driver Roger, Our walking tour guide Walter
and our local group leaders Sandy and Breanna.

Rockefellar plaza, ground zero, wall street,and the Apollo theater

No trip is complete without pics of food.

the colors, the energy, the fun....

a few of the churches we visited...to be inside
a place that is so full of history, to realize it has
withstood time in such a wonderful way.

Ellis Island and of course the Statue. Definately a place

full of history, simply awe inspiring.
There was a movie being filmed on the island the day
we were there...fun to see.Empire State Building...unbelievable!

The view is incredible...security is intense.
I did manage to set off the alarm while going thru
security...always an adventure.

museums and more....

The museum of Natural History...loved it!
Just a brief glimpse into all it had to offer....
managed to get lost inside several times.
Radio City Music Hall

behind the scenes tour...highlight?
meeting a Rockette of course.

Flag Day activites around the city....we happened
upon a parade, so unlike any parades back home.
Later in the day we were able to watch a water parade
where Mayor Bloomburg was in attendance.

the last of the pics....for now anyways...

Harbor Cruise, 2 hours around the island of Manhattan ending at nightfall.
Simply amazing, unbelievable sites, and images. Seeing Cassandra's first
glimpse of the Statue of Liberty....priceless!

The Statue of Liberty....
it leaves you breathless...so amazing!
Bridges...the Brooklyn, the Manhatton, and the Queensboro.

ready to go...

up at 2 am

boarding the bus at 3am

airport security 5:30am

New York city...

Our first day in the city....Just a few pics of the many places we saw that day.
Trying to return to work mode, yeah I basically still want to be in
vacation mode. Had an amazing, wonderful, exciting time! Expect more to
come.

I am here!

New York city is amazing! awesome! overwhelming! unbelievable!!

I am mastering the walking and looking up form of movement (The first day it wasn't pretty) It is simply unbelievable the architecture and buildings. We have seen the empire state building, (what a view) the statue of liberty (simply breathtaking) time square (an amazing energy there) Broadway, St John the Divine. The Hershey store :)

I took a harbor cruise at night. No I don't have sea legs and for a person who loves the water, just not the being on the water in a boat aspect of it this was certainly interesting, add to that the fact that it down poured and I have to admit having water under me and over me was a teeny tiny nerve racking, until we started then the sites just simply wowed! me.

Seeing Cassandra, Katie, and Linette's reaction upon first seeing the Statue of Liberty was priceless. I have found myself often thinking I wish I could share this with this person or that person. Oh well perhaps some day life will let me return to share this experience with others who are important in life.

yes there are no pictures to this post, that simply requires far to many brain cells for this girl at this time of the morning. Expect those pics when I get home.

I'm leaving...

on a jet plane. Well I will be when you read this post. I am heading to New York City with my daughter and sister for 5 days of sightseeing and fun! We are traveling with a group of 19 people from town. I am so excited to go back, (I went 4years ago with my oldest daughter and it was a trip beyond belief.) This time I'm excited to revisit sites, and see new places. The first time was a whirl, most of the time we were simply overwhelmed by all that we were seeing. I trust that this time the wow factor (you know the first time seeing something) will be out of the way so I can actually take in more. Enoy your week, I know I will. Expect to see pics, when I return.

June birthday's

Yesterday we celebrated my Dad's birthday and my brother-in-law Kevin's birthdays.
The rain held off until we were done grilling. A note about the cake, this wasn't a
preplanned event, I rather pulled it together the day before. That meant I didn't
order a cake, so I purchased this one at the local grocery store, and prayed it would
be ok. I'm used to the super decorated, fancy, awesome cakes I order from Walmart
bakery (which by the way is one of a few things I actually like about Walmart, thinking
it's because the bakery is in the front of the store and I don't have to immerse myself in
the Walmart environment to deeply) So this one well it's appearance didn't look too
promising...and once I popped some letters on to spell Dad and Kevin (it already had
a Happy Birthday thingy on it) well it looked dreadful. Linette was quite tactful in her comment
of the decorating job, I probably wouldn't have been. So where am I rambling to? the cake was
awesome, several people raved about the taste, seriously I've never heard so many comments
about the cake before...so what did I learn? (most likely far too many things to list on this post)
So I guess it doesn't need to be super fancy to simply taste good...make of that what you will.
Ok so instead of posting to my blog, and reading emails, and just simply surfing the web I should be
checking off the million things on my to do list. Instead I am avoiding it, sigh, which will lead to a frantic
rush at midnight to pull it all together. I leave in 17 hours. Tomorrow at this time I will be in New York City!
Can't wait, so excited, so very very excited.

merry go round....

The kids love the carousal at the mall.
Cassandra and Dustin took them for a spin the
last time we were at the mall. Very
excited little people, grins all around!

just one more

photo collage of Sunday's activities. Sunday
started out as a beautiful day, a half hour after the
open house began it poured, made for a bit of a crowded
space but it all worked. So many faces helped pull this
together, so many helped in far too many ways to list.
All combined to make it a pretty special experience for
Cassandra and Katie.

Katie and Cassandra