Summer Re-cap

Hello out there.  Just pushing away the cobwebs up here to take a peek into blogland.  I am thinking this blog may be ready to be laid to rest.  Periodically I end a blog, publish it in book form and begin anew.  We shall see. 

This summer we had a lovely 3 day visit from my brother, who now lives in Florida, and whom we haven't seen in 3 years, along with my nephew Bryce.  I am somewhat mellow of a person, but with a quick tongue..LOL  You get my brother in the mix and you have a full side show going. 

The confusion as our visitors get attacked by bright flashes...LOL
(mom, daughter and her boyfriend)

My brother and I

It was fun, we were crazy and loud and played games.  My mom and eldest daughter were also up so it was the whole gang at our place!  Boy was I hopping in the kitchen with the 12 of us.  My little nephew is such a sweetie pie, it was great to see him after so long. 

My brother and nephew :)

After 4 days my mom and daughter went home (a day after my brother and nephew),

bye-bye ALREADY?!

and came a couple weeks later, to stay for 2 weeks.  We didn't do a ton as my mom has a hard time getting around.  She has a wheel chair at home in MA but no way to get it in and out of the car yet....heavy stuff!  So we stayed home and just hung out for that time.  Monopoly Deal was the game of the hour!! 


Mom and my brother

Cookout as much as possible....LOL

The boys and Felicia enjoyed swimming lessons 4 days per week for our short swimming season, and learned some new skills. We have a BEAUTIFUL town pool, complete with twirly water slide which they all love.  I was turned off to the "public" pool idea until I actually saw it, and very happy to learn that a family season pass included lessons for all of our children, such a good deal.  Yes, our taxes are high in Western NY, but at least we are benefitting by it with these facilities and others like it available at low cost!  I will feel so much better when they are all strong swimmers as we are SURROUNDED by bodies of water and there is so much that can be done recreationally in them.  From canoeing down the HUGE creek, or kayaking in the lake, wind surfing, sailing, fishing...you name it, we've got it!  It will be nice for those doors to open for my children when they are older. 

our town's public pool

We have also had the priviledge of visiting the Buffalo Zoo a couple of times this Summer.  It was so fun to see a different zoo for a change, and especially the polar bears, rainforest area and gorilla family which our prior zoo never had.  Here are a few memories of those visits:

While my mom and daughter was here, Mike and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.  We decided to go sailing on The Spirit of Buffalo and really beautiful schooner with RED SAILS!!!  It was so luxurious, and our first time sailing.  I made sure to load up on dramamine and away we went.  It was a nice experience, and also sweet for the two of us to be able to take a few hours away and just relax.  We never get to do that, but since their visit coincided with our special day, it worked out just right.  Thanks mom!!!

Mike's brother Dave also came over from California to pay us a vist before heading down through MA and off for a tour of Europe, where he still is currently.  We went to show him Niagara Falls for a couple of hours after our cookout lunch before his leaving.  We hadn't seen him in several years. 

We also have begun visiting a new church.  We left the one we were visiting since moving here for several good reasons.  This new church is huge, and normally I shy away from huge churches.  However, after visiting for 2 months now, the messages are actually good, so it may be a good thing afterall.  Soon the women's and other groups will be starting up so I hope to meet some new friends! 

Not a whole lot is new other than that, and looking forward to fall, and pumpkin spice coffees (recreating them at home, thank you Dunkin Donuts for the inspiration).  Apple picking and acorns, pinecones and apple picking.  Time to update the mantle with berries and vines and all that fun stuff.  I will think on what to do with this blog.  I don't have a computer at home anymore, just my phone, or computer access from the library. 

Until we meet again,

Jenn



Last Call of Summer

Hello Friends,
And a Merry day to you! What a beautiful, lovely sunny day we are enjoying here today. The sun has shone brightly and steadily for the second day in a row, with a gentle breeze tickling the trees, frolicking around bare feet and chubby cheeks. Drinking in the beauty of the lush grass and green leaves, knowing by the coolness in the air, all too soon Summer will fade away and in will rush Fall. How deliciously comfortable the weather is now, like a precious little gift with a fancy bow and my name on the tag. I shall gather my loved ones, merrily tie heart-strings and fully embrace this last bit of summer. Enjoy your day friends, I hope it is beautiful wherever you are~

Our Summer Thus far and the Fourth Of July!

At the end of June my daughter, Autumn came up to visit with her boyfriend and my mother. It was a GREAT week, just like old times and it was sad to say goodbye. In a few short weeks she and her boyfriend will be parting as well to go to colleges in a state apart from each other. While they were here we played in Lake Erie, and checked out Niagara Falls, attended my youngest daughter, Felicia's moving up ceremony which was a graduation from middle school, and had many a cookout.

Around the end of that week, my dad came up and stayed until July 10th I believe. He had a good time looking at the architecture in Buffalo and bought a wide angle lens as well as a telephoto lens for his camera which he had fun playing with.

Mike's brother and nephew came up for a few days during this time. Justin's long time 29 year old girlfriend, and mom of our 7 year old nephew, died suddenly and unexpectedly during an illness. From what I've been told, she had a flu-like illness and choked/aspirated on her vomit and never came conscious again. She was in ICU with a cooling blanket trying to minimize damage, to no avail....ended up with a major heart attack. Mike had gone down for the service, and Justin and Tyler came back home with him. We sent them home on a train on the 3rd, since they had plans for the fourth they did not want to miss. They had a good time and that made me glad. We hadn't seen them for 6 months. We went to a few Lake beaches, explored the cool rocks and shells, and went back to Niagara Falls so they could experience that, made S'mores, and rocked the grill for some more cookouts!

On the fourth, we went to our FIRST Fourth of July parade ever in Lancaster, NY with my dad!!! It was fun, and I had a feeling of nostalgia with the whole thing. We had a cookout at home, played outdoor checkers on a cool mat checkerboard, and later attended fireworks in Orchard Park. It was nowhere NEAR as crazy as fireworks back home in MA. Yes, it was crowded but it was much easier to get in and out so we were very very happy with the whole experience.

Here are some pictures from our day:



The band of the high school Felicia is to start in September











Some other pictures from our time with family:



~My girls, before Felicia's moving up ceremony, June 23rd 2010

shucking corn for a cookout!
First time at Niagara falls, American side:



Second time to Niagara Falls, S'mores and other random fun:






The American Flag:

You’re the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
~George M. Cohan

~Summer is in Full Bloom~

The beautiful Spring has that you saw just a few photos below has withered away, and early summer is now in full bloom. Take a look:

A berry relaxed kind of day!

Today is the first official day of summer, as school was finally out yesterday. My friend, Maryjo, told me about a strawberry festival at the Holyoke Farmers Market today, which opens at 10:30am. So at 10:45 or so there we were in Holyoke, clinking my change into the parking meter, and meandering over to the section of blocked off street where the market is held. I didn't see much! Not only was there no strawberry festival....and I had been picturing strawberry shortcake, strawberry smoothies etc,...LOL but even the Farmers didn't have much for sale yet. I am wondering if I just showed up too close to opening.

Normally we pick strawberries earlier in June, but since it's been so wet and rainy we have put it off awhile. After the dud festival idea, I decided we would head over to Dickinson Farm endeavoring to pick half the farm. It was the first non-rainy day in quite some time. The berries were much smaller than last year, and harder to find good ones. It was a nice experience, keeping of a tradition, until Danny and Aiden wearily asked to go sit on the bench. I was getting tired of admonishing the two of them to stop jumping rows and to stay with me so I said fine, figuring I would finish up and hurry over to them.

As they headed down the row, I am looking in the direction of the bench where I lined the kids up and took their picture last year, and I couldn't find it. Apparently it was gone, but I hadn't noticed. Figuring that wasn't looking good I hurried out of the row and down to where we pay for the berries and I realize my hip-clip was gone and my cash as well as my license and debit card were all in there. The panic was just below the surface and I scanned the aisles telling Ryan to look, as well as Felicia. About two minutes later Felicia found it and I was so grateful and relieved!! Being able then to actually pay for our berries and have the ice cream I planned with the children. I finally make my way over to the check-out area and low and behold there are my boys, not on the bench I told them they could sit on, but on the long bench way across the field from where I had been!!















Daniel went down a little hill to play with two doggies and it was kind of swampy-ish (all the rain?) and he didn't notice it and kind of fell in, getting wet up to his shorts, and a lot scared. I was so glad he was scared because this guy has a problem 1) being observant, 2) staying with me and not wandering a little here and a little there. Frazzled would be an understatement to describe me at that time. I was happy to click them into seat belts and actually RELAX as we drove to find some ice cream.







Eventhough the day did not start out very relaxing with the farm mishap, it was still nice to have some time we could be together, venture out, and not worry about having to be back for dismissal or anything, it was a free feeling.

We came home for 3 hours and are now heading out to pick Grandma up, then some pizza for take out for a slice (hilarious story for another blog post at another time!!) and bringing it with us to my last surviving grandparent, my mom's mom. Very busy day, and my kids HAD BETTER be tired tonight. They just never seem to tire out this week....HA!