Summer Fun in August

It's felt like such a nice, long summer filled with all that a summer should have!

At the beginning of August, Lewis ended his month long tap class. He loved it! His class did a very cute little dance performance in the studio to end the class. We were so proud of him! He has informed me that it's his most favorite thing to do, so we're signed up for the fall!

We had a hilariously terrible attempt at a beach day earlier this month. We thought we'd try going to a little beach at a lake about 45 minutes away. It's a lake where Mike did a triathlon a couple years ago. We figured it would be a nice, calm scene for the boys, and thus a little more relaxing for mom and dad.

So, off we went. Only trouble was, they were setting up for some event when we got there, and the beach was closed. On top of which, turns out, it's a private beach. Drat. We asked directions to another beach at a close by state park. We got there, and the woman at the gate told us that the beach was closed due to high bacteria levels. Ugh! At this point, we thought we'd just head for the shore. Long Beach Island looked to be the closest. By this time, we'd already spend a good 1.5 hours driving, and we no longer had an early start on the day or on the Jersey beach traffic. We ended up in bumper to bumper traffic and thought we'd never make it. At that point, we saw a little lake off to the side of the road. Done, done, and done! We parked, and spent a lovely couple hours on a semi-nice beach by a semi-nice lake with, well, a very Jersey crowd all around. Better luck next time! But, the boys did have fun at the beach!

 

We had a lovely morning at Howell Farm recently. Beau is really into animals and animal noises now. He was over the moon to hear the cow actually mooing, the pigs oinking, and the oxen...working. The water pump was quite the  hit. Lewis pumped many buckets to pour into the horses' trough.

Rachel came to stay with us for a week while her mom and sisters were up at camp. We had such a fun time! She was so cute to play with the boys tons. Here she is entertaining Beau with his new favorite activity. 

I also had the most heavenly weekend with my dear friend Debby visiting. It was so nice to catch up so much and talk about all sorts of ideas and thoughts and musings. She is the best! We all loved having her!

And, here are a few pictures from a little photo shoot that I did with Lewis in preparation for his talk in primary. He gave his first talk last Sunday, and he did such a great job. We were so proud of him! He was very excited to do it, spoke nice and clearly, gave just a couple little parts without my help, and was the cutest little Sunbeam ever!

July Fun for Kids & Parents

After settling back in from our trip, we had a wonderful rest of July.

We had a few visits to Terhune Orchards, just near us. The boys love it all there...tractors, bikes, goats to feed, horses, chickens, and apple cider donuts!

I had my 9th Annual Hoohah! This year, the college girls and I met up in Durham, NC at Carolyn's place. It was so much fun to see everyone. There was tons of laughter, catching up, delicious food, and yorks!

Mike and I got a Saturday away in NYC for his birthday celebration. Jake and the girls watched our boys - so kind of them! And, Mike and I felt like we had super-human powers, not being encumbered by the little ones and all of the gear they take!

We visited ground zero in the morning and saw the new memorials and buildings under construction.

After that we did brunch at Jane in Soho and then wandered up through the Village and over to the High Line. After walking the High Line, we headed up to Times Square where we saw...

Evita!!! It was a great production. Mike had wanted to see it on Broadway ever since his mission in Argentina. We loved it!

Then we headed to the Lower East Side to the Tenement Museum and caught the final tour of the day there. Afterwards, we had dinner and a cannoli in Little Italy. We wandered through China Town and had a quick massage there. I found a shoe store on our way back up to Soho :-) And, we finished the day at the Chelsea Marketplace to get dessert at Jacques Torres. SO FUN!

Here are the boys trying on some of Mommy's fun items!

Homemade playdough on a day that was either too hot or too rainy! 

And, sleepy boys after a bike ride to the farm!

Family Trip to Utah

We had a wonderful visit to Utah during the first part of July. The Wasden family gathered for a reunion at Michelle's parents' house near Logan. It was so wonderful to see everyone (the Wright's included). We just drank in the family time!

Our kids just don't seem to do small time changes very easily. So, most of our days consisted of getting up with the boys around 4, 4:30am. Playing in the play room. Having breakfast on the porch. Playing on the swing set and in the sandpit. Going for a walk. Visiting the chickens. Playing with the bikes on the driveway. Settling in for lunch while happily greeting the rest of the family as they came up! And, then the rest of the day laughing, chatting, and playing with the whole family. We were exhausted but happy!

We had a trip out to a local dairy farm to visit the cows, followed by some cheese, milk, and ice cream tasting. For the 4th of July, we went to the big, local parade. Lewis had help from his aunts, uncles, and cousins to catch the candy they threw. Beau literally waved and yelled "hi" to everyone as they passed for about an hour straight. It was so cute!

Every night was a different international fare to celebrate someone or something! Mike and I cooked an Argentinian menu to celebrate his birthday and his birthday present - tickets to Evita! Jake & Mish treated us to Japanese cuisine to celebrate Tyler's job offer in Japan. Cat & Tam treated us to an amazing schwarma. And, Papa John did bratwurst sliders. That and the 29.5 lbs of chocolate we all ate...no one went home hungry!

After leaving the reunion, we got to spend a night with our dear friends, the Mitchell's. Then a night over at Uncle Thurl's with Didi. And, a couple more nights with the Hammersmire's, plus a brunch with some of our DC friends. It was all SO much fun! There's something about staying with friends and being able to stay up chatting after the kids are in bed that just feels so exciting.

Here are a couple pictures from our day at Thurl's. The boys loved watching his train race around the living room. Beau discovered that he's just the right size for the cat door! The boys loved the trampoline and the play house in the back. And, Lewis loved chatting with Didi, showing her his iPad games, and hearing Alfred the Bunny stories from her.

Wonderful time with family and friends. Great trip! Somewhat exhausting as travel with kids always is, but totally worth it!