She's crafty!

We are so lucky to have Amanda and Meredith join us for our holiday weekend.  They had a bit of a rocky start as their connection in DC was interrupted by airport logistics.  Thankfully they were able to hop the next flight and join us!  Facebook still amazes me - Amanda posted that she was stuck in DC - within minutes a sorority sister offered to pick her up, rally the other sisters in the area and throw a party!  Now that is technology.  However, we are thrilled that her original plan commenced and they landed in CT.

How about a Saturday morning craft project??  She shipped all her supplies ahead of time so we could be apart of Meredith's room decor.  We each painted a little canvas for display.

After that we did a little naked art

Goomba decided to test his boy scout skills with a tent circa 1979.  This is a shelter half on steroids.  I won't recommend putting this up as you arrive to the camp site late at night. 

If you build it, they will come.......

Wish I could say this was the tent for my sister and Riley.  We are crushed they cannot join us this weekend.  They seem to be on quarantine in North Attleboro.  Riley caught foot and mouth but seems recovered as she is bouncing around her pool.  However, my sister managed to get it as well.  She is keeping herself busy by doing things like dissecting her dyer (she really is sick) while  Jason is traveling in Scotland.  We miss you Stacie and Riley! 

Also, I just heard from Chris.  He is enjoying the English gardens in Munich with Bury and Lamarca.  Germany just beat Argentina to advance to the semi finals!  They are in the right place for this celebration!  Who knows, maybe they will see fireworks today too =)

Simsbury does Fireworks!

Friday night the Hartford symphony did a 4th of July concert.  It was filled with patriotic tunes and John Phillip Susa songs (What goomba listens to as he marches with the lawn mower)  They started the concert with a Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner.  Nick stood the entire time with his hand on his heart.  Love my little patriotic man.

Here is the concert venue

They finished the night with fireworks.  I love fireworks and was thrilled to see that my kids do too!  Nick sad lots of OOHs and AAAHs

Judging by Shane's eyeballs, we must be coming up on the grand finale!

Meredith got all her boogginging out earlier and wasn't terribly interested in the fireworks.

This was the carnage - three sleeping munchkins.  Nothing like an evening out that results in snoring on the way home!

Hello mother, hello father, greetings here from - camp carlson

Here's a photo of the kids with their 'counselors'  The water is perfect (if you like 76 degrees, give or take a few) and crystal clear. 

This scooter is something I rode as a kid.  My folks managed to dig in out in time for Nick.  He has no idea its almost 30 years old!

Sitting in the lap of luxury

Logging on the lawn chairs.

Nick loves his race track.  I am going to guess this one is almost as old as the scooter.  It was loaned to us from Peter Brinkerhoff.  How many miles has Nick logged on this race track?

Reading the morning skinny with Goomba

The cousins were together for a very short 24 hours.  Riley is at such a super cute exploratory age.  She enjoyed a little dude time as well.

Wonder how that pool got so clear - here's our future pool boy!

When you gotta go, you gotta go!

Swim lesson time for the littlest Leadbetter

matching smiles

Goomba ordered up the perfect ice cream sandwiches and Nick gets one almost every night!

Its tough around here when it comes to dilly beans.  You gotta guard your food =)

Friday morning is the ultimate in excitement.  A garbage truck in action.  Nothing better!

Nick is the turtle whisperer...  he is able to feed the turtle cheerios by hand!

Can he crawl??

Shane drew a line in the sand and said "Today is the day I am going to crawl!  Forward that is"  He has spent days in the 'down dog' position, scooting backwards etc...  But today he wanted to make some - forward progress.  He has a great teacher too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJmLSHr_MYU

Meeting in the Middle

What's between Simsbury and West Point?  Danbury!  Margaret and I met to enjoy a relaxed day at the park.  We chatted while the muchkins enjoyed themselves at the playground and splash park.  The ice cream man was there too - yum yum. 

Shane and Brigid got jipted in the ice cream department.  I don't think they know what they are missing yet.

Margaret and her ladies.  She makes 5 kids seem simple.  They are great kids, helping eachother and even Nick as times.  I loved spending the day with such a great family.  In just a few days, they are packing up for a Space A flight adventure to Germany (meaning they are hoping to catch the.  They are fortunate to have so many folks to visit out there.  We hope to catch them somewhere on the itinerary.

Cleaning out the attic - Times in Texas

You have all heard that 20% of our stuff is sweating away in the Texas attic right?  Well, this weekend I was determined to settle my mind and find (or assure myself) that I could put my hands on what was nagging away at me and lay the rest to 'rest' for the rest of our time away.

Before diving in, I made a list and Chelcy helped me stick to it - for our own safety. 

We extracted........

photo albums (on the list),

a wedding dress (on the list),

6 books of Benecom scratch paper (bonus item)

a lava lamp (bonus item), 

Nick's tunnel and tent, (on the list)

Assortment of Children's books (bonus items)

Nick's piggy bank from Goomba, (on the list)

stained glass piece (bonus item)

pillow covers and comforters (bonus items)

I'm certain Chris will be thrilled with the bonus items.  Especially when the 70 lb box of books arrives (sometime this winter with our mail luck) as well as the other boxes that were packed and shipped from Texas! 

This is also a great photo of the beauitful home that Lisa and Mike are building next to us!

After sweating it out, it was time to chill with the family.  This photo is the perfect description of the kids.  Together, they make an outfit (Chloe sporting the pants and Evan the shirt).  Chloe can accessorize with anything and at the moment, the bracelet of choice is the track to Evan's new bull dozer.  Evan is sporting his super man shirt.  As I spent time with him I realized he is full of dramatic highs and lows.  As does superman!

Are we sure I should be the one teaching golf?  Does this look right Chris?

This photo best describes our Sunday night.  Deakon consumed the beer while Chelcy and I tackled the wine.  Deakon was on his way back from his 4th potty break.  We were sitting in their kitchen playing movie and music trivia games where Deakon and I were obviously pawns in chelcy's climb to dominance.  It was one of those nights where we manage to make each other laugh over not much at all.  One of the best kind of nights!

I won't go into detail as to how sad it was to leave Texas again.  But it is wonderful to re-assure that it will always feel like home.  Thankfully we have convinced the Madray's as well as the Carson's to visit us this summer!

Evan Turns 3!!

This weekend is Evan's birthday party!  What great timing=)  Chloe was working on her chores.  The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree as mom's favorite activity is mowing as well!

Here's our birthday boy eating a yummy monkey cupcake. 

Little Brayden was chatting up his highlights.

Party central

When you have a pool and you have a slide, how long does it take to get the slide IN the pool?  About an hour.....  HUGE success!

Our muscle men

Ah, the slip and slide!  When Deakon rolled it out and placed and it he realized it was a lot longer in his memory than in reality.  I think that is the reflection of when Deakon was last on a slip and slide.

We had a wonderful afternoon with amazing families and the kids loved every second.  I loved enjoying the afternoon as if I lived there again.  Great friends!