The summer is ending...

It's Labor Day weekend which is the "unofficial" end to the summer.  And what a great summer we had!  We ended our summer last night with a great night at the PawSox baseball game...

Unbeknownst to us, it was the championship game and tickets were SRO (standing room only)!  But we totally lucked out and found great seats above the balcony area.  We had a fabulous view of the field...

It was the perfect summer night...

We ate hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries and ice cream...we danced and sang to fun music...

 

And after the game (which they won!), we watched an absolutely beautiful fireworks display set to music...

And this is Avery (CeCe's granddaughter), walking in between Nicholas and Gianna.  My kids love her...and I think she loves them too.  : ) 

Good bye summer!!  Until next year...

Julia turns 11

Oh my baby girl is now 11!  Wow!  She is growing up so fast.  And she is as sweet as can be.  I know I would chose her to be my best friend if I were 11.  That is for sure. 

We started her birthday with an early morning breakfast at a diner in the center of town.  It's not fancy but the food is yummy!  They make some mean chocolate chip pancakes which is Julia's favorite!  She has the tiniest appetite ever though.  She probably ate a quarter of these...

Then later that day she opened a few gifts from the family...

Justice is still her favorite store.  I wonder for how long though? 

And her BIG present was an iPod touch and a pretty sparkly pink case that she picked out all on her own.  I actually gave this to her before her birthday as I ordered it on line at a very good price and it came a little early.  iPods are a major headache for us around here, but that is a post for another day.  I don't want to ruin the fun birthday post... ; )

That evening she had a birthday party sleepover with some of her very best friends.  It's official...I need a new camera!!!  I'm so tired of dark blurry pictures!!!

She invited two friends from school, Emily and Katie, and some dance friends, Alyssa, Olivia (school friend too), Sarah and Leah. 

We did a play called "A Pop Star Mystery" by a company called Dramatic Fanatic.  I highly recommend it!  It was perfect for this age group.  We had so much fun!  Julia and I gathered together costumes and props for each girl.  We had lots and lots of laughs! 

Happy birthday to my beautiful sweet daughter!!

It's about flippin' time!!!!

Gianna finally FINALLY did her round off back handspring by herself!!! Oh, it's only been about 4 years of practicing.  Better late than never!   Her look at the end is priceless!!  She surprised herself! 
 

 

 

Julia practicing a new trick...

 

 

 

And Julia said she couldn't do more than one back handspring...really Julia?  See what happens when you say the word "can"???  (You have to wait until 11 seconds into this video to see...)

 

 

 

 



 

Book club?

This was where Julia's book club was held tonight...

This is just five minutes from our house...and guess what?  I didn't even know this lake even existed!!  I received an email about book club stating it would be at another girl's house tonight and for the girls to bring their bathing suits for swimming in the lake.  Lake???  What lake?  So I pulled up mapquest and there it was.  A lake in my little town!  I knew there was a pond a few minutes from my house that has a small public beach...but not this gem of a place!  This lake is completely private to the residents that live on the lake.  You can't even see it from the road.  It was so beautiful and so peaceful...and the breeze...oh the breeze...

The breeze was wonderful.  The view was simply gorgeous.  And I sat at this table on the sandy little beach with the other book club moms drinking strawberry daiquiris while the kids swam and took a ride on their boat...(Do you see the fire pit next to the table?  How awesome is that!)

Why didn't I know about this place when we were buying a house here in town?  I would love to live on the water.  It reminds me of my grandfather's cottage on Lake Archer.  I spent my childhood on a lake just like this. 

Maybe someday...you never know.  Oh...and you should have seen the house.  I didn't want to whip out my camera and start taking pictures of the inside of the house.  That would have been kind of creepy but it was beautiful.  I wonder when the next book club is???  I didn't want to leave. 

 

 

 

 

Julia's birthday...a little early

Julia's bestie isn't able to make her birthday party later this week, so we decided to do something special just for the two of them...starting with mani pedi's at the mall...(Julia's so darn small)...

and then we went out to dinner at the Olive Garden.  I think she really just wanted the dessert...

It's called Zeppoli and they are amazing!!!  Fresh powdered donuts with chocolate sauce.  Yummy....

I also took the girls shopping after the nail salon.  They were too cute.  They change in one dressing room and always look at matching outfits.  That will change in a few years!!  I thoroughly enjoyed spending my Sunday afternoon with these two.  I just love this age. 

More summering...

The boys thought the pool was too cold so they decided this method was a better way to cool off...

Gianna put a piece of candy over her front baby tooth that just doesn't seem to want to come out.  She tried to make it look like two adult teeth...and her expression on her face just made me laugh and laugh...I love this picture!! 

I was introduced to an eighty year old woman, Jane, who owns a horse, Opie.  She was so wonderful and taught me, my Mom and my kids all about grooming and taking care of a horse...

and she gave each of my kids a riding lesson...

And this woman does Pilates...at 80!!!  Wow.  She was simply amazing...

Then I took my Mom and kids out for some pizza and beer...

Of course it was a root beer...and the kids played with their napkins to entertain themselves...

Yesterday, we spent the whole day at Nantasket beach and it was the most glorious day!  Zero humidity and abundant sunshine....

My two little preteens...listening to their iPods with headphones at the beach...

and catching some late summer rays before school starts again in less than two weeks (yippee for me!!)...

They did lots of boogie boarding too as the waves were good during the day. 

I also got to spend some quality time with some of my very best friends.  We've all known each other for over 30 years.  Amazing.  I love them all so much...

and my two precious girls...

Nothing is better than spending a whole day with the people you love. 

Traveling & Happenings

Now that all the camps are over, it's time to do some fun day trips that are on our summer list...like horseback trail riding...

Yes, I know these aren't real horses...but the horses in the background are real...

We found this great ranch that does trail riding.  You ride horses through the woods on a guided tour for 45 minutes.  We all loved it!!  I didn't get any pictures because I rode a horse too and had to leave my camera in the car.  So you'll have to take our word for it that it was FUN!! 

This is the place.  It's in Lincoln, RI.  We'll be back next summer for sure!

Then the next day we headed out to the Mystic Aquarium.  Love that place...

After the aquarium, we had some time before dinner so we drove to the center of town to walk around for a bit...

It was another gorgeous summer day and Mystic was simply beautiful...

Forgot to mention that Nicholas is getting ready for braces...lots of contraptions are going to go into this little mouth...first up are the spacers...the rest will go in on the 28th...ouch...

 

The next night, Danny and I went out to dinner by ourselves...the first time in a while...we went to Federal Hill in Providence...we walked around for a bit and Danny chose this place...good choice too!  The food was great!  We ate outside and there was live music too which added to the already wonderful atmosphere...

 



Then the next day we were off once again...this time to Maine. 

Nubble Light House in York, ME...

Ice cream...(with a few rocks as Gianna and I dropped ours)...yummy...

Perkins Cove Ogunquit, ME

 

 

 

We went to the York Amusement Park too...

 



 

 

Nicholas was so happy he could finally drive a go cart on his own!!  Listen to the crowd go "ooooo" when the kid behind Nicholas rear ended him...