Summer Happenings

This was the summer that our boy grew taller than his Dad...

and was as tall as his Mom...

and my two August babies turned 14 and 15...

and the humidity was pretty unbearable...

and our pool was like bath water...

and if this humidity doesn't break soon...it will be the summer their Mom moved to Alaska...

This morning Gianna had surgery to expose her missing front tooth.  Ouch. She's a very brave girl.  More on that later. 

And the girls are loving their summer tumbling classes.  Here's Julia's new trick she's working on...

Nicholas turns 15!

Wow...my baby boy turned fifteen yesterday...yes 15.  I honestly can't believe it. And every...single...year...I say the same thing like a broken record.  "I can't believe he's 1, 2, 3, 4...8...11...14"...and now he's 15.  How is it possible that I don't understand the aging process when it comes to my children?!?

Anyway...here's my handsome birthday boy...

I just think he's the most handsome boy in the world!!!!  Always have...always will.  And it's just so unbelievable how he is literally morphing before my eyes. I swear he's growing taller every single day.  His voice is getting raspier and lower. I've honestly never experienced such a fast growth spurt.

It's a family tradition that we each get to pick a restaurant to go to for dinner and this year Nicholas picked the Olive Garden.  Then it was back home for presents, cake and ice cream...

My boy LOVES having birthdays because the day is all about him and he gets all kinds of fun presents. He's really into Harry Potter again and has been watching all the movies.  Gianna has a Harry Potter wand that she never even looks at anymore and Nicholas asked her if he could have it.  So Gianna gave it to him for his birthday.  How sweet was that!  I can just see him waving that thing around while he's watching the movies...

His sisters also bought him his favorite candy and gum. Another family tradition...

He's not that easy to buy for anymore so he helped me out by picking out all his own gifts... :)

Like another Xbox remote for when his friends come over...and a new Xbox game...

He loves his Dad so much...and his Dad loves him back a million times over...

And this is what happened to his birthday cake right after I frosted it...



It's been so hot and humid here...I think it just melted before my eyes!  So I just whipped up some more super sweet frosting and just stuffed it in the cracks! : ) Worked like a charm...

There's Julia's funny face again...it gets me every time...

My three babies...

and my little fur baby...

Ogunquit

Nicholas and Julia headed up to Maine last Wednesday for a long weekend...and at the last minute I was able to work it out so I could join them too. Yay!  Gianna had a busy weekend at home so Danny stayed with her.  I was in need of some fresh air...some sunshine...the beach...and time away from my everyday duties at home.

When I got there bright and early on Friday morning...Julia, Kimmy and I went for a walk with some gorgeous views of the river...

It was so peaceful...

It definitely recharged me...

Then we were off to the amusement park at Old Orchard Beach. I guess I don't have to worry about them being too small to go on rides anymore... : (

Nicholas and Julia are really daring and go on almost any ride...

Julia and Paula went on this ride.  It made me sick just looking at it.

Then it was time for my long awaited summer treat of fried dough...it was soooo good!!!

 and a trip to another candy store of course...

The pier had lots of cool shops like this one...

It was the quintessential summer day...

Later that night we went to Maine beach...

to fly a kite...

and of course Julia did some of her tricks...

My weekend wouldn't be complete without a stop at my favorite store...Art and Soul...

and look what I found there...a gorgeous canvas art with my favorite word right in the middle...but it cost over $300 dollars...so needless to say it stayed at the store...

My Dad's favorite flower...blackeyed susans....they were everywhere...

And a trip to Ogunquit also means a trip to the Maine diner for breakfast anytime of the day...

Julia makes this face all the time because she knows it makes me laugh...so everywhere we went...we caught a glimpse of that face...

Yesterday was a gorgeous beach day and the kids had a blast boogie boarding...

The kids were fantastic! They got along great with hardly any fighting at all! It was so wonderful to see them outside...screen free...enjoying the fabulous weather and soaking up some sunshine.  They are such awesome kids and I'm so grateful to call them mine.

They'll be 14 and 15 this month...

Where does the time go???  

This picture was taken at the same beach exactly ten years ago...turning just 4 and 5.  Oh my heart...

Thank you to Auntie Kimmy and Auntie Paula for making more summer memories for me and the kids. : )