Nicholas' 9th birthday party

Nicholas turns NINE tomorrow. I'm always surprised at how quickly the year has gone by. You would think I would be used to it by now...but no...it never gets easier watching your babies get older.

Loved his cake this year...

He invited 6 boys to our house for a sleepover party...my idea actually...

But they were all really, really good...and just so cute...


They enjoyed pizza, watermelon, chips, cake & ice cream (OUTSIDE)...then Nicholas started this...

and of course the others followed...

It was quite funny...

and more and more cake was smooshed on faces...(look at the boy on the left...and on the right!!) : )

Then they swam in the pool...

and then watched a movie with TONS of candy and popcorn from our awesome popcorn machine. I had to label the cups otherwise I would have gone through about 50...

They watched 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'...THE perfect movie for boys this age...lots of potty humor...

After that they played "man hunt" outside in the dark. They just scared the pants off each other! I think they finally fell asleep somewhere around midnight. Danny made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast (while I was still sleeping...isn't he good?) and then most of the boys were on their way home soon after. All in all a successful, fun party!

Happy Birthday sweet boy!!!! Will you just stay 9 for a while...pretty, pretty please??? I'm not ready for double digits.

(I accidentally had the wrong setting on my video camera so the video came out kind of blurry.)

The triple "H"

Around these parts it's called the triple H...hazy, hot and humid. It was beyond gross out today. Almost unbearable to be outside. But Danny and Nicholas braved the heat to watch the Patriots practice this morning. Of course they took pictures of #12...

Honestly though, I don't see what the big deal is about him. Tedy B. is way cuter... plus he recently gave me a big bear hug and a kiss on the cheek...so Tom who???

Nicholas got to do a few football activities after the practice....

While Julia was at dance camp today, Gianna and I went to see a very cute movie (Despicable Me) in a very cool theatre...

It finally cooled off a bit with a thunderstorm late this afternoon...and we got to see this...

Magical.

Decisions decisions...

Dancing...


or gymnastics...



What will she choose?
Today I got Julia's gymnastics schedule for the fall. I'm not crazy about it...at all. This summer she spends 6 hours a week at the gym. In the fall, it jumps to 9 hours a week (3 hour practices, 3 days a week). A little much for a 7 (soon to be 8) year old, don't you think? I mean really...is she going to the Olympics? Ahhh...no.
Tonight when I walked in to pick her up, she said, "Mom! Watch this!" She did a back walkover...on the beam...the HIGH beam...by herself...no spot. For real. She was the only one on her team tonight who could do it on their own.

On the other hand, she has the chance to be on the junior acro team at her dance studio in the fall. She also has the opportunity to start taking better dance classes and start competing. Problem is, it conflicts with the gymnastics.
So tonight, I sat her down and explained two options to her.

Option 1: Stick with gymnastics and finally get to compete Level 4 (which she has worked so hard for). She still can dance one day a week (tap & jazz). This choice may be hard for her as all her dance friends will be doing more routines in the recital and competing. But this would give her the chance to still do both.

Option 2: Quit gymnastics and just take acro & dance. She'll get to do 4 dances in the recital this year, be on the junior acro team, and compete. If it's the tumbling she loves, she can still get that at the dance studio. But I explained that if she quits gymnastics, it's not a sport you can easily get back into again after you've been out of it for a while. Her gymnastics friends will move ahead of her...and fast.

I told her it is HER decision. No one can make up her mind for her. She has to do what her heart tells her to do.
Funny thing is...I already know what she's going to do.
Stay tuned...
And one more thing...the gym asked Gianna to join the Hot Shot team...it starts at 3 hours a week...she's 5. Oy vey...

Fishing on a summer morning

What a great way to start a beautiful summer day...



I don't like to fish...the worms gross me out and I feel bad for the fish...

But the kids love it. Danny has been taking them since they were really little...

It was so peaceful...

All the kids caught fish...

Even Gianna...

Don't worry...they all got tossed back into the water...the fish...not the kids. I was a nervous wreck thinking Danny was taking too long to unhook them. Were they still breathing? It made me anxious...but yes they were all fine...still talking about the fish...not the kids.

Another kind of fish...some were prettier than others...

Julia had some problems with the seaweed...

Gianna loved playing with the worms...just gross and disgusting if you ask me...

Gag...

There was no fighting or arguing between the kids while fishing...

Just nice and peaceful...

Fishing on a summer morning...I highly recommend it...unless you're like me and don't like worms...or fish...

Grateful

This is the view from my home office (aka dining room)...


Believe me...I know how lucky I am that I can work from home and be a stay-at-home Mom. I remember all too well what it was like having to leave for work on a beautiful summer morning and leaving two little ones home with a sitter. Not fun.

I count my blessings every day.

Cub Scout camp

About two years ago, Nicholas came home from school waving a flyer in my face. It showed a picture of a young boy doing archery at Cub Scout camp. This was all he talked about for months. So finally, two years later, he had his chance. He got to spend the whole week doing all kinds of fun boy things...


Friday was family day.

We watched the boys use BB guns. (Julia got to try too.)

They went on nature walks, rode bikes, swam, used paddle boats and row boats. They ran races and played kick ball.

Nicholas is very lucky to have such a wonderful and devoted Dad who took the whole week off from work to spend time with him at this camp.

They learned a lot this week...

The best part of the day for me was trying to leave the parking lot after closing ceremonies. There was this guy, rather large guy, in a cub scouts T-shirt with a whistle around his neck. He was yelling at all the parents trying to leave the parking lot before the buses did. All I could think of was the guy who played the security guard at Wally World in National Lampoon's Vacation.

"Sorry folks...parks closed!"

I laughed until my face hurt last night just thinking about it...

The Rest and Rockets

The rest of our vacation was good...although it rained on Wednesday. But we were prepared with lots of coloring books, crayons, stuffed friends, board games, computer games, video games and movies.

We went to see a kids movie and played miniature golf too. Needless to say, I don't think any of us will be professional golfers when we grow up.

Goodbye to our tiny little Cape house...we won't be seeing you again...

The following morning after our trip, Nicholas had a rocket launch with the Cub Scouts...it was lots of fun!

He's on the right. They built their own rockets and then launched them on this cool contraption...

Counting down...

Cub Scouts is a fabulous activity for young boys...we highly recommend it.

Below are some videos of Nicholas launching his rockets. He was actually able to catch the first one he launched.

The third video is of his leader's rocket. The thing was HUGE and went so high I couldn't even see it.