Philly and NYC

We took a trip to Philadelphia and NYC last week. Attached are many, many pictures.

We did ride the Philadelphia Ducks (yes, the one that got rammed by a barge yesterday). But, we obviously had a much better time than those people by NOT getting rammed by a barge.

NYC was really fun, very busy, and quite warm. We saw as much as we could in 2 1/2 days and didn't even come close to seeing all we wanted to see. Hopefully, we can take another trip there before we move.

One of the memorable quotes of the trip came from Matthew. After a long day of walking and getting dirtier than I ever thought possible, he decided to partake of our whirlpool tub (it was the only room they had left - and the kids thought it was awesome). After an unusual amount of giggling, I asked him what was so funny. He replied, "Whirlpools are great because you can fart and nobody will know!"

It's Official: Julia is a middle-schooler!

Julia graduates
23-Jun-2010

Here is a clip of Julia at her "graduation" (aka "Moving Up") ceremony. She's now a middle schooler!!! And, to complete the day, her softball team won their game and is moving on to the championship game tomorrow!!!

Julia is a middle-schooler!

Julia officially joined the ranks of middle-schoolers across the land today, thereby sealing my fate as an official old person. One kid in middle school...you're getting up there. TWO kids in middle school - yeah, please get me my cane.

She had a good day, even though her class was the last of TWELVE (yes, 12!) classes to get certificates. She had some refreshments afterwards and had a great time doing not much for the rest of the day at school.

Attached are a few pics. One is of Matthew who found that using the pencil sharpener in Julia's classroom was the highlight of his day. Had any of the kids still had pencils in their desks, he would have been a very useful little sharpener slave...

Lesson Number 443

Lesson Number 443: Be careful what you have on television - little boys are very observant!
Example: While at the grocery store, Matthew spotted a case of Labatt's Beer. It featured the new Labatt "Blue Light Refreshment Duo" on the box. He exclaimed, "Mom, those are the girls that can save us!"

Father's Day at Lake Ontario

Here's proof that we've been to Lake Ontario. Looks a bit like all the other Great Lakes (big). Also, we have proof we've been to the end of the pier at the Port of Rochester. The great part was when a guy fishing told the kids not to fall in because a kid had drowned here last week - really makes for a happy occasion!

The last two pictures are of two very tired kids, and two throwing sunscreen at each other because they are senseless. This was after playing in the surf, running up and down a pier in Matthew-like fashion (back and forth, in circles, occasionally falling down). We'd have done the carousel, except Matthew had a wet butt and it is against the rules to ride the carousel if you have a wet butt (seriously). We ate at a place called Schallers and then decided to drive out to Sea Breeze (and they have been asking ever since when we will go there - can we go tomorrow mom? Can we go after school is out? Or, we can go home and get our suits now, right?)

Hope everyone had a Happy Father's Day :)

Self Portraits...by Matthew

Here are Matthew's Self Portraits from November, January, and May. Notice the progression. To say we all had a good laugh was an understatement!

Lesson #442

The picture says it all.

Lesson #442: Do not allow you dog to sleep under your bed with his legs sticking out for you to trip on in the middle of the night. Unless, that is, you want to smash your face in...

Lilacs and Lechworth

We went to the Lilac Festival in Highland Park, ran in a Trot with Troops fundraiser, and visited Lechworth Park. And, we still have 3 more weeks of school before Summer vacation starts!
We plan a BIG trip this year (Wisconsin, Iowa, Mt. Rushmore, Cheyenne, Boise, and back to Rochester via Nashville (yes, Tennessee!)

Happy Memorial Day everyone, and especially to those serving our country!

Baseball Game

We went to a baseball game yesterday! It wasn't the Brewers, but the home team won and it was a good game :) Here are a few pictures.

TEENAGER!!!

As of yesterday, we officially have a (gasp!) TEENAGER in the house.

Let the fun begin...
Below is a link to a little slideshow of some pictures of Amanda in her more manageable years.
Amanda is officially a TEENAGER!

Matthew Starts Baseball!

Matthew played his first baseball game today, and it went pretty well.

He took the field and stood on the pitcher's mound, and fielded 3 hits. He also played in the outfield and fielded one hit. It's possible that he had that much fielding because he was one of the only kids to react when the ball was hit. Anyway, each time there was a hit he ran up and stopped the ball with his glove. Then, he picked up the ball and started to run to first. He kept running to first, with the ball. And, he'd keep running (not throwing the ball). When he was about 6 inches from the first baseman he would THEN throw the ball. Four times he did this. Luckily, the runners were either running to 3rd base instead of first, or were just standing at home plant not sure of what to do. Some kids ran with their bats. It was very entertaining! There is some video of his fielding action on my facebook page, along with his first hit and score. After he scored, his sisters gave him a celebratory hug!

After his game, we did a parade for all the teams. Matthew's team is sponsored by Salvatore's Pizza. So, they marched in front of that sign (and Amanda helped carry the sign). During the parade, Matthew got bored and decided to start picking flowers (dandelions). After awhile, possibly because he got tired of carrying them, he started handing out flowers to random women lining the parade route (much to their inital shock, and then delight!) He even chased one lady down who didn't see him trying to give her the flower. This boy is going to be interesting as he gets older...

Attached are some pictures of the day (and one of Allison's team and of her pitching). She pitched 2 innings (out of 4) and had an RBI in her game.

Julia turns 11!

Julia Birthdays

Click the "Julia Birthdays" link above to see a short slide-show of her over the years :)

Julia is now officially a "tween" having successfully completed her second double-digit year. Attached are some pictures of her birthday party last night and one of her softball team. If you check my facebook page, you'll see her sliding into home during her game!!!

That Scandalous Barney...wait, which one???

On the way home from a movie yesterday, we got into a discussion about television shows. The previous evening, Julia had seen part of "How I Met Your Mother", which stars Neil Patrick Harris as the confident womanizer Barney Stinson. Barney, according to Julia, is "a guy who likes to date a lot of girls and use weird ideas in a book he made to get them to date him". So, while we were discussing him and his obsession with women on the show I mentioned that in real life this talented actor is actually gay. Not actually following the conversation (as usual) was Allison who quickly asked, "Barney's GAY? Wait, which one? The purple one or the red one?"

(Is there even a red Barney??? As for purple Barney, I have not idea. I worried more about Tinky Winky and his big purse.)