Summer

I can't believe that it's already moving into the middle of August. The Summer has flown by for us but it's been so much fun!  Here's what we've done.

In June my sister Amy and her family came from California for 10 days.  The first few days they were here all of us, including my parents and my other sister Kate and her family rented a house in the cape for 3 days.  House was awesome.  lots of room for all of us and a pool that the kids swam in constantly.  If was so much fun for all 5 cousins to be together. 

Cousins at the beach

At the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden in Springfield, MA

My three girls, Grace, Sarah and Meghan

Gracie and Jake engaged in serious conversation

So proud!

Josie, Gracie and Katie

Three beauties

Gracie and Noah

Serious discussions over Hungry, Hungry Hippos

Grace, Noah and Auntie Robin playing with bubbles

We had such an amazing time and the babies are just gorgeous and fun and sweet and Noah was a love. I knew I missed Andrea and Robin but I didn't realize quite how much until we were all together again. Now that I know we can handle the drive, we'll make it more frequently.

We also enjoyed another road trip a couple of weeks ago. A good friend of mine got married at Cornell University.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that Grace was invited to the wedding as well.  So instead of me driving up on Saturday and back first thing on Sunday, we made a weekend of it and went up on that Friday.  It was supposed to be a 6 hour drive but at some point, my GPS decided to go into silent mode.  Not sure how far we went before I figured this out but we ended up adding two hours to the trip.  Once I figured out the issue I reset the GPS and then called my brother in law in California and asked him to double check it on map quest just to make sure we were going to actually find our destination. Luckily, he confirmed we were on the right track again.  We ended up stopping at a diner in the middle of no where upstate NY. The diner had not been redecorated since 1973 but the food was very good.  When the waitress seated us she asked if Grace wanted a booster seat and we said no thank you.  We are asked that question often and it makes Grace crazy because in her mind, she is super big.  The waitress comes back with our drinks and asks again if she wants a booster or a high chair.  Again, I politely say no thank you. The waitress then says are you sure, she's so tiny. Grace said "I am not tiny. I am just right thank you." The waitress walks away and she said mom, "why does everybody think I am a tiny baby? I am NOT a tiny baby who needs a HIGH CHAIR!" I just told her that we know she's a big girl and that's all that matters. But I was proud of her for politely sticking up for herself.  Once we got to the hotel we swam, had dinner and watched TV in our jammies.  The next morning we woke up and swam and had a leisurely morning.  Then it was time to get ready for the wedding.  The ceremony was at Sage Chapel which was lovely.  1,000 degrees, but really lovely.  The reception was at the Statler Hotel on the Cornell Campus.  It would be an understatement to say that Grace was the bell of the ball.  She danced for 3 1/2 hours straight. People were forming circles around her, she had a dance off with a grooms man, and won, and she participated in the cotton eyed Joe even though she had never done the dance before. She also got to dance with Bride which was the highlight of her life to date. She had the time of her life.  We left just after 9:00p.m. and as we were leaving she said "mom, this dance party is not over yet! Why are we leaving?" I explained that it was way past her bedtime and we had to get up early the next day and we had a long drive ahead of us.  As we were walking to the car I told her how proud I was of her because she was so patient and so well behaved. She said "Do you know why I was so happy today? Because I got to dance with the bride and I got to go to this great dance party. When can we come back to Ithaca for another dance party?" It was a great weekend and honestly, a really good summer.  I'm sorry to see it coming to an end.