Back to School 2015

Frankie was totally ready to head back to school this year. Although he frequently saw his close school friends over the summer, he was still excited. No tears on the first day this year!

He couldn't wait to dress in his "sniffy" button down shirt from Grammy and head out the door! (I've told him numerous times that it's "you look spiffy" but he insists it's "sniffy".)  

This year he's started to unbuckle his car seat himself while we wait in drop off line and gets so excited to see everyone walk in.  One day he was even yelling out of the open window to the other kids. What a difference a year makes. 

He recently saw Frank using a shoe horn and lately has insisted on bringing it to school every day. (They change into slippers when they arrive.) The other day as I dropped him off, one of his teachers said smiling, "Oh, you've got your shoe horn!"  

Here's to another successful school year!

Labor Day in New York

We didn't want to miss out on celebrating Lea's 20th birthday, so, since Frank had a Labor Day soccer tournament, I decided to take the kids to Long Island for the weekend. We were pulling away from the house a little before 5am on Saturday and made it to Grammy & Grampa's by 10am - just in time for a late breakfast at the Pinky Diner. :)

Frankie actually stayed up THE ENTIRE ride. And Julia finally dozed off in Staten Island. So much for my "early departure and the kids go back to sleep" plan. Despite the lack of shut eye, it was an easy drive and the kids were really well behaved.

We spent Saturday afternoon strolling along the water in Northport. The kids loved watching the boats and got to touch some of the bait fish the fishermen were using. We couldn't leave without stopping in the Sweet Shop that we used to visit as kids with Grammy & Grampa for a scoop (or two) of ice cream!

Julia reminds me SO MUCH of Laura (when she was little) in this picture!

Later that afternoon we squeezed in a fun visit at Grandpa & Papa's and then headed back to Huntington for the night. On Sunday, the kids got to play with Kate & Emma at my grandparents and then at 1pm, we were in Commack for Lea's party. The kids swam, played and had a blast. (And Julia somehow snuck in a 2 hour nap on the couch in the middle of the party since she was so exhausted.) And, per plan, at almost exactly 8pm, we were back in the car on our way home. Not exactly per plan; however, was the stop and go traffic almost the entire way from Commack to the Verrazano Bridge! I figured we would miss Labor Day traffic by leaving late on Sunday. But, boy was I wrong.  Thankfully it was clear sailing the rest of the ride and we were home by 1am - and the kids slept the whole ride home. Frankie was so tired, he was out before we hit the Expressway from Uncle Mike's.  

A great weekend, followed by a relaxing Labor Day with our family at home!

Grammy's Birthday Celebration with the Kiddos

The kids and I went to Winchester one Sunday to spend the day with Grammy.  

We swam, played with the cats, Frankie helped feed the dogs...

Talking to the kitty

Had a nice BBQ...

Poor Julia had enough and fell asleep eating her corn on the cob at dinner

And celebrated mom's birthday...

Proudly showing off Grammy's card that he signed himself!

Julia and I left Frankie behind for his last slumber party of the summer. As we were saying our good-byes, Frankie told me to "take care of Julia" and gave her a big hug and kiss.  He also told her "I know you will miss me".  She did, buddy...and so did Mommy & Daddy.

A Walk in the Park

One beautiful August morning we decided to take the kids to Roosevelt Island for a "nature walk".

Frankie decided pretty immediately that he wanted to be "one with nature"...

And then Julia followed suite...

Julia: "I do pee-pee"

The kids had fun spotting animals (birds, squirrels...nothing crazy), balancing on fallen trees and sharing their goldfish with the ducks!

Mom's Big 6-0 Celebration

Laura & I knew the perfect way to celebrate mom's 60th birthday. We booked the plane tickets, hotel, and planned our four day itinerary to...

Savannah!

We managed to totally keep it a secret from mom until our way to the airport. The only instructions we gave her were to pack a small bag for 4 days.  

She was floored. We got tears. Surprise mission accomplished!

Plus we had an amazing time! We took an early morning flight on Saturday so were able to enjoy the full day.  We walked along the river, shopped along Broughton Street, sampled pralines and took in the sights of the beautiful city all before dinner at Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons restaurant. Mom was in heaven.

Steps down to River Street

Girls along River Street

"Mom, show us your surprised face!"

The Lady and Sons

On Sunday, we took a trolley tour of the historic city, walked through Forsyth Park, had lunch at the Mansion on Forsyth Park, sampled more pralines plus the largest candy apple & rice krispie treat you've ever laid eyes on, discovered Wet Willie's frozen daiquiri bar, enjoyed drinks on the rooftop overlooking the Savannah River and dinner at Alligator Soul, where we all dug into our first taste of amazing shrimp and grits - followed by dessert at the famous Leopold's Ice Cream.

Chippewa Square (Forrest Gump's bench was a prop in this park)

Beautiful Spanish moss streets

Forsyth Park

Busted with her 50th praline sample of the trip ;)

Monday took us to Tybee Island Beach where we caught a few rays and enjoyed some down time once the rain decided to let up. We ended the day with a casual pizza dinner on City Market and then hit up a ghost tour (where we caught some "orbs" on film and I may have had a close encounter?!) - and a return trip to Leopold's. (They were celebrating their 96th birthday, so it would have been rude not to patronize them again!)

We flew out Tuesday afternoon, which gave us time to sample more pralines (and buy some to take home) and revisit a few of our favorite spots - including another lunch along the river.

Sorrel-Weed House

Mercer Williams House (from the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil)

What an incredible girl's trip!

Happy Birthday to the best mom a girl could wish for!

Summer Fun

Summer kicked off early this year since Memorial Day fell on 5/25 and Frankie’s last day of school was 5/22.  His school year ended with a family picnic equipped with bounce houses and lots of yummy treats.  Overall, Frankie’s first year of preschool was great and we’re really happy to have him part of the Chesterbrook family.  Frankie remains rather timid at school – one day during drop off, a teacher was relaying a story of Frankie and another boy talking and talking at the snack table, and she was so curious what quiet, little Frankie was gushing about. We frequently received reports that “Frankie is very into his work.” While we do experience his shyness in public, usually at home, he’s quite the opposite rambunctious, little boy.   

Frankie seems to enjoy his non-structured independence/unschedule, so Frank and I decided not to enroll him in camps this summer. Instead, he and Julia have been enjoying the park, pool and lots of play dates. We've also managed to keep busy with…

Falls Church Memorial Day Parade & Festival followed by an impromptu neighborhood BBQ at our house. Julia even got to experience her first pony ride. 

Quick day trip to PA to visit Aunt Marlene who was visiting from Florida. 

Strawberry picking – or in Julia’s case, strawberry eating. The girl ate her weight in strawberries – green leaves and all! (Which may have contributed to an embarrassing blow-out in Chick-fil-a at lunch.)

 

Girls (and kids) weekend trip to Blacksburg: The kids and I met Rachel and Easton in Winchester and all piled in Rachel’s car for a road trip to visit Kristy and her family. The kids and the adults all had a blast! 

Frankie’s first slumber party at Grammy’s: Frankie spent his first night at Grammy’s BY HIMSELF and loved every minute of it. He’s since spent two more nights and the last time he cried and told Grammy that he didn’t want to come home. :( 

Waiting patiently for his driver to take him to Grammy's

4^th of July in New York: What has become our annual tradition; Another great Independence Day celebration at Uncle Mike’s! Frankie is still scared by the fireworks but Julia was totally into them.

Nags Head: We look forward to it every year and it never disappoints. A fun filled week in the Outer Banks with the family. Julia loved the sand and ocean; Frankie loved the hot tub but got brave the last few days and jumped the waves.

Peach picking: While Frank was in Tulsa coaching his team in the US National Soccer Championship, the kids & I met Aunt Laura, Uncle Jon, and Lainey, their adorable new Goldendoodle, at Great Country Farm for some peach picking. We had a relaxing picnic lunch, the kids played on the playground and we ate peaches for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner for the next week.

First baseball game: We teamed up with our neighbors, the Balkemas, for the kids’ first baseball game. It was hot, but fun. We almost got Frankie to run the bases afterwards, but he chickened out at the last minute.

Arlington County Fair: Frankie loved the rides – and Julia did, too! Her first fair ride experience: The Worm…or duck, as she and Frankie called it (there was a yellow bird 'chasing' the worm).

Camping: I think Frankie got the idea of camping in his head from a Peppa Pig video. So, one not-too-hot August evening, he & Frank set up the tent and slept outside…all night! Frankie had a blast and next wants to sleep in the tent in the woods! I think I could muster up the will power to camp one night…for Frankie.

The campers' digs

Frankie was so excited; Frank not so much (because I was "letting bugs in" - and note the mosquito on his forehead - whoops!)

Pool: Julia and the pool got off to a rocky start this summer since she didn't want to take her flip flops off to get in. I let her keep them on the first day and convinced her to take them off the next time without her putting up too much of a fight. She's now totally into the fountains at the pool and loves jumping in from the side...just like her brother.