Rites of Summer...

We have many rites of Summer, such as making a trip to the water park, attending a fireworks show, making s'mores, attending a baseball game, going to a carnival, etc. etc. etc.

One of my favorite rites as a child is now enjoyed by all my children. And, I love to watch them having so much fun jumping off the lifeguard chair once they are gone for the evening.

Can you see what he sees?

Tank borrowed Uncle Kev's sunglasses.

Click on the pic: From his right lens, I see me taking his pic and our beach cart.

I'm then blinded by his dimples and handsomeness!

Summer Cut for the Banana...

Before:


After:

Summer Cut for the Monkey...

Before:


After:


How cute is she???

American Girls and the Lovely Urkel Impression!

Happy Easter!

We are celebrating Easter today with lots of smiles and sunshine! After an early rise hunt for Easter baskets and a glorious Easter Mass, we are spending the day outside with friends. The ice cream truck even came by too! We're looking forward to our last egg hunt of the season and dinner with the extended family later today.

Below is our Easter dessert from two years ago. Our friends at Touche Touchet have been making our Easter desserts for the past four years. We will miss them this year, but hope they are having a restful visit to the beach.




Happy Easter, All...Enjoy your cake and your goodies!!!

Character Greetings...

The kids always love the character greetings when we go to Disney World...what kid doesn't??? This year they were prepared and brought autograph books with them.


Tomorrow we are visiting another theme park. Because the only theme park they know is Disney, they think they are going to see Mickey, Minnie, Power Rangers, Toy Story, Cinderella, Snow White, etc.

I can't wait to see their reactions when they run into these characters...

We will be celebrating Springtime at the Park in Hershey, PA. Last year I had planned to take the kids there by myself since Mr. O was out of town the whole week they were off from school. I ended up canceling our plans because the forecast called for LOTS of rain. This year, you couldn't ask for better weather. Tomorrow's forecast calls for LOTS of SUN with a high of 83 degrees. SWEET!!!

Can you tell how much I'm anticipating all that chocolate???

The Hunt is On...

Today we attended our first community egg hunt for this Easter season. I love watching all the kids line up in anticipation of what treasures their eggs will hold.


The Hunt was organized by age group. The 2yo and 3yo kids went off at 10:15. The 4yo and 5yo kids went off at 10:45; My monkey and her favorite cousin were in this group. Here they are showing off their loot...


Banana and Tank's hunt started at 11:15.


Today's eggstravaganza was held at Claude Moore Park. Of historical importance, Vestal's Gap Road runs through this park.

George Washington documented many trips on this road in his journals. As a young surveyor, just 17 years old, he became very familiar with the wilderness here. This experience made him Governor Dinwiddie’s choice to carry a letter of protest to the contested French settlements in 1753. His subsequent trips in 1754 and 1755 underscore the important role this road played in the French and Indian War. Approximately 1,000 British Red Coats and Colonial soldiers from Virginia and North Carolina marched down this road.

When my kids start learning about American history in school, I really am going to enjoy taking them to many historical sites in our area.