Old kids on the block

One of the reasons I love where we live is because we have a cul de sac. More and more, as the kids get older, they will play on the street. I feel that they are safe and I can do things in the garage etc. Every now and again, timing is right and our neighbors will be up with their kids and it turns into an impromptu playdate. As I was cleaning out our garage (it had become a bottomless pit with my staging items and my goal was to fit ONE car in!), Claire, Jack and Mona Helen and James wandered up. It made for the perfect excuse to stop cleaning and start socializing. Having a handy refrigerator in the garage, I handed the grown up beers and the kids played bikes/trikes/skuts/and scooters on the road. While we were chatting, a rainbow and then double rainbow appeared. I think I like what's at the end of MY rainbow!! :-)

July 4 in Ithaca

Every year I make July 4 the time of year that I go back and visit my mom in Ithaca. AND, every year it is as if a higher being is trying to convince me that travel is not my friend at this time of year. It is true, getting there lately has been like forcing a square peg into a round hole. And yet, I persevere. It really is the best time to visit.

This year, my mom had been out to visit us so she traveled back east with us. It turned out to be nice to have the extra set of hands as our flight from JFK to Syracuse was canceled and we ended up renting a car at 9 pm, scrounging a carseat (since our luggage and checked carseat were nowhere to be found) and driving the 5 hours since they couldn't get us on another flight for 3 days. "Weather related", they said. "Yeah, I'll weather related you" is what we were all thinking.....the catch all for "we can't be held responsible".

Aaaaanyway.....once Alan was done swearing he wouldn't visit Ithaca but every few years, we arrived and had a great time. The kids have plenty of room to run around, we spent time with old friends, I had a mini-class reunion and re-connected with old classmates, and overall we spent good time outdoors and relaxed.

I love visiting our cottage on Cayuga Lake and the memories of growing up there warm my heart. I am so happy to be able to share that with my kids. It truly is GORE-geous.





And did I mention on the way home they messed up our connecting flight and after a drive to Syracuse we had to drive BACK to Ithaca and leave the next day instead of the day we were supposed to? Oh brother........

Heidi's big 40th boat bday

Oh what a lovely day. My favorite day of the year. My birthday. This year was a big one so we rented a boat through Call of the Sea and went for a sail on the bay with about 30 friends. My mom and my uncle flew out from New York for it. We boarded the 82' schooner, Seaward, at about 5:30 pm and had cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and cake on board. It was a beautiful night with sun and light wind. Plenty of memories and pictures to remember the night by. Thanks to all that helped us celebrate and thanks to those in absentia that would have liked to have made it - we missed you!

Happy Birthday to me

I love spending my birthday with my family. I woke up today with my family around me and then spend the afternoon with my mom and my daughter (Evan was napping otherwise I'm sure he would have loved to have joined us). Kiira gave me a beautiful teal clutch purse for my birthday - what good taste you (and Nanny) have Kiira! I love it!!

Yippee!!! Yippee!!!! I love my birthday!!!!!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to Alan!

Dear Dad,

Thanks for all the batting practice and the airplane rides. Thanks for teaching us to ride a bike/tricycle/scooter and letting us run around dirty and be kids. Thanks for taking us for walks and flying kites with us. Thanks for coming to our horse events, our school concerts and our Yad b'Yad classes. Thanks for taking us for ice cream and teaching us how to ice skate. Thanks for laughing at our jokes and telling some in return. Thanks for taking us to the library, helping us read and then helping us on the inadvertent scavenger hunt to find the library book again. Thanks for our little gifts when you go away on business, it reminds us that you are here even when you are not. But most of all, thank you for your unconditional love when we are less than perfect, when we spill, when we fight, and when we try all the patience that is inside of you. We love you daddy.

Love, Kiira and Evan

Safari West

In Sonoma County, we are lucky enough to have our own Safari. No, there aren't elephants, tigers or lions but there are plenty of giraffes, water buffalo, gazelles, steer, and a bunch of other animals I am forgetting! It is great and the kids LOVE it! It is called Safari West. We went with our friend Hilary, her son Luca and her mom. Kiira, Evan, Nanny and I went to celebrate Evan's 3rd birthday. We loaded up into a big jeep and drove around, "on safari" of course.

Evan's birthday slideshow

You can see more of Evan's birthday photos here!