More Friends Visit!

We started the holiday weekend off with a visit from our friends Jul and her kids and Laura and her kids. Between the 3 moms we had 7 kids - not to mention my neice, Abby.

The day was a perfect beach day and all the kids seemed to pair off with someone their age. Jacob being the oldest and a boy, decided to go play with the boys next door that he had become good friends with. We stayed so long at the beach, we closed it down and left after the lifeguards!

Another fun day playing in the sun and sand!

Kindergarten Orientation

We had a brief interruption to our vacation as today was Kindergarten Orientation for Allison. It's a pretty big deal - the kids and parents wait at the bus stop, ride the bus, see the classroom and meet the teacher. So we couldn't miss it! We left OC very early and got home just in time to catch the bus. Jacob stayed in OC with Grandmom and Abby for the morning.


Allison loved her teachers. She has 2 teachers - Mrs. Iuliucci and Mrs. Buerle. Both seem very nice and gave her lots of attention. She had a great time and is even more excited to go for the real thing and wear her backpack! 1 week and counting!

Youth Group Reunion

Today I met up with 2 of my oldest friends (and not in terms of age :o) )! My friend Julie and her family were vacationing in OC and my friend Catherine and her family came for the day. We all met up for a day on the beach with all the kids! Julie, Catherine and I have been friends for as long as I can remember - probably since we've been babies! Our grandmothers were all very close friends and we grew up together going to the same church. When we were older, we spent our middle school years and high school years torturing our youth group leaders! We have alot of special memories!

Today was the first time we were all together as parents with our kids - Catherine has a new baby - just 9 months old! What a fun day!

Catherine's husband, Mark, was also able to join us - something we were all quite grateful for. You see, he LOVES to build sand castles and play in the sand! He is an excellent babysitter and keeps the kids completely spellbound by his love for the sand! His activities are usually several hours long! :o)

This is the start of the project....

And here is the finished product!
After the beach we all showered and met up on the boardwalk for some rides! Jacob, Allison and Daulton (Julie's oldest) had a blast! The boys were quite silly being boys!

The Last Summer Fling in OC!

We are on our last extended stay in OC for the 2007 year. We typically spend our weekends in OC during September, but Jacob plays soccer on the weekends now so our time will be limited.

The kids and I arrived today and will be here for a week - the day before school starts! We are squeezing the last bit out of summer before school begins! Eric will spend the long weekend with us and took a vacation day to extend his time just one more day!

Today my friend Melynie and her kids came down to spend the day! In the confusion of moving in and getting to the beach all before noon, I forgot my camera! The day was beautiful and all the kids played wonderfully together! The best part was that Melynie and I got to sit and chat for a while without interruption!

High School Musical 2!

I must admit that it was only last week that we watched the first High School Musical. That was partly because Allison was invited to a High School Musical 2 party with some of her playgroup girl friends. I figured if we were going to watch the second one, we had better get moving on watching the first!

I must also confess that Jacob enjoyed the first movie more than Allison. But she enjoyed it enough to want to go watch the second one! So last night there was a girl party which started out with pizza, then popcorn and pretzels, then make your own icecream sundaes. The girls all had a great time watching the movie and being together!

My personal opinion is that I liked the first one better! Last night I was reliving my own high school years as the movie reminded me of "Grease" and "Dirty Dancing" all in one!

I'm sure we will be watching it again sooner than later as Jacob didn't get to see it and would like to see it too!

Camden Riversharks

Tonight our mini-church all went to the Camden Riversharks game. It was a beautiful warm night. We love going to the Riversharks because it's so family friendly and affordable. The stadium is small so every seat is a great one and close to the field. I'm not exactly sure how much of the game was actually watched as there were about 30 of us which also means lots and lots of kids! At the end of the game the kids were all allowed to run the bases on the field! Another great game and great evening with friends!

The whole group!

A quick dance in between inings!

Yummy! Cotton Candy!

All the kids waiting to run the bases!

Jacob and Allison bring it home at Campbells Field!

Sparkling Ears!

For almost a year, I've been asking Allison if she wanted her ears pierced. Everytime, she would give the same answer, "No, I like the stick on earrings, Mommy." So we have never pressed the issue. About 2 weeks ago, her friend Maddy got her ears pierced. Apparently Maddy paved the way for others to follow in her footsteps. Last Tuesday we were in the mall and we passed by where they pierce ears. I told Allison that Maddy and her friend Jenna both had their ears pierced there. Right then and there she decided that she was ready to take the plunge! Since Eric and I were getting ready to leave town in a couple of days, we decided that we would do it when we returned. Part of me thought that she would change her mind, but once Allison makes her mind up about something, there is no changing it!

So, today was the day! Of course, I needed backup because my history of being able to stay conscience during and after ear piercing is less than perfect (seems like it doesn't matter who is having their ears pierced this particular activity causes me to faint on the spot!). So my mom met me at the local jewelry store for the happy occasion! Allison was excited but a little nervous. We made sure that the store had 2 people there to do both ears simultaneously. Allison choose blue crystal stud earrings. I was a bit surprised at her choice of blue, but her explanation was that blue was for Cinderella! Of course, why not! After a few tears, she was thrilled with her new addition to her wardrobe! And I stayed upright for the whole thing! We both survived her ears being pierced!

Pump It Up

Allison has been involved with a great playgroup since last fall. It is a great group of kids and moms that we both have really enjoyed getting to know! Throughout the summer, the siblings of all the kids in the playgroup have also gotten to know each other and have also made some great friendships!


Tonight we all met at Pump It Up Party. It's fairly new in the area and we've been waiting to get there. So we made it tonight! It was alot of fun for the kids and the adults too!

Anniversary Cruise

Eric and I just returned from a wonderful cruise to the Bahamas! We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and decided to do something "special". Since vacation time was at a premium and we didn't decide to do this until the last minute, we opted for a short weekend cruise. Our ship departed on Friday and we returned home on Monday.

We began our "adventure" (and I do mean adventure) on Thursday. We were flying out to Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday night at 7:30 pm. Before we even left for the airport, we knew there were delays. The airline kept encouraging us to get there as they may switch the aircraft around and getting us out sooner than expected. So... off to the airport we went. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw. The terminal was wall to wall people, every seat taken, a line of about 200 people waiting to speak with the agent at the desk and not a single plane coming or going from the airport! Our plane was coming from Florida and that airport was "grounded" as well. After many, many phone calls to an agent, we were faced with the possibility that if we did not get on a flight that night we were not going to make our cruise on Friday. All flights going out on Friday in time for us to make the ship were in a sold out status. Around 10:30 pm out of desperation, and thanks to an extremely helpful and sympathetic agent, we put put a hold on a ticket from Baltimore to Ft. Lauderdale at 6 am on Friday. Not the best scenario but better than missing our ship! Around 11:00 we got word that our plane had indeed left Florida and was on it's way. We boarded our flight and took off at 2 am on Friday, landed at 4:30 am. Got to our hotel at 6 am in Miami and slept until for a few hours and we were on our ship by 1pm! Whew! Never a dull moment. Friday was a complete blur for both of us as we were so exhausted and completely over whelmed! Despite everything, we were thrilled to be there and taking in the sights.

Saturday we spent the day on the cruiseline's private island in the Bahamas, Coco Cay. We did absolutely nothing all day but either lay on our lounge chairs or lay on our rafts in the water! A perfect day. We did have some rain that day but it didn't interfere with our activities. When it was time to board the ship we headed right to the pool deck and laid around soaking in the sun some more! It was wonderful!

Sunday was a bit more activity in Nassau. We had booked an excusion to go visit the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. After a bit of walking, a boat ride, and some more walking, we were taking in the sights at Atlantis! Wow! What a place! We decided that it was the "Magic Kingdom" of hotels! We had access to the entire hotel w/ the exception of the pool areas. They had several aquariums on site that were just amazing as well as beautiful gardens and magnificent beaches! After taking in the sites around the hotel, we found our spot on the beach and relaxed. On our way back to the ship we visited the Straw Market. This is a place were the locals sell a variety of things to the tourists. This was definately an experience unlike any other!

And of course what would the end of our vacation be w/o more airline troubles. After a itinerary changes, cancellations and delays, we made it home! Now back to reality! This was our first cruise and we decided that we would do it again whenever we had the opportunity! It is definately the way to visit places! That said, we also decided that it would be nice to not have to rely on the airlines to get us to and from the ship!

Help With Yogurt!

During the summer we've been purchasing Go-Gurts and freezing them and taking them to the pool or the beach. Allison has a trouble getting all the yogurt squeezed out of her tube so most of the time she asks for help. Today was no exception to the rule. Today however, the yogurt missed her mouth! Needless to say, Allison wasn't quite sure what had just happened! I wonder if she'll ask for help anymore!

OC Day Trip

Today we went to OC with good friends. The day started out really beautiful and comfortable considering the 95+ degrees we left at home! The kids all had a great time and the dads (a.k.a. the big kids) had fun boogie boarding too! By afternoon some dark clouds started to roll in from the mainland. Pretty soon it started to drizzle, then it stopped but then started again but this time a little harder. After a few minutes the drizzle became a pretty steady rain. To keep our dry things dry, I opted to take the beach umbrella off the stand and hold it closer to the ground. Then the thunder started! Everyone was whistled out of the water by the lifeguards and told to leave the beach! Within minutes the beach was empty! Melissa and I took the kids and headed for home while the guys gathered the chairs and toys and everything else. I wish I could have gotten a picture of us coming off the beach - quite the sight! Although our day was cut a little bit short, we did get most of the day on the beach with great weather and the rain provided a great memory (and a laugh)!

An "EXTREME" field trip

After the pool today, the kids and I drove to meet Eric after work. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has been in Camden/Pennsauken this week. They are building a home just a couple of blocks from Eric's office. So we found a parking lot and met Eric and walked down to see the excitement! Although we did not see anyone "famous", it was really cool to see! It's quite a production between, construction crew, security, news crews, neighborhood on lookers and those like us, just coming for a peek! Apparently the family was featured on 20/20 with Diane Sawyer last January about living in poverty. The family is a single father with 5 boys, most of which are older, one is in college I think! The show will air sometime in November. A local ministry, Urban Promise, had a huge part in making this happen. It's an interesting story! Although we would like to make it for the "move that bus" part, there is no way I'm venturing in to that chaos! Here is a link to check out the story. http://www.urbanpromiseusa.org/get_involved/emhe.html
The side of the house
The front of the house

A HOT one!

We spent the day at the pool again today! It was a scorcher - 96 degrees and humid! We choose a spot with an umbrella. Abby and my mom spent the day with us too. It was a day that unless you were wet, you were just about melting! The water was even a bit on the "too warm" side. As a special treat and a way to cool off the water, the staff at the swim club hooked up the "sprinkler". Once they turned it on, the kids all started screaming with excitement. It even seemed to cool us off sitting under the umbrella with just a little bit of a cooler breeze. Another fun day in the sun at the pool!

Swimming Lessons

Today completed our summer swimming lessons at our swim club. Both Jacob and Allison had lessons everyday for 9 days. The lessons were not as cumbersome for me as in the past since both kids were in the same group! Instead of being there for 1 1/2 hours we were only there for 45 minutes! Fortunately the last day was the absolute worst in terms of the heat so all in all it was a great session - for the observers!

Both kids did extremely well! Jacob was the youngest in his class by several years (most kids were 11 and 12) and was placed in the highest level group. They worked on fine tuning their various strokes. Besides Freestyle, Jacob enjoys the Breast stroke the best! His instructor, Miss Tara was great and was very proud of his accomplishments!
Allison also made great strides in her swimming abilities! She was the youngest in her class as well (the others were at least 1 or 2 years older). She was the only one in her class that did not use a floatation bubble to swim! She has started to swim Freestyle and use her arms. She swims along at a pretty good speed! She also broke her fear of jumping into the water. We've been working on this a few years and finally we made progress! She even went off the diving board and jumped to a noodle rather than hold onto the noodle. This is a huge advancement from last year, when one instructor had to be in the water to catch and the other one took her by the arms and lowered her into the water! Allison had 2 instructors, Miss Angela and Mr. Justin!

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A Quick Update

I haven't posted recently because we haven't really had any unusual happenings or earth shattering events. Our days are spent by the pool, home for dinner and then out to play in the evening! We are having a great summer and keeping very busy!

Today as I mentioned in an earlier post we spent today at the Russell's pool. The kids had a great time playing together and swimming as it was an extremely hot day! Jacob had fun teaching Ben a few swimming tips. Ben learned to go all the way under water, swim under water, and jump off the side of the pool! Jacob's very excited that he had a part in helping Ben with his swimming accomplishments! Yeah Ben!!!!

Naughty Doggie!

Upon arriving home from a fun day at our friend Lisa's pool, Jacob went upstairs to take his shower. He summoned me upstairs for what he called a "really bad thing" in the shower. Apparently our 9 year old dog (way beyond puppy stage), became uncharacteristically bored! At some point between last evening and this evening, she climbed into the tub, and completely tore into a million pieces 2 bath sponges. Somehow she managed to contain the mess as everything was in the tub and no visible evidence until you pull open the shower curtain. The other amazing thing is that the sponges were hanging on the little pull lever to activate the shower, so she had to get them off the lever! This is surprising to us because even as a puppy, she never really destroyed things by chewing. I guess she is living life on the wild side these days!

Of course Jacob had to try to figure out why she did this and determined the following theory. He decided that since "he and Allison were misbehaving earlier in the day, that God told Darby to eat their bath sponges and that they should get along better from now on!" I'll let you know tomorrow how that logic is working out!