Baby Shower, Phase One...I went down to Sutton Place last night for a baby shower for Brona. It was very fun to see a bunch of the girls and hang out for the evening. John kept the kids. They had a big time going to the park, riding in the rickshaw, going for a slice of pizza, and coming back to the house to make homemade ice cream sundaes. Then they snuggled up and watched the Yankees game until bedtime. Sounds like an ideal night for kids (and adults alike)!

Tea Parties with Dad...Julia loves to have tea parties/birthday parties with John on our bed. And usually the door is closed so that no one can intrude on their private time. It is hilarious!

Downtime...Today is a day for downtime. VBS was a big success this week and the kids had a lot of fun. I will have some pics downloaded in a couple of days. But today, the kids and I are just going to hang out and enjoy going nowhere.

One exciting thing to occur this week is that both kids found out who their teacher's will be and are getting excited about going back to school. Julia cannot wait! Jacob is most jazzed about his brand new school supplies and backpack. Ha! I was just like that growing up. It was always so fun to get all new stuff.

The other night after dinner, John and Julia did a little dancing together. This is a regular occurrence but I captured some of it with the camera. Julia LOVES the sound "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore...." That is what they are dancing to.

VBS, Day #2...Ok, don't get me wrong...we are really enjoying VBS and it has been a wonderful experience so far. BUT, ENOUGH WITH THE RAIN! I am in charge of outdoor games and it has rained the first two days. So, we have been improvising games in the nursery (up to 20 kids at a time in groups of 5). Most of the games are geared toward water games since the theme is "Make a Splash with Jesus". Many of these games cannot be adapted INSIDE. And the age range is from 3 yrs old to 12 yrs old this year. Makes for a very creative thinking process that at many times I lack...ha! Oh well, tomorrow is a new day and I will be praying for no rain and maybe even dancing a "no rain" dance for good measure. What could it hurt?!? Just kidding...

Playtime at the Playground...Took the kids to the fire truck playground at Jacob's school today. Run their little tailfeathers off in hopes of having a quiet, relaxing rest of the day. We are all tired and I want to rest up before VBS starts Monday.

Yankee Doodle Dandy....Talk about a BIG time! Jacob and John did not get in last night from the Yankee game until after 1am. They had a fantastic time. Jacob ate like a linebacker, John found out insider tips on the Yankees, and Jacob even got to ride in the front of the train on the way home. While in the front of the train, he had the opportunity to go in with the train conductor and blow the train horn. On the older trains the front car has a door with windows right in the middle of the track. Even though Jacob was tired, and all the other kids were asleep, he stayed right by the engineers door for the entire 50 minute ride. He was in awe! He kept hugging and kissing John and telling him this night was the best adventure EVER! Ha! Talk about making memories!

Yankees Game...Here are Al (or as Julia calls him "Owl"), Kieran, and Jacob at the Yankees game tonight. John sent this to me via his phone.

A Little Summer Fun...Started the day by hitting the fabulous Kohl's sale and got all Julia's school shopping done in 1 hour. Yea! Then home for lunch and then the kids and I went to the beach with our neighbor, Brona, for a couple of hours. It was a great day at 85 degrees but the surf was so high that I had to finally ix-nay the boogey boards. I kept worrying the kids would be pulled out to sea. While we were at the beach, our neighbors called to invite John and Jacob to the Yankees game tonight. So, Al and Kieran and John and Jacob are on their way to the Bronx for an evening of baseball, dogs, and probably beer (for the Dads). What fun! It'll be great for it to be an all guy night.

Moms To Be...Brona and her sister-in-law, Alice, are due within 3 weeks of each other. Very cute!

Other Pics:
The pretty flowers growing out of our staircase...
Jacob and Julia playing...
Logan in the car and Jack in the highchair (John and Brona's nephews)

Block Party...We had our block party last night. We joined forced with neighbors, John and Brona, for some hamburgers, hotdogs, etc. We had a really fun time with lots of kids running around. I had bought a small blow-up pool for the kids to play in and that is where they pretty much parked themselves all night except to eat. That had a blast! And for some reason they were both really interested in wearing the swim goggles...looking for treasure at the bottom of the pool, I guess. Julia made friends with anyone who walked by and stopped to chat. The 3 policemen who live next door were her favorites...ha!

More pics...

Fun With Friends...Our friends from Marietta, Kristin Littlefield and her sons, Barrett and Patrick, came for a visit this week. We had a great time! It was her kids first time on a plane. They did great. They got here on Monday. We enjoyed an evening of pizza, cupcakes and playing at the playground. Then on Tuesday we headed into NYC to see the Statue of Liberty and the Central Park Zoo/Central Park. It was a very long day but very fun. Then Wednesday we spent the day at the beach here in Long Beach. First time for Barrett and Patrick to go to the beach. We were sad to see them go Thursday but boy! we slept like a baby...ha!

Counting Down...Lots of counting going on...Well, the household is all a-twitter getting ready for our friends, Kristin Littlefield and her sons, Barrett and Patrick to come tomorrow. Jacob already has welcome music picked out and I am to make cupcakes for the "party". Ha! It'll be a big time. Can't wait!

The other item we are counting now is that as of Monday, it is 1 month until school starts. We are anxiously awaiting a letter from Jacob's school as to who his teacher will be and the arrival of his ordered school supplies/backpack. Only this year, Julia will be going to Pre-K Monday thru Friday also. Jacob is psyched because her school day actually starts before his. Ha! Go figure! Apparently she has some time to make up.

The third thing we are already counting down is Halloween. The Lilly's Kids catalog came yesterday with all the Halloween costumes in it. Jacob already has his costume selection (for now) picked up. And Julia swears she wants to be the pink power ranger...who wants to be just like brother?!?! I told Jacob it wasn't time to order the costumes yet. He really wanted to have it in time for Barrett's visit. I told him he could bring it to Oklahoma the next time we come. He was satisfied with that.

HAIRSPRAY...I went and saw the movie Hairspray last night with some girls from work. It was awesome! I had been seeing all the great reviews but it really was all that and a bag of chips! The music was fantastic but it was also really funny and all the actors were just perfect for the parts. I want to get the CD...it is so good! If you get a chance, go see it!

Today the kids and I are going with our neighbor, Brona, down to the beach to play and have lunch. Should be a fun afternoon.