fighting crime

Yep. That's us, wearing superhero capes. This was taken on father's day this year, at Magic Mountain. We surprised Tony with a trip to ride roller coasters and they were giving away capes as prizes in the Midway. We had a blast, splitting up - Tony and Maggie to ride the big roller coasters, Sally and I on the roller coasters with training wheels. I think Sally's ready to ride with the big boys now which means I don't have to ride roller coasters anymore, which is just fine with me!

Fourth of july

So ... it's been awhile, but I'm hoping to get back to keeping this blog.

This year we went to my parents for the fourth, Maggie was at Interlochen so it was just Tony, Sally and I. We had a great time! John and family, as well as Sue and family were there so it was a cousinpalooza. The weather was gorgeous, so the girls had a lemonade stand with the help of Matt and Kate, we played at the park and the beach, and then, of course, there was the parade and festivities on the fourth. This year the girls were disappointed that they didn't get very much candy, the problem being that we stand at the end of the parade route and by the time it comes to us, everyone's out. Oh well, we made up for that sweet shortage later with 2 funnel cakes. here are a few pictures of the kids doing sparklers in the front yard after the fireworks.

Christmas in New York

We spent Christmas in New York again this year and were treated to a huge snowstorm. We were thrilled! Martin, Kate and Molly hosted Christmas dinner which was delicious, Kitty and Tony treated us to Christmas Eve dinner at Bryant Park and we went to tons of shows - Angels in America, Lion King, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Spider Man, the Big Apple Circus and American Idiot. We skated in Central Park, played games in the room, walked and walked and walked and ate and ate and ate. We were really sorry to leave.

it's been awhile

so, life got busy and I haven't posted in a long time. I'm going to try and catch up. One of my problems, honestly, is that I don't have a decent camera so all I have are iphone pictures and that really depresses me! I am going to get a good camera this year and learn how to use it. But til then, I'll keep posting the pictures I have. Let's see ... these next few posts will be in no particular order, just attempting to catch us up to where we are today.

Over Thanksgiving we went to San Francisco and had a great time. We hiked in Muir Woods, played on Stimson Beach, biked across the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito and saw Cavalia - amazing. We also shopped and ate and just hung out.

Blue

Yep. Maggie dyed a blue streak in her hair the other day. She asked if she could and I saw no reason why not, it eventually washes out and I think it looks cool. So, we went to the drugstore and she chose ultra violet and I helped her dye it. Now all her friends want to dye their hair .... the moms are not so happy with me ... hee hee

Horse camp

Sally had a week of horse camp at the Equestrian Center in Burbank. She loved and learned alot. Here she is trotting and posting with here favorite horse, Chewie.

New game

We got a bunch of new games for the girls to play at the swim party tomorrow. Here's Sally trying one out.

Raspberries for Sal

Sally and I went raspberry picking today(we also picked pears and peaches but the raspberries were the most fun). We ended the day with a caramel apple. Yum.

Maggie

We went out to dinner tonight. Here's mag at the restaurant. Tomorrow is the 8th grade swim party, then school starts on Tuesday.

county fair

We went to the Green Lake county fair again this year when we were up at the cottage. We ate corn on the cob, bbq and pie, rode the rides and played the games. This year a group of the older kids even sang karaoke(sp?). They were so entertaining, singing the Beatles Obla Di. Sarah sang lead vocals with Kate. Maggie and Mary were at the guitar, and Matt and Claire were at drums.

slip sliding away

Sally and some of her cousins playing with the slip n slide up at the cottage. We had another great time this year, thanks mom and dad!

Maggie (back) in New York

Maggie went to New York last week and spent 4 glorious days in her favorite city on earth. She was able to do this because she has nice parents and even nicer aunts who agreed to play tour guide, and oh my God, she had a great time. She saw tons of shows, did a bunch of shopping, soaked up the city and spent time playing with Molly! She even got to meet Auggie.

vegetable garden

We have a vegetable garden this year. Finally! We started small - tomatos, peppers, eggplant, pumpkins, carrots, herbs and zucchini. So far the zucchini is our biggest crop (and a bit of a menace to the other vegetables, it grows like a weed and the leaves steal all the sun). My mom was here watching sally for a few days when we went to Mexico and she and sally planted alot of it. Needless to say, we're very proud of ourselves. Although we kind of hate zucchini. And eggplant. Maybe next year we'll plant a candy garden.

mother's day

For Mother's Day this year Tony surprised me with a ping pong table. We love it, we keep it out by the pool and it's a great thing to have when kids come over. p.s. I suck at ping pong

New Kitchen!

So here's what happened - we've always talked about redoing the kitchen but the thought of living through the renovation always stopped us from actually doing it. Our plan was to rip out the laundry room and bathroom off the kitchen and make it one big room with glass doors opening to the back yard. But it would mean basically living with a makeshift kitchen for about 4 months. Ugh. Every time we talked about it, the only decision we ever came to was to talk about it later. Then one day about a month ago, our contractor was over to fix some lights in the office and I was standing in our laundry room and I was overwhelmed with a desire to do the renovation. Right away. Before I lost the nerve. So I told Jorge to demo the laundry room and back bathroom. That day. I'd tell Tony about it when I got to work. I figured I could present a pretty compelling case for why it had to be done. He's pretty good about allowing me my impulses. Except that I got to work and I forgot to tell him. I know, I know, that's a big thing to forget, but what can I say, I really forgot ... And then Tony got home. Before I did. Ooops. Let's just say we had words that night. But tony is a very kind, loving and forgiving man. And now we're getting a new kitchen!

underwater

I've been bad at blogging for the past few months. During hiatus I didn't want to even get near a computer and now that we're back at work, it's tough to find the time. I'm going to try to be better because so much has happened in the past few months, I want to have a record of it.

Here are some underwater photographs of Sally in the pool. She continues to be a little fish and started taking tennis lessons this summer, which she also likes, although she claims that gymnastics is still her favorite sport. Sally did Tom Sawyer camp again this summer and loved riding horses and hiking and building forts. As usual she'd arrive home after camp completely muddy, which means she had a good day! After a week in Wisconsin, she'll start art classes at the Armory for 2 weeks(an hour and a half a day) which I know she'll love. She'll finish the summer with a week of horseback riding camp with her friend Ana.

Maggie had another great year at Birchwood. She loved her cabin - all her best friends were in it, and she went on a 7 day canoe trip to the Boundry Waters in Canada that was amazing. She came home and did 2 weeks of theater camp here in Pasadena. After a week in Wisconsin she's going to New York to stay with Kate and see theater. Kate will take her to Next to Normal, Anne is taking her to Fela and American Idiot, and then the next night, Kate is taking her to see her favorite band, Spring Standards. When she gets home from camp, she has 2 weeks til school starts and she'll need it. She has 3 books to read and a huge math review packet to complete.

We're in the middle of a kitchen renovation that will probably take until early november, so we're kinda doing a lot of outdoor eating.

Also, our neighborhood has been having weekly outdoor movie nights this summer and we hosted one last week. All the neighbors came and we showed Home Alone on the side of the garage. Everyone brought their own blankets and we provided snacks - Milk Duds, Twizzlers and popcorn. It was so fun.

Tony and the girls left for Wisconsin this morning and he will stay til Wednesday. I arrive Wednesday and will stay til Sunday. We'll basically be passing each other on the highway. But work is busy and that's the only way we could swing it so both girls could stay at the lake the whole time.

Also, Sally, for the first time is going to stay in the bunk bed room with her cousins. Normally she stays with us in our room, but this year she really wants to try being a big girl. It's a huge room with 4 bunk beds and I just spoke with Tony who said Sally has unpacked her stuff and is on a top bunk above Payton. Fingers crossed she makes it all night, that will be a HUGE milestone for her and will be another step toward Birchwood next summer.

pigs

I haven't updated in a long time so I'm going to try and catch up. We had a hoedown in April and had Swifty Swine Pig Races come and show the LA types how people whoop it up in the midwest. Pig races, square dancing and BBQ. It was a great party and I have some pictures that I'll try to remember to post, but for now here's a shot of Sally holding one of the little piggies and a shot of Sally and her friend Ana.

Car Washing Girls

My car looks great, thanks to a pair of car washing girls. This wasn't totally a labor of love ... Maggie lost her bookbag at Westridge that contained all her books for 8th grade summer reading - Malcolm X, Farewell to Manzinar, Of Mice and Men and Infinite Jest. She looked everywhere, in every lost and found at school, but couldn't find it. To her credit, she felt awful. So ... we gave her a bunch of jobs to make up the money. Sally joined in for fun. Right now they're cleaning off all the outdoor furniture.

Walden Family Photo

This is the family photo taken at Walden this year. Each family was asked to bring something for the picture that was important to them. Sally brought Holly. Maggie brought her headphones. That says it all right there.

The Great American Pastime ...

... is lost on us. We went to a Dodger game a few weeks ago, it was a beautiful night, we had great seats... but we only made it through the 5th inning. I like baseball, so does Tony, but Maggie ... she ate sushi and brought a book to read ... Sally ... well as long as there was cotton candy Sally was okay ... and she liked it when people hit beach balls ... but the game ... sigh ... not for this group ...