I guess I'll start with the birthdays. Tony turn 6 on July 17th. His birthday went on for quite a while. He managed to rack up 3 parties this year- one over the 4th with all the family, another one the next weekend with his friend Noah, and then the actual day itself. Way to go, Tony! The week before the day of his birthday, Tony got to stay with his Nana and Papa at the lake. Unbeknownst to him, Mama used his absence to take apart his bedroom, purge outgrown toys, build him some cubicals and put it all back together for him just before he got home. It only took three days to put together. It was in shambles in less than an hour, but since then he has been working pretty hard on keeping it in shape.
Then it was my turn for a birthday. I took advantage of Aunty Carolyn's very generous offer to watch the kids and headed out with Tom, Mom & Dad, and Robin & Richard to see the new Harry Potter movie and take in some "panda food" (aka Chinese food- the kids won't touch the stuff, so we don't get to enjoy it all that often) A very enjoyable evening. I even got serenaded by my little ones. Here's a video sample for you:
We had a quick visit with Rachel and her kids as she passed thru town on her way home. It was quite the houseful with her 4 little ones and my 2 monkeys! We spent the evening up at Whiskeytown trying to cool off, and then they were off first thing the next morning, much to the disappointment of Tony & Meagan. They are still asking when we can see the Wilde bunch again...
If you haven't guessed, we like to head out of town to cool off as much as possible. Here are a couple of slideshows from little excursions here and there. The first is from a picnic on the Trinity River just outside of Weaverville. The last is from our camping trip with the Prices at Lake Siskiyou, near Mt. Shasta.
Almost done...I promise...
Last week was Macy's Back to School fashion show. Our dear friend Trish is a manager at Macys and gave Tony a call to see if he'd like to help out modeling some of the new fall fashions. Tony picked out his outfit and strutted his stuff (sort of). I think he caught a bit of stage fright as he started down the runway. He whizzed down and back so fast I couldn't catch a picture of him. After it was all over he relaxed a bit and decided to ham it up with his friends on the runway. Meagan can't wait for her turn. Only a couple more years kiddo!
So there you have it. The last 6 weeks or so in a nutshell. I am (perhaps foolishly?) hoping things will quiet down, but I know better. Soccer starts this Friday with opening ceremonies and the first game on Saturday. Meagan has (finally!!) decided to give potty training a try. Its cooling off a bit and Tom is thinking its time to start brewing again. I'll keep you posted....
