Vermont, Boston and New York-2016

Here are a few more pictures from our trip and a few more details of what we did. Really it is more of what we usually do because that is what we like to do.

Will had to leave again this year while we were in Vermont to go to a conference but we still had lots of family time and fun. We spent a lot of time at the rivers at Teddy's house and we picked fresh blueberries too. We took the easy rout and drove to the top of a local mountain and got to see some amazing views, then we went swimming in a lake. We watched Joe play grandpa Joe in a play and we roasted lots of marshmallows and ate lots of s'mores! The photo of the cousins in Vermont has a few people missing but we did our best!

In Boston we went to a live museum based on an early settlement in the area, we went to the beach a few times and into the city and the North End to eat lots of Italian pastries and food.

In New York we went to a waterfall, explored a walking trail and watched a kids concert by a beautiful river. 

Of course we did all these things with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents and loved playing and hanging out. We made lots of good memories. Over all it was a fabulous trip!

August 2016

August we did our usual trip back east to visit Adah's family. We also saw two of Will's siblings who live in New York with their families, so that was cool (they come to see us sometimes as well). It was a great trip. We made it back home with a week to spare before school started for Elsie! She had a good first week of school though she was a little nervous to have new teachers. Also she was bummed that most of her friends were in the other classroom. But she has been doing great in school! Look how BIG our sunflowers grew while we were gone!  

July 2016

July was a good month and oh so long ago so I will be looking at the photos to determine what we did! Just kidding I mostly remember! First this summer Elsie took art lessons again and they had another back yard art show at the end of it all. She had a blast and learned some new things too. 

On the fourth of July we just kept it simple no parade or anything just a fire pit and s'mores at night with the family. After that we went down to grandmas condo and watched all the fireworks from the top of her roof all across the valley. It was cool and there were a lot of them. Catherine has been enjoying a lot of puzzle making and has gotten pretty good at this particular floor puzzle. 

Lastly Will and I celebrated our 14th anniversary! It was a simple day again. Will got me my traditional flowers and we went out to eat at a restaurant we went to while dating with beautiful views. I think I bought everything in our amazon cart that Will wanted so that was a no brainer. But truly we are happy and healthy and have two beautiful girls! We are so blessed.

Elsie's 9th Birthday...

...what we can't believe she is that old already! But she is and she turned 9 in Florida! We actually had a friend over to our house on the day school got out for a small celebration. Elsie had invited two friends but one got sick and could not come which was sad! They painted paper mache bowls and played with water balloons and ate treats. It was a fun day.

Elsie's actual birthday was when we were in Florida. We snag to her, ate cake and ice cream, and just had a fun day! She is so BIG now!

Trip to Florida 2016

We left the day after school ended and spent a week in Florida. It was great! We rented a house in a little community on the Gulf Coast that had private access to the beach with protected forests on either side so we had very little competition for space. We went with Will's cousin, his wife and 4 kids. The kids got along great and the grown ups had a lot of fun too. We spent our mornings on the beach which was a five minute walk away, then came home to eat and hang out by the pool in the back yard. The sand was super soft and white and it was perfect. One day we went into a near by town to go for a dolphin cruise. We collected shells and saw three dolphin fins come up out of the water. The problem was Elsie felt motion sick and the water was too choppy to go out of the bay to try and see more dolphins. But on the first day we got there our little family went to an aquarium that had dolphins and dolphin shows it was "a dream come true" quoted from Elsie as we went to find our rental house. 

It was so much fun. We are hoping to plan another trip sometime soon. 

June 2016

June was a fun month. Elsie finished school on June 3rd and then the fun began! But first we had a few celebrations for Elsie for her birthday. We had cake and ice cream with grandma and grandpa and also another dinner with grandma Flora and Will's siblings at our house. Grandma brought some of the same decorations as for Catherine's party but this time it was Elsie's turn to get presents and blow out the candle. We enjoyed some fresh strawberries from our garden this June too. Elsie has had lots of fun with water balloons and Adah started putting beads in Catherine's hair. 

On the 3rd we were able to have a quick friend party for Elsie after an early day out of school. Then we took a red eye to Florida! We spent a week on the beach and in the pool with Will's cousin and his family. It was perfect! More to come on this. Elsie had her actual birthday in Florida where we celebrated with Will's cousins family.