Happy Labor Day!

This time of year is always bitter sweet to me.

It is the last official day of summer vacation. Although the kids started school last week, it was a short week with two half days. They have off Friday and Monday, so this long weekend is our last bit of summer. It IS nice to have them back in school, but along with school comes homework, and sports. The monkey is playing soccer, bear is in football, and our little turtle is doing gymnastics and dance again this year. The husband is coaching for both teams and I took Anatomy & Physiology, so the fall is a busy time in our house. It is sad for me to say good bye to summer, when we sleep late, play all day, no homework, no schedules, and I get to have lunch with my kids every day. Now they are out the door at 8:30, they get home 3:30, practice by 5 or 6, and we don't get home till 8 sometimes 8:30. We do this all week long and then games on Saturdays and Sundays. I like watching them play their sports and helping them with their homework, I like that they are gone all day and not home getting on each other's nerves. I love this class, and my husband loves to coach BUT ....THE SUMMER IS MUCH BETTER!!!
Here's a few pictures from Bushkill Falls...

Funny faces are much easier to get than plain old smiles these days

This is the Bear's first year playing pads and he loves it!! That's him and Dad.

This was the boys first day of school. The turtle doesn't go till next week. With her birthday being on November she will not start kindergarten until next year, so this is her last year of preschool, and our last year PAYING for preschool!!

I hope you all had a wonderful summer, and HAPPY LABOR DAY!

How many house guests is TOO many?

God Bless Colleen,

One of my dearest friends, who moved her family south over a year and a half ago. She has two beautiful daughters and a husband who is full of humor AND useless knowledge. We all miss them terribly. So about a week and half ago I piled my kids into the minivan and we headed to South Carolina! Missing Colleen equally as much Anne Marie decided to take the trip with us, even if it meant spending 12 hours in the car with 3 kids. God Bless her too!

We left Tuesday morning around 5am and arrived for dinner (which was delicious by the way). For the next 4 days Colleen fed, watered, and entertained the 5 of us like a champ. We went into Charleston for a day, which is a beautiful city! Another day we took a trip to Cypress Gardens, which was acres of outdoor fun. There was a swamp (With Alligators!), nature trails, a butterfly exhibit, even a little aquarium. The kids had a great time. Still not exhausted or tired of us all, she rose on our final full day together packed up some lunch (for 8 people!), towels, and sand toys and took us to the beach. The beach in South Carolina is NOTHING like Jersey beaches! We didn't have to mortgage our homes just to get on the beach, there was no one selling ice cream every half hour, the water was warm, and even the sand was different. If all that wasn't enough, her husband stayed home that evening with all 5 kids (and his arm in a sling), while us 3 girls went to see "Mamma Mia". I would not have enjoyed this movie more with anyone other than these girls. It was a wonderful trip....Enjoy the pictures.

All the kids on the pier swing

There was a beautiful fountain by the pier in Charleston

That the kids could play in

Me with Colleen's babies

They had little lizards all over their yard that the kids had a blast torturing

Turtle on the Turtle

The swamp was COOL!

Playing in the ocean

My turtle with her Two girls playing in the sand

Surfing on an Alligator

On the drive home we stopped in D.C.

And yes I made them pose in front of everything!

After awhile it got old for them..Lol

The monkey's class did their history projects on the monuments in DC, so I thought it would be fun for him to see them. I was hoping we could visit the Smithsonian, but we got caught in a major thunderstorm and all were SOAKED!

As you can see it was time to go. Thank You Colleen. We had a wonderful time! Hope you are ready to have us back next summer.

OH....I forgot to mention we got Anne Marie on the Carosel! The kids loved that, and as you can see so did she.