Where did summer go?

I am making corn chowder in the crock pot for dinner tonight. It is really chilly here today. It feels like Fall already. I saw geese flying south yesterday. It makes me sad. I want more summer days!

My nephew Zackery started his first day of second grade today! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday Shelly was in the hospital having him and now he will be turning 8 years Old on September 4th! I'm getting all teary eyed just thinking about it, lol.

Here is a photo of the first time I held Zackery. I ♥ him.

Visit with a friend

Yesterday was my parents 27th Wedding Anniversary! They drove up to visit Angela and had lunch with her.

One of my best friends from High School and her husband came to visit yesterday. She lives in W. Virginia Now. It has been a while since we had gotten together and it was so nice to see her again. Her daughter is only 6 months older than Gabby so they had fun playing together. Her son was not able to come with her because he was visiting his dad. My sister Shelly came over also and we had Howies pizza for lunch.

Yesterday We did a lot of unpacking and washed clothes. Today I have been trying to get our room straightened out and dusting as I go. It has cooled down a lot here. I feel like we got ripped off this summer. We only had about two weeks of hot weather. The rest of the time has only been in the 70's. Pretty soon the leaves will be changing and falling.

Our trip to Indiana

Since Kevin has not been working very much we decided now would be a good time to go visit his family. We don't know when he will be hired on full time and be able to get a vacation so this seemed like a good time since he was already off from work.

FRIDAY
We Left New York around noon Eastern Time.The girls had not had a nap yet so they slept for about the first hour. They did pretty well on the trip out. We only had to stop 3 times. We made it to Valparaiso, IN at around 9:35 Central Time. Our total drive time was about 10 1/2 hours. We stayed up and visited with Kevin's parents (AKA Nonnie and Papa) for a little while and then went to bed. Kevin's dad had to work the night shift while we were out there.

SATURDAY
In the morning we drove around Chesterton, IN to check out the damage from the EF2 tornado that hit on August 19th. There were a lot of trees down and roofs torn off from buildings. After that we went to the Duneland resale shop. We found a play computer and play vacuum for the girls. Then we went to The European Market in Chesterton. We bought some Creme Brule, Blackberry Jam and Pastries. In the afternoon we went to Olive Garden for Lunch and then to the Southlake Mall. I bought the girls a couple of outfits for next summer at Gymboree (Yay for a sale and 30% off coupon!!!) The girls got to ride on the carousel also. For dinner that night we went to Kevin's brother and sister in laws house. They had Sirloin steaks cooked on the grill (Vegetarian ribs for me) and green beans with potatoes and salad. We also walked down to some friends house who live in the same subdivison and found out some exciting news that they are expecting a baby in March! We then went back to his brother's house to watch the race. (Kyle Busch won, BOOOO)

SUNDAY
The girls slept in until 8:00! We took them to a playground and let them play for a while, they really enjoyted that. For luch we took them to "The Port" which is a drive in restaurant where the waitress comes out to your car and you eat inside your car. Afterward we went to Coffee creek and walked around. That is the place Kevin asked me to marry him in April of 2005. That night Kevin's mom made Italian Beef for dinner. Kevin's brother and family came over and his aunt Kathy was also there. After dinner we went back to Coffee creek. They had a Wizard of Oz Hot air baloon there. They were celebrating the 70th anniversary of the movie. They also had characters dressed up. The kids liked it a lot.

MONDAY
We had to run some errands in the morning, then we picked up Quiznos for lunch. We went back to the house and the girls had a nap. Then we went out to the beach at Beverly Shores on Lake Michigan. Avalynn enjoyed playing in the sand and trying to catch Seagulls. Gabby Loved the water! Afterward we all went back to Kevin's brothers house and had little Ceasars Pizza. When we got back to his parents house we packed up our stuff and got everything organized.

TUESDAY
We got up and finished packing the car. Then we drove out to the Jellystone park where his parents have their 5th Wheel. It is near Warsaw, IN. We visited with some friends of the family who have a park model there. We got to see baby Remi for the first time. Then we went into the pool. It was so warm, around 86. That was warmer then the air! Then we went of My Father and Mother In laws New boat. That was a lot of fun! Gabby got to feed some Geese! Kevin and his parents swam in the lake off of the boat. We were planning on staying night there but decided to get a head start on our drive home. We drove to the first exit in Ohio and stayed in an econolodge.

WEDNESDAY
We woke up around 8 and Kevin was the first in the shower. Then the girls got washed up and then I took my shower. We started out driving a little after 9. We stopped to eat around 10:30. The drive home always seems so much longer. We stopped more and the girls were a little more sick of the car. It rained a lot but the trip went well for the most part. We had a wonderful trip but it really feels good to be home!

My mom drove my sister up to College today so we did not see her when we got back. She will be back to visit on Labor day weekend though.

HERE IS A LINK TO MY PHOTOS FROM OUR TRIP

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158425&id=1534361838&l=a54fc0cce7

Made it to Indiana!

We made it to Indiana 9:35 CDT. The trip was better than I expected. Avalynn napped 3 times so that was Great! Gabby did really well too, she watched my little pony and Carebears. Today we are going to try to go to the European Market and the Duneland resale shop. Then we are going t go to the mall. [YAY GYMBOREE] Later we are going to have dinner at Kevin's brother's house.

Lead, Swimming and packing

Today Gabby had an appointment to get her lead level tested at the Health department. Her level was good. She does not have to get tested again. This was her second test, they make them have it tested 2 times before they turn 3.

Kevin was supposed to have the day off but they called him in to work evenings.

My mom and I took the girls up to the pond to go swimming. Gabby is doing great this year. She wears a life jacket and the arm swimmies and does well with keeping her head up that way. We stay right next to her though. Avalynn does not really like to be in the pond. She gets mad because she cannot touch and she wants to be independant and be able to get around on her own.

I got some packing done today for our trip to Indiana this weekend. I will be finishing packing tomorrow after I finish the laundry.

Had a wonderful day today! It was so HOT out! Up into the 90's! I Love this weather! My sister Shelly and her kids Zack and Natalee came over to go swimming with us. My mom got out of work at 12:00 so she was home too. Then later on my cousin Carrie and her 3 kids came over. We all swam together and then had a cookout for dinner. Kevin's work asked him to work this evening so he was not home with us. He is off the rest of the week though.

Next weekend we are going to be going out to Indiana for a visit. I hope the weather is nice while we are there because we have a lot of plans that include spending time outdoors! We are excited for the trip. We are just hoping the girls will be okay in the car. Avalynn hates to be in the car for too long. Gabby will probably be okay because we are taking my sister's portable DVD player for her to watch some cartoon movies on. We are leaving Friday around noon.

HOT day Today!

It was very HOT here today. It was around 90 degrees! I got to go swimming with my mom in the pond. The girls were napping so Kevin stayed with them. Then when the girls woke up I took them out to play in the wading pool. They liked that because I got in with them. Kevin is working 3-11:30 tonight. I always miss him at night when he is not here with us.

Good day!

We finally were able to swim today! Seems like every day we have wanted to go swimming it has rained! Kevin had to work 7-3:30 again today but he was able to go swimming with us. My niece and nephew Natalee and Zack are staying the night tonight. Gabby loves it when they come over. She always seems to talk a lot more every time they leave. Maybe because Natalee is such a talker!
We made home made pizza for dinner, it was so good!

Stickers, balloons and potty training...

The girls actually let me sleep in until 7:20 this morning! That doesn't happen very often. Avalynn is usually up by about 6:00.

This morning the girls played with stickers while I washed the breakfast dishes. I had to keep stopping to help them get the stickers off of the sheet. I think this is the first time Avalynn has played with them. She loved it. She ended up with 3 in her hair by the time she was done, lol.

After nap I took them outside to play and they each got 3 water ballons to play with. They carry them around like a baby until they pop. We were not outside very long when it suddenly started to down pour rain! I didn't even know it was supposed to rain today but it seems like the past few days every time we go outside it starts to rain. We rushed inside and Gabby still had two of her water balloons left. They had a snack and then I decided that since Gabby did not want to give up her water balloons I would put them in the bath with them.

Gabby did really well with potty training today. We even went to the grocery store without putting a diaper on and no accident while we were there! She also stayed dry during nap!

Kevin had to work 7-3:30 today.

Kevin's work picnic

Yesterday afternoon we went to Kevin's work picnic. He is working through a temp service at Leprinos in Waverly. The picnic was at East Waverly park. The weather was hot but at least no rain. They had an inflatable bounce house and slide set up. Gabby loved that! Avalynn was too little for the bounce house but I did take her down the slide once. They also played on the playground.










Afterward we went to Wal-mart. We bought Gabby her Halloween costume, she is going to be Tinkerbell this year. We had already bought Avalynn's costume and she will be a butterfly.

My first blog

I decided to try to start blogging for our family as often as I can. Here is what we all did today.

I Woke up early as usual. Kevin made us all french toast for breakfast, so yummy! Then while he was still home I got some cleaning done, dusted, laundry, sweep and mop kitchen, washed dishes. Filled the kids little plastic swimming pool up so the water would warm up a little while before we went outside. Surfed the net a little while. Kevin left for the race at Watkins Glen around 10:00. At that time I took the girls outside and let them play in the pool. They had a couple of buckets in there with them and were so cute dumping them on themselves. Kito (Our Boston Terrier) relaxed in the shade under my chair. We went back inside around 11 and had lunch. Chicken nuggets and yogurt for the girls, a salad for me. Then it was time for them to have a nap. I took a shower, washed the lunch dishes and then surfed the net some more. When my mom got home she watched the girls for a little while, I went and bought a few groceries. Kevin got back home a little while before I did, He had a great time at the race. His favorite driver Tony Stewart won so he was very happy! It was a pretty good day for all of us!