Summer in Cali...

As much as we love NY we needed to escape the humidity. So the kids and I packed our bags, kissed Daddy good-bye (he was nose deep in Greek) and jumped on a plane to Grandma's house. She was very excited to see us although I think she forgot how loud and messy we are. Since we could waste no time we loaded our calendar with fun field trips.

Our first outing was to Wild Rivers. They have carload deals on Monday nights, so we put as many little ones as we could in a 12 passager van.

Jack and I went on an adventure and slid down the slide together. The face full of water was quite a surprise at the end.

Claire and I jumped around in the pool to keep warm as the sun went down.

Claire loved being the Princess and sitting on top of her tube

while she floated down the lazy river.


Lance loved the being in the tube, being out of the tube, being in the tube, being out of the tube. For him the lazy river was anything but lazy.



In the end we were all purple, sleepy and ready to go home to Grandma's.

Lance 5...

Lance never was a little baby. Weighing in at 10lb 4oz at birth and then improving that with thunder thighs that you just wanted to sink your teeth into...heaven. But 5?! How did that happen. He was just this sweet baby that looked at you with his deep blue eyes and he would get you do anything.

Now when I look into his eyes I still fall in love, but I also hear his mischievous giggle and wonder what he up to now!

Being here in NY we have let the kids choose several NY attractions to tour on their special day. Lance chose to go to the Fire Fighter Museum, FAO Schwartz and our favorite little book store Bank Street Bookstore.

Being August it was a typical hot and humid day in the Big Apple. We took the train to lower Manhattan and went into the Museum that was a former NY Fire station. The displays were amazing and very kid friendly. Lance fit the "Handsome" firefighter profile perfectly.

He had so much fun trying on all the different out fits and seeing how the trucks evolved from being pulled by a horse to what we have today. He pulled us around and had us read all the signs on the wall that explained about the equipment.


They had a simple but touching tribute to NY Firefighters from 911. This was a helmet that was found in the rubble as the clean up was occurring at ground zero. It was interesting to see the reverence that our kids gave the rooms dedicated to these heroes.

Lance enjoyed just hanging out on the fire engine.

Nana and Katie made a special visit for Lance's birthday and brought fancy cupcakes. Lance could hardly contain his excitement.

Is this a sign that his eyes are bigger then his stomach?!

What a wonderful day to celebrate the birth of our little Lance. We are so glad that he is in our family. His contagious laughter adds to our lives.