First Day of Summer Vacation!

Anna and I begin our summer vacation today. I never would have believed it if someone told me I'd start the year out as teaching assistant and finish the year as lead teacher/director. It was a great experience but I'm ready for a break! I told Anna we'll be planning lots of fun activities this summer. I want Anna to see the fireworks display for the first time this year. We'll also hit Jones Beach once or twice in Long Island. There's also the Danbury Fair Carnival I want to take her too. We want to take her to the Bronx Zoo again and Ron would even like to set up our tent in the backyard and have a campout with her. I'll sit that one out! We also signed her up for the town's swimming lessons. I told her that we also have to cook from a brand new recipe at least once a week too since we have been getting in a big rut! She's at a great age now and its almost like we're two best friends hanging out together. Here are some pictures of some birthday parties she attended lately. She has been quite the social butterfly! I'm also including a picture of her on her new swing Ron made. We wanted an old fashioned swing in our backyard under the crabapple tree. It has been perfect -until the rains came. Now the rope has shrunk and Anna can't get on it by herself! Anyone know a rope we can use that won't shrink?

My Mom

Mom, Thank you for always being my best friend. Someone I can come to and talk to about anything. Someone who always understands me and my quirks. You're always supportive, encouraging and you never give up on me. I've learned you're always right -even when I think the outcome you have chosen could never possibly work out, it somehow does. Thank you for always willing to talk to me about my fears and concerns and worries. Thank you for always being there for me. I love you.

Finally Back!

When we began the addition, one of my saddest days was when my dad and brother arrived to help Ron take down our 'old' -really 'new' deck. Ron's dad had built us a beautiful deck when we bought the house 1 1/2 years earlier but when we decided to add on, the only logical place was where the deck was. So they took it down, stored all the wood and I honestly missed it every day since then. This past weekend though, Ron's dad graciously came back again to rebuild it. And let me tell you, we are loving it. It doesn't matter if its cold, windy, or even raining. We've been out there using it every day. Here are some pictures. The first two are of the new deck. The last one was taken as we took the old deck down.

Anna after dressing up in her princess outfit:

"Mommy, do you think I look pretty enough that a prince would ever want to dance with me?"






Yes, my sweet girl. You are very, very pretty.

Anyone Else?

Call me crazy but in these two pictures I can see Anna in me and I can see me in my mom. Anyone else?

Best Friends

Growing up, my dad always took tons of pictures of us and had them developed into slides. We have a whole collection of slides in the basement collecting dust. Since my dad recently retired, he has started going through them and scanning them on the computer. Every so often I am thrilled when he sends us some to look at. I could sit and look at them for hours at a time. Here are some of my favorites that he sent today.

Grammy's Surprise Party

This past weekend we were in Maryland for Ron's mom's surprise birthday party. We had a great time visiting with family and Anna loved playing with all of her cousins. Here are some highlights from our trip.