Summer in CT - 2

Here's more of a quick recap..

We went to ikea, and savannah desperately wanted this runway.

We went to jimmies for lunch...

We hung out with our cousins...at the movies...

I'm the pool...

At the beach again

And for cookouts, more pool time, lake time, sparklers, etc!

Summer in CT - 1

We had a short trip this year, but managed to pack it full nonetheless!

We went to our favorite pizza place - Frank Pepe's. Their pizza is so good that Frank Sinatra used to have it brought in when he played in NYC or Boston, the saying goes...

Savannah - who doesn't drink soda EVER - tried both birch beer (my fave) and cream soda (Gage's fave) and was a huge fan. I still don't want her drinking soda regularly...but a few times a year at Pepe's is okay ;-)

We also made several trips to the beach. First, just the three of us..on a gorgeous day. We buried Gage

Walked the rocks

We went snail hunting, which is their favorite thing to do there..

We ate everything we brought plus ice cream 

And topped it off with a visit to the Meig's point nature center and a drive through the beautiful marshes. So so pretty.

Summer visit to PA

I know, this post is late. We have been so busy the blog has been slipping by. I will catch everyone up, though!

Our first stop was to Grandma and Grandpa Rapp's house. It was a quick trip, but the kids had time to ride on the golf cart with Grandpa..

They also drove the cart by themselves. Savannah MAY have driven the golf cart into the bushes ;-). Although she didn't want to tell Gramdpa, I explained why it was the right thing to do. Turns out, he knew before we told him...because there were hosted stuck under the front of the golf cart!! Hahahhaha!

We also caught crayfish in "the crik"

...they played in the always-fascinating basement, ate all sorts of goodies like delicious coconut cake, and we ended the night with savannah sleeping in Daddy's old room - by herself! She is growing up, that little bugger!

Pool time!

Grandma and Grandpa Rapp came to visit this weekend and brought pool goodies! Savannah has spent hours lounging on the flip flop float already!

Gage has loved hanging in his new tube.

Hard to believe our pool looked like a swamp a few months ago!

Science experiments

The kiddos have been somewhat neglected this summer because we are engrossed in house projects. Like the pool fence - which is almost done!

But, we have taken some time to do some fun kid things. Like science experiments.  We made clouds and rain.

We also made exploding bags.  They didn't really explode, they just filled up with air. 

Savannah was a little disappointed (read: pissed off) that her bag was a dud.

We also made a "naked egg" - we made the shell disappear completely. It looks like Gage was not very excited about this- but he was!

It took a week, but it was super cool!

boogie on the bricks

Athens is big on festivals. June's festival was Boogie on the Bricks. The whole "uptown" of Athens has brick roads. It's very cool. 

The kids discovered that there are coins stuck between the bricks everywhere. So, they started searching and digging them out.  We even found an old old key stuck between the bricks!

We got some snow cones...

There wasn't much boogy-ing going on because it rained - hard. So, we hunkered down under a tent for some face painting.

Smurftastic!

Pepper got into a blue pen a while ago. We think she looks "smurfy".  For the record, hairspray works wonders getting ink out of carpet!

The house

I had a big post written up about what we have done with the house. But, it disappeared!!  Let's try it again. Adam and Jess scrubbed the whole house, which was filthy. They also re-painted the shutters (there are still a few left to do - like the one at the top of the house!).

I tore out all if the deer ravaged landscaping and started from scratch with new landscape fabric, deer-resistant plants, and mulch. Still looking for a weeping cherry tree to put in front of the stonework on the left side.

We love this gorgeous chestnut tree.

We have also done lots of work cleaning up dead trees/branches/etc in the yard, replacing a broken garbage disposal, etc.

The pool is finally coming together. Tomorrow we get rid of all the rock around the pool, and leveling it off. The pool fence comes in later this week, so that will be up soon.

The yard is full of deer, turkeys, and all kinds of critters. So peaceful.

More pics to come soon - if I ever take a break for working ;-)

Camp invention

I found out about a summer camp being held at the kids' new school - camp invention - and managed  to get them into the last 2 open spots. I thought that would be a great way for them to spend some time at their school before they start there this fall. 

They have gone all week, loved it, and today was their inventor's showcase! Gage was called into stage to show the rocket ship that he invented! He shot his rocket into the audience :-)

 We heard about all of their inventions, and then had a chance to go see what they built. They got to "take apart" all sorts of things that people donated - DVD players, old counters, etc. and invent new things from the parts. Savannah made a board game prototype of a video game using bits and parts. Her game actually had a battery and buzzer - when she held the two wires to the battery, the buzzer sounded (a train, in her game).

Gage also made a board game - his was mostly circuits hot-glued to cardboard with one clay guy in the middle. He was proud of his masterpiece!

(Big) puppy love

This is how I found Savannah and Pepper laying on the landing of the stairs!

Exploring Athens

We found a little cider house that is full of character - and delicious home made cider. It's an old place (the bathroom has a sign to remind everyone that the plumbing was established in 1882!). We all sat outside and played connect 4 while we drank cider and Gage got a special treat of sprite!

Athens is full of neat little places like this. Can't wait to express them all. 

Last day of school (and AL)!

This post is coming very late, but...better late than never :-)

On our last day of school, the kids said goodbye to their old house in the morning. Savannah left a few notes for "the new girl" in her room and the hideaway. 

I checked the kids out a little early so we could make the 10+ drive in one day and be there for our furniture delivery. Savannah had a few sniffles as we left school :-(

Gage, who I expected to have a meltdown, was all smiles. His friends gathered around him and gave him huge hugs. He adores his classmates!

We will all miss their sweet school! In the car, we talked about how our life is like a book and we are just turning the page to a new chapter full of new adventures. I think good things are in store for us ;-)