Start Spreadin' The News......

I'm leaving today. I want to be a part of it, NEW YORK NEW YORK ! Steve and I planned a little getaway last weekend while up in PA visiting my in-laws. I had not been to NYC since my early twenties and Steve had only been once as a child, so this visit was very exciting ! We took a bus from our old hometown in PA and in less than 2 hrs. , we arrived at the Port Authority in NYC. We walked about 10 blocks to our hotel, where we checked in before touring mid-town for the afternoon.We visited Central Park in the late afternoon, not realizing the size of this enormous park. We only saw about 1/4 of it, but it was beautiful.
A great place to wrap up our first day in NY was to visit Times Square as it got dark. The lights, the people, the hustle and bustle are so much fun to be a part of .There are lots of great people-watching opportunities to be had here !
We enjoyed a nice morning walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The weather was perfect, the views were fantastic, but it was a little crowded with pedestrians and bikers alike. The cars are driving underneath you, so it's a little surreal, but a really neat experience nonetheless.
We hopped a ride on the (free !) Staten Island Ferry to get a closer up view of The Statue of Liberty. We are not ones to stand in long lines and the line for the Statue of Liberty tour was 3 hours long !!
One thing I was really looking forward to was visiting Chelsea Market, where Food Network headquarters are and the neatest shops are inside the building. They have bakeries and delis, seafood market, cheese and meat market,fresh produce market etc...
The variety of cheeses and meats was amazing ! Everything was so fresh and we sampled several things. The Chelsea neighborhood in NYC was a really neat area. We even found a street festival a few blocks away on that same day.
A great time, lots to see, great food to eat. Can't wait to return soon with the kids !

Tour USA

Every summer I give my kids a project to keep their brains in learning mode. This year I decided that they were going to do a "virtual" tour of the USA, planning an entire trip across our great country, each starting in a different location. They had to choose a method of travel, plan who was going with them, what sites they would see, what and where they would eat and sleep, how many miles would they travel and calculate the cost of everything. Each child came up with a very different plan.They drew out of a hat for their starting point.

Sam began in Maine, took Steve's Scion with his two best buddies, Alex and Zach and traveled to a lot of sports stadiums to see games and went to a race car driving school as well ! They ate at all fast food restaurants !!

Felicia started in California and decided to take an RV with three of her friends and stayed at campgrounds. They purchased most of their food and fixed their own meals, except for occasional meals out. They went to a lot of popular sightseeing places such as the Grand Canyon, but also chose to go to a lot of amusement parks to ride the rollercoasters. (that is what her picture is of that she's holding).

Bethany was VERY original with her trip. She started in Florida and decided to bike across the country, but invited Lance Armstrong along on a tandem bike to help her out !! She also brought along a pet bird, named Alfonso, who sat in a basket on the front of the bike. They would stay at motels until they reached New Mexico, where they took a Teepee Building Class and then slept in their teepee at campgrounds for the rest of their trip. Her excursion had us in stitches. She also decided to buy her food at grocery stores along the way and didn't forget the sunflower seeds Alfonso likes to eat !! Bethany went to a lot of museums and parks on her trip.

I really enjoyed the variation in each of their plans and hopefully one day we can cross some of these interesting destinations off of their bucket lists !

River Rocking

A morning exploring the nature of the James River was time well spent. We wore our old shoes and traveled across a huge footbridge to get to the part of the river where you could go down and climb on the rocks in the water.So much fun. Sometimes we forget all the cool things we have to do right in our own "backyard".
In general, Ellie is pretty girly, so I was surprised that she had such a great time and was less timid in the waters than I thought she would be.
The scenery surrounding us is so pretty in Richmond.
Sam was our leader, guiding us toward the bigger, further out rocks. At one point, Ellie could not do much more, so Steve, Sam and Felicia continued on while Bethany , Ellie and I stayed behind and had a snack.
Felicia is always adventurous and had a great time trying to navigate the water and rocks to get to the next destination.
The kids have been wanting to do this all summer. I'm glad we finally got to go.

Praying Mantis

When we were in Charlottesville, we ate a picnic lunch at the downtown amphitheater. On one of the trees we were standing next to, we saw this praying mantis hanging on the side ! How cool. He was a pretty big one, too.
Bethany said "His little feet are so cute !!" LOL

Perfect Peaches

After so many days of 100 degree heat, we wanted to take advantage of a slightly lower temp and humidity weekend to do some fun things outside. We went to Charlottesville, about an hour away, to go pick some peaches at Carter's Mountain. Here is a photo of the barn as we returned from the orchard.
We love the view from this mountain.
Here's my proof that i was actually there ! I am not usually in too many photos. Bethany took this one.
I liked this one of Sam peeking from under the tree.
The nice thing about picking peaches is that they are low enough for the kids to reach with no trouble.
We picked the Freestone peaches, which were sooo juicy and pulled right away from the pit.

I decided I needed to snap a photo of Sam and Steve together so I could show how much Sam is growing. He is almost about the same height as Steve and is already outgrowing his size 9 shoes !!

Ellie's Special Playdate

This past year, Ellie had a friend named Walker in her class that she didn't really start talking about until near the end of the year.She was/is infatuated by him and , as fate would have it, she ended up seeing him at the Vacation Bible School she did last week. Every morning she wrote out her phone number and handed it to him, hoping he would call to invite her over ("because he said he would call!"). Finally, on Saturday morning, her dream came true. Walker's Mommy called and invited Ellie to come and play for the afternoon. To say Ellie was excited would be an understatement.I stayed for about 30 minutes, then left to run some errands.
When I returned to pick Ellie up, they wanted to have a swing on the hammock together, so I got out my camera to capture the joy of this moment.

This hug just says it all, doesn't it? They are eagerly awaiting a second "date".

Nothings better than fresh and homemade !!

Nothing is yummier to me than fruit and vegetables in their prime ! These beautiful blueberries were brought to me from my parents, who have lots of berry bushes at their home in Florida. I make muffins and cakes and freeze the rest so I can make things all year round. I even have a great recipe for a salad with lettuce, cooked turkey and fresh bluberries.
These tomatoes were given to me by a friend from a local neighbor's garden. There were so many and they were so ripe, so I knew I had to make something or they would go bad.
voila ! The tomatoes have turned into fresh salsa ! I even added some diced zuchinni and squash in there for added vitamins!

While I love fresh produce, a gardener I am not. Maybe one day, when I have a little more time and a lot more patience, but for right now, I will purchase or graciously accept offerings. Next week I look forward to picking peaches at a farm.

Ice Cream King

It's a family business, for sure ! On a few weekends out of the month, Steve might bring home the ice cream truck. The kids each get to take turns going out with him to sell in the nearby neighborhoods, but Steve requires them to dress the part !