Off to the Fair

Every year as a child we went to the Washington County Fair.  It always fell during beach week but this year it was a couple weeks after beach week but I wanted our girls to experience the Fair that I knew growing up.  I was eagerly anticipating the fair also.  My biggest memory of the fair were the angora rabbits.  They were so fluffy and cute I couldn't wait to see them again and show the kids how cute these rabbits were.  Unfortunately they did not have any angora rabbits at the Fair this year.  The kids didn't seem to mind though.  They were happy enough seeing all the other kids of rabbits along with the chickens, cows, pigs and goats.  I let them choose one ride each since first off they are expensive and secondly I am not a big fan of carnival rides in terms of safety.  Any rides that went up off the ground were out.  Fortunately the girls are happy on carousel type rides.  They played a few games and each won a stuffed animal.  That is the nice thing about the fairs now is that the kids always win something.  I never remember winning anything at fairs.  At least now they know to keep the parents coming back with their money they have to give the kids token prizes.  We had fun checking out the different agricultural stalls and seeing how yarn is made and knitted.  The girls were also interested in how they washed clothes in the olden days.  Of course I had to snap the classic fairground picture with the face in the cutout...

Packing/Unpacking Again!

No we aren't moving again but we had to rent a truck and drive to my parent's house to load up all of our stuff we stored there while we lived in Prague.  We rented a sixteen foot truck thinking we would have plenty of extra space but that was the smallest size truck available so we took it.  Thank goodness that was the smallest size truck!  We had so much stuff at my parent we filled the truck right up.  Even with things already boxed from the move to my parent's house it still took us until 3pm to finish loading everything into the truck!  Then the drive back to our house and unloading it all into our garage.  Jason had to park his car in the driveway until we could get it unpacked. 

Jason ended up having to go to Prague on the Monday after we had moved everything though so his car ended up at the airport for the week.  It was good to have his car out of the way but bad that I had no one to help me unpack.  I do most of the unpacking anyway but at least when Jason comes home from work every day that signals the end to my work day also.  With his being in Prague for the week it just meant that I worked well into the night unpacking.  The downside is that it is tiring but the upside is that I had most of the garage unpacked by the time Jason came home from Prague and he could park in the garage again.

More time with Cousins

After leaving beach week we headed up to Maine for the weekend to spend time with Jason's brother who was in town with his family from England.  It made for a busy weekend since we had to drive home from the beach on Friday night and depart for Maine on Saturday morning but it was worth it to visit with everyone.  The girls very happy to see their cousins, Alex, Justin and Keira.  They had a great time playing with them in the fields, on the zip line, on the tractors and in the trees.  It was nice to visit with Graham and Beth as well as see Jason's parents too.  With Graham and Beth there I had someone to run with at least for part on my run which was nice especially since it was raining out.  We all ran the first 2.5 miles together and then Beth headed back home and Graham took off at a much faster pace than me but I got to watch him in the distance for a couple miles and then got to say hi when he was on his way back and I was still on my outward journey.  Since we all ran different amounts of time it worked out perfect for showering as well since by the time the next person was back the first person was done showering. We did minimal shopping at the outlets but did manage to get the kids warm winter boots.  I went back into the outlets by myself for a little shopping but it was so crowded that I didn't stay long.  Overall it was a good weekend of spending time with family.  I was happy to head home on Sunday night though since we had been away for the week and it had been non stop activity.  It was nice to finally relax!

Welcome Aiden Sheehan!

My brother, Pat, and his Wife, Carrie, left beach week early to bring another addition into the family.  Aiden Jackson Sheehan was born on August 4, 2011 weighing in at 8lbs 7 ounces and 19 inches long.  He is the third boy for my brother and he makes grandchild number 7 for my parents.  Sofia and Ali were very excited to go see their new cousin so we headed down for a visit the week after he was born.  They loved holding him. They couldn't believe how little he was and that they were even smaller than Aiden when they were born.  Pat and Carrie were doing quite well for having a new born in the house as well.  Unfortunately for them though Aiden was doing most of his sleeping during the day as you can see in the pictures.  Congratulations Pat and Carrie and Welcome little Aiden!

Beach Week

Beach Week finally arrived!  My family has been going to the beach for a week ever since I can remember.  We always had a great time during beach week.  There is a period from about age sixteen to twenty five when we weren't interested in beach week but once you pass that phase of life you realizes how much enjoyment is found hanging out with family for a week.  Since we were in Europe for the last four years we have missed out on beach week.  I did require a week at the beach in Spain every year but that wasn't the same as "beach week".  The girls were really looking forward to going to beach week as well.  I had talked it up a lot and they were excited to be with their cousins.  We had a great time going to the beach and the pool as well as mini golf, go karts and bumper boats.  Having breakfast every morning at my aunts house (the family all stay in housed next to each other so you can go from one to the next easily).  My aunt was amazing and was a short order cook...eggs fried or scrambled, bacon toast, or waffles.  Pretty amazing given there were probably 25 people coming through in the morning!  I'm glad the kids get to experience the big family atmosphere that they have missed out on for the last four years.  It was nice to see they settled right in.

Johnathon's Arrival

Taking a break at the playground along the bike path

My nephew Johnathon came to RI to stay with his Dad (my brother) for two weeks.  I was very excited about his arrival since I haven't seen him in years.  Since Johnathon lives full time in Ohio with his mom his trips to RI never coincided with our trips back to the States.  While I've heard about his life from my brother and seen pictures on Facebook it just isn't the same as being with someone in person.  Once he arrived the girls and I headed down to spend the day with my brother and his two sons.  We had a great day together.  We went for a nine mile bike ride on the South County Bike Path.  This path was great b/c it was long and flat.  I wasn't sure about the distance since our kids have never biked that far but paved and flat is much easier than the slightly hilly trail through the woods that our girls are used to biking so it all went fine.  Johnathon is quite a talker so the two of us actually spent the majority of the bike ride side by side chatting.  It was a great chance for me to get to know my nephew and for him to get to know me.  By the end of the ride he was comfortable enough with me to try to splash me going through a puddle. 

After the bike ride we headed back to my brother's house for lunch and then playing outside.  We played basketball and frisbee and the kids played together on the swing set.  Basketball was a lot of fun since we just played Around the World.  Our girls have never really played basketball so it took a while to get it in the net but they eventually figured it out.  Ali seemed to really enjoy it.  We will definitely need to get a hoop for our own driveway soon.  Frisbee was fun as well since my brother had this giant soft frisbee.  There was no need to worry about hitting anyone with it b/c it was so soft.  The kids all played well together too.

We stayed until my parents arrived and we all had dinner together then we hit the road for our drive back home.  It was a fun filled day!

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry for the delay in posting.  Life has been zooming past at high speed.  So, What have we been doing??

Croquet in our front yard

Well, we have played croquet, been to our town beach a few times and down to RI for some ocean beach time as well.  The kids finished off their tennis lessons and played outside on the swing set and in the basement with their toys.  We went to my nephew, Nathan's, birthday party.  The girls had a blast seeing their cousins and swimming in Uncle Pat's pool.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pics while at the party.

Ali, Sofia and Michael at the Wickford Art Festival

On the weekend we all headed down to Wickford with my Mom, Sister in law, Jen, and my nephew Michael to browse our way through all the tents of the Wickford Art Festival.  The kids actually seemed to enjoy looking at all the different artwork on display.  We took time to have lunch and then Dell's lemonade.  Dell's is just so delicious that it is one thing that I just can't say no to when the kids ask since I enjoy it just as much.  We had to laugh because at one point Jen was showing Michael how to get the lemonade out of the bottom of the cup and a women walking by commented that we were obviously Rhode Islanders since we were teaching our children the proper technique for drinking a Dell's and that only an out of stater would use a spoon with a Dell's.  She was so right!

Blueberry picking at an organic farm near our house

With the weather continuing to be hot I was keeping my eye on the pick your own blueberry farms.  There is an organic farm near our house so we went blueberry picking and picked about 6lbs of berries.  I've made blueberry jam, muffins and cake as well as freezing blueberries to enjoy later.  This was the first time I've made blueberry jam and it turned our delicious.  I will definitely be doing this every year!

All this while also maintaining the daily to do lists such as grocery shopping and mowing the lawn.  Fortunately the kids enjoy going grocery shopping with me now since the grocery store we go to has small carts for the kids to push around as well.  They have fun pretending they are adults doing their shopping.  Little do they know I'm looking forward to when they will be capable to go to the grocery store on their own with a list from me!  I consider this time the training period!