Chillin' With The Cousins

Yesterday, my sister and her 3 kids made the drive to spend the day with us at the shore.

It was so nice for the kids to be able to hang out all day and I enjoyed some beach 'talk time' with my sister!

Getting ready to go boogie-boarding.

Heading out to look for the perfect wave.

Meanwhile the girls were hard at work digging a pool to wade in.

Both girls were very determined to make their pool just right.



Of course there's always time for fooling around too. :)

Um...somehow the boys are reaping the benefit of all of the girls' hard work.

Enjoying some laughs with each other.

Marin is still hard at work...no rest for this girl!

No better way to cap off a day at the beach than to have Mack and Manco pizza on the boardwalk.

 Our waiter decided he needed to be in this picture as well.

Nadia's wondering why the pizza isn't here yet.  At least give the girl a sand patty appetizer or something. :)

Nonna enjoyed the day with 7 out of her 10 grandchildren.

This was definitely a fun, flip-flop, laid-back kind of day. 

Thanks again Nicole for making the trek so we could have a fun cousin day!

Surf and Turf

Being so close to the ocean gives us all a hankering for some good seafood!

We usually try to catch some the old fashioned way.

 We haven't had much luck so far this trip but 3 yrs. ago when we were here the kids were pulling in baby sharks with almost every cast!

Nonetheless, it's a great father-son(s) outing and a wonderful way to honor and remember both of our kids' fishing grandpas.

Meanwhile, our little one has decided that the turf part of 'surf and turf' is more up her alley.

Yup, that's her shoveling it in 2 handfuls at a time!  

Yummy...NOT! 

 (The big kids are really grossed out by Nadia's choice of beach entree).

The eating the sand part doesn't seem to bother her.  It's only when Mommy fusses at her and takes her down to the ocean to wash her off that she gets upset...go figure.

I really think she'd continue to double-fist it into her mouth if I'd let her...but I didn't in case you're wondering.

Now for some real 'surf and turf', Ocean City style!  We celebrated Jim's birthday with dinner out and we all had assorted seafood dishes that definitely satisified that aforementioned hankering.

Happy Birthday Honey!  We love you!

As for me, nothing says Ocean City, NJ  more than a 28oz. container of Johnson's World Famous Caramel Corn that I may OR may NOT share with the others!

Greetings from Ocean City, NJ

                       We are having a great time in sunny New Jersey...my old stomping grounds.

The crowded beaches...

 ...the boardwalk with all of my favorite treats like chocolate covered salt water paddles and the world's best caramel corn.  So many wonderful memories of growing up going 'to the shore'! 

Thanks to friends of my parents, we are able to spend a week here allowing our children to get a taste of some of my Northern heritage.

We're enjoying hanging out on the beach,

drying off after catching a few waves,

digging holes and then...

...sitting in them,

strolling on the beach at dusk,

keeping little one out of the water (at dusk) so she doesn't end up as shark food,

contemplating surfing,

but mostly just being thankful for this time away with family, and of course, wishing my Dad was here with us.

More to come...

Talk to the Hand!

I thought that was a good caption for this photo!

But what I really need is some advice about said hands.  Nadia is pinching up a storm lately with those chubby little hands.  She's also pulling hair and is as fast as lightning and then won't let go, rendering even my sweet, long-haired niece, helpless in her clutches. 

We have tried many approaches from distracting her to pinching her and/or pulling her hair back.  Nothing seems to be working.  I realize this may just be yet another phase that will work itself out (like the head-banging, hitting herself, pulling her own hair, etc.) but I thought it wouldn't hurt to see if any of you have been through this and can offer a novel solution!

Thanks!

Fun Foto Friday

Any Caption Ideas?

The Countdown Begins...

Guess What Y'all????

Only 74 Days Until Fall!!!

 I'm not complaining...Just stating a fact!

****I've had a terrible time trying to post comments on my favorite blogs so please know I'm reading them.  Now I can't even comment on my own blog.  So, to answer Sophie's question--no I did not make the hat and glove set Nadia is wearing--have to give credit to theTarget end-of-year clearance sale for that.  And Jenn, tell Chris that one of the things that makes Fall my favorite time of year is College Football, of course!

What We've Been Up To Lately

In these past two weeks we have been doing the "Summer Thing".  Along with enjoying the longer, more carefree days, we've also sent our eldest off to Canada for a missions trip.  (His Grandpop would have been so proud as his heart was all about reaching the lost).

So, we loaded Allen up with some good family friends in their rented RV.  Destination: Ontario, Canada.

Their mission is to teach the kids soccer as part of an all-day VBS/Soccer Camp and share the gospel in their small groups.

Allen has a group of 13-7yr. olds and is experiencing many opportunities to minister to children who need extra love to break through a somewhat hard outer shell. Some are from the First Nation's Reservation, some from the women's shelter,and others are from foster care.   We are so thrilled he has this opportunity to be God's hands and feet to these precious children.

On the home front, Josi got a new pair of glasses.  After gluing and re-gluing her other pair together over 10 times, we decided it was time for a new pair.  Isn't she a beauty?  Very chic!

We celebrated the Fourth of July with some sparklers.

'Smoke Man'

We also got to see a wonderful fireworks display at our local State Fairgrounds.  There was a time, not too long ago, that we had to skip the fireworks because they were way too loud for Josi.  However, she was sitting there clapping and oooing and ahhhing with the rest of us!  Nadia loved them too.

Other than that, we're mostly trying to stay cool!

We met our friend Lisa with daughters Kate and Olivia at the local spray park/pool for some refreshing fun.

See?  There's Lisa and Olivia in the background.  Not sure where Kate was at this moment.

And of course there's always just watching little missie being awfully cute!

And Silly.

And Flexible...

And just overall whacky!

(Which makes her a perfect fit for our family!!!)

Hope you all are enjoying whatever it is you've been up to lately!