June 2018

Stella was very exited about our annual planting at the cemetery.  Claire, not so much.  So, she hung out with Papa while the rest of us put some flowers in.

In early June we headed to Syracuse for a Kidz Bop show at the Lakeview Amphitheater.  It was awesome!  It was a beautiful day, we had seats close enough to the stage we were part of all the excitement, and it was a relaxing night out.  The girls enjoyed the hotel pool too!  We made it back on Sunday evening just in time for the AWANA end-of-year carnival style party.  It was great fun!

Samantha's new accessory!

Our pool is open for the season and this little cutie couldn't be happier!













Tri-Town Garage Sale Weekend!  This year the sale came and went and momma just didn't have the energy or time to put anything out.  It was a very over-scheduled weekend with a sleep-over at the Britton's, a Girl Scout sleep over, and two birthday parties.  Inbetween all of the activities the girls did manage to pull off a lemonade stand and a shoe sale.  They made almost $15 and had a great time doing it!

 The Girl Scout bridging ceremony and shut-in was a great success! The girls had a wonderful time playing lawn games, doing crafts, and being with their friends!  I wasn't crazy about sleeping on a fire station floor, but brought along an air mattress and it actually wasn't so bad after all.

At first I said no to the birthday parties - feeling like it would just be too busy of a weekend and we'd all be tired.  But, then I thought better of it.  Birthday parties are so much fun, and it's good for the girls to spend time with their friends.  We made a compromise we would go to each party for just an hour and a half each.  It worked out well and we were all glad we decided to participate in the fun!  Lillian had a super tall rainbow cake that was delicious, and Shanta had lots of water fun!

Stella ran into Ella at Lillian's party!

 We headed to Burlington Father's Day weekend to volunteer at RMH.  We were all looking forward to the trip since we haven't been over since fall.  On the way over we learned about Eli's birthday party Saturday morning so we spent a few hours at Caroline's, then went to North Beach for a bit, and spent the rest of the time at the mall doing a little shopping.  It was a great day!  That evening we visited with our high school friend Brent who doesn't live far from the house.

Tired out!

On Sunday, we stopped for lunch and arcade fun before heading back to NY!

June was a super busy month at SLC Elementary!  I took a day off to volunteer at Larry Day, which was great fun!  Daddy visited Claire's classroom for 'Glimpse Into the Future Day', and I stopped by Stella's classroom for Mrs. Mainville's Reader's Theater:

 Stella did a great job reading loudly with emotion.  I was super proud of her!  We had about an hour before picking up Claire from school afterward so we went for a walk to the playground down the street.

Their classroom teachers both had celebrations and awards for all of their students.  Stella won the excellence award, and Claire the happy helper award!

It's hard to believe the school year is over.  The girls learned a lot and both had a really great year! 

We started the first day of Summer Vacation with a birthday party for Makala. They rented a bounce house and it was super fun!  They also made snow cones and cotton candy, so Claire really enjoyed herself!


Occasionally we will visit a grad party and this year we stopped by Hannah Hooker's.  While we didn't capture the fun, the girls had a blast playing on the inflatable water slide they rented.  The Britton girls were also there and they had a terrific time!

May 2018

 The weather finally turned and we could not be happier to be enjoying the sunshine!

Our girls continue to love one another so very much.  They do experience the usual sibling fights every now and then but for the most part being sisters is like having a built-in BFF.  I caught some of their secret-sharing here.  They are especially loving to hang out together on the new web swing daddy bought for them!

 It is AAU Basketball season and while the girls and I are keeping our distance from the gym, we did join daddy in Plattsburgh for the night and were excited to have Caroline and Esme come across the lake from VT to join us.  Lots of fun was had by all!

Girl Scout Spring Fling @ Old Forge Campground!

We traveled to Old Forge one Friday afternoon to spend the weekend Camping with our Girl Scout troop.  We had a wonderful time despite the cold and rainy weather.  Stella went with her friend Bri and was with her and her mom for most of the trip, while I stayed with Claire and the Daisy Scouts.  The campground had all sorts of activities planned for us to enjoy: A Magic Show, Tye-Dye watermelon towels, Yoga, Rock Painting, Fishing (for the older scouts), A visit from the Utica Zoo, playground fun, and of course Girl Scout Swaps and S'mores.  The girls also were able to take out the paddle boats during a brief break from the rain.  This was an opportunity to really take advantage of our multi-age level troop.  Most of our scouts were able to paddle boat together since the younger girls paired up with an older girl.  The luxury heated cottages with bathrooms made Momma especially excited - this was my kind of camping!  While I continue to have reservations about over-scheduling the girls, the decision to sign up for Girl Scouts is one I've been very pleased with so far.  The girls are really enjoying themselves and making great memories with friends!

Gigi's Arcade Birthday was so much fun!

It's planting season and we decided to try out a landscaping project.  It was a fun day with the girls and it turned out pretty well - we just need to purchase a border to finish it:

1st & 2nd Grade
Concert Night!

New Hat!

Trey's spot this year.  Claire wasn't really in to this so she hung out with Papa while we planted a few flowers - something Stella really enjoys.  We wanted to plant some vegetables this year but the days are passing too quickly and we haven't made time to clean out our raised beds.  Daddy did buy a hanging tomato plant though, and cherry tomatoes are one of Stella's favorite vegetables so hopefully it will be healthy and hearty!