NYS Fair

 Mom, Papa Bear, Jen, Little Dude and I went to the State Fair a few weeks ago.  I hadn't been in a really long time and was beyond excited for the little things that I remembered from being a kid.  The butter sculpture, 25 cent glasses of the most delicious chocolate milk, the bridge with a different painting on it, the sand sculpture and of course all kinds of animals (with the little ducklings in their pool with a slide being my favorite).

 It was a really neat Dr. Seuss sand sculpture with all sorts of characters and those tongue twisters from the books.  But the bridge was gone.  It should be in the area where the building entrance is but now is a bunch of flowers.  Perhaps it just kind of crumbled and they didn't rebuild.  Disappointment from Jen and I but we did enjoy sitting in the shade with a nice breeze while mom went to get Papa Bear a baked potato for $1.  She didn't want to wait in line for over an hour and walked up to a lady near the front and offered to buy her a potato and drink if she would get a potato for my mom as well.  Hmm, who wouldn't go for the free food and a drink if offered?

 I had to laugh at the cows all buttered up and ready to be judged.  I also felt bad for them since they looked like they needed to go and help make our chocolate milk.  While they were walking they were "leaking" milk everywhere.

 Maybe it didn't smell as bad as you would think in the cow barn because they were washed, blow dried, buzz cut and then shellacked with a variety of products as evidenced in the bin below.  Must be nice to be a State Fair cow instead of back at the farm munching in the fields attracting flies.

 I got a kick out of the sign in the bathroom that said NO Tipping.  Obviously it was meant for an employee who might be cleaning up but still, in the cow barn bathroom.  It's ok to laugh.

 The biggest reason we all went was so Michael could see his first concert.  We took turns dancing with him and he was moving/shaking/smiling the entire time.

I had the pleasure of entertaining the Little Dude on the car ride home so he wold go to bed about his normal time.  I am going to toot my own horn here and say I did a good job with the help of some Baby Einstein thing Jen pulled up on the phone (I make a good "tv" holder) and then just making sil

My 32nd Birthday

I will start off by saying that yes, I am a spoiled princess and I can be very moody.  Why would my birthday be any different?  Of course most of the family showed up at my parents for breakfast.  My mom does bacon, eggs and pancakes most days.  Today my sister stepped in and made crescent roll French Toast.  And since I am a spoiled princess I wanted regular French Toast so my sister made that for me and called me a piggy since I wanted 3 slices.  I love French Toast and could eat it every day.  Mind you I don't like bacon and didn't have any other breakfast goodies.  

 After breakfast people just hung around the yard and Michael climbed all over his car.  In and out, stand on the seat, sit down, turn the key, attempt to "squeak" the horn.

 I had him open our other gift.  He loved gift number 2 from us.  A box of tissues that he promptly started to pull out one at a time.  Very gently he pulled them out and left them all over the place.

 It is totally magical little dude how they keep coming out of the box.  They seem to be never ending.

 Manfriend and I took a walk up to the lake and enjoyed the cool temperatures and breeze.  The lake was still kind of rough but not as bad as the day before.  My mom let some Ben & Jerry's Triple Caramel Chunk ice cream get soft and put it in an Oreo pie crust, drizzled with hot fudge for my cake.  My moody self kicked in and complained about the hot fudge ruining the ice cream since it took away from the slight caramel flavor.  She was really worried about not even being able to make me a cake.  I was surprised that she did this for me and am thankful she did, although I told her it was technically a pie (told you I was in a mood).

 I took a nap on the couch and my parents took a nap on the hammock outside.  That night was the poker game that usually takes place on the 4th.  There is a new winner in town, Mr. Lucky (my dad).  He won $20 (which is small for the game that usually has the winner taking home about $80+).

 The first one out was a shocker to all.  Manfriend was the loser and winner of the poop.  Must be because I didn't sit in the cottage and "cheer" for you.  I chose to watch Aladdin on the projection screen set up that they have outside for night movies.  My feet got about 4 bug bites each and those are the only bites I have.  Lucky for me they only bother me when I put on my shoes for a run (grrrr).

 And, since I warned that I am a spoiled Princess I received these adorable t-shirts from my Momma and Papa Bear.  They are just perfect for me and I look forward to wearing them all the time.

 I was also given some SparkleSkirts.  yay for running stuff that is useful and that I love.  I was also given a jar of homemade strawberry jam in a wine bag.  They were hoping to trick me but some liquor was given to me a few weeks ago (Firefly Sweet Tea vodka--delicious mixed with lemonade).

 The big birthday surprise came in the form of the Midnight with Mickey Vera Bradley Hipster.  I love my tote that Luke got me around our anniversary and I have the zip ID case my mom got me for when I go to schools and have to leave ID and keys at the main office.  I love the print and my parents decided that it would be nice for me to have this cute little purse for when I travel.

I had a wonderful birthday and am so appreciative of everything my parents do for me and not just on my birthday but throughout the year.  Even though my birthday is right after the 4th they still find a way to make it a special day for me, despite the craziness of lots of family and such around the cottage.

Michael's First Birthday & 4th of July

Our usual 4th of July festivities kicked off with a delicious meal over at Patty and Danny's place.  We lucked out in that the weather was unusually "chilly" for the holiday.  Usually we are all sitting around sweating but this year we had many people scrambling for long sleeve shirts or pants.  It was actually a perfect temperature but after the heat and humidity in the days before it was a bit of a shock.  

 After lunch/dinner we usually have a poker game but this year we headed over to my parents place where Jen had set up an Ice Cream Shoppe for Michael's First Birthday.  She put a lot of the classic details into the decor and it was amazing.

 Of course the family loved it since we all have a bit of a large sweet tooth.  People sat around chatting and enjoying their sundaes and Root Beer floats.  She had so much leftover too that we invited the neighbors for ice cream and they were in heaven.

 Michael woke up from his nap and was not the happiest of campers.  Usually he is happy but he was just sort of crankity.  Here is Bob tossing him in the air trying to get him to smile before they did his smash cake.

 I might have been kind of unhappy too if all these people were staring at me and I'm not used to all the fuss from that many people.  I am sure that everyone got a great photo of him not smashing his cake while I took one of them all staring at the handsome little dude.

 He did smile for Great Gee-Gee though and had fun sitting in his lap.  Who wouldn't want to smile with Grandpa Zip singing songs and smiling.  He is such a happy guy that it is contagious.

 In the other part of the yard the kids were gathered on the hammock making kickball teams.  Kickball did happen but we were feeding the neighbors ice cream and didn't make it back to Patty and Danny's for that.

 I insisted on giving Michael his gift from Luke and I.  He was very happy and had a huge grin on his face.  It was just what Jen and Bob needed for him to have so he would have some smiling one year photos from the party.  It was a Monsters Inc. inspired coupe.

 Then they did a picture of all the Mikes...

 That night we went to the former Pier One for karioke and drinks.  Our family consisted of about 3/4 of the people there and they were supposed to stop the singing at 9:30 but kept it going until about 1:30.  Crazy.

It was a wonderful 4th of July celebrated with friends and family plus a birthday thrown in there.  A little crazy but that is how most family events are for us and I love it most of the time.

Happy 4th and Birthday!

Happy 4th of July to everyone and a very happy first birthday to my nephew Michael.  You are still a little dude but we love having you in our family.  Hope you enjoy your first birthday and that your mommy and daddy take lots of pictures or you won't remember it!  Oh, and when people tell you the fireworks are for you, they are liars but it's ok if you want to pretend they really are for you cause you are special!  And some "old" photos of you and me hangin' out since I don't have any recent ones.

Party 'til you Puke...

 This past weekend Miss New Hampshire came to town from Florida (yup, scratch your head on that one for a while) so a bunch of people met up at Marge's Lakeside Inn for some drinks and to visit with her on Friday.  Marge's is a tropical theme place, local "dive" bar in the best way possible.

 Apparently if you are out drinking with friends for a few hours you turn into a squirrel.  I am happy to report that my mother turned back into herself for her birthday the next day.  To celebrate her birthday Jen came to town with Michael.

 A few people stopped by my parents to visit with her and Michael Saturday.  Miss New Hampshire had to go take a nap that afternoon.  Jen went to the Knighthawks lacrosse game with my folks while Manfriend and I had the chance to babysit.  He woke up from his nap, we played and then did the bedtime routine of bath and bottle.  A few hours later, our babysitting adventure ended in the little dude puking all over about 15 minutes before they came home.  We hope that he is feeling better since he had to travel back home Sunday afternoon.

Happy Anniversary Jen and Bob!

Happy Anniversary to Jen and Bob! The fastest trip down memory lane here for you highlighting the awesome-ness of y'all!

Hawaii party in your early datin' years

Engaged in NYC all decorated for Christmas and married exactly one year later on the most perfect winter day with those giant snow flakes and fresh snow from the storm the day before:

and last year you announced to the family that you were going to be a family by welcoming this little dude in the most spectacular way with fireworks and all:

Happy Anniversary to you two and may you have many more years of happiness and love!

The Serial Killer of my back yard and other Halloween stuff

The other day (Sunday) we were watching TV and Cinders was all snuggled up on my chest.  She bolted from me and started going nuts at the back sliding glass door.   A black cat was out there and pounce, pounce, pounce near the bird feeder.  He scampers off with a cute little chipmunk.  He's been back everyday since and we scare him away at least twice.  Leave my chipmunks alone!  Cinder likes watching them and they're cute (even if they make the back yard full of little holes). 

While hanging out at home the other day (Tuesday) waiting for it to warm up enough to mow the lawn and run the mower out of gas for the season for winter storage this went prancing though the back yard:

 We see mommy and her 2 babies (that aren't that little anymore) almost nightly.  Seeing him was a real treat.  He was definitely more hesitant than mommy and babies. Although he did run really fast when something spooked him (he was behind the tree "frozen" so this is the only picture I got of him).

 Pretty soon my decorations will have to move from the fireplace to the front hall so that our Trick-or-Treaters see them:

 And I wish that one really stinkin' cutie patootie would be coming to knock at our door.  But I will settle for cute snail mail from him anytime.  Biggest smile on my face to get this the other day:

Looking forward to tonight when Luke gets to answer the door in his Darth Vader costume (oh the irony).