new york

fourth of july.

independence day.

we took a whole family photo, which happens every two years when we visit.

there’s usually a theme associated with the photo.

this year, each generation wore a different color bandana.

the cousins are still stair steps, but some of them are evening out.

{18, 13, 10, 8, 7-364/365, 5, 5, 3}

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this guy was way too big for me to catch. he was wondering why we were invading his quiet space.

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for duck races, of course!

the creek wasn’t flowing as fast as it had been a couple of days ago.

the ducks had to be urged on a bit.

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the kids swam in the pool while we prepared dinner. ryan and i were in charge of most of the food. there was definitely plenty to eat!

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fireworks…

 

new york

watching your kids play is fun.

playing with them is even more fun!

we played today.

walks.

bike rides.

scooters.

trikes.

a game of bocci.

an epic nerf gun battle.

it was awesome to move and laugh with the kids today.

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look at what i found…

i noticed a mama sparrow with food sitting on the front porch railing at my sister-in-law’s house.

i watched where she flew and peeked after she left.

one little baby.

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ryan went out with some friends tonight. after i got the kids to sleep, i watched the fireflies dance all over the backyard near the creek.

ryan’s mom tells a story about the night that the little guy was born. one of our nephews was having a sleepover at nana and bop’s house and said he saw something winking at him out the window. they looked out to see fireflies all over the backyard.

so magical.

new york

i fell asleep to a cool breeze and sounds of the creek through the windows last night.

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this morning, after a slow start, the kids and i went for a hike with ryan’s dad and their cousin while ryan and his mom drove to buffalo for the day.

bops took us on a cool hike just a mile from their house.

he has been volunteering with the friends of webster trails for years and is very knowledgable about the trail systems throughout the area.

many of the trail projects, including boardwalks and bridges, have been local eagle scout projects.

others are all volunteer efforts by the friends of webster trails.

you can read more about the projects and the trail system in the newsletter that my father in law is in charge of editing.

of course, knowing that there might be something old and rusty on the trail kept me going.

there were a few old cars out here…story is that they used to be used in mud races when this was just an empty field.

looks like this one wasn’t victorious.

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afternoon was spent playing outside and cleaning up the creek for duck races later in our visit.

and, for the record, i almost caught a frog! i am no good at holding frogs and snakes and i would like to, at the very least, be able to hold little frogs for the kids. this was a cute little guy that i tried to catch. i am bound and determined to catch one by the end of the trip!

new york

i asked the kids to sit for this photo last night because i knew i had another one from our last visit to rochester over the fourth of july 2013.

after searching through the photos on my computer without luck, i scrolled through two years worth of my instagram feed and found this…

wow. they have grown up a lot!

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decorating rubber ducks for cousin duck races in the creek.

puzzles.

crafts at aunt tracy’s house.

cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents!

a little play time in the creek until the skeeters found them!

we were up at 3:30 am to get to the airport for a 7:00 am flight.

after a short delay we were on our way!

the trip was so smooth and easy compared to the last time we flew with the kids. it’s amazing what a big difference two years can make. they really do grow up fast.

almost exactly two years ago they sat on this same bench.

we made it to new york!

 

some friends in the neighborhood brought these adorable balloons for the kids last night. thank you, brandi, elle, and ava…the kids LOVE them!

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most of today was spent packing, covering last minute details, and getting things organized for our house sitter before we head across the country tomorrow morning.

now i just want to get this show on the road!

thank goodness for good neighbors!

ryan was cooking some pork on the traeger overnight. he brought it in to add some spices this morning and put it back out on the grill.  i think he added pellets, too.

all of the sudden i heard him on the phone, and he was going back out to the backyard. our neighbor {and friend} had been driving by and noticed lots of smoke…she called him to check if it was our traeger.

yes, it was, but it was on fire!!!

thank goodness brittany called. and,thank goodness we were awake and it didn’t happen in the middle of the night.

the kids have been arguing a lot the last couple of days.

we have been somewhat cooped up inside while i try to get things done at the house, which has ended up in extra screen time. which ends up in poor attitudes when screen time ends. boo.

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need to find my inner peace today.

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i found it!

this morning i told the kids they needed to wait until 10:00 for screen time…no matter what.

they knew what time they were allowed to get on the ps4, and they found other things to do until then!

wow!

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so, i snuck outside for some quiet time…

a little {quiet} chalkboard art creativity was just what i needed to recharge. {i think i am going to color the light bulbs in yellow}

we are planning an outdoor movie for this weekend. ryan and i narrowed the movies down to three and then asked the kids, separately, what their choice would be in order of preference. they both chose the same movie!

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this afternoon ryan had a conference call he had to be on, so i snuck out to get some errands done. another much needed {quiet} break with the bonus of getting things check off my “to do” list.

i got almost all of the errands done. i even was steps away from finishing them, but there was a loud fundraising event going on at the last store i needed to go to, so i turned around and drove home. no need to spoil my “inner peace” to check one more thing off the list. i can sneak back over there sometime this weekend, or even go with the kid on monday!

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so we are hiding out in the AC {thank goodness} while it is 93 degrees in the shade outside the kitchen window!

seriously, this heat is crazy! and, it’s just supposed to continue into next week and the holiday weekend.

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this guy is enjoying his time as the “only dog”, but i know he will miss us when we are traveling. i am sure that our house sitter will take good care of the pets, just like rainy is being taken care of in idaho, but they are my babies, too!

the heat is supposed to be even worse in idaho, where rainy is, so i am sure she will be doing lots of swimming in the rivers up there!

today is supposed to be the first day of some really HOT weather here in the pacific northwest.

the weather has been weird this year. i’m not complaining, but we didn’t get rain like we usually do in may and june.

in fact, i’m pretty sure that colorado and oregon switched their weather patterns this year. i’m hoping they will give our weather back to us soon…i’m sure they would appreciate their hot and dry instead of our cool and wet, too!

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going to try to check things off my list again today.

• planning for a party
  • shopping
  • cleaning
• getting ready for our first big trip of the summer
  • last minute errands
  • laundry
  • packing
  • house sitter lists

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the kids already finished their summer learning for the morning. they both have done the required 3 packets for the week already, so i let them just do a couple of easier worksheets.

baby girl wants to learn to read and one of her workbooks had mini books at the back, so we cut those out for her to carry around with her and practice the words.

the little guy thinks his packets are too hard. they aren’t. he’s just not hugely motivated on his own. i don’t push. he’s smart. i want learning to be fun, not work. i may need to get a bit creative with him.