Here we are at The Rainforest Cafe with the crocodile. I tried to get a picture with the elephants, because apparently they are one of Kestrel`s 3 favorite animals (the others being horses and dogs), but it was too dark. Cooper told us he is no longer scared of the storms there, but he is still afraid of real storms.

Just a couple more pictures from this morning. I am posting these from my phone so I can only send 1 or 2 pics at a time (no internet access).

Paul took the kids to the beach this morning to get a little beach time before the rain came. I was out rollerblading this morning. I've also been able to take a couple of long walls on the beach and around town which has been nice. Right now were on our way to Burlington to take the kids to The Rainforest Cafe, and oh yeah I may get to go to Sephora...

more fun in the sun!

This was taken yesterday. After a little while at the beach we went to the South Shore Plaza and had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.

surfs up!

More beach pictures. These I took today.

We arrived at my parent's beach house sunday after a long all night drive. We have been at the beach every day. This was yesterday.

more swimming

Saturday Kestrel swam in her 2nd (and final) swim meet of the season.

Kestrel and Olivia

swimmer

Kestrel joined the Pre-swim Team this summer. Meets are optional, and at first she wasn't interested in attending them. The last few weeks she's been hearing the other kids talk about the meets and she decided she wanted to go. So, earlier this week she came home saying she told her coach she would be at the meet Saturday, then told me we had to be in Charleston (an hour drive) at 7:15 am!! We woke up at 5:30 Saturday morning to make it to the meet on time. Kestrel swam in 4 events: The medley relay, 25 freestyle, 25 backstroke, and freestyle relay. I was so proud of her, and every time she came out of the water she said it was really fun. This was my first time attending a meet as well, and I never realized how long they were. The waiting was tough at times, but it was worth it.

Kestrel lost a tooth while waiting for one of her events. She thought that made the meet extra exciting.

Kestrel is waiting for her turn during the relay.

one more parade

Kestrel and Cooper go to camp at Indian Day Camp, at a local swim club. Today they had their annual 4th of July parade. The kids have been making things for the parade all week at camp, and parents came to watch the parade this morning.

Kestrel with her friends Olivia (left) and Caitlin (center).

celebrating the 4th with friends

Later in the afternoon we had some friends over to celebrate. Everyone had fun, especially the kids who got a little wild! After eating, drinking and getting wet (from the rain, sprinkler and water balloons) we headed over to Kylla's house to watch fireworks.

An angry mob is demanding more water balloons!

Thanks to Paul for doing all the delicious cooking - and to everyone else for bringing their wonderful creations and goodies. And thank you Amy for taking all the pictures. I handed over my camera and she snapped pictures all afternoon.

happy 4th of july!

Neighborhood Celebration

In the morning there was a parade and celebration for the kids in our neighborhood. They decorated their bikes, and followed a fire truck around the park. After the parade they played in the bounce houses, got tattoos on their faces and ate ice pops. They loved it!

Cooper was excited he got to sit in the fire truck.

buds

My friend Trish took this picture of Cooper and Ethan a couple of weeks ago at Soccer. Cooper's been having a great time at soccer, but he does have a little trouble keeping the sillies at bay durring practice.

riding

Kestrel is riding a horse named Kelly at our riding lesson this morning.

Kestrel's been riding Kelly the past two weeks. I've been riding Toes the past three weeks. Last week right after I got on him, he started jumping a few times. It scared me! I guess I must have done something he didn't like. No jumping this week, thankfully. We did "barrel racing" at the end of our lesson today, where we trotted around barrels. I thought it was fun, and Toes seemed to enjoy it. Kestrel had a little trouble steering Kelly, who didn't seem to want to trot, around the barrels. We all had fun, though, and everyone laughed when I knocked over one of the barrels. Kestrel loves taking care of the horses, and keeps talking about how she wants to live on a farm when she's grown and ride horses everywhere instead of driving.
I snapped this picture at the end of our lesson with my phone. It's pretty blurry, but I still couldn't resist posting it here.

splashing summer fun

After camp we decided to go play at a park with a sprinkler area. I'm enjoying these lazy summer days of playing all afternoon, deciding spur-of-the-moment what we want to do, and not having to worry about getting homework done or hurrying off to dance or gymnastics class (oh alright, we did have soccer but that wasn't until much later, and I only felt a teeny bit rushed...).

OK, I know its not technically summer yet, but it feels like it. Seems like we've had mid-summer for the past month. It's been so hot. I know, after all my whining this past winter I shouldn't complain.

happy father's day

We decided to have a picnic lunch at Allerton Park today for Father's Day. It's become a tradition for us. We've been the past several years.
Last year, we brought Huxley and while walking in the woods, Huxley decided to jump into the river. Unfortunately, the riverbank was too steep for him to climb out, so Paul had to go in to get him out. The next day Paul discovered he was covered with Poison Ivy. The poor guy was really sick and uncomfortable for over a week!
This year Huxley stayed home, but mostly because it was just way too hot today. Because of the heat, we didn't spend long at the park. We ate lunch by the lake and enjoyed watching the snake, crayfish, turtles and fish that were in the lake. Then we played a little frisbee and headed back to town to see a movie (Nancy Drew).

Daddy and Cooper after the movie

summer soccer

Kestrel and Cooper had soccer this morning, with the Summer Soccer Club in a nearby town. Soccer started last Saturday, and meets twice a week through July. Kestrel participated in this last year and loved it. It was one of the things she was looking forward to this summer. This is Cooper's first time playing soccer. He was a bit nervous last week before he started, and kept saying "but I don't know how to play soccer!" However, once he got out there with his buddy Ethan he loved it, and now is all excited when he finds out it's soccer day.

I know it's too small to see, but that is Ethan kicking a ball behind Cooper.

recital (again)

Here is a video I took of her ballet class dancing "Rumpelstiltskin" last night. The quality isn't great because I just took it with my digital camera (we actually weren't supposed to be videotaping, but no one could tell I was taking video instead of just still pictures).

I know its hard to tell the girls apart, but if you look closely, Kestrel is always 4th girl from the left whenever the whole group is lined up across the stage. When they come out in smaller groups to dance, Kestrel is in the 2nd group (lined up behind each other bowing to Goldilocks), and she is the 2nd in line -- the 2nd to greet goldilocks. Kestrel said a few times she wished she was the last one, so that she could hug Goldilocks.

And why is Goldilocks in Rumpelstiltskin, you ask? Well, she's lost actually. She's traveling through the land of fairytales, trying to find the 3 Bear's house.

Kestrel's already planning to be in the recital next year. Right now she's very excited about dance.

dance recital

This week Kestrel is performing in the big dance recital her dance school puts on every year. She has two dances in the recital, "Bedrock Twitch", her tap routine, and "Rumpelstiltskin", with her ballet class. It has been a busy week, with dress rehearsals Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings, and performances Thursday, tonight (Friday) and Saturday evenings. We are both really tired, but she is loving it! All the waiting is hard though, and the show is really long. This evening when we arrived at the theater, she was acting and complaining of being sooo tired. However, after her dance she was talking a mile a minute and claiming she wasn't tired at all!

She is dancing the ballet dance all three performances, but Tap was only the first night. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera last night, so the only pictures I have in her tap costume are from my phone (except for the professional photos we'll get back next month).

Can you tell how proud I am of her? She's been working hard, putting up with late nights and long wait times, and doing a great job on stage.

The recital was held at an historic old theater downtown.

Kestrel in the theater entrance way when we were arriving yesterday for the first show. She's wearing her tap costume. She's been so excited that she gets to wear makeup, and we're having fun going overboard with glitter.

Yesterday, sitting with a couple of kids from her tap class, she's waiting for their turn to go backstage.

I took this in front of the theater this evening when we were on our way in.

Her ballet class is performing "Rumpelstiltskin". Kestrel is the 4th from the left.

a close up of the same picture above

Tonight after her dance with the roses I gave her. Did you know ruby red roses are her favorite flower?

dinner at the farm

Yesterday the kids wanted to go to Prairie Farm, now that it is open. First visit this year! Kestrel had a dress rehearsal last night, and I needed to get them dinner early. So, we decided to pack a light picnic and eat at the farm. Kestrel was excited to see the horses, but got a little upset later when she thought one of the horses tried to bite her. I asked Cooper to pick out an animal he wanted a picture with, and he chose the peacock! They enjoyed the petting zoo, although the deer were at it again this year trying to eat our clothes. Anyway, we are glad the farm is open again for the season.

50 years!

I flew into Boston last weekend to help my parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. After a little travel snag (I was supposed to go Friday night, but flight got cancelled so I didn't go until Saturday morning), I arrived in Boston Saturday afternoon. We went to the Wayside Inn in Sudburry for the anniversary dinner. 50 years, can you believe it? I hope Paul and I are so lucky to get to celebrate our 50th.

After 50 years, my Dad lost his wedding ring on the day of their anniversary, and he noticed it just as we were heading out for the dinner. How ironic is that? Don't worry though, he found it the next day!

The dinner was nice and it was great to see everyone. I wish Paul and the kids could have been there, but we will hopefully all be traveling to Boston this summer.

I had to fly out Sunday morning, so it really was a quick trip. But, thankfully I got home in time to help Kestrel get ready for her recital pictures.