A Fair, A Birthday, A Park, & A Wedding

First and foremost let me say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Joolie!
And - Congratulations to Fabio and Melanie!

Ok, let's blog!

We celebrated mom and dad's 35th wedding anniversary by going to the state fair last Sunday. It was a short, but sweet, trip - with just the right amount of over indulging! I do have proof that Lonny took Alice down the big slide - AND that she could see what was going on for at least part of the ride down! :)

Wheeee!

After a long 4 days at school - trying to get ready for the kids - who come next Tuesday - I took the day off today to hang out with Alice. We pretty much played, snacked, SLEPT for TWO HOURS!!, ate lunch, and then made a quick trip to the park before Jaime got home from work. I could watch Alice wonder, discover, touch, learn, etc. ALL DAY LONG!

Alice could rock this thing back and forth - all on her own!

Look Ma! No hands!

What?

Picking up each grain of sand is fun!

So Jaime gets home - and that's my cue to get my butt down to Lakeville. It was there that I was VERY lucky to witness the wedding of my Schmoopie (Melanie) to her Fabs :) (Fabio). It was a quick and sweet ceremony in front of a judge, after which Melanie and Fabio got into a limo to ride around the lakes and met up with us an hour and a half later at Bonnie's (Mel's mom's) house for Italian dinner, wedding cake, and wine! Great night!

awwww

The happy family

Leaving the courthouse to find a limo waiting outside!

My Schmoopie

I wish nothing but the best to my dear friend - and my new friend, her HUSBAND, Fabio!

Alice Mae's Day of Meetings

Even though I had Alice all day today, it didn't stop my AP from scheduling a 9am meeting. It turned out ok - as I then scheduled another meeting right after. So Alice was a little Rock Star, as always, while Auntie Carrie conducted grown-up business. (Oh yeah, and while every co-worker who met her oohed and ahhhed.) Alice was SO good - that after the 2nd meeting - I stayed for a little bit to help Hayden (who was in to help ME!)


Finally - at about 1pm - we finally broke for lunch - and met Jaymie and crew. Lunch was yummy - and giggly - and then home to nap for 2 hours!! :)

Tonight was casual as Melanie, Fabio, and Luca came over to visit, enjoy some Taco Bell (yes, Fabio wanted to try it), and watch movies. And darn it! I forgot to take a picture again!!! (I even said, "when Luca finishes that bottle, I'm going to take a picture . . ." . . and then, yeah, forgot.) :)

Oh well - I'll just have to REMEMBER the fun night.

Huge Photo Dump

(funny title for those of you who know what I'm going through today and tomorrow!) :)

Ok - It's been awhile since I've dumped photos from my camera - so here is about 3 weeks of activity. . . . I'll keep the commentary to a minimum. . .ENJOY!

Alice Mae's Birthday Party - Sat. July 28th

Alice enjoys a swim with cousin Zack while 2nd Cousin Paige helps out

Grandpa enjoys time with his former schoolmates

Lonny and Jaime set up quite a great party!

Alice loves the scrapbook I made for her :)

Alice and BFF Mae use teamwork to get at the goods

Already so good at playing together!

Miss Ada "helps" with the big cake

Alice gets ready to blow out the candle. . .ok, Auntie Carrie and Miss Ada helped!

Look what Daddy made!

Alice likes to pick things and touch them with the tips of her fingers. . .

. . . but yeah, this is how you do it on your birthday!

35W Bridge Collapse - Wed. Aug. 1st

Had just driven over it Sunday night to bring mom and dad to airport (then home again). . . was really weird - didn't know it was going to be such a huge story - watched live coverage in horror - outside - eerie - the air was like dust - no one was outside - no animals - just quiet except for the helicopters and sirens.

LASIK Enhancement - Fri. Aug. 3rd

Hayden and boys brought me to my 2nd round of LASIK (had left eye enhanced). Here I am getting "prepped." Amy, Alex, and Billy got to watch the brief surgery on a monitor. The boys thought it was pretty cool!

Using a Straw @ Perkins - Sun. Aug. 5th

After a long wet weekend of hosting a garage sale we headed to Perkins for comfort food. Alice was, of course, a rock star out in public . . . and even figured out how to use her straw that came with her kiddie cup.

See! She's soo freakin' brilliant!

"Watching" the baby - Wed. Aug. 8th

Yeah. . . I'm still babysitting - though not as much as I am spending more and more time back at school already. . . . this is getting easy. . this kid almost watches herself! (kidding - I totally watched her manuver her way into the dangerous craft room. . . let her hang out long enough to get photo - then scooped her up and brought her to safety!) :)

Treat for myself - Aug. Back To School Sales

Well - I spent this past weekend with Melanie and Luca in Carver. . .but dope that I am - didn't get ONE photo of that!! It was fun anyway - and nice to be in a big safe house during the weekend storms! Came home and made a Target run - only to find awesome sales on back-to-school dorm stuff. It's cool - this bedding can work for a 34 year old, no? :)

DAG - Wed. Aug. 15th

Very CASUAL gathering of DAG. Great to see everyone - sad - I think I see Christy, Tom and Shelly about as much as I see Julayne - who lives in KOREA!! Oh well, we'll have to remedy that!! Yes - you can see my new haircut in this photo - but don't judge yet . . . I wasn't 100% . . . the cleansing had begun . . .

National Night Out

Ok - I finally went. I watched my neighbors gather for the past two summers for National Night Out - and this year I finally got the courage to go.

Heidi was supposed to go with me - for courage - but ended up cancelling due to "female issues." She still encouraged me to go tho - like annoyingly so. . . :)

So - I finished my taco salad (yes, mom's recipe) - took a deep breath - and walked two houses down - and joined the party.

It was really fun - most of them all knew each other - and after the initial introductions I pretty much sat back and listened to all the stories. (It was very much like sitting at the Legion in Lancaster . . everyone knew what was going on at this house and that, and that person did this and that. . very interesting - but as Heidi pointed out - needed - in the city.)

I had a great time, everyone loved the taco salad (one guy even said "you're the taco salad, right?" when introducing himself) . . and I think I'm on the email list now - to get neighborhood updates and goings on! :)

PS - yes, I have photos of the Princess' birthday - and thoughts on the bridge collapse . .but those will come on a later post. . .

I've Been Simpsonized