We took a family vacation the weekend of Labor Day through the following weekend, or at least that was our original plan. We went to Alexandria, Va. and Georgetown for a couple of days and then headed down to Williamsburg. It was a nice time to get away and spend time with the family. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very nice and it rained a fair amount. But we still made the best of it and had fun.

We were planning to head to Virginia Beach on Thursday morning through Sunday, but ended up heading home instead as our basement flooded. Our amazing neghbors tried really hard to empty our sump pit, but the rain was just too much. Many neighors and friends also got water in their basements. So instead of playing at the beach we cleaned our basement. It was a long overdue project as we still had many boxes that we had not opened since moving here.

The main thing is that we were able to spend time together away from the usual day-to-day routine. Now it's time to plan our next adventure!

Just chillin' at the grocery store. "I sure hope mommy and daddy pick out my favorite ice cream."

Packed and ready to go to the next place. Hurry up mommy and daddy.

This vacationing sure does wear a little person out.

Summer Fun

We've been having a fun summer. Here's a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. Yummy ice cream - does she ever take after her daddy. This girl loves ice cream!

Helping prep the corn - it's a summer staple in our house.

Best buds - Aliya, Mae and Violet.

The Petting Zoo at Lake Tobias.

Relaxing in the hammock.

Yummy corn!

We finally converted Aliya's crib to a toddler bed. (Sniff, sniff, it was kind of sad to move her out the crib, our little girl is growing up too fast) But it sure is fun to watch the kiddos play in her big girl bed - they love it!

Hershey Park has lots of great kiddie rides and a really fun water park area. This was a really great summer day!

Play time at home.

Aliya loves to help us pull Brayden in the wagon.

A friend who used to work for a photography studio took some nice family pictures of us in the park in May and I'm finally getting around to posting them. The kiddos did pretty good.

Awwwww. I love this one!

NYC

Thank you mom for coming out and watching the kiddos so we could head to NYC for a few days. We had a great trip filled with tasty meals in Little Italy, strolling Highline Park, a Yankee's game, Chicago on Broadway and lots of roaming the streets. We put on 25 miles in 2.5 days. We even met up with Roberto's cousin and his wife who live in Brooklyn for diner and drinks one night. What a great trip!

I have to admit that a guilty peasure is watching Keeping up with the Kardashians so I had to go and check out the store. First we had to wait in line to get in and then the store was really not that impressive. Pretty small store, overpriced clothing and nothing that even remotely caught my eye.

June 2011

Playing in the pool. Muscle girl.
We went to Knoelebels Amusement Park and the kiddos had a great time on all of the kiddie rides. It was a super fun day. We'll definitely have to go back there. Aliya was so cute protecting her little brother on the ride.

Biking

We went for our first bike ride with the kiddos on May 27th. Everyone had a great time. They took a little nap and we were able to bike about 20 miles. It felt great to go biking again. It's been a long time since we last went for a bike ride. We stopped at Serenity Station along the way and hand some lunch. We had some Rita's after our bike ride. It was a great way to spend the day!

Play time

Aliya had some friends over for a play date - Campbell and Reese - and the girls had fun painting themselves and the paper. Aliya had more fun painting her arms and legs than the paper. That's why we love washable paints. After painting the girls played in the sprinkler to cool off and to wash off.