Alden's Pool Party

This was a big year for Alden.  Not only did he turn SIX and need TWO hands to show how old he is, but he had the first not-at-home birthday party!  The pool is a pretty big part of our life and it's super close, so it only made sense to have it there!  An added bonus was that I didn't have to clean my house! Lots of friends and family came and helped us celebrate and I think it's safe to say that everyone had a blast!

Ready to EAT!

PopPop and Al helped get each kid their plate full of food- pizza, watermelon, veggies (with Ranch), a juice box and napkin

After eating, the kids went back to swimming.  Lots of fun was had!  I took oodles of pictures, but for the sake of space, I chose only a few here....

The diving board was a huge hit!

Adeline loved having so many friends to play with!

The Birthday Boy!  He seriously did have fun even if he doesn't look like it....

Alden adored his Swim Team Coaches- and he insisted on inviting them to his party.  AND THEY CAME!  He was SO excited!  They not only came, they came with gifts and swam with him!  That just made his day- thank you!

Coach Dillon, Alden, Coach Megan, Adeline, Coach Allie

Alden asked for an ice cream bar instead of cake and ice cream.  Easy!  Karen had a fantastic idea of pre-scooping the icecream into little cups- which I did and it saved tons of time!  Each kid got a cup and we topped it with their choices of whip cream, sprinkles, chocolate chips, crushed oreos, gummy bears, chocolate sauce and even a cherry for the top.

Blowing out his candles

Enjoying ice cream on the diving blocks....

Friends excited for Alden to open their gift

Surrounded by sweet friends!  I hope this is a fantastic start to a great year, Alden!

6 Year Old Alden

Alden is six. SIX!  I'm still not sure how THAT much time as simply flown by...  Here are a few pics of him over the last six years!

6 weeks old

One

Two

I love these number blocks!

Four- the beginning of Spunk....

Five- the King of Spunk

6- SO excited to see how you grow and change this year!

Swim Team Awards

I can't believe it- Summer Swim Team has come to an end.  The kids loved it- every aspect of it!  They made new friends, learned new skills, and had oodles of fun!  Thankfully, this is the only sport I can actually help with other than being their cheerleader!  You can imagine how my heart sang when they both asked if they could swim during the winter- yay!!  That helps this first, of what will hopefully be many, Awards Ceremonies, be fun and and not sad.

Pictures tell a good story so here goes!

All of the Awards all lined up!

Yummy Cake- there was a huge assortment of desserts- the kids were in sugar heaven!

Alden age group- so proud of all his hard work!  He went from just being able to swim across the pool, to being able to swim 3 of the 4 strokes legally and even swam a 25meter butterfly in the last meet!

Addie with her age group trophy!  She has also learned so much!  She can swim all 4 stroke legally and is really starting to get technique and is really shaving off time!

Can you just see how HAPPY she is here?!?  She won Most Improved in her age group!  Her coaches, Maddie, Megan and Dillon, are all super proud of her- and so are Al and I!  Next year she will be at the top of her age group, and with a full year of coaching under her belt, who knows what else will be possible next summer!

Adeline & Alden with their beloved Coach Megan.  She knew how to love the kids and still push them.  My two adored her and worked extra-hard just for her!

It was an amazing summer and a perfect introduction to swim team!  Hopefully it will have sparked a life-long love of swimming in these two- and I look forward to Asher and Annalise joining the team next summer, too!

July 4th Fun

We had a blast at Jen and Frank's lake house!  The kids all had fun together.  The grown-ups all had fun together.  We ate, we skied, we wakeboarder, we surfed, we paddle boarded, we swam, and the boys favorite- peed in the lake!  Both kids skied- and for the first time, Adeline did it before Alden!  Adeline even wake-boarded but that is a video and not a picture, so you will have to take my word for it!  It was a fantastic time- we are so blessed to have such fun-loving and generous family!

Miss Water Ski

Silly Monkeys on the Beach

She LOVED all the water sports!

Alden developed a love of fishing- never caught anything but loved it!

Driving the boat

Al and Addie tubing

Me surfing- and I even wake-boarded!

Love these three!

Addie and Al paddling out to the rocks

July 4th Sparklers!

Writing her name

Running around like crazy

Watching fireworks from the dock

Swimming off the back of the boat

Al wake boarding and catching some air

Al surfing

Addie wanted to drive

Alden skiing- finallllly!

Modeling her glow-in-the-dark bracelets

Happy (Early) Birthday-aka a Day in NYC Sans Kiddos

July 4th weekend we headed to Jen and Frank's Lake House.  I was pretty excited about that.  Then Al told me how he had gotten tickets for us to see Phantom of the Opera (his cousin's partner plays Raul)!!  Jen and Frank not only watched the kids, they also dropped us off and picked us up from the train station AND paid for a nice dinner in The City!

It. was. amazing!  The show was even better than I remembered- Al and I saw it the week that we officially started dating, over 15 years ago.  The seats that Kyle/Raul got us were in the 9th row!  The dinner was delicious!  And our walk through Central Park- even though it was pouring rain- was fun.  I even ended up with a souvenir umbrella!

What a special day- I am so blessed to have a hubby who loves me so much!  Going into NYC is not his cup of tea and neither are Broadway Shows- but he did it for me!

When The Kids Are Away...

This week, I (Lisa), had a week-long class on the Holocaust Museum.  MarMar and PopPop graciously agreed to keep Adeline and Alden- what fun for them and what a gift to Al and myself!  We met MarMar and PopPop in New York (more on that later), spent some time together and then we each went home.  Most of you know that I can NOT just sit still- so I had a project planned!  There was one final room left to be painted- one lone room that still had brown-wood trim and white walls (portion).  I attended class all day and was able to paint, with Al's assistance, in the evening!  It took 4 coats of white paint and two of the blue.  Lots of very careful painting- we couldn't tape as it pulled off the brown paint.  I am so thankful that it is done- thankful for grandparents who took the kids so that the playroom could be totally unusable for a week- thankful for a hubby who helped paint (he HATES painting)- thankful for left-over paint so the entire project only cost time!!

Before- all toys in the middle!

Trim being worked on- 3 French doors had to be painted-ugh!

All done!  Futon will go on the left!

All done!  I love the kids' names above the windows!  We will have Asher and Annalise made and put over the doors!

Now to fill this playroom with kiddos and LOTS of happy memories!!