Connecticut

While visiting Danny and his family for a couple of days, the rains came. That meant we tried to find things to do indoors. We went to the mall, saw a movie, and then let the kids play at a bounce barn. On our last day there, the rains finally cleared and we headed out to see the waterfront.


We went to Mystic a small whaling town made famous in a movie we have never seen. The port area was beautiful and the fudge there is amazing.

On the way back to New Haven we found a beach with sand. The weather still wasn't perfect and we were the only ones on the beach, but the kids didn't care.

They got in the water regardless of the temperature.

The waves weren't huge, but were bigger than anything near us.

The highlight was the lifeguard station. The sand was so soft and fine that it was like jumping in snow. It took a bit to get Emily to jump, but when she finally did she didn't stop.

Congratulations Danny!

This past week we all made the trek up to Connecticut to be a part of my brother's graduation from his oral surgery residency. It was a great night, with lots of food and nice tributes. I have always been so proud of my siblings and last Friday was definitely one of those defining moments. Danny has done more in the past 4 years with hardly any sleep than anyone I know. He has remodeled a house, slept many nights at the hospital, and all while being a great husband and father.

The night was also nice given all of our kids and Natalie's were being watched in the hotel room by Megan. We only worried a little when Megan asked if she could call the maid to see if she would take them swimming or when she wasn't quite sure what to do with Faith's messy diaper.

It's not often we are all together anymore and it makes special occasions that much sweeter. Way to go Danny!

Warm Afternoons

I couldn't find Emily and Megan the other day and wondered what they were up to. I must say I was a little surprised to find them both sitting on blankets with books. Megan says she can only read outside. I was a little jealous that I didn't think of the idea and grab a book and join them. Darn cooking dinner got in the way. I'm just hoping they get a few more days like this.

Merit Badges

Tyler has now reached the age of 11. That means he can start working on merit badges. This week, Tyler and his friends Cade and Chandler, have been going every morning at 8:00 am to classes until noon. Yes, that is early in the summer, but with 3 of them it makes it a little more bearable.

They picked 3 badges that are hard to get and required and then of course they wanted a fun class. They chose golf. This meant that they have to play 18 holes before Friday.

I volunteered to take them yesterday to get started on 9 holes. I asked Chandler if he had ever been golfing before and he said he could do the whole thing in about an hour. I assumed a little longer, but never imagined we would be there 3 1/2 hours.

It was hilarious to watch 3 boys who really have no experience with golf, a mom who has no clue about golf, and Megan and Emily following behind. At one point, the boys even talked Megan into being the caddy.

Cade's grandpa Ben get the privilege of taking them on their final 9 holes this afternoon. Maybe he can give them a few pointers I wasn't. All I can say is here's to 1 merit badge down and 20 to go.

We are back in business!

Yeah! We finally have a new computer. I think I'm going to start with my most recent pictures and slowly catch us up. This blog is really for our family journal so bear with us as we post for the last 6 months. Now it just may take a couple of days for us to figure out how to get to our pictures.