Riding Fools

Every waking moment they want to ride their bikes. We go to a park near our home because it's a place where the kids can ride their bikes without fear of cars. Sam is a speed demon. He just learned how to ride without the training wheels a couple of months ago and now is a pro. Beth just got back onto a "big girl" bike. She is so cute pedaling as fast as she can to try to keep up with him.

I love this park in the evenings. (Although I do have to admit that the Canadian Geese population is starting to over run the place. And with a lot geese comes a lot of goose poop!) 

This is Kristin, aka Miss Kristin, aka Molly-Kristin. She is known as a "Fun Mom" by my kids. You know the kind... the kind that demonstrates to the kids (and who ever else is on the beach) how to do a proper belly flop off a dock, the kind who decides she wants to join the kids in a baby pool so she comes running out of her house only to do an impressive slip n slide technique to get in, the kind that takes 4 kids on a bike ride by herself, the kind that will wear funny things on her head to get a laugh, the kind who teaches the kids to snowboard and rollerblade. She is just FUN!!! 

I just sit back and take pictures of it. Oh- by the way during her bike train outing I was able to sit back and relax and read travel books and dream a little. Thank you Miss Kristin!
So we are just enjoying the summer days and evenings. It's all going by so fast, I can't believe tomorrow is August! 

~Tara

Hey Guys Wait for Me....

Did you know that I gave birth to an "airplane junkie" 5 years ago? Well I did. He is enamored with anything that flies. He loves helicopters, fighter jets, seaplanes, gliders, and even kites! A while ago he was very upset telling me that he wasn't smart. Being very concerned I sat down with him to get to the bottom of what was going on. 

me - "Why do you think that your not smart?"

him- lightly crying,"Because I can't say my 's' sound.... I don't know how to fix an airplane engine.... (and something else that I can't remember at this time.)"

me- trying so hard not to crack a smile and start laughing, "you are learning to do your 's' sounds really well and about the airplane engine... not many people know how to fix those anyway. Dad doesn't even know how to do that.

him- still pouting,"Yeah, I watch too much TV"

me- "What does TV have to do with it? And by the way, you don't watch too much TV."

him- " Watching TV sucks all the smart right out of my brain  and I just can't help it because I love it so much."

me- trying even harder to conceal myself, "Honey, everything is ok with the TV. You watch some wonderful shows that you learn a lot from. And about the airplane engine... well, that's what you go to college for. You can learn about it there."

him- "I'm not going to college."

me- "What? Why?"

Him- "Because I don't ever want to get anymore shots!"

Ok- I decided to drop the subject. I wouldn't tackle the college issue right now. 

But this explains our most recent adventure. We took the kids to the USAF Thunderbirds show in Rochester. It was hot, there was no shade, lots of walking but worth all of it. Getting to see airplanes and helicopters of all sizes and the kids happiness was so much fun. The stunt shows were really amazing. We had a great time and I am grateful we had the opportunity to go.

#9

In celebration of mine and Brian's 9th wedding anniversary I decided to start our family blog. I wanted to be able to journal our lives independently and together as a family. All our milestones... little and big! So I begin today.
Brian and I met 13 years ago this weekend at a local event called Harborfest in Oswego,NY (on Lake Ontario). It was the summer of 1995, the summer of Hootie and the Blowfish, working at the Waterfront restaurant, and jet skiing everyday. I loving recall those memories as being the most fun and carefree of my life. Who knew that on the same weekend 4 years later, we would marry? Even though we didn't have children right away I consider our wedding date the birth of our family. This is the day our journey together officially started. 
Some people would be aghast to know that we spent this year's anniversary with our kids, that we didn't carve a little bit of time just for ourselves. The truth is that if we had people knocking down our front door to take our kids, we probably would have gone away alone. But we don't. And I'll share another fact, we really ENJOY traveling with them. I think the way we look at it is that we had eight years of adventures and togetherness with out kids.  So sometimes it's logistics and easier to take them with us, and other times it's just purely because we covet time with them. Someday they may be too involved with school, activities, friends, or jobs and family time will be more difficult to accommodate.
I guess this is my round about way of saying that we took a "day-cation" to celebrate #9. We drove to Ithaca, well Trumansburg to be exact, and hiked to Taughannock Falls. I did this a few times as a kid with my family and always loved it. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. The kids and Brian in their bathing suits and I with the camera (Shocking I know!) Well actually I was a nervous wreck that I would slip on a slippery rock and the $****.**'s worth of camera gear around my neck would be ruined. But who know whether it was the stupidity or the dare-devilishness that took over... I carried it the entire way and wound up with some great images of the day. After the falls we drove to a winery, Wagner Vineyards, to sample wine, beer, and root beer. In our typical fashion we drove to the winery using our map and only country and seasonal roads. It's so much more fun that way!!! The kids loved it! On the seasonal roads Sam thought we were truly 4-wheeling and he mentioned several times, "look at all the dust we are kicking up!" Beth got a kick out of the tree branches that were hitting the car and the leaves falling into her lap. Dust and leaves... simple pleasures indeed!
We drove home only to meet up with Dad and Ellen for dinner at a restaurant. The kids went straight to bed for the night and Brian and I got our quiet time together. We threw in the latest Netflix delivery and cuddled on the couch. We watched "The Bucket List". Decent movie, not the greatest of all time or even worthy of my top 10 list, but worthy of a watch. It reminded us of our "life lists" we wrote a couple of years ago... but that's for another day, another post!
Enjoy some of our pictures from our "day-cation"!