Farm & Swimming. Lots of swimming.

Okay, so it's only been 2 weeks since I've updated & that's actually pretty good for me...BUT...I just noticed that I'm now on Desperate Chefs' Wives (http://www.desperatechefswives.com/) Blogs Worth Reading list!! Woah, the pressure! ;o) Just kidding...it's pretty cool though - thanks dcw! She writes a great blog for pretty much anyone with a chef in their life & it's nice to know you're not alone in the world being with a spouse who works very hard and is rarely home. This relationship often requires celebrating holidays, birthdays, etc., on different days and truth be told it requires sacrifice & compromise. On the other hand, I have someone who, when he's home, can find a few very random items in the pantry and create a masterpiece to eat in the evening!


Anyway, on with Ava & Sofia...We spent a lot of July swimming in Nonni's pool. They are like fish...Fish who still need swim bubbles or rings to swim with, but fish nonetheless!

They even jump off the diving board now...with 3 tubes, but look at them jump!!


Sofia in the first 2 pics, Ava in the 3rd...













We also happened to run into a farmer at the greatest picture framing gallery in CT (The Wall Street Gallery, of course...no bias here...) and he invited us to meet the chickens & horses & tractors & pick up some eggs while we were there.

First Sofia met the chicken...



Then Ava met the horse...really close-up...

Then they both had the opportunity to sit on an antique tractor & hear its engine roar!!


It was a really cool experience for Ava & Sofia. And it was awesome to eat an egg fresh from the chicken's nest!

Storyland Vacation

Chef G took an unprecedented 2 weeks off!!

We spent a lot of time together & even went on an awesome child-oriented family vacation!

The drive was a little over 4 hours, but totally worth it & with coloring books, stories & dvds Ava & Sofia handled the drive quite well.

We went to Storyland which is a little amusement park geared towards kids under 11. It has everything a kid would want: rides, games, food & characters.


The swan boat ride was really fun. It has its own little engine & the kids get to steer...we did a lot of bumping into other swans!



It also had a lot of "flying" rides - the whale is below, but there were also shoes & fish to fly on!



Chef G & Ava & Sofia were put in jail at the end of the day because they had WAY too much fun!




And oh yeah, the piece de resistance...Bamboo Chutes! They have the camera perfectly situated so that they get everyone when the little panda boat first starts down the steep, fast hill (even the panda is scared)!



We also ended up staying overnight at a really beautiful grand old hotel (no a/c! but it was a beautiful night with NH breezes). Here's Sofia in our room singing her graduation song "Proud to be an American."

Swimming & Backyardigans

I just noticed that the Backyardigan & bedtime story pictures aren't working so I'll repost them & here are some swimming pictures from around the 4th of July!

Oh yeah! And here's the zoo picture when we went to see Flutterby. Fun on a caterpillar.

Preschool Graduation among other things...

Waaaaaa...my little babies have graduated from Nursery School!!! I know, it's part of life but they really are growing into little girls, not toddlers or preschoolers anymore. They were really cute at graduation. They had the kids sing songs & receive diplomas. Then we had a nice little reception & Chef Garry zipped back to work and the girls and I came home & played outside.

We went to the beach a few days later with Amy, too, & had a blast. Huge waves! Sofia loved it! Ava was a bit more hesitant, but began to enjoy it as she got more comfortable.

Before we went to see the Backyardigans, Ava drew a picture of what she thought the show might look like. She is an amazing artist, if I do say so myself! I love the way she drew the audience facing the stage. I also love the way the legs of each Backyardigan appear to be dancing!

Your Backyard Friends . . .

Last week Chef Garry took a Friday night off & we went to see The Backyardigans (see the picture Ava drew in the post above)! The girls were ridiculously excited & Nonni made them the coolest shirts. Sofia is wearing Austin (the Kangaroo) and Ava is wearing Pablo (the Penguin). We had a great time & it was really nice to see how much they loved this live stage show. (I'm not so sure they liked the lady who took the picture of all of us below, though...)

Sofia was still dancing after the show...

Sofia & Ava love to spend time with their big brother & stories just before bed is no exception. They have a great time together and they are really lucky to have such an awesome big brother who will always play with them & look out for them.

Long time coming...

Well, we're finally back online! Truth be told, we've been online for about a month, but I'm only just now getting to update. Chef is working all the time & softball season has begun so home is just a place to rest his head for now. But not to worry because he will soon be taking a vacation -- long time coming.

Ava, Sofia & I have been pretty busy since last post & pictures. Below is April. I will post May and June very soon (maybe later today, even...)! They are playing very well together right now so I'm taking fully advantage of that. They really do play well together about 93% of the time, which is a pretty good percentage. But they like it when I join in on the imaginary fun, so I rarely get free moments beyond cleaning...

Here's what we were up to in April:

We went bowling

We walked Bella to the beach several times (Bella is off sniffing something somewhere...lots of good smells at the beach you know)

We took pictures of favorite shirts so that we can retire them...

We danced in the rain

We played with friends Sarah & Zack

and Ava & Sofia took swimming lessons.

May & June to come...

Trouble posting...

I'm having posting issues so I'm shocked that this post might actually work. It keeps saying something about cookies (mmmm...cookies...) and hasn't been letting me sign in or post.
So, we're doing fine - just busy as usual - and as soon as I find a little more time to deal with this I'll post more pictures.

Quick update:
Ava & Sofia are taking swimming lessons & loving every minute of it! They'll also be graduating from preschool in one month.
Xavier just got back from a trip to Florida & is happy to be finishing up his freshman year in high school.
Garry's going down to New Jersey to help re-open a restaurant for the company and I've just finished teaching my last class for the season.
We're good, we're healthy . . . and just a little tired :o)