Aarons Haircut

It was time for Aaron to get his haircut and all he wanted was a mohawk.

 He was so excited he couldn't wait to show off his new dew.

He had a good time with the hair cut and it made him happy for a while and that's what matters most.

Saying Goodbye to Memere

It is sad to say that within only 3 months of each other both of Johns Grandparents on his Fathers side passed away. Pepere passed away at the end of May while we were still living in MA.  We attended a beautiful service where John gave a wonderful tribute to his Pep.

Only 3 short months passed when his Memere took ill and passed away as well.  She did tell us that she didn't want to live long now that she was alone but we all just thought that was the sadness she had coming out from loosing her husband of almost 60 years.  We were very sad to hear the news of her illness and then her quick passing, now that we live in NJ it was a bit harder since we were not able to be this Johns family.

 They are both missed dearly and we have many found memories of time spent with them.

 We were happy to have the last 5 years of living so close and spending so much time together.  She taught Zach how to play checkers and that was one of their things to do together.

 We spent many hours sitting poolside with both Meme and Pepe while the kids swam. We love them and miss them but we know that we will see them again when the time comes.

 One good thing to come out was we got to spend time with Johns parents and brother since we hadn't seen them in a while.  John's dad made a tire swing at their house and the kids had a blast on it.

We had a sad reason for getting together but we were happy to have the time to spend with each other.

A Day at the Jersey Shore

It has been a long summer with lots of things going on with our family so we were so excited to head down to the coast and spend the day at the ocean.

 

 After the long drive the kids couldn't wait to jump right into the water.  There were some really good waves and Katie and Zach had a blast buggy boarding.

 Aaron is not big on swimming in the ocean but he loves the sand so he was more than happy digging holes and building roads for his trucks.

 As the day went on we decided to make a big sand castle together.

 

 

 Everyone got in on helping put it together and it turned out to be a great sand village.

We had a fun day it was a very nice beach with lots of room to play.  We were all very tired from all the fun and we can't wait to come back again.

Grandma & Grandpa Arrive!!!

My parents took a long trip this summer to help out a couple of my sisters and the last stop on their trip was my house. 

 The first week they were here we all worked together and unpacked boxes  but we made sure we spent lots of time having fun too.  Zach and Grandpa had some fun cleaning out the tent and making fires in the fire pit.

Katie and Grandma spent some time learning how to make and fix many things.  They will be here for a month so we still have lots of fun things to do while they are here.

Backyard Fun

We are so lucky to have a huge yard for the kids to play in.

 We have a few big trees in the yard so the kids took Coopers leash one day and made a zip line for their animals and Katie's dolls.

 

Then they turned it into a swing for themselves.

 With so many trees there is never a shortage of sticks to turn into swords.

 

One of Katie's favorite things at night is to catch firefly's.

The kids all get together up near the woods and try and get as many in a jar as they can.  It is a great place to spend some time outside. 

Indoor Obstacle Course

One of John's co-workers told us about an obstacle course in a mall near their work and now that we have somewhat unpacked it was time to have some fun.

 John and the kids got all harnessed up and strapped in to go out on the course.

 

 The course is a 4 story ropes course and each level has different types of ropes to walk on.

 

 Aaron was a little timid at first and stuck with John most of the time but got more confidence as he went along.

 

 Katie had a blast, she was slow and steady and was able to go on all 4 levels.

 Zach was the master and was able to every type of obstacle in the course.  He had a blast and was flying through some of the floors.  He was nice and helped is brother and sister a bit but mostly he was off getting through the harder parts of the course.  It was fun to watch them having so much fun.  It has been a rough month for all of us so it was a much needed day of fun.

August 6th Move In Day!!!!

We got up bright and early and drove form our hotel room to our new house so we could be there when the moving truck showed up.

One of the perks of getting this job was they hired a moving company to pack up our house in MA and then they delivered all our things to our new house in NJ.  We got to sit outside and give directions as to where the boxes went. In only a  couple hours the huge truck full of our stuff was empty and our house was full.  What a great way to start our new lives....no heaving lifting required.

Saying Good-Bye

We were so excited to be moving to a new are and for John to be starting a new job but on the flip side we had to say goodbye.

 

 It was the hardest on the kids to say goodbye to Nana and Papa.

 Aaron and Seany had become close over the summer and because he didn't understand what was going on he was just sad because Aaron was sad.

 

We had almost 6 years living close together and even though we are moving we aren't going that far and have many plans to come back and visit.  Good-byes are always hard especially when it comes to family.  We love all of you and miss you all.

A New Fish In The Family

Aaron has always loved to play in the water but never liked having water on his face so that put limits on what he would do while swimming around the pool.  After the Normandin party he saw all of his younger cousins swimming around not afraid of getting wet so I think he got an idea that maybe its not so bad after all. 

 He decided to try on a mask and started by putting his face in the water.

 He made a huge break through and noticed that it's not so bad and from there he turned into a fish.

 He started swimming around and going under water for the first time.

 By the end of the day he was doing cannon balls with his brother.

Katie even showed him how to do a summer salt.  It was such a fun day watching him stop being afraid of the water and really enjoying it for the first time.