hot summer!

We took the kids down to the river last weekend for some good, old, white trash fun. I know I overuse that word, and hopefully everyone knows it's just me poking fun of myself and openly admitting that I do have some pretty low class tendencies. (;

We stopped by the Virginia War Memorial before heading to the river. I had seen it many times, but never stopped to look. I have a list of about 10 things in Richmond, that are free, that I want to see and do with Geof. and the kids. We love that about Richmond.

Can't get a serious shot outta Cole. Much like his daddy-o.



oops, did I take that?

We weren't very prepared for this little jaunt to the river. The August heat has pretty much zapped all form of energy and brain power from me. No swimsuits (hence, Dayne and Cole in their underwear, and Junie naked), a paper bag full of food (that very early on tore open from the condensation of our water bottle), no towels (I never bring towels, so I won't blame that on being ill prepared)...BUT, the kids had a bawl getting as muddy as ever while Geof. and I watched from a distance. There was a dense layer of bugs right above the water where we swam. I'm sure my kids (and the happy ducks who happily engorged themselves) got more than a mouthful. yuck.

My house stinks!

What do you do for stinky house problems? My home is old, you know..., 1950's old. The carpet isn't too bad, just gone through a few renters, I'm sure. Every time I walk in the door there's a hint of cigarette, rotten food, stinky diapers, you name it. I've painted my walls, cleaned the carpet, wiped down the kitchen (all the cupboards, etc.). Is there any other remedy? Yes, I've used candles, but they kind of just ADD another smell, they don't really take away the smell, ya know?
Well. This is boring. Maybe I should update what's happenin' with the fam.
...not much. (;
My bike has been fixed and we have our bike trailer back from our friends who so kindly kept it for us when we were in WA. I LOVE biking! My kids love it, and now we have a way to get out and enjoy the hot, humid, summer evenings. And the beebs are actually going to bed at a more decent hour thanks to the bike riding. Geof. and I had a wonderful date the other night. Just me and him, yummy Mexican food, a dip in the river after dark (yes, we did have to wear our swimsuits, darn it!). I can't tell you how important those once a week dates are for my sanity (and Geof.'s!). And they make me realize (of course) how much I love this guy that I see daily, talk to sometimes (when the kids aren't completely taking over all forms of communication), and sleep next to. I heart Geof. I do.

I haven't taken any recent pics. So..here's some old ones I love and I'm sure I've posted more than once. Post are always more fun with pics to look at, right? I'm off to make french toast for dinner (with watermelon!).

scary news!

Dayne's riding a bike-no training wheels! I came home the other morning and Geof. had taken off her training wheels and she was riding all over...into open traffic, into the curb, you know..No, but really, she was awesome! I think it helps that her training wheels never really worked in the first place, and were bent up so far that balancing on her bike probably felt a lot safer to her than relying on those things. Anyway, we went out this morning to pick up Cole's friend for a playdate and lucky for me, Jeffrey (the before mentioned friend) had also just learned to ride a bike. Here I am hauling June around with Cole whizzing past me in all directions, Dayne aimlessly riding into intersections, and scared little Jeffrey running into the curb at every moment. And of course BOTH Jeffrey and Dayne needed help starting, so it took FOREVER to get back home. And it doesn't help that it's nearing 90 degrees with way too much humidity for my taste. So..., yea for Dayne (however, she doesn't seem to be too excited about it and prefers the bike trailer. Typical Dayne)!!

It's a nice Sat. afternoon. The girls are sleeping, I'm folding a never-ending pile of clothes, and Cole and Geof. are having some good father/son bonding time playing the dreaded Xbox. Look at Cole's face! His spacey, lifeless eyes, his half open stuppored (I know, not a word) mouth, his disheveled hair..., and I think even worse is the expression on his face. A bit angry, even hostile? The kids becoming a video game junkie!

Couldn't even get a response outta Geof., not a chance, no way...

I promised..

We love Central Park Rollerskaters!!

NYC part one..no other (that explains the 25+ pics)

We're back from a thrilling, exhausting, exciting, INCREDIBLE 4 days in New York. It was wonderful!! It was absolutely insane that we brought the kids, but worth it. Now we just dream of going back alone someday. What a city! I'd been to NY once when I was five, but since I have little to no memory of it, it was a whole new experience. We loved it! New York is indescribable. It really is bigger than big-never ending. Our friends that live there described it well. Meg told us that when they moved there it was all so new and energizing and stimulating..., but after a year, they're ready to go. They're exhausted! It's almost as if the energy of ny has sucked everything out of them. They do love that they've had a year there, though, and I'm sure are sad to go. As for us, we want our year in New York! (; Here's a run down of what went on.


1. We arrived in the wee hours of Friday morning-around 2:30 am. Geof. was scared out his mind (and extremely tired, I'm sure from doing all the driving) about maneuvering a vehicle iin this vast city.





2. Took the subway to Rockefeller square/center. So tired from not sleeping the night before, in a grumpy haze, sorry to Geof. and kids.

3. Went to Central Park. Beautiful day. Beautiful weather. Might I add that all weekend long it was in the high 70s/mid 80s with a nice cool breeze?? We were glad to be leaving Monday morning when the temp. increased to 90+ humidity! Thanks for the great weekend, weather guy!

4. The kids and I stayed at an awesome playground in Central Park (with water, yah!) while Geof. walked to Times Square to stand in line for possible Broadway tickets.

5. Geof. returned with our friend Meg who had just finished work. She so kindly took the kids from us (and had a terrifying experience on the subway with 3 small children who like to push limits-and sadly, nobody cares about kids in NYC, so they didn't offer to help her. They all just looked at her like she was crazy for having 3!! Had it been a small dog, I'm sure they would have gladly offered their assistance), we headed off to find some yummy New York pizza, saw the sights at Times Square (kind of like Vegas but even bigger!! Can you believe it?!!), and then headed off to see "Mary Poppins".

-I forgot to mention the nasty costumed weirdos dressed up as Elmo, Shrek, Hello Kitty, Statue of Liberty..., you name it. Who knows WHO these people are, but they somehow got a hold of a costume, wear it day in and day out, walk around New York in it, snapping pics with tourists, and who knows, probably make quite a bit of money in the process. I just couldn't believe how nasty and dirty they were and people were actually posing with them-kids and all! So funny..

6. Mary Poppins was perfect. I loved it. It was exactly what I've been needing for the last, hm...8 years? I thought it might be the same as the movie, but was so much better!! The play was based off of the books more, so the story was a bit different, but all the same, just amazing. The music was so incredible-I can't even begin to describe with my limited vocabulary...

7. A little about the subway. We took it all over and for the most part, the kids were good. Good for OUR kids, I'll add. Cole like to swing from bar to bar (which I know, is sooo gross..my friend said they did a swab test on those things and 10-15% of it is covered with semen. I know, ggggrrrroosss!!). But, what can you do?! See above pic for another glimse into our subway experience. Cole's such a clever kid...

8. The next day (Sat.) Meg took us to the Natural History Museum..or Museum of Natural History. Whatever. You know, "Night at the Museum" museum. A friend from her ward got us in for free and we got to see an IMAX show and frog exhibit, as well. All fabulous. Thank you, thank you, friend of Meg! (;





9. Went to central park again. Possibly my favorite part of the trip. They had the Central Park Rollerskating Club in attendance. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! It was sooo cool! I just wanted to get in there and DANCE! I'll post a video so you can see what I mean. Sooo neat!!

10. Why am I numbering, not bulleting all this? Anyway, here's Dayne with not one, but two dogs that she had just been petting for the last 10 minutes or so. See the lady in the pink skirt? Yes, that's Bernadette Peters. Here Meg and I were, sitting and talking together while Dayne was chatting away with Bernadette! I didn't realize it until I looked up when she asked, "Is her name, Dayners?" I knew she had to be someone famous and whispered to Meg, "I know that face. Who IS she?", to which her husband replied (who had been talking to us about Dayne's talent with dogs), "She's Bernadette Peters". Meg immediately after texted her friend who replied with, "really?? She's a LEGEND!" Geof. was pretty mad he came last minute when they were getting up to leave. He so wanted to give Bernadette the line, "I don't care about the money, I only care about the stuff" from "The Jerk".

11. Saw some other great performances-could of stayed there all day. Very c o n t e n t.

12. We brought along a lame little umbrella stroller that we finally ditched the last day because the kids couldn't stop fighting over it (Dayne and Cole, mind you). June wasn't interested, but was the one we needed MOST in the stroller.
-another thing I forgot to mention was our walk after our visit at Central Park on Sat. We were walking down some beautiful, tree lined streets of the city (where there were actual doorman at the entrances of apartment bldgs) and to my surprise, and dismay(that I didn't own a truck), people had left close to brand new mattresses, furniture (nice, real wood)..., you know, the kind of stuff you pay an arm and a leg for anywhere else? These people apparently didn't know what else to do with it when they moved out (or in), so they just left it out on the curb. I was dying. No, I'm not too proud to admit I'm all for 2nd hand furniture, even mattresses!





13. "Here kids, squeeze onto this tiny little bench and STAY there!" At one point we got onto the train (sub) and it was so jam packed full that I was sure someone would cop a feel or try and steal a kid...fortunately, as I mentioned before-they're not dogs, only kids. No takers...

14. I love Geof. I'm so darn hard to please and be married to, I don't know how he does it. He works hard, loves us all to pieces, and puts up with more than most. I love his mouth in this pic. He's trying to get a sleepy June up and dressed and I'm snapping pics of him. wow. you'rethemostwonderfulestgeof.

15.World Trade Center. We couldn't get a better shot than this, but they're in construction mode, so you wouldn't get much more than a bunch of cranes and other construction tools in the shot.

16.On our last day we went to Wall street (geof.'s request). It was without personality. Lots of gray, tall buildings and stone...much like the heart of those working there. Geof. did appreciate this statue of George Washington, though. He took his oath of office here. Pretty cool stuff, right?

17. The Bull.

18. back of "The Bull". Oh, Geof.

19. Took the ferry to Staten Island.
Geof. took this shot of Cole. I love it. The sunset was just what it should of been on our last night there. We're lucky. We've been able to see and do so much. And we plan on doing and seeing much, much more!

20. A real pic! I know, can you believe it?!

This pic is funny. Here are the kids trying to dry off. Once again, Cole is covered from head to toe.

We're leaving for nyc this weekend. I have a lot to post about; our trip to VA beach last weekend, losing both Cole and Dayne for extended periods of time, my horrifying trip to the ER Tuesday night for gall bladder related problems, you know..stuff. But I have to pack up right now. We have some gracious friends who live up in NY and are moving down to Texas. We thought we might take advantage of them (and their 2 bdrm apt.) to enjoy the city...yes, we are bringing the kids. It'll be okay, though. We can't wait. Here's our pics from the beach: