Summer Camp

During the month of July K participated in our towns summer camp. For only $20 they were there for 1/2 day, 5 days a week, and were bussed to and from a nearby church. They did arts and crafts and lots of playing and even weekly field trips. It was WAY worth the money ... THEN they had an end of camp party which we could all attend. It was at our local park and there were 3 bouncy houses, a rock wall, pony rides, petting zoo, face painting, pizza, hot dogs, and the ice cream truck came by ALL FOR FREE!! That party alone was worth the $20!!

This is K with his two buddies M&M. They all ride the same bus to school and I had been hearing about them all school year but had never met them. I finally did and could understand why he talked about them so much, they all get along fantastically! K is the the triplet to their twins. :-)

All of the kids rode the ponies. K only once. He liked the bouncy houses better.

C rode probably 8 or 9 times. She was in heaven, and would hop off and get in line again.

L even went twice! He was a little nervous getting on at first, but warmed up by the end of the ride.

His second ride, he was all smiles!

L was actually HILARIOUS with all of the animals.

Lovin' the rock wall, but wishing dad was around to give him a few pointers.

  C got to hang out with Molly a little bit, one of her favorite people.

And the "triplets" just had a great time!

Aunt Jess!

I bribed Jessica to come out for a visit in July by buying her a ticket for her birthday for the James Taylor concert here in Saratoga. So, we got to see her and JJ for a week and we had a GREAT time! We did something fun almost every day, and we were so busy having fun that we didn't take to many pictures. :-)

Straight from the airport JJ was one of the Porter kids.

We played in the park and rode the carousel.

Went to the trampoline park.

Read books.

Ate yummy food.

We went tot he race track, but the only pics we have are playing on the playground.

Of course Jess and I got to go see James Taylor. I think I've seen him 4 times now, and this was probably my favorite show.

JT improving and being silly for "Steamroller." Such a great song!

All around the kids had a great time, and it was so much fun to see JJ and L interacting more than the last time they saw each other.

Ball Day at the Track

Matt's work treated it's employees to a day at the track. We were all able to go and had a great time. It was a HOT day, and it was naptime so we only managed to see one race, but we got to do other fun stuff too.

They had a clown that did face painting and balloon animals.

And they provided a catered fried-chicken lunch. I LOVE this picture of the two of them together!

L was happy with his balloon animal dog.

 

And I was happy with my new track/pool hat.

They called it the "first annual" day at the track, so I can't wait to go again next year!

Happy Birthday to ME!

For my 32nd birthday we decided to have a fun-filled family day! We started out by going to a trampoline park. Everybody had a great time!

 

After the trampoline park, GrandMary took C and I to see the New York City ballet. It was amazing!

Then Matt made yummy fondue for dinner and got me a yummy cake! It was a great day!

Great Uncle Jim's Memorial

My Great Uncle Jim (my Grandfather and GrandMary's brother) passed away earlier this year and right after the 4th of July GrandMary and I drove down to VA for his funeral. Uncle Jim's Obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/carrollcountytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=169015966

The was interred at Arlington Nation Cemetery, that that place is pretty amazing. Veterans are given the recognition that they deserve. Uncle Jim had a marching band, color guard and gun-salute-guys and his urn was carried in a horse drawn carriage. The ceremony was beautiful with great words by the Chaplain, the unfolding and folding of the flag, taps and the 21 gun salute. I was really thankful to be there with GrandMary and my other extended family members.

 

After the ceremony I convinced our driver, Uncle Bob, to turn towards downtown DC so that I could see a few of the monuments since I had never been to DC before. We did a quick drive around before heading back to the hotel for a luncheon.

Jefferson Memorial

Capitol Building

National Archives

Just a peek of the White House

There was a nice luncheon with slideshows of Uncle Jim, lots of stories and memories. It was really nice to visit with my extended family.

The Huber siblings/cousins that were in attendance ...

... plus the spouses.

I am so grateful to have gotten to know these two so well in my life. Uncle Tom lives in Hawaii and when I lived there, from age 8-13, I spent a lot of time with him and Auntie Gloria. Now we are so lucky to be living so close to GrandMary here in Saratoga. Love these two!

A small group decided to take the train down to DC for dinner and a little more sight seeing.

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Memorial, at sunset

Korean War Memorial (very cool, but kinda eery at the same time)

A strong reminder that is very hard to forget while you are looking at all of these memorials.

The two nurses in the family standing in front of the Vietnam Women's Memorial. It was especially cool to visit DC with cousin, once removed, Joan (on the left), she is a Navy Captain and former White House nurse and she had lots of stories to tell and was able to explain so much about each of the monuments. Here is a very neat bio on her: http://www.colby-sawyer.edu/currents/huber.html.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

It was a super short trip. I flew home that evening, instead of driving, because I needed to get home so that Matt could go to work the next day. It was a quick, but great trip. I love my Hubers!