July, part deux

I had quite a big photo session with several families in our area as a goodbye gift. It was great also to get pictures of Kate playing with her friends. I truly think the best pictures are the ones that are more natural so for kids that means playing. Maybe in my next post I'll show some of the others, but for now I just did ones of Kate and her friends.

Hope and Kate

I am generally not fond of the half black-and-white, half color but it seems to work well with this shot.

Man, she's a beauty.

Ethan, Kate, and Melanie

Kate and Bridget

For the Fourth of July we went to Lake Onondaga Park to watch the fireworks. There were several families there that we knew and Kate had a blast playing with them and with the glow-in-the-dark wands. Asher had a good time as well, though he didn't make it quite through all the fireworks. I have to say it was one of the more interesting 4ths I've had because some of our friends are chemistry people and they spent a good deal of time discussing the colors and chemical reactions. It may sound dry but they are also some of the funniest people I've met. I had a great time.

The fireworks over the lake

Kate and her friends preparing for the show

Asher and Kate with their glow wands. Or glow-sword, in Asher's case.

A little before the 4th of July we went to Lake Ontario with some of our best friends - Hannah and her kids, Hope and Kyle. There was a great beach that we were able to play at in the morning, a little fair to play at in the evening, and a cool parade in the afternoon. It was also the first time I saw fireflies. It was, summed up in one word, magical. Even to an adult, it was just magical.

Kate and I on the Ferris Wheel

Jon and Asher at the parade

Asher watching, with some concern, his sister on the dragon roller coaster

Asher and Jon

Kate and Hope

At the parade

Little friends. I love this picture. The details are just perfect.

Kate with her hand-held electric fan.

At Lake Ontario beach

Little man

Kate and daddy going swimming

Kate desperately wanted to be buried in the sand like a mermaid. At this point she did have a nice set of boobs, though no tail yet.

Stud Muffin.

Hope and Kate

Asher and Kyle

Hannah, her nephew, Kate, Asher, Hope and Jon

At Lake Onondaga Park they have a place that rents all kinds of cool bikes. This one was like a carriage almost. The kids rode up front while Jon and I pedaled from the back. It even had a canopy. It was a great little outing.

July 2011 Part 1

So lately I've been thinking about how other people do their blogs. I tend to do mine diary-style, keeping a record of what has happened month-by-month. I know it may not really be very interesting to read as it doesn't have a lot of controversial or funny thoughts but I guess it's mostly a record for my friends and relatives who I do not get to see with frequency. While I am not shy in expressing my opinions, I rarely am able to hold on to just one with such intensity that I remember to write about how I think and feel when I finally get to sit down at the computer. What seems to hang on when I finally get the time to put something down on the blog is my family, my kids, my experiences relived through photos. The story I have to tell I tell with my photos. I tend to Facebook my outright thoughts, mostly I suppose, because it's just way easier. So for better or worse, here is my diary-blog for the first part of July the last.

July is in two parts because it was really very busy. We were trying to squish in as much as possible before we moved away from our New York friends who had, in all honestly, become our family out there. Kate made so many wonderful friends and I did too. I miss them still.

One of Kate's best friends in New York was Hope. One of my best friends in New York was Hope's mom, Hannah. They lived close and we played together often. They are so much alike and just love each other. Even now, seven months later, Kate asks to see Hope. Her dream is to meet at Disneyland and spend her vacation there with Hope and all the Disney princesses. :)

Kate and Hope

One of my favorite families in the world is the Mortensens. They have three boys, though the last was born after we moved. Kate and Calvin are about the same age and William isn't far behind. Kate didn't have much experience playing with boys so they were a bit of a shock for her - how physical play could be. But after she played with them she couldn't seem to get enough and kept asking to play with Calvin and William. We miss them!!!

Kate and Calvin

There is an awesome swimming pool for kids at the Baldwinsville YMCA. We went a few different times with different people. Calvin and William were always fun because they could get Kate to splash a little more than she would allow herself to do. ;)

Little man at the pool. No matter how cold he seemed he just didn't want to get out.

This is a pretty rare phenomenon, especially these days. Kate and Asher just don't like to play together, mostly because to do so they have to share. They don't like to share. So when I actually got this moment on camera I was thrilled to have proof of love.

One of Asher's favorite hobbies was be near the shower. The reason wasn't so much watching the people, it was trying to climb in the shower to play in the water, or, if that wasn't possible, to unravel the toilet paper directly into the shower.

This is just a shot of downtown Syracuse. I drove by it several times and thought it was just funny. It's a pedestrian bridge over a busy road that says "I paid the light bill just to see your face." Kind of a nice sentiment in such a public place.

Kate and Hope just had a blast whenever they got together. One of Kate's favorite things to do was to get ice cream at the parlor by Onondaga Lake Park. We went there one day with Hope's family after playing at the park. Kate and Hope were just adorable, little peas in a pod.

Kate cracks me up. She sits with her legs crossed, very lady-like, to feed her incredibly messy little brother while I made dinner one night. She's a little old lady inside her little-kid body.

Kate's dance class at the YMCA shot a commercial for the Y. Kate got to take part in it. Although we moved before we saw it on tv it's pretty neat to say that she was in a commercial.

This is what happens when a crawler has strawberries in his fist. Needless to say, we didn't get our carpet deposit back.

Kate loves her craft time. This particular craft was meant for Uncle Brian, I think. I'm not sure it ever got sent off...

This is just a killer picture. I was picking Jon up from his rotation one day, turned around while we were waiting, and saw this. I'm just glad I had a camera. She's totally zonked with a bag of chips in her lap. Just for the record, the car ride was maybe 20 minutes long.

Kate was invited to a pirate birthday party for Calvin. It was so cute. This is my little pirate lass with her cutlass and eyepatch.

We went to the zoo in Syracuse with frequency. We had a membership and it was one of the few things that we could do without having to spend money and gobs of time to do. We were lucky enough to go with friends a few times.

Kyle, Kate, Asher, and Hope

Hope and Kate

My crazy little man. Miss that red hair!

The Miller kids and Kate as penguins.

Kate, Adella, and Bridget

Kate milking the "cow"

Bridget playing with Asher

So Kate had a dance class at the YMCA that did a dance to the song "Mickey, She's Got a Crush On You". The girls were all dressed like Minnie Mouse and did an adorable dance. Kate wasn't overly-enthusiastic about me doing a photo session of her in her dance costume but she agreed eventually. Though I've probably blocked it out, I believe there might have been bribery involved with her participation...

Kate, not so happy about pictures...

still upset.

Once I got her outside she was a little happier. Also she made me take the cute headband out of her hair. Tickling got a few smiles as well.