1st Day of School

We are pleased to announce that the first day of school went great!  Ok, maybe I should define "we".  I believe Julee's exact comment was "It wasn't as horrible as I expected it would be - I didn't get any totally out of control teachers".  And true to form, Alexis kept me up half the night excitedly talking about her first day while I filled out and signed at least 1,000 forms.  So, a very open-minded "we" are looking forward to a pretty good school year.  

Sophmore year here I come!

6th Graders rule the school!

The Great Escape

Every summer Rick and Alexis spend the day at The Great Escape Amusement Park.  No matter how old she gets Alexis cannot wait for this event.  I think this year she started talking about it in April and was always asking us if it was scheduled on the calendar. They FINALLY got to go a couple of Saturdays ago.  

 Who doesn't love a crazy hat, cotton candy, and a great kiddie walkway?

After getting all the kiddie stuff down, its time to move on to bigger and better things - or not.  See the height requirement for this one?  Alexis definitely qualifies but is it because she is tall enough or because she is looking so cool in her shades?

The swings are always a fun ride (I think those are Julee's favorite ride and the only "roller coaster" type ride she'll ride. Thus, her non participation in this yearly tradition).

Moving on to bigger and better rides.....

Hairy monsters anyone?

 

Or maybe the Boomerang that goes forwards and backwards?

 

Definitely an adrenalin rush!

 

Or maybe the Comet - the old wooden roller coaster....

Time for a little break on the tram.  Don't you just love the pose?

 The Jungle Adventure started just as they got on the tram.  What a great way to see the show!

Leopards really do fly through the air.

Oh no, a scary cat is on the tram!

Best buddies!

And in case you're worried, Julee and Mom did not feel left out at all.  Julee spent the day "resting" (being lazy) since she had just been through her first week of volleyball workouts.  I grocery shopped for all of 20 minutes getting only the necessary items for Sunday dinner and then took a 4 hour nap.  Good times!

The Big Red Chair

If you remember this...

 

then you will appreciate this... 

Isn't he cute in that big red chair? 

(He wouldn't let me post the more hilarious picture of him trying to get out of the big red chair)

A Weekend in Baltimore

Last weekend we took a little trip down to Baltimore to meet Charles, Elena, and Ava (the girls' dad, his wife, and their half sister) so they could go spend a couple of weeks in North Carolina with them.  Rather than just make the trip in one day, we decided to make a weekend out of it.

Still smiling after 4 hours on the road

Still not smiling after 4 hours on the road

We were sad for the family standing on the side of the road with their suitcases watching their car be on fire. What a not fun way to be on vacation!

The girls did not think it was cool to see our car under water on the GPS as we went through the Ft McHenry Tunnel.

For some this may look gross, but for us it is pure heaven.  We LOVE Fuddruckers' tricked out nachos!  We were on our way to grab dinner Friday night when the girls spotted Fuddruckers.  We used to love going there until they closed the one in Albany.

Lekkis proving that at 5'3" she's still our baby girl

Lulee proving that at 15 you're never too old to jump on the bed.

Dad and his girls

We spent Saturday morning shopping at a huge mall until it was time for the girls to meet up with their dad and head to North Carolina.  Rick and I spent the rest of the afternoon at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and then treated ourselves to crabcakes and seafood for dinner.  It was so yummy!  I'm bummed I didn't take any pictures of the crab cakes.  They were huge and so amazing!

 We went up in the Observation Tower to check out the view.  It was so pretty!

They also had a nice memorial there for the 69 people from Maryland who died in 9/11, most of them working at the Pentagon.

 We decided to be adventurous and go on the Seadog, a speed boat ride. We will definitely be going again sometime!

Part of the harbor as seen from the Seadog.You can see the aquarium, Hard Rock Cafe, a submarine, and what they call "The Plant" in the background.

Heading out to the open waters.  You can see the Domino Sugar plant here. It was interesting to find out that the dot on the "i" in Domino is 6 feet tall.

 We passed Ft McHenry on our boat ride.  There is lots of celebrating going on in Baltimore right now since it is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, thus the writing of the Star Spangled Banner penned in these very waters.

Finally out in the open water and going FAST!  This is our tour guide. I tried to get a picture of his clothes blowing in the wind to give you an idea of how fast we were going.  Yes, he is having to hold on tight here.

 Heading back into the harbor.  Such a beautiful day even if it was hot.

And the best part of the trip (not really but almost?):

 

 One of the things I miss the most living in NY is Baskin Robbins ice cream.  The closest one is 2-3 hours away and we never go that direction.  So I was a little excited to have many to choose from on our way home.  And yes, it was everything I remembered it to be.

My amazing kid!

This is something that Julee wrote for school.  I would have never seen it except she emailed me and asked me to proofread it for her.  It's not long but by the time I got to the end, all I could think is "Wow....." 

Isn't she amazing?

Power of Thought

 by

Julee Dykes

I believe in the influence of family.

I was born with a cleft palate. Being born with this deformity meant several surgeries throughout my life to correct this. Whether my family taught me this because of the cleft or because they are good people I don’t know but they always taught me to believe in myself. They always said to love myself because I was beautiful. They showed me that I didn’t need others approval or even their attention. With these thoughts subconsciously engrained in my brain I was headstrong and unafraid.

Needing multiple surgeries, I had my third one by the time I was five. At that time I was acting badly to the meds that knocked me out and was kicking and screaming. My mother and grandfather had to hold me down to make sure I didn’t hurt myself or someone else. I am thankful they loved me so much.

I automatically wanted to go out after my surgery. It didn’t matter to me that I had tons of bandages, or the fact I was bloody and puffy. My mom told me that people would think I was weird. I didn’t mind. I am thankful that my family taught me that the only person that could really affect me was me.

Four years later when I moved to New York I was made fun of. People called me names I had never heard of and it really hurt my feelings. Thanks to what my family taught me, I was able to get through the hard times. Now I always believe in myself. 

Nerd Mickey

Rick will surely be mad when he discovers this blog post but I can't resist (and besides, he doesn't know the password to delete it).  Julee and I bought him this shirt when we saw it in the Disney Outlet Store last weekend.  The front of the shirt has a pocket protector (I can't post a picture of that because then Rick would know that said pictures exist) on it with Mickey's name and mouse ear pencils and pens.  The back has one of the cutest pictures of Mickey Mouse we've ever seen. 

And for those of you who don't know, this great guy moonlights as a dishwasher.  Thank you honey for always doing the dishes....and for the little disco dancing/karaoke (notice the headphones) show you don't think we see while you are doing them.  You and Mickey can really bust a move!

Love you honey!

P.S.  And for those of you who are judging wondering, that's a sparkling grape juice bottle on the back counter. 

Just in time for Spring!

Look what arrived today - just in time for Spring!!

 

Enough said.