Mema's 90th Birthday

My Mema (as she's known to my siblings, cousins and friends) turned 90 on July 8! The weekend was filled with festivities which left me exhausted when it was all said and done so I'm sure she was also pretty tired! There was a picnic for more immediate family on Saturday and then a drop-in party on Sunday. Many people came to wish her birthday wishes - from Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Indiana to name a few. She is a special Mema and has been an encouragement to so many during her lifetime.





Mema with her great-grands...always a challenge to get everyone to look AND smile :)

Simon hamming it up at the picnic

Ready to party!

We know how to eat a little bit!

A cute little party-goer

My Little Piece of Heaven...

...is outside on my gravity chair! When bambino goes down for a nap I try to get a few minutes of peace and calm on this amazing recliner! I often can be found fighting my eyelids to stay open while I catch a few rays. Seriously it is the most comfortable chair EVER! If you've never tried one, make sure you have the $ to buy one because you will be hooked!

My Dog Thinks He's Human and My Son Thinks He's Dog

Simon learned very early on that if he dropped food on the floor Bernie would eat it! Simon has a fascination with Bernie which is not reciprocated! However Bernie hasn't complained yet about the extra snacks :)

Today Simon kept getting the graham crackers out of the pantry. That's fine but Simon doesn't want to eat a graham cracker. He wants to feed it to Bernie. So I got out Bernie's dog treats and let Simon feed one of those to him. You'd think that would satisfy both of them. NO! Simon cried and screamed! I sincerely think he wanted to eat Bernie's treat!

Thirty minutes later Simon wondered into the laundry room and closed the door. When I went in to find out what he was doing in there he had something in his mouth! And there in his hand was a Ziploc bag that had been in the trashcan with a few dog treat crumbs. GROSS! He seemed to like it but I finally was able to retrieve it from his mouth! These two are trouble!!

Ocean City Vacation

Well we survived our first beach vacation! I discovered that my relaxing beach vacations will never be the same...they will be even better! Simon loved the beach and the excitement of the boardwalk!

Chris, Simon and I drove down to Ocean City, NJ on a Saturday and stayed through Monday when Chris left to come back home. Meanwhile my mom and my sister (and her 3 munchkins) came down for the rest of the week with Simon and I. The place we stayed was new to us and it worked out pretty well. The place had about 6 steps which Simon mastered the art of "going down" and now can climb up and down our stairs at home with no problem.

The weather was beautiful. We had one day of rain which was fine with me. I needed a break from the (icky) sand and sun for a day! It was quite the workout to get Simon, myself and all of our stuff out to the beach. I can only imagine what people thought as I got a running start from the boardwalk to the beach in order to push a stroller with a baby, 3 bags hanging off the stroller, an umbrella and a chair strapped to my back! It was quite the calf workout in the sand :)

Simon loved being around all of the people at the beach and the energy there. He made a lot of new friends and enjoyed getting to know the water! The seagulls were fascinating in addition to all of the noises of the rides and laughter on the boardwalk. He got to experience some of my favorites of Ocean City - Browns doughnuts, Mack and Manco's pizza and Hobby Horse ice cream! Can't wait to do it all over again!