Slumber Party

So it finally happened, Claire wore me down and she was finally able to have her first sleep over!!!

Claire has a really nice group of friends and they had a BLAST!

We tie dyed hats!

Claire chose cupcakes and the girls had fun singing.

Then we opened some gifts.

Claire got a fun new game and the girls had a blast playing Eggedon!

Then it was time for the ESCAPE ROOM!  They had to complete 4 puzzles to get a four digit code to unlock the lockbox to get the key to get out of the escape room!

I am not sure who had more fun with the Escape Room, the girls or me and Mark!!!  We spent a few hours putting it together and had a blast!

So we set the timer for 35 minutes and then locked the girls in.  Mark even put a new doorknob on Claire's door to lock them in and used one of his real estate lock boxes!

The girls did a great job and only needed one time extension!!!

After the Escape Room the girls celebrated with root beer floats.

Then it was time for a movie and bed!!  Which basically meant that they started a movie and talked and giggled for the next 4 hours.

It was late but sleep finally took over.

In the morning they enjoyed some delicious pancakes.

And the girls headed home.  

Claire had such a great time and she was so sad when it was over (and EXHAUSTED)!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET CLAIRE!  ENJOY DOUBLE DIGITS!!!!

That's A Wrap

The kids finished acting camp and I can honestly say they loved EVERY second of it!

They made lots of friends and learned a lot! 

On the last day the kids got to show us some of the stuff that they learned.

Then they each put on a short skit with their groups.

It was so cute!  The groups even wrote their own scripts!

The kids loved Miss Victoria.

They loved Mr Jesse too!

Claire really loved the camp.  It brought out a very confident and dramatic side to her :)  

Overall, it was an awesome camp and we will definitely go back next year for Act 2!

Happy Anniversary

On July 12th Mark and I celebrated 14 years of marriage!  We had a great day date while the kids were at acting camp.  We had a nice quiet lunch and then enjoyed a tour of the Darwin house.  

The house was gorgeous!  

And we loved the tour!  We were with a lovely group of people from our local senior center.  They were super sweet and loved celebrating our anniversary with us.  They were also there to witness Mark touch EVERY single thing in the house, then when I touched ONE thing the tour guide hollered at me!  They got a real kick out of that!

We had a wonderful day to celebrate an amazing 14 years.  I am so grateful that I have such an incredible partner and friend in Mark!  We make a pretty good team and it has been such a great journey so far.  I can't wait to see what the next 14+ years old for us!

Acting Camp

This year we decided not to do summer camp, well Mark and I decided not the kids.  The kids were devastated and not happy about it at all.  But with all the sports this summer it just didn't work in our schedules.  So we let the kids each choose a week long camp to do.  Oliver chose hockey camp and Claire chose acting camp.  When Oliver heard about the acting camp he wanted to join in as well! The kids are having an absolute blast and I can't wait to see their little show on Friday!!! 

Summer Fun

On Sunday we finally had a gorgeous summer day but, due to our crazy busy schedules there wasn't enough time to go to the beach so we set up the slip and slide and hung out in the backyard!

I had so much fun just hanging out with my buddies!

They even played super nice together (for a while at least)!

Oliver loved running around the yard before slippin and slidin!

Claire relaxing!

Always time for a smooch from my man!

Seriously, they are the best!

After soccer and a nice dinner on the patio we decided to keep the summer fun going and have a nice fire in the backyard!

Nana and Papa joined us and we had a very nice night (Miss Amy and Lucy also made an appearance)!

One of our neighbors gave us some huge sparklers and the kids loved using them!

Oliver a little more than Claire!

He couldn't get enough of them!!!

And of course, Oliver loved chatting away with Papa!!!

Overall, it was a wonderful summer day!!!!

Sharing

While redoing Claire's bedroom the kids had to share a room for a few nights.  They claimed that they hated it but I think they secretly loved it!! Each night they would read before bed.

And then in the morning we would find them like this!

Fourth Of July

Yet another amazing Fourth Of July has passed!  We spent the 4th in our usual way!  We had dinner, the parade, and then the fireworks with our buddies the Cappellis!

This year the Cappellis surprised us with a special cake for Claire to celebrate her birthday!

I love these knuckle heads!

After dinner and cake it was time to hit the parade!

I even got a  nice picture with my buddies!

Happy Fourth Of July!!!

Oliver's Birthday

Oliver had a blast celebrating his birthday at Gymnastics Unlimited!!

He had a blast celebrating his day with all of his buddies!!!

Toronto

We started our summer adventures right away!  Mark competed in the Spartan Race in Toronto on Saturday and Sunday so Friday we packed up and headed to Toronto.

While Mark raced I took my buddies and we headed over to the Science Museum!

We had a blast!

Oliver loved the radio exhibits.  He was fascinated with the fact that families used to sit around the radio instead of watching tv!

Claire loved checking out all the old phones!  I was dying when she didn't know how to work a rotary phone!

It was a fun day with just me and my buddies!

After the museum we headed to Medieval Times!

After  Daddy finished his race and met us at Medieval Times (and I am proud to say that I drove us all over Toronto, BY MYSELF) and we had a blast!!!

Then of course, the most fun of all was the hotel pool!!!

Congratulations Daddy on both of your races!!  We are so proud of you!!!!

Greatest Day

Last Thursday was "The Greatest Day"!!!  I work with such an amazing group of people!  They say "If you love your job you never work a day in your life!"  and that could not be more true!  I love teaching but I also love the people that I work with.  I have so many wonderful relationships with these people and I could not imagine my life without them!  There are many people missing from this picture but I am so glad that we got a group picture!

Some more of my buddies!

Love these faces!!!

Now, LET THE SUMMER SHANANIGANS BEGIN!