Summer's Officially Over!

Well folks, it's official. Dylan's back in school which means our summer is officially over.

My Handsome Guy

His first day today consisted of only an hour of time. He has the same teacher as last year but is in a new classroom. Even though he didn't seem quite so sure of it all when we dropped him off, he was all smiles when we picked him up. So, a good start to the year.

I have some seriously mixed feelings about summer ending. I was enjoying the fall weather we've been having the last few days (though today is probably our hottest, muggiest day of the year thus far). Cooler weather makes me happy. However, I felt as if we had just started being able to enjoy summer and - Poof! - it's gone!

As you know, we've been knee deep in this NH town home building business. It took a turn for the worst in July and August and we were more like chest deep in problems with the build timeline, our loan processing (mixed with build delays and appraisal nastiness) as well as a skyrocketing dive in our relationship with the builder. It got nasty fast and it was nothing short of miserable to deal with....still deal with in fact. There are still some dangling items that need to be addressed\fixed and we're having to grin and bite our tongues to be nice to people we feel have miserably failed us in many ways and given a really negative start to our dream vacation spot. I hope once we're finally through it all we'll be able to completely shake the negative associations and will truly be able to enjoy it without any drama. Time will tell I suppose.

What we thought was a bright spot was that our old condo was under agreement and was set to close last week. All with relatively no issues. Seemed too good to be true and it was.  Yeah, the deal fell through at the last second and we're back to square one on that front. Anyone looking for a mountain get away? I know a great place! Wink wink. 

In any case, during the month of July and August, we finally had 2 great days that 1) let us feel like we were having a glimpse of what summer should really be like (fun and free) and 2) reminded us (in the depth of the negative NH business) why it is we love having a place there and having room for friends. I will be blogging about those 2 days soon as well as the week we got to spend on vacation in our new place last week! It was mostly great with a few headaches thrown in (like we found out about the collapse of our sell the day we arrived, spent some time at the old place cleaning and fixing to start the showing process again, and were dealing with getting our builder to get some things done while we were there that should have been fixed long before our arrival). It was definitely our last hurrah before getting back to a more scheduled life of school and work. 

So, happy fall, y'all! Hope to be dropping in on the blog a little more frequently as things in life (hopefully) slow to a more usual pace.

Oz at the Zoo

After Dylan's birthday party, I took the next couple of days off to "relax." First order of business Monday morning was to finish party clean up. Then it was time for the zoo. The Stoneham Zoo has an Australia exhibit so we went to see the Koalas. Well, at least that's why I really wanted to go. I have a serious love for those squishy little "bears." We go to the zoo a lot (as you know) and I seem to post lots of pictures of animals here (as you know) so I'm going to do it a little different this time and mostly just post cute pictures of my little animals. Plus the koalas were sleeping and not in great photo position, so I didn't take any of them.

Cade was fascinated with the Macaw.

At The Bird Show
(Did I mention that brother in law, Joe and niece Emily joined us?)

Cute Face

Giving the Bird Our Donation

Look! An Eagle!

Statues of bears are cool!

So are statues of wolves and pups!

After spending the afternoon at the zoo, we took advantage of my folks being around. Mike and I grabbed the rare dinner by ourselves and actually had time for real conversation. But, not until we spent an hour on the phone with our builder finding out about a broken cabinet. That darned broken cabinet was the beginning of the end of a low key build.

Ever since that day, a month ago now, our NH condo has been a bit of a nightmare. It's kept us constantly busy, every day seems to bring a new problem\drama and unfortunately, our relationship with the builder has really gone downhill. The nitty gritty detail is just too exhausting for me to go over and talk about anymore but trust me on this, our vacation home has really been the exact opposite and really made life not very enjoyable. We keep hoping that the endless drama will stop re-unfolding every day but sadly, it keeps coming. Our bright sunny attitudes we try to keep up are constantly beaten down and we are plum worn out. We did actually get to move into the place last weekend but it's still not officially ours. And due to the unpleasant situation with our builder, moving in was coupled with a lot of negative feelings and it just wasn't comfortable to be there. I found out just about an hour ago that our scheduled closing for tomorrow has hit yet another road bump. So, the story continues. When the place is actually ours, we'll be doing a major happy dance and gladly sharing lots of photos.

But, back to the story of Dylan's b'day and my parents trip here for it. I guess I also have to mention that at our zoo visit, my Mom and I got in a bit of a tiff. (Sorry Mom, had to be said...all part of the story.) So the zoo day wasn't all that fun and our dinner date that night was more necessary to get away then a fun treat night for Mike and I. Because of having had too much together time with the folks, I decided it was best for me to go to work Tuesday morning. I still took off Tuesday afternoon because we'd long ago planned for my parents to stay with Cade while Mike and I took Dylan to see Monster's University. It was a cute movie and Dylan did great. Sat very well with his 3D glasses and really took in the movie. Afterwards, the three of us went to get ice cream.

Tuesday night, my Mom and I had to work things out. So instead of the much needed down time I was supposed to have on Monday and Tuesday, it was a very emotional couple of days which was terribly exhausting as well. When we close on our vacation home....someday I hope....we will be very quickly be booking a week there to do some serious chilling out. We have been running so fast for so long, I think it's going to be the sweetest drop and do nothing week I will have every had in my life. Oh, and yes, my Mom and I hashed it out and are fine now.

This post officially ends anything of note I have to share that's happened to us in the last couple of months. The rest of our lives has been dedicated to the NH house. I very much look forward to when I'm able to share news of a closing on it and pictures of the completed project. Maybe next week???

Spooky Bday Bash

Anyone who knows Dylan knows he seems to like a lot of "spooky" stuff. Last year, his favorite "book" to read was the Halloween products magazine we got in August. (We just got one in the mail this week and he's already been pouring over it.) Ever since then, his love of spooky has blossomed further. Skeletons have been a long time favorite but zombies are now up there too. When I started prodding him months ago what kind of party he wanted to have, he fairly quickly settled on a costume\spooky theme. His costume preference went back and forth between black Spiderman and a skeleton. After getting the Spiderman costume for him (unbeknownst to him), he firmed up his choice to be a skeleton (and sent Mom back to Amazon for more shopping). And thus was the beginning of his spooky birthday party. 

Since he wanted to dress up, we encouraged guests to do the same. I also got to make use of our Halloween decorations again. These last few weeks have been such a whirlwind. It seems like his birthday party was both yesterday and many months ago. In reality, it's been just over a month since we celebrated. All parties for the hosts are a blur of activity. Dylan seemed to have a great time and it seemed like his guests did too (I hope). It was a really, really hot day so other than making trips out to the bouncy castle (or Hotel Transylvania as we called it), there was a lot of folks enjoying staying inside in the A\C.

The Birthday Boy in His Zombie Jammies

The Cool Skeleton

Before the guests arrived, we had to test out the bouncy house.

Cade loved it!
(He kept finding some adult throughout the day to lead out there and help him jump around.)

Me and My Skeletons
(Of course I had to dress up too!)

And, of course, going with the theme - we had scary food. I really tried not to go as overboard as I did for his 3rd b'day (remember the Star Wars party) but that damned Pinterest sucks you in to so many cute ideas, it's hard to narrow them down. Thankfully, my parents were on hand to help me execute most of them.

Screaming Pepper

Spooky Pizza
(See the ghost cheese?)

Ice Hand
(Didn't freeze solid so melted pretty quickly.)

Brains

Spider Eggs

As usual, my Mom did a fantastic job on the cake. We searched high and low for inspiration. Saw a lot of great spooky cake ideas, but I knew as soon as I saw this one that it should be the one for Dylan's party.

Skeleton in a Grave
In case you're wondering, it was all edible. The dirt was crushed oreo cookies and the skeleton made out of fondant.

Other than the bouncy house, which all the kids (and some adults too) loved, I had a couple of small crafts on hands for the kiddos. They could decorate monster rocks or make a pumpkin out of pipe cleaner and orange beads. Other than that, it was guests mingling and kids running around in chaos.

Matt and Daughter Caroline, Eleni (aka Isabella's Mom) with Cade
Cade suckered Elani into the bouncy house with him for a while.

This face is super cute but does not convince me that Caroline had a fun time at the party.

Libby and Her Monster Rock

Bouncy House Fun
Isabella, Cade and Chloe's shoulder in Foreground, Hayden and Dylan Behind

Bouncy Skeleton

Hayden!

My Spooky Boys

Mia Monster
She was so darned cute in that costume. I was lucky to have the camera with me when she arrived
because that hot costume came off very quickly. She also was excited to give Dylan his card and was
hunting him down to do so. Ever since, when we talk about Mia at his party, he's quick to point out
that she brought him mail! Too cute.

Me and Mimaw the Pumpkin

The Whole Family for Bouncy House Fun

Those bouncy houses are a great workout - especially when you're holding some weight!

Facetime with Uncle Jody
Dylan's trying to show him on his fingers how old he is now.

Mummy Bear, Dressed up Duffy and Naturally Black and While Cici the Cat

Birthday Boy with the Spooky Spiderweb

Joe and Maureen

Mia and Cade Burning Some Calories in Preparation for Some Cake

Boys - Ryan, Corwin, Dylan, Girls - Isabella and Maureen

Dylan's 4th B'day Cake

Happy Birthday to You!

Cade Clapping For His Brother

Mmmm....Cake and Ice Cream!

My Baby Boy is 4!

Of course, there was also a lot of gift opening. I tried to keep the gifts down by encouraging friends to bring only a card, but even family gifts and the cards we got from friends was a pretty overwhelming pile. It looked like Christmas! It might have been a bit too much for Dylan. Most of our friends had gone on by this point leaving only family. However, thank goodness Mia had stayed around. She was more than happy to help Dylan open his gifts and he was more than happy to leave it to her after a while. A win win for those two!

So, that's Dylan's bash in a nutshell. Even though these parties can be a lot of work and sometimes make me crazy, I enjoy planning something special to celebrate such an important day. Dylan is such a wonderful kid! I couldn't have asked for a better first born to introduce me to motherhood. (Remind me that if I'm having a pull my hair out kind of day with the kiddos....you know we all have them.) Every day I get to spend with my family is a gift....getting to celebrate full years of life is unbelievably awesome!

Birthday\Wedding Day

Life hasn't been short of any new daily surprises lately. This buying\building\closing process is really taking a toll on us. We did get some good news this weekend though. Our "old" condo in NH has an agreed upon\signed offer! We got it in on Friday and after several back and forth prices, came to an agreement. Now it's just keeping our fingers crossed that all goes smooth there since the other side of the equation - the build side - has been nothing close to smooth for some time. Also, we did get about half the day on Sunday to have a "lazy" day at home. That was a welcome break and a great time to catch up on some housework. So, blogging is still no where near the top of the list but I'm trying to fit it in where I can. Let's go back to the beginning of the month.

July 6th was Dylan's 4th birthday and the day of my cousin Mary's wedding. I seriously can't believe my wonderful first born son turned 4. And he's really matured so much recently that it's almost as if you could see the turn of the clock to another year wiser. I could just gush all day long about what a cool, fun, funny, sweet boy he is. I love him to pieces. And, as any birthday should, the day started out with presents for him.

Unfortunately, though we tried to do little special things for him throughout the day, the day was mostly not about him. Shortly after his birthday pancake breakfast, we packed up the whole gang (me, Mike, the kids and my parents) and made the 2 hour drive to Deefield, MA where we were going to celebrate the day with the bride and groom as well as family from Texas we rarely get to see.

In their usual tradition, my parents brought their super hot Texas weather with them. The day was really, really, really hot. I know all you Texans are thinking "so what, it's hot here all the time....big deal!" To which I will respond....yeah, but do you ever spend long periods of time both indoors and out without air conditioning. Yeah, I thought so. It was hot, hot, hot!

The wedding and surrounding events took place on this big old Quaker compound. The grounds were beautiful and the buildings extremely old and historical....all very cool except for well, as I said...hot!
We met my Mom's first cousins, Mary Jane and Mike, as well as kids of theirs (who are around my age) around noon for a picnic.

After visiting (and sweating) for a while, we went to our last minute booked hotel room so that we could have a place to cool off, rest and freshen up for the evening's festivities. The only real resting came with my parents having a little lay down. My kids didn't nap. Always makes for an interesting evening. After getting ready, we made the short drive back to the wedding venue. When we arrived, they were serving lemonade under the trees. Just after 5, we heard the bell and were ushered into the meeting house. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't great. Though they recognized the heat and didn't want us sweltering indoors, we sat for quite a while doing just that as the wedding didn't actually begin for 20 or 30 minutes after. Luckily, the boys were troopers and were holding together very well.

While we waited, the groom's father entertained us with some lovely guitar playing. The meeting house was decorated simply and lovely with mason jars and wild flowers from the property (as was the reception which we would see later). Once the plethora of bridesmaids and groomsmen filed in, the beautiful bride followed:

Mary and Mike Hale

Once the ceremony officially began, we were requested not to take photos so this was all I got before I was cut off.

See all of those people behind the preacher? ALL the wedding party
(and you can't even see them all in the photo).

It was a lovely and sweet ceremony (I almost wrote sweat there because it was that too). Then it was cocktail hour back under the trees and with the vicious mosquitoes. Man, they were on the attack that night. Luckily we had some bug spray in the car which Mike got and I sprayed down the family with.

The lovely meeting house where the ceremony was held.

This is my cousin, Alison:

She and I rarely see each other but have a special bond. No matter that it's been many years since we've seen each other, we pick right back up and talk like best friends. This was actually the first time I got to meet her husband. They have 2 girls about the same age as my boys who stayed back at home for this trip. My biggest agenda for this wedding, other than the obvious celebrating of the happy couple, was to spend as much time catching up with Alison as possible.

Alison, Me with Cade, Dennis (Alison's husband), Dad and Mary Jane (Alison's Mom)

The night seemed to go in fast forward. There was pinata fun, dinner, dancing, toasts, etc. It was a wedding - a big party!

The bride helping the groom take aim.

Getting some candy.

Funny story about the candy. Dylan had never had Starburst before so I tried to explain to him they were chewy candies and he would have to "chew, chew, chew them!" He immediately had thoughts of Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and looked a little alarmed...he didn't want to turn into a big blueberry! I assured him it was different than gum and he would be fine. After cautiously eating the first one and realizing he was still in true boy form, he was able to enjoy a few more without worry.

Dylan and Mimaw

Our table with beautiful wildflower centerpiece.

Dylan had a fun time with a couple of babies on the dance floor.
They would giggle at him and he thought that was great.

My little night owl.

Beautiful sunset to cap off the night.

The boys were true troopers. It had been a long day with minimal napping and lots of activity. Even though I would have loved to stay until the end, we had a 2 hour drive back with a big party to host the next day. Mike called it around 9 pm. He was done stretching the boys as far as they could go. Dad drove us back (since Mike and I had some drinks during the event) and I navigated. I think most of the crew napped in the back except for Cade. Somehow he managed to not fall asleep during that long car ride! Unbelievable! That little guy didn't get to bed until 11pm. The birthday boy transferred pretty smoothly to bed and the rest of us followed suit. There would be no recuperation time from this big day - Sunday would be party time again!