September 2015

September is such a busy time! We wrapped up the summer with a trip to Hershey Park. The kids are pretty fearful of lots of rides, which can be annoying challenging...but we all still had a really good time with Nonna and Pop-pop and the cousins. It was the perfect day too, not hot at all!

Mark has really been working on his monkey bar skills!

September means the start of soccer...pics of Mark to come! I think this is the end of Gianna's soccer journey; she has found her true love and passion...Irish step dancing!

A few days of the van in the shop means all 3 packed into the back of our tiny old Civic. 

We also hit up a local festival. Great way to end the summer!

And what September blog post would be complete without first-day-of-school pictures. Gianna is in 3rd grade and Mark is in half-day kindergarten. And Joe is in...tears because his buddies are gone. He was so upset after Mark left; he kept asking when his own bus was coming. He was fine by the second day though! Here's to a great year!

August 2015

 Blogger is terrible about keeping pictures in order, so here is our August in random order. We spent the last week of August in Virginia. Fun water fights and smores on the patio! We also took a trip into DC for lunch and the Smithsonian with Ellen and Nancy.

The highlight of the summer for the last several years has been our trip to the lake...this year was no exception. All the kids had a great time! Joe's hair was at peak craziness and he loved all the boat rides and all the attention from his cousins and aunts and uncles.

 

This might be my favorite picture from the lake. Gianna took a bunch of selfies. This one cracks me up despite making her look 16!

We really are lake people and not ocean people, but we did manage to spend one day at the shore!

Summer 'staches!

At the very end of August we said goodbye to one of our faves...Joe's hair. It was sad to say goodbye to the craziness, but the short hair is so adorable. Before...

And after...

July 2015

We took a trip to upstate NY for my cousin's graduation party. Our sheltered children thought staying in a hotel was super cool. It was really nice to see all my cousins, aunts, and uncles.

We headed to VA for 4th of July weekend. While Mark was at Camp Nonna (for the first time!!), Grandma, Grandpa, Gianna, Joe and I had a fun time. The highlight was taking the "train" (metro) to the mall...a trip that would take a fraction of the time by car!

Reunited with Mark, we hit the air and space museum before heading to Aunt Jenny's annual 4th of July party.

While the girls had their Camp Nonna, the boys and I came back to NJ. We took Jack with us to a laser light show!

 All reunited! What is summer without popsicles, ninja turtles, headbands, and corn on the cob?