Tuesday, September 3, 2013

End of Summer, Vacation, and Family Reunion

Summer is just about over.  The garden is harvested for the most part, the pool is down for the season, and our vacation is over.  Autumn is a great season filled with it's own kind of fun.  We will resume table time, go on field trips, and meet with the homeschoolers.  The girls will also be starting gymnastics.  With all of these new adventures ahead, we will be busy, busy, busy.  I am looking forward to all of it.  The only thing that I hate about autumn is the fact that winter is around the corner.  I am not ready for the cold or the snow.  Just thinking about it makes me miss the warmth of North Carolina.

Here are some of our pictures from our vacation.  We stopped in PA on our way to North Carolina.  These are from the Railroad Museum and Amish Country.












The girls in the pool at the hotel on the way down.


The girls on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  It was very windy!!


North Carolina




Emerald Isle




Hannah's Birthday at the Ice Cream Shop


 Enjoying the Beach




 Our House


 Four Generations of the Fitzsimmons Clan
 The Cousins' night out.
 The whole Clan.


Pictures from Shackleford Banks.  An island where wild horses live.  We found
lots of beautiful shells and a piece of a sand dollar.






The hotel on the way home.


My Memere's 89th Birthday and a family Reunion.
















Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Last Couple of Weeks at a Glance



Every year we "open a restaurant" for my In Laws' anniversary.  With Hannah and Avery's help, we create a theme, and a name for the restaurant.  We choose a menu together and plan all the small details.  It's a lot of fun for us and Bob and Donna really enjoy it.  This year's restaurant was called Kevin's Pub and Grill.  Here are a couple of pictures.






Hannah and Avery are always the waitress's and they go a great job.  They serve all the food and provide a bit of entertainment.

Just this past weekend we had a Cucumber Stand.  Unfortunately we did not get many customers.  I was hoping the girls would sell all of our cucumbers.  We had a ton of them.  They did all the work and they waited on the few customers that we did get.  They each made a little money for their vacation.  It was a good experience.  It gave Hannah a lot of practice with money.  She had to make change and figure out how much each person's cucumbers came to.




                             
                                       A few pictures of the girls having fun in the sun.



Hannah, Avery, and Santi "painted" the deck for us using sidewalk chalk.  It actually looked
really cool.  Much better than the old paint that is on it now.  Unfortunately, it rained the very same night, so all of their hard work was gone by morning.


This is the pinata that we made for Hannah's Birthday Dinner.  Hannah wanted a flower.  It was a little bit challenging, but it came out nicely.


Here are a few pictures from Hannah's special day.  We celebrated her birthday a little early because we will be on vacation for her actual birthday.

We started off the day by going to the flea market.  Hannah loves going their to find china dolls.
This time she found this dress and bought it with her own money.


Hannah enjoying her birthday present.  We ended up going for 3 walks that day!


Hannah also received a sewing kit.  She made this dress all by herself.  She even used her
tape measure to measure.  In September when we start table time again, we are going to start sewing lessons.

This is the birthday cake that Santi made for Hannah.  It has three layers, Strawberry, and Chocolate.  It was quite a cake!!!!!



Hannah after opening her favorite present.  An old porcelain doll that her Great
Grandmother had owned for years.  She always played with her whenever she went to visit.

Hannah hugging "Big Mimi"  after receiving Lacey(the much coveted doll)

Hannah and her new babies.  She was a happy little girl and a very lucky one!!!!

                                                Hannah making her birthday wish.

                                 4 Generations:  Big Mimi, Mimi, Daddy, and the girls.

It was a great day!  We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather.  We had a delicious meal and we spent the day with family.  What could be better?

                                        Happy 7th Birthday Hannah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!