Where has the Summer gone?

The official school package came in today's mail. It is hard to believe that there are only 32 days left till the kids start school! Where has the summer gone? We have been busy but it does not feel as though we should be over half way through the summer. I am sure that part of that stems from the fact that for the first 3 weeks of summer break we were dealing with rainy, dreary weather. Now that has changed, and we are spending as much time as possible outside, and then running back inside to cool off in the AC!

Things have been rather low key since I last posted. Brenna spent a week at a Cheer Camp run by the Plymouth Recreation Department. She is very excited about cheering for the Plymouth Vikings this Fall (her 1st cheerleading experience) and she wanted to try camp to see if she could learn a few things. Now I know nothing about cheering, so this, like so many other things lately, is going to be a learning experience for me too. Camp was held at a local gymnastics facility. She learned some "poses" such as "High V", "Low V", "Dagger", and "Broken T". She learned a bit about stunting and even got to be the "flyer" on the top of a small pyramid. She was worn out at the end of each of the 3 hour sessions, but really loved it.

This week is soccer camp. Brenna, and a few of her friends, are participating in a program run by British Soccer. The kids were broken down into their skill levels and grouped into one of four countries. Brenna is on the team for Spain. Each night she has had some homework to do. The first night she had to look up facts about Spain. The second night she had to explain how each of the principals of the program (respect, integrity, sportsmanship, etc.) could be demonstrated on the soccer field. For each completed assignment, the kids are awarded points which will be tallied at the end along with other points awarded, to see which country wins the World Cup. It has been a hot and muggy week, but she has really been enjoying the program.

I had every intention of showing up earl today to get some pictures of her playing, but that did not work out. Lucky for me, I was there for the large Camp picture, and was able to get one with my camera.

A close up of Brenna (middle) with her friends Enzo, Austin, Sandro and Julianne.

Andrew started in a Summer Hockey clinic a few weeks ago. I wanted him to get some time on the ice before the season starts in October. (Quite frankly, I was worried that he would forget everything that he had learned to date!) We were extra excited when his friend Ben decided to join him this time. The boys are pretty much at the same level, and they are always together on the ice. It is quite cute.

As it turns out this was a good program for him. Things finally seem to be clicking for him. He is actually moving on the ice now!!! I had to make another trip to the hockey store and get him the rest of his gear. In addition to the knee and elbow pads from last season, he now has shoulder pads, real hockey pants, and the rest of the gear. He looks like a little linebacker out there! (I would have used the name of a hockey posiiton, but I do not know any of those yet!)

We will be headed off to Maryland on Friday for our vacation. We are starting the "2009 Colvin Summer Tour" in Scranton, PA with a visit to Mike and Jean's (and of course, the Moosic Diner). Then we will head down to Todd and Jenn's for a few days. After that we will head back over to Hampstead and join the Hordesky clan for a few more days. We have to check on the house again and meet with the realtor while we are there as we plan on putting it back on the market this Fall. (Wish us luck.) We are thrilled that Nancy, Mike and the boys will be coming to see us in Hampstead for the day. We have not seen them in over a year! The week will end with a few days on the Eastern Shore with the O'Hara family, as my Sister is getting married on the 8th. Almost everyone will be in attendance (except my two oldest nephews) and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone again. It has been too long.

A Green Home in Plymouth??

Well, you can always count on Uncle Chuck for finding those interesting, and sometimes obscure, bits of info on the net, but this one blew me away. Check it out... HGTV is building the 2010 Green Home right here in Plymouth. And it is only a few miles away from us. So cool!

The West Visit part 2

The weather was beautiful this past Monday so we took the opportunity to head down to the beach with Uncle Chuck. The kids had a blast giving him the tour of Scusset beach, and finding all sorts of sea creatures (and pieces of sea creatures). It was a great way to spend the last day of their visit. I wish Aunt Laura had wanted to come along, but she decided to stay home and finish a bed skirt that she was making for our guest room. It is beautiful and I promise to post a picture of it when I get the room all together again.

Here are some shots of our day at the beach.

These days it seems to be rare that I get a nice picture of both of them. I was very happy with this one.

I could not believe how blue the sky was. It was gorgeous!

Daddy's Girl!

Andrew shooting the seagulls with his water gun. Oh- what a boy!

Andrew and his Uncle Chuck!

After we returned home, we rested up a bit and we all headed down to downtown Plymouth for dinner at Mama Mia's. We could not miss an opportunity to have more pizza with Chuck while he was here! We had a great meal.

The next day we had to say goodbye to Aunt Laura and Uncle Chuck. We has such a nice visit with them. It is always hard to say goodbye, but this time it was not as bad. We will be back in Maryland in a few short weeks and we will get to see them then. We can't wait!

The Great Meatball Cook-off!

Shortly after we moved here, I was fortunate to be befriended by another Mom at Brenna's dance class. Lori saw me reading scrapbook magazines while we waited for our daughters during class, and we struck up a conversation. It was also nice that her son, Matthew, had to wait for his sister, Stephanie, while Andrew waited for Brenna. The boys became fast friends. Lori invited me to join her scrapbooking friends for one of their monthly get togethers at her friend Jenee's house. We hit it off right away. Since that time (a year and a half ago) we have gotten together for a number of scrap nights, 2 weekend get-aways, and most recently some family get togethers. This was especially nice for Todd, as he often misses out on social opportunities since he is working.

Our first "family" get together was for Memorial Day. Jenee, and her husband Peter, hosted a fantastic cookout. Jenee is a girl after my own heart, and she was snapping away with her camera all day. She was kind enough to get some great pictures of me with the kids and even a few of me and Todd. (I am so rarely in pictures since I am usually the one taking them.) I will post some of those pictures in the next day or two.

During the festivities the topic of a meatball cook-off came up. Seems that one person (whose name will not be mentioned) was talking smack about another person's meatballs. (And no, Todd was not involved in this discussion!) A decision was made to have a meatball cook-off to settle the dispute, and everyone was invited to join in (as a participant or a judge). I was not planning on participating (after all, I bake for fun, not cook!) but Todd convinced me to make Kathy's Porcupine meatballs and enter the competition.

The Cook-off was held on July 11 at Jenee and Peter's house. They went to the 9's decorating the place. From the lights to the music, the candles, and the tablecloths, it was all decked out, Italian style. Wasn't it cute?

Laura and Chuck were here and they joined in as judges. There were six competitors. Nicole had planned out the judging process and had made little flags for each entry. Each person was to place one meatball from each contestant on their plate. Since the judging was blind, the contestant names were not disclosed. They were simply labeled by a colored flag. The judges picked their favorite meatballs and voted by the colored flag.



Even the kids were involved in the judging.


Once all the votes were tallied, the results were read... And Todd was crowned the "Meatball King". There was a second place tie between Jenee and Peter, and third place went to Larry. Here are the prize winners (absent Jenee who was taking the picture). Don't you love Todd's snazzy crown?

We had such a great time! It was such a great group of people. The kids played non-stop, and were very sad when we had to pack up to go home (even though it was 10:00 PM!) Andrew begged me to set up a play-date for him with his new friend Sandro, and Brenna was begging for a sleep-over with Stephanie.

Thanks Jenee and Peter for hosting such a great party. Thanks Nicole for organizing all of the details. And thanks to everyone else for making us all welcome. I feel very fortunate to have made such great friends here in Plymouth!

Perhaps we should do a Bake-Off next???

And our Guest Blogger is....

Hi it's Brenna. I had a trip with my BFF Liz.We went to Cape cod !We had so much fun together!I went alone .I mean that I went with no parents. Our room was very classic. Me and Liz played in the pool, I learned to swim under water! We went to a huge beach. We saw a horseshoe crab ! Here are some pictures of our trip.

The West Visit part 1

Laura and Chuck arrived on the 8th and we have been enjoying their company ever since. We picked them up from the airport around 4 PM and headed straight to the North End in Boston. As many of you know Chuck is Todd's die-hard pizza buddy. They have shared this interest obsession for many years. So, it was only natural that we would take them to Regina Pizzeria for dinner. And, I am pleased to report that for the first time there was no wait when we got there. We had a great meal. It was a perfect way to start off their visit.



Todd had to work the next day so we had a nice relaxing day at home. Chuck took Andrew fishing for a few hours. Andrew was so excited. They had been talking about doing this together since long before this trip was even planned. The fish were not really biting but Andrew had a great time just hanging out with his Uncle Chuck.



Later that day the girls headed out for some pampering. We all went to get our nails done. This was Brenna's first time at a nail salon. (Not too bad for a 7 year old, eh?) I had decided to take her awhile ago, but needed to wait till she was out of school since she can not wear nail polish at school. We thought that it would be great fun to do it with Aunt Laura. I was surprised to find out that Aunt Laura had never had her nails done!! She decided to forego the pedicure this time, but ended up loving the manicure.

As it turns out, Brenna really liked getting her nails done. She picked out her polish and hopped right up in that massage chair . It was very cute to watch her. She was thrilled when the girl asked her if she wanted flowers painted on her nails. She was very happy with the end result.




The next day the weather was beautiful so we decided to take a tour of Martha's Vineyard. We took the Ferry over to Vineyard Haven from the Cape and rented bikes when we got there.




We proceeded to ride ALL OVER the Island. We started off at Vineyard Haven and road approx 3 miles to Oaks Bluff. The kids had it made. They were being pulled in trailers behind Todd and Chuck. (Laura wisely decided to stay home.) When we got there we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant by the water.


After that we rode to Edgartown, about another 6 miles. We had never been there before and were so impressed. It was an adorable town. We walked down to the harbor, checked out a few shops, and stopped for some great ice cream at Mad Martha's! And let me tell you, that was some awesome ice cream!!! After packing on the calories, we hopped back on the bikes and rode approx 9 miles back to Vineyard Haven.

(That's Andrew in the trailer behind Chuck.)

That was the difficult part of the trip for me. I had to hop off the bike a few times on some of the hills and walk the bike. There were no signs along the way indicating how close we were to town. I was so worried that we were going to miss the last ferry but we eeked in just in time. And watched a beautiful sunset on the ride back to the Cape.






In the end, we were all pretty tired, and a bit sore. But it was a great day! I am so glad that we did it!

The End of T-ball

The t-ball season ended a week ago, and I finally got the pictures uploaded. I have to say, I was very impressed with our first season and how well the program was run.

The last game of the season was played on the official Little League field. It had dug outs, a concession stand (which Brenna & Liz loved) and an actual announcer calling the whole game. The announcer was a kid, and he did a great job. The kids on the team did not know quite what to think about it. It was adorable.



What was most amazing to me was how fast Andrew was. He actually ran (as opposed to jogged) between the bases! And he was pretty fast! We figured out that he was trying to impress the Hordesky clan who was there to watch and cheer him on. They were such great sports and Andrew loved having a cheering section.






After the game was done, Coach Banzi handed out their medals and gave them each a trophy. Andrew was so pleased!





At the end, we got a great team picture on the dugout....








I think he really liked playing. In fact, the next day he asked me how long he has to wait until he plays again.

And now, because we live in New England, we move onto Hockey! He is very happy about that!