Aftermath Irene.

(Visit to Niagara Falls last month)

I slept through the storm last night which is not unusual since I'm a deep sleeper. By now, my kids know not to reach for me at night as they'll get no response from me, so they go directly to Seth. I'm glad to report that nothing was damaged on our property and we didn't loose any electricity.

I woke up at 9:40 am realizing that David's drum lesson is supposed to start in 20 minutes. I rushed to the family room shouting that he should get dressed right away and he'll eat cheerios in a car. While he was writing something at his art table, he calmly told me that he and Julia already had breakfast after which he washed the dishes and Julia washed the kitchen floor. "Great, go and get dressed then", I told him.

"I need to finish writing this note and tape it to our kitchen wall", was his response.

I glanced over his shoulder and saw this written on his note "no running, wet" and there was a picture of a puddle.

So, while we got no water damage outside on our property, there were plenty of puddles in our kitchen and a trash filled with an entire roll of a wet paper towel. While hurricane Irene might have come and left, hurricanes David and Julia are here to stay.

We Are No Farmers...

but last weekend our family got a taste of what a farmer's life is like. We visited Hull-O farm to help out farmers to take care of their farm . To be honest, we didn't even remotely experience the hard and non-stopping work that a farmer does every single day. The most, we "worked" perhaps was over an hour a day. Our duties included feeding calves, goats, sheep, dogs, kittens, bunnies, deer; milking cows and collecting chicken eggs.

The kids really surprised me, especially David. Julia wouldn't even feed the calves because of how messy it was. On the other hand, it was David's favorite activity and he was the first one to volunteer (there were other two guest families with total of 5 kids). Julia spent most of our time on the farm holding chicks and kittens. Both kids couldn't wait to finish their breakfast so they could run off and collect chicken eggs (surprise, none of the eggs were cracked). They were both eager to milk cows and got the hang of it right away.

Before we checked in to the farm, we had spent a few hours at the water park nearby. It was a weekend filled with activities from early morning to past their bedtime and if you ask our kids, it was their best "vacation" ever (haven't I written those words before?). I can see it being our annual getaway spot.

Visit to Howe Caverns. David still can't stop talking about them.

This is where I lost a few years off my life. David told me later he was nervous, but once in air, he had fun. Not sure how they let him do a zip line since he wasn't quite tall to go on it.

Julia got scared on a rope climbing and didn't finish it. David did complete it, but not before shedding a few tears.

Tea Time.

Julia turned 5 years old last week. Five! Last year she couldn't care less how old she was turning and this year she couldn't stop telling people that she is going to be 5 soon. I decided to throw her a tea party for girls only in our backyard. I was in a denial at first and then paid for it by staying up really late a week leading to the party making everything from scratch. Thankfully, I had come across some party ideas on this site , so I ended up using most of her ideas and barely any of mine.

David helped me out a lot at a last minute decorating, baking, making signs, but he didn't stay to enjoy any of it. Seth, his friend and David went away for a weekend to Poconos for a NASCAR car race. David's reaction? He told us he won't invite either me or Julia to his birthday party. Hopefully, it means I don't have to plan it either.

I can honestly say I've never been to a quieter party. It went on for awhile as the kids had a great time playing peacefully together. At night, Julia told me she wished her birthday was everyday. And when I said that I can't believe she is five already, she responded "But mama, my fingers are still little" ( I always kiss her fingers and ask her not to let them grow). Happy birthday, Julia, we are all so in love with you (even David even though he won't admit it).