Okemo 2017

Get ready for a flurry of activity, because I'm determined to get my little space here updated. I may go through phases, but I'm not ready to let it go!

Now that it's spring, let's start with a few pictures and memories from Winter Break. We had a fabulous week with our best friends, skiing in Vermont. We splurged this year and rented a place right on the mountain, so we were able to step outside the door, put on our skis, and go! We could ski back to the condo for lunch, not having to fight the crowds at the lodge. It was wonderful and totally worth it, especially since there were quite a few times when we needed to split up for various reasons.

Skiing has become the best part of winter for our family, and the boys absolutely love it. It's something that we all enjoy, and we love to do it together. The weather was relatively warm, which was great at the beginning, and when the conditions worsened later in the week, we challenged ourselves at the top of the mountain. The boys skied black diamond slopes with confidence.

We didn't get out as much as I would have liked, but we thoroughly enjoyed every day we had on the slopes. I want to figure out how to do it more often.

Good-bye, Winter 2017. Welcome Spring.

I love watching the boys in their tuck!

Love.

Halloween 2016

 

As we enter the month of gratitude and look forward to my very favorite holiday, let's not forget to document the fun that we had this past week. Between our company Halloween party, the school carnival, and of course the big day itself...fun was had by all.

This year, the boys and I decided to go as Gryffindors:  Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger to be specific.  Nathan was so excited to have orange hair!  

Of course the Stormtrooper also made an appearance and got in on the trick-or-treating fun.

The Lake 2016

I swear, I am going to get back into blogging soon. I absolutely miss this space. The kids are back to school, and we're settling down into the school-year routine, which is welcome after a busy and tremendously fun summer. 

To cap off our ridiculously fun summer, we spent Labor Day weekend at our family cottages on Lake Ontario. We have gone every year for the past 5-6 years, and I do hope to continue that tradition for as long as possible. When we looked at the calendar, I wasn't sure how to make it work this year, but Aaron pushed and we made it happen. A 7-hour drive is a little tough for a long weekend, but we managed, and it was totally worth it. 

The lake is my happy place, and last weekend was absolutely wonderful. The weather was spectacular, and the crowd of people was fun without being too overwhelming. (As much fun as it is to see everyone in the family, it can also make it too difficult to actually catch up with anybody!)  My Nathan was the youngest one there, which led to a very relaxed and casual atmosphere. The kids played games, we took walks, swam, hung out and talked, had bonfires both nights, sang, skied, danced, laughed, cooked and ate...  It was great. I actually had the opportunity to talk to people and to relax a bit. 

Spud!

It was great sailing weather, but we got some skiing in each day as well.

This felt great!

This was epic. We all gathered on the gazebo and dock to watch the sunset on our last evening. After the sun went down, a few people decided to jump in the lake. Fully clothed. And then proceeded to chant people's names, pressuring them into jumping in as well! It snowballed from there, until every single person was in the lake with their clothes on. Even the neighbors started jumping in! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, and I will never forget it.

A Sunny Week in Barcelona

We had a lovely visit with my sister and her family in Barcelona. The weather was perfect, and my sister's new home is full of so many amenities that Nathan determined that it was like a "hotel of goodness". Being August, many Spaniards were on vacation, so we had this gorgeous pool mostly to ourselves every day; but there were still enough kids around to participate in soccer matches.

A few highlights from our trip include surprising the boys with a Barca game (Messi scored two goals and Nathan could not have been more excited), an amusement park at Tibidabo, and an evening at a local beach. We also ventured downtown once, although coordinating five little boys can still be a challenge. Mostly, we spent a lot of time by the pool, in my sister's lovely patio, and on one of the many sports fields. I love that this is a trip that my boys will most definitely remember.  

Sooooo cool - a definite highlight of the trip!

There were many games of soccer.

The amusement park was fun...

...and the views were spectacular.

Walking Las Ramblas

Oh! And we managed an adult date-night! We overdid it with a final gin and tonic, but it was a fabulous night.

Lots of reading and relaxing by the pool

This is the view from my sister's patio - so pretty!

Another definite highlight - a visit to this beach followed by a wonderful dinner

A Few Cool Days in Dublin

Since we decided to visit my sister in Barcelona for our summer vacation, we wanted to add on a few days in a city that was new to us. We'd have to connect somewhere else anyway, so let's go on an adventure! Flying through Dublin turned out to be cheaper, and I've always wanted to go to Ireland, so we went for it.

It felt like a tease, since we only had a few short days - not long enough to venture out into the Irish countryside, see the Cliffs of Moher, Killarney, the Ring of Kerry... - but it was great nonetheless. We did a Viking tour of the city, took the train out to a seaside town called Howth for pretty views and fish & chips, rode bikes through the enormous Phoenix park, toured the Guinness storehouse, and walked a lot. It also allowed us to start getting adjusted to the time change before heading to Spain. There was a little whining along the way, but all in all, it was a pretty fun time and only makes me look forward to one day going back for the full country tour.

sitting on the shore in Howth

Riding bikes through Phoenix Park

A carriage ride to St. Patrick's cathedral from the Guinness storehouse

Halloween 2015

The boys are in their prime Halloween ages right now. Add to that the fact that my company has a family Halloween party, and the fact that the boys decided they should both be Star Wars characters (Luke and Anakin Skywalker)....those facts led to our decision to go big this year. 

Kevin and I rarely dress up. (This was a huge exception.)  There aren't too many female characters in Star Wars, so Leia was an easy choice. Kevin didn't hesitate in deciding to be a stormtrooper, spending hours researching costume options (and more $$ than I care to know about). We were all impressed with his commitment, especially seeing how uncomfortable that suit must be! I think it was worth it, though. I know I'll never forget it.  (Especially since he'll probably wear it every year from now on!)

Fun Photos and My First Giveaway!

I'm not one who has a ton of family pictures on the walls. I have a gallery wall up our staircase, and we have a handful of special family photos framed here and there. I see my kids and my husband every day, so I don't feel the need to display pictures everywhere.

That said, I always appreciate walking through people's houses and looking at all their pictures. Not just the big occasions, like weddings, but also the everyday moments and milestones. I also love flipping through the images on my phone from time to time, and very often I'd think - what am I going to do with all these? I still make and print out an annual family photo album, and I am not afraid to incorporate instagram pictures as well as those from our nice camera, but I started to love the idea of finding a way of capturing those everyday moments in some tangible way.

Enter CanvasPop! I used their site to create a collage of my favorite Instagram pictures over the past year, and I love it. It was so easy to make, and now I have this fun collection of memories to keep on display. I'm still deciding where to put it, but I'm already thinking I may have to do this again next year. It's such a fun way of seeing those fun everyday-but-still-so-special moments and keeping them fresh in my memory. 

Would you love one too? CanvasPop has graciously offered one of my readers a 16X20 print with a .75 inch frame and free shipping! (And since there aren't a ton of you out there, your chances are really good!) To enter, simply leave a comment on this post - easy peasy! I'll pick a winner by June 10th, 2015. Shipping is limited to US and Canada.

If you don't win, or you want to do your own thing, they're giving all my fabulous readers a very generous 35% off one order with the code MARYLOVES35 from now through July 30th, 2015*.

Isn't that cool? It's a really good reason to look through all those photos stuck on your phone and decide to do something with them already!

*valid for orders shipping within the US and Canada; cannot be combined with other discounts or promo codes.

Art Party Birthday Weekend Recap

What a nice weekend!  Saturday was a day to celebrate my fabulous seven-year-old!  We spent the morning opening a few family presents and then preparing for the afternoon party.  Aaron again opted for an at-home party with a few friends - three boys and three girls.  I'm so happy that he enjoys hosting these small celebrations at home.  He loves being a part of the planning process and having his friends at his house, and I love keeping the party small and relatively simple.  

This year, he wanted to have an art party.  The main activity was doing canvas paintings.  Happily, all the kids were really into their paintings, and they each got to take home their work of art!  Aaron's Christmas tree, shown above, is destined to become a regular part of our Christmas decorations from now on.  The other activity we did was a "blindfold masterpiece".  In the spirit of a pin-the-tail game, each kid took a turn to draw a part of Aaron on a big piece of paper taped to the wall.  Aaron started by drawing an oval for his head, and then each person added another feature - eyes, ears, nose, neck…  Blindfolded!  It was pretty funny, and the kids thought it was hilarious to see the arms way over to one side of the drawing and his eyes outside of his head!  

Instead of a cake or cupcakes, Aaron and I thought it would be fun to have the kids create their own ice cream sundaes.  We lined up a bunch of toppings, served the ice cream, and let them go nuts!  Aaron blew out his candles in his bowl this year!  It was a ton of fun.  

We wrapped up Saturday with a dinner out, as the heavy snow began to fall.  We got about six inches overnight, so Sunday included some shoveling and tons of sledding for the boys.  Later that afternoon, I popped some popcorn, turned on the fireplace, and put 'Elf' on the TV.  It was a cozy and festive way to end a really fun weekend.  

Life, in Photos...

Day 12 of Blogtember:  Only photos.

Things I Learned...in Maine

We had yet another fabulous trip to Maine.  It is fast becoming one of my favorite places in the world.  Stunning beaches, quaint towns, tasty lobster, friendly people...  It has it all, and it's less than two hours from home!  The weather was hot hot hot, but if it's gonna be sweltering, the beach is a pretty great place to be.  The boys are also getting to be much lower-maintenance.  With every trip, it gets easier.  

Here are just a few things I learned this time around...

1.  Bring good shoes.  I forgot how much walking there is, and I did all of it in flip-flops.  My shins were not happy.  

2.  The ocean is cold off the coast of Maine.  The air may have been really hot, but the water was bone-numbing cold.  I always seem to forget that too.  It didn't stop the boys from jumping right in and having a blast, though.

3.  My favorite flavor of ice cream is called Maine Black Bear.  I have tried ice cream/gelato in many different places around the world, and I've tried just about all the flavors.  It's official - this one is my fave.  (Raspberry ice cream with chocolate chips and chocolate truffles - soooooo good.)

4.  I will never be able to afford one of those beachfront houses.  But it's fun to dream.  

5.  Breathing in salt air, listening to the waves, watching the kids squeal and laugh in the water...the beach is good for my soul.

6.  If you're walking around in a bikini, don't steal glances at your reflection in the window.  Just own it.  

7.  You don't have to travel far to take a vacation that feels very far from the routine of your home life.

8.  Coming home a day earlier than everyone else means that there is less traffic and that you have a day at home to get settled again before having to jump back into that routine.  

9.  Whoopee cushions are never not funny.

My travel companions, enjoying the view.

The boys got to see what a sparkler is.

Just a short walk to the ocean walk to see a great fireworks display.  Another first for the boys.

Little Things and the Week Ahead

We had such a wonderful day celebrating our little man.  It was threatening to rain, so I was nervous and contingency planning.  Thankfully, we didn't have to break out the "Pin the tail on Bullseye" inside the house, as the rain mostly stayed away.  It was muggy and very hot, but I'll take it!  The boys had a blast, and I did too.  

an adorable gaggle of boys

The last couple days have been cloudy, with on and off showers and storms rolling through.  So instead of venturing out to a local swimming pond, the boys and I have spent quality time at home.  It's been surprisingly okay.  So far, I've heard very little of the dreaded "I'm bored".  I know it has only been a week since school let out, but still...I feel like my boys are figuring out how to entertain themselves more, and we are all getting along pretty well.  We are plowing through our Summer Fun List pretty quickly - I think we need to slow down!

I've been able to take note of lots of the little things, such as:

• playing catch in the yard
• picking our first cucumber and cherry tomatoes
• riding bikes up to the library
• the resulting silence in the house after we return home with a stack of books
• the smell of banana-zucchini bread filling the house as I attempt to use up all our perishables before our trip
• allowing the boys to sleep later and later (today was 8:30!) as I enjoy a bit of quiet in the morning
• watching the boys create works of art
• learning new things as we take on 'pick-an-animal day' (today was sea turtles)
• walking through the grass barefoot

Tomorrow, we are off to the beach!  We are headed back to our favorite little town in Maine.  (Although I should admit that we have not explored enough of that beautiful state.  Need to see more.  What we've seen is so beautiful!)  We will be there through Saturday for our first taste of the ocean of the summer.  All I want to do is dig my toes into the sand and listen to the waves.  Ah....I can't wait!