Tree Be Gone!

Our house can't hide behind the tree anymore... time for some real landscaping! But first let's clean up the mess.

Phili Trip

Last Tuesday we (Mom, Dad, Alex, Hudson and I) took a quick trip down to Philadelphia. It all came about when Dad would drive Alex into the city for her Broadway camp. They discussed musicals during the ride, and Dad was flabbergasted that Alex had never seen Les Mis. So he had it in his head that Alex needed to see it. It was playing in Phili until August 3rd, so he bought some tickets online and off we went! We met Kristin and Melissa there at our hotel and they joined us for the night. The play was fantastic! This was my 4th time seeing Les Mis and it was the best production of it that I have seen. The lead (pointing his finger in the air in the picture above) was the understudy, and he was great. I loved how they used the theater, which was small, so you were really invested in the characters. You could just about reach out and touch them! After the show some of the actors were at the doors with buckets to collect money for the educational outreach programs that the Walnut Street Theater supports, so we got to speak really quickly to Christina DeCicco, who played Eponine. Alex gushed to her, "You were AWESOME!" And she replied, "You're awesome too!" It was cool. (Then I found out the she also played Galinda in Wicked too. So cool!) It was such a great experience. Alex and Hudson loved it! Thanks Grandma and Papa! (I took the picture above after the final bows, without using a flash, so I wouldn't get in trouble!)

Before the show we walked from our hotel to an Irish Pub for dinner. It was crowed but cute and we had some very interesting conversations!

The next day we did a tiny bit of sight seeing. First we went to the historic district of Phili, where the Liberty Bell is and all that, and went to the US Mint. Thankfully it was free, because there wasn't much to see. We thought about seeing more sights, but we didn't have much time. I would like to go back someday with the kids.

We did go to Bartram Gardens. It was really beautiful...but oh so hot!! Here are a few pictures I took while we were there.

Franklinia Tree

Shark Boy and RBTL Girl (edited)

We got to see Alex's performance for the Summer Stars camp this past Friday. It was really exciting to see her up on that stage (the Auditorium theater)! Alex was in 12 (singing and dancing) numbers out of about 30 that were staged. It was a very impressive show- knowing that these kids put this together in just two weeks. A lot was expected of them... the day of the show I said goodbye to her at 7:30am and didn't see her again until after the show (well, I saw her very briefly running past me when she was having her dinner break and I was there to volunteer, but we didn't even talk)...so she and her friends did each other's hair and makeup. (Papa thought her pony tails were fake hair!) These pictures are from the finale...the guy who ran the show, Adam Pelty, has the mic and was getting all teary talking about the kids. He was one of the Broadway professionals that teach the kids.

Alex had a really fantastic time and is already thinking about next year! Thank you to Grandma and Papa for supporting her... and transporting her! Papa took her in many mornings (Grandma drove once too) and talked about musicals, etc. It came out that Alex had never seen Les Mis and so Papa decided that she needed to see it...and so after searching for a production of it nearby, they found one in Philadelphia and we are going there tomorrow!! I know.... crazy.

And this I noticed last night...

Ethan's adult tooth is half way in and his baby tooth is still hanging in there. I know this picture is blurry, it was really hard to get him to keep his tongue out of the way of his teeth, but can you see it? Hopefully once the baby tooth comes out the other tooth will move forward into place... otherwise we will have to start saving for braces!!

Ethan says that he's is like a shark... with an extra row of teeth. (edited: new picture that shows it better)

When Butterflies Attack!

Mohawk Man

Ethan let his mom go a little crazy on his head yesterday... He loves his new cool 'do... enjoy it for now... it'll be gone when the summer is.

Big News

Ethan SWAM today! Yes it was in a life jacket so no, it really doesn't count as actual swimming...but still... this is the kid would rather melt in the blazing sun than float in the water, or even put his feet in it, because he was so afraid of it. Just recently he would get into the water if we kayaked him over to Squaw Island. The bottom there is not mushy and the water is clearer than it is off the dock at Grandma and Papa's lake house. This was nice- except it got sort of tiring paddling him over there. So today imagine my shock when he was coming back from a kayak trip with Aunt Megan, Gabby, Nick and Frankie and they all bailed out of the kayak! (Well, except Aunt Megan.) I guess he had a panicked look for a second and said to Megan, "I can't touch." She told him, "I'm right here." And that's all it took! He floated and paddled his arms and twirled on the water and had a grand ole time for about an hour. Thank goodness we have 3 days left at the lake!

Some pictures of our "stay-cation " at the lake house... Boys of summer.

Reilly's new puppy Jamison.

Gratuitous cute baby pictures of Celia.