Dinner with the Girls

I met up with Devon and Katie in Cherry Hill for dinner last night. We enjoyed good conversation, drinks, and good eats. I love hanging out with my friends.

Graduation Party

Abby graduated 4th grade and we celebrated at their new house this afternoon. Abby will be heading to a new school and junior high. Jeanne had an amazing spread of her delicious creations and we had a great time catching up with old friends. Congratulations Abby!

Ava's 2nd Birthday

Ava's 2nd birthday party was this Saturday - on her actual birthday (8/23). It was a fun celebration with tons of toddlers, bouncy toys (see picture above), and great food and company. I'm a bit bummed my battery died in my camera because there were tons of great picture moments.

While only 2 years ago, I remember Ava's birth like it was yesterday. Brian was traveling, so Jimmy and I rushed to the hospital to meet her. We were there when Bob came out as the proudest father ever! Then Jimmy and I began to craugh - that is crying and laughing at the same time. We just couldn't help ourselves. A moment filled with so much excitement and joy.

We love Ava so much and hope she had a great birthday.

Burgers, Buddies, and Beer Pong

We hosted a BBQ on Saturday with a bunch of my college sorority sisters (Kelli, Christina, Devon, and Katie). Brian manned the grill - making burgers and dogs. Everyone else brought something tasty. It must be said that Brian told me he cleaned up the food earlier than normal because he didn't want anyone else to eat anymore of the potato salad the Christina made because he wanted to eat the rest of it the next day. Hee hee. Brian is a potato salad expert and Christina doesn't mess around. Kelli, Me, Devon, Christina.Me and Devon.Katie, AJ (her son), and Devon.Andy and AJ.

Above: Clare (our neighbor) and Thomas. Below: Katie, AJ, and a cabbage patch doll. But it didn't end there, we played beer pong - a bit of nostalgia from our college days. I wasn't very good in college, so to say I am rusty now doesn't even make sense. Travis and Lee were the dominating team, but as you can see below (last picture) - AJ also joined in the beer pong festivities. Kelli & Brian (above) take on Christina and Travis (below).Lee steps in for Christina and Travis rocks his winning face as they swept us all. Did someone say, "Beer Pong?"

Duck Crossing?

No signs in sight but there was no stopping them from making their way out into the busy intersection. You can't see them all but there were probably about 20 fearless ducks on a mission to get to the other side. I missed a few green lights waiting.

Look Who's Fixty Fun!

If you are a loyal reader of our blog, you will know how old my dad is this year. I didn't want to put his age because he likes to say he is much younger than he is - which I guess is okay since he doesn't look his age. The only thing is he likes to say he is in his 40's - I'm sure he could pull it off, but the weird part is that would mean he was 10(ish) when I was born and that totally weirds me out. So without saying how old he is, it rhymes with "fixty fun."

We had a fun weekend with my parents - as you saw, we went walking and watched the Phillies beat the Pirates at Citizen Bank Park. But in addition to that, we added on some chores - we are now making them work for their room and board...well, not really - but we accomplished a lot including finishing up on the garden in the backyard. Pictures will follow at later date.

Pictured below are from our dinner celebration for my dad - Ava enjoying cake and Brian holding Luke.

4-2

Yup, that's right, the Phils beat the Pirates on Saturday evening 4-2 in a game that we attended with Julie's parents. It was their first time to the Phillies stadium and the Fightin' Phils showed their hospitality. So, that means that I am reversing things (well, lets just leave it at that). It was a good time and a great night for baseball -- awesome weather. We also met up with Bob, Mary, Brian (Bob/Mary's friend), Mary's mom, Lori, Denrick and yes, even Quigs made an appearance at one point after stumbling in from tailgating all day (he claimed he was at work earlier in the day - sure, Quigs, keep up the good "work").

(Photo caption: This must have been early during the game when it was 0-0.)

Yellow Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

We hosted my parents this weekend and went on our walk along the Wissahickon - we walked the path where there are tons of bikers, runners, and strollers. As always, 'long-legs' Brian was about 100 feet ahead of us with Val and my dad. So, my mom and I made the most of our slower pace walk and observed the nature signs around the path.

Once we got to our destination - where Val can swim - we noticed the Yellow Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (say that three times fast). It was one of the animals highlighted on the signs along the path and we were lucky to get to capture it. It was a much better find than the gardener snake that was also highlighted along the path.

Up...Up...Perfect

Our Ava Fix

It has been a few weeks since we have seen Bob, Mary, Ava & Luke. Tonight they came up to Mr. Kenney's & we all had dinner together.

It is just so fun to see how Ava is growing up. Today she: Ran all around the house screaming "Wal, Wal!" when we got there, she said - "hi Juwie, hi Bian", ate peetzee (pizza), ate her twaberries (strawberries), watched Baby Einstein and knows where her eyes, ears, nose, mouff (mouth) are, she says - "outside peez (please)," and put together her own spreadsheet on the computer...well, just kidding on the last one - but as you can see below, she was hard at work.

Date Night Part Dos

Brian and I started our weekend as we always do with a Val swim and a long hike. We did a ton of yard work and got a ton of plants for the back to beautify it. But since we were exhausted and felt accomplished from the day's events, we decided to clean up and go on a date in Doylestown, PA. A cute town with great shops. We went to Bobby Simones - my colleague's boyfriend is the head chef there so we had the most fabulous meal...mussels, halibut, lobster ravioli, and creme brulee. Picture below.