Lake George, NY @ The Sagamore

We are at a beautiful resort, however, the weather is cold and rainy. I mean it rains a lot every day! They say it will pass but looking at the forecast it is not going to pass until Sunday- when we will start the 12 hour drive home. That is a bummer! But we still are managing to have a great time. Yesterday, after a fabulous breakfast on a wrap around porch overlooking Lake George, Maggie and some new friends went geocaching! We did 3 successfully and only one was a bust. We saw a lot of unknown parts of Bolton Landing and discovered 2 "hidden" beaches. The kids had a ball and walked at least 9000 steps! After lunch, the kids went to the REC room to play putt-putt, basketball, wiffle ball and more. I went for a run and did 2 loads of laundry. We took a boat ride around Lake George to the Lake George Yacht Club for dinner. It was really something to see! It was a 100 year old swimming, sailing and golf club that has a 9 year waiting list and only open from May to October. Fun evening! Keeping my fingers crossed that the rain will subside for tomorrow.

Vermont here we come!

We left Baltimore early to head to Vermont! Of course we stopped by THB first for some "Towson Hot Bagels"! We drove to Princeton, NJ for a coffee break. Had to enter the campus illegally but it was beautiful and we left with 3 t-shirts. Stopped in Albany for a bathroom break then hit Manchester for a late pizza lunch by 3:00. Vermont was beautiful! We stayed at the Manchester View Inn and had a great dinner at Gringo Jacks! After a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes and Vermont syrup at Up For Breakfast, we did a horseback riding trail ride in Danby. Around noon we went to Middlebury, Vt. for lunch. Dessert was had at the Ben & Jerry's Factory!! We also managed a quick geocache before heading to Burlington. We stayed waterfront on Lake Champlain in Burlington. It was beautiful. we did a couple more geocaches while the big girls got ready for dinner then went to a pedestrian mall and ate outside. University of Vermont is located here and I would have considered it had I known how much I would LOVE Vermont. On Wednesday morning before heading to NY, Harper and I went for a run on the bike path around Lake Champlain. The lake is so much bigger and longer than I ever thought! We actually have to take a ferry across the lake today to get to the Adirondacks. So far our family adventure this summer has been awesome!

We visit BALTIMORE!

We drove 7 hours with LOTS of traffic to get to Baltimore to stay with our great friends the Meaghers! My bunch was so excited to see them again and we met downtown at the Cross Street Market for delicious oysters and crabcakes. We then walked up Federal Hill before heading back to Towson. That night we got to have Maryland crabs! It was a new experience for us all! Even my vegetarian tried crab. And Harper managed to eat a lung before Tony's tutorial let him know not too. Very funny! On day two we went for a walk, had THB for breakfast, went on a trail run/walk and then to Fells Point for a late lunch and walking around. It was a great trip with great friends that we all enjoyed!! Thanks for having us!!!

first swim meet of 2011

Our first meet was last night against Sherwood. We have lots of friends on the opposing team so it was a fun rivalry! Maggie swam in 5 events- medley relay, back, free, butterfly and free relay- so we were there until 10pm (on a school night!). It was really fun and we won! Go Blue Dolphins! But the following day after practice Maggie was sad because she did not beat her own time. She had gotten a 5th place and 2- 8th places (out of 42 swimmers)! Her times were LESS THAN 1 SECOND "slower" than time trials. So then I had to show her how fast 1 second actually was. Hopefully she can improve and get one of the highly sought after "beat your own time" ribbons next week!

End of 2nd Grade

I cannot believe we are already at the END of 2nd grade! It was a great year with a fabulous teacher and class!! Maggie thrived in all areas and loved just about every minute. Today she told me that science was her favorite subject- "even more than lunch and recess". Well, since lunch and recess are not technically subjects, I guess that is good news! She also discovered many new authors and read lots of great books thanks to her teacher. The party was a huge success with Papa John's Pizza, watermelon, and chips, many games (including the cake walk, twister and water balloon toss), t-shirt signing and an ice cream truck! HELLO SUMMER!

EPIC spring break trip!

My senior headed to the NC coast with a bunch of kids and no chaperone so I got on a boat and left the country. I really did- but on the Norwegian Epic cruise ship headed to Mexico and Honduras! We had the best time!!!! It was even better than I had imagined. We saw Mayan ruins (cool but sweltering hot), did a zipline tour in a rainforest and held baby monkeys. It was 7 nights which I wondered if it might be a little long but it was not at all. I hated to leave. Especially with the 15 hour car ride home. Overall I would say it was the best spring break trip ever- just wish my oldest had been with us! We will definitely do another!

Prom photos

I was having computer problems in April and May so I didn't post anything but I am back in business now so I thought I would catch up on some important events! Here are a few photos from the prom! It turned into a rainy afternoon so the outdoor photos were cancelled and moved into H's office building lobby. Not ideal but worked perfectly.

One more is CONFIRMED!

Lilly was confirmed at our church yesterday. It was a beautiful service with Bishop Curry. He was charismatic and very funny during the sermon and so personable to the kids! Afterwards we took all the family and Lilly's sponsor's family out to brunch at a favorite spot. It was a really nice day and Lilly looked beautiful in her white dress!

Senior Fiesta!

Katie had a graduation party with 10 other girls at the Kress Terrace, overlooking downtown Friday night! Beautiful night, great weather and not too hot! It was a fiesta theme with a DJ outside. We had about 300 kids and it was so much fun! Parents were chaperones and our shift was 8-10 (so glad I had the earlier shift!). Cannot believe that my baby will graduate in 8 days!!!!! I am so very proud of you Katie B- oops! I mean Kate!