Our Camping Adventure

Yesterday I turned 35. I do not freak out about birthdays, doing so just wastes time and energy. I guess I can now say that I am officially in my "mid-30's". I figure I can't truly be that old, I can still remember what happened on most of my previous birthdays. Anyway, I decided that for my birthday I wanted us to do something fun. Camping, for us, is fun. So I found the "Brook-N-Wood" campground online, in slightly-upstate Columbia County (specifically Elizaville), 90 miles away. So we packed our camping gear and away we went yesterday morning.

Once we got there and set up our campsite, we got changed and headed for the pool. The campground was full of things to do and we took advantage of all of it - the pool, playground, hayride and even an ice cream social in the evening. We skipped BINGO and "Manhunt" at 9PM though - the kids were already sleeping. This morning we got up, cooked breakfast over the roaring fire, and went back in the pool. Before going to the pool, Gavin decided to go "peep in the woods" - his favorite camp activity! Not 2 minutes later he comes running back with his shorts around his ankles, screaming his head off.

"A spider tried to get me! It almost tried to bite my willy off!!!! ARRRRGGGHHHHH"

Oh my, we could not stop laughing. It was too funny...well not to Gavin. The rest of the morning went off without a hitch. We swam for awhile, then went back, got changed, tidied up our campsite and checked out. We definitely plan on visiting the Brook-N-Wood again, maybe this time with something to keep the spiders away!!

Kindergarten is finished

Today was Francesca's last day of kindergarten. She got a good report card and brought home her yearbook. We got next year's supply list (Hello Staples!). Camp starts in 1 week. Gavin is already at camp, continuing on at Our Lady of Grace until August. We are going camping on Saturday for one night. It's my birthday. I wanted to do something fun. We love to camp. Hopefully we will have fun and come home without any tick bites.

Camp Rock

Francesca is OBSESSED with Camp Rock, the new Disney movie starring the Jonas Brothers (or Mr. Jonas, Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas as Gavin calls them). All we have heard for the past 2 months was "June 20th, June 20th, June 20th Mommy is the day that the movie comes out". For her graduation she wanted only Camp Rock things. So my mom got her Camp Rock underwear, a Camp Rock shirt, a Camp Rock nightshirt. We got her Camp Rock sheets. I washed them as soon as I got home from work. I dried them. I got ready to change her sheets - oh she was soooooo excited, she would be laying on head on Joe Jonas. At least I think it was Joe - maybe it was Kevin or Nick. Who knows...Anyway, as I am just about to start stripping the sheets off her bed, she stops me:

"Mommy, don't do it. I don't want those sheets on. Joe Jonas's eyes are TOO BIG. They are staring at me. It's freaking me out!!!"

Grrrrr....

Gavin tells me today that there is a new girl in his class at camp. Maybe she can be his 7th girlfriend he says. Didn't know he was interviewing, I thought 3 sets of twins was enough. Guess not.

Graduation, Part II

Today was Francesca's turn. She graduated (or "moved up" as the school likes to call it) from Kindergarten at Park Avenue Elementary. Like Gavin's graduation, there was singing and speeches and all-around cuteness. There was over 200 people in smooshed into the gym at Park Ave., plus it was a very muggy, sticky morning. Ugh. When it was all over, we had to collect our children in the cafeteria, where they were eating cake. At 10:30 in the morning...great...I have never seen 100 children sitting so nicely as they were this morning, shoveling cake into their mouths.



My mom was nice enough to keep both kids at her house today. We thought Gavin would want to see his sister's special day, so he got a get-out-of-camp-free pass today from camp. When I spoke with my mom later in the day, Gav was bugging her to (yet again) assemble his train set that resides at her house.



"No Gavin, I cannot stand to do that again, to try to put that train set together."



"No, Ma, it's OK...you can sit and do it."



My mom and I really laughed over that one. He is a quick one, my Gavin. So now summer begins. I have 2 graduates now, no more nursery school tuition (well no more once camp ends) and 2 lists of school supplies to start hunting down. My babies are growing up. Oh boy. Someday I will blog about their dating adventures. Well, given the way my son is, that could be next year, as he is trying to woo some unsuspecting kindergarten girl by offering her his lunch.

Gavin the Graduate

Oh my baby graduated yesterday from pre-school. It was too cute. He had a light blue cap and gown and was near the front (they lined them up by height and he is teeny-tiny). All the children carried red roses down the aisle. When the children were asked by Father Bob what was going to happen after graduation, Gavin called out "We will go to a new school!" and Father Bob said "Yes, you will. Very good!" Very good indeed, I thought for sure Gavin would say that after graduation you get gifts or something like that. Phew! My family and I breathed a sigh of relief. Gavin sat so nicely throughout the mini-Mass, all the songs and the actual handing out of diplomas. He did, however, grab his diploma from Father Bob, instead of reaching out his hand and taking it nicely. Oh well. He did not move from his seat during the whole time, I couldn't have asked for more than that! After everything was done, Gavin posed for pictures with Francesca, Ma and Pa, Grammy, Uncle Larry and finally me, Scott and Francesca.

After the graduation we quickly headed home, got changed, and headed back up to Stamford to Cove Island Park for the family picnic. The kids had a blast, and Scott and I managed to sit on a park bench (for a few minutes) and relax. We also took a ride on the tram around the park. The kids liked that. The highlight of the picnic is Sister Luigia and her water pistol. It's not just a water pistol, it's a Super Soaker. With a backpack attachment. That nun is fierce with a water gun. She was soaking everyone, parents included. Plus she kept asking the kids to go grab her some water bottles so she could refill the gun. We had our own tiny water pistols, but you can't squirt a nun. I think God might get a little pissed off at that...By the time we left, the kids were hot, sticky and very very tired. But it was fun.

My baby is growing up.

I'll really feel that way on the first day of Kindergarten. Today Gavin had Kindergarten orientation. I wasn't as nervous as last year's with Francesca. I knew what to expect. I could be calm, cool and collected!! Gavin was really excited. He was hoping to see Francesca's classroom and was a little disappointed to not see Francesca (current Kindergarteners were dismissed early to prepare for the new kids' visit). When we got there, Gavin spotted one of his TBall buddies. We sat next to her and her mom, and when it was time for the kids to leave with some teachers to do a craft and see the classrooms, Gavin, ever the gentleman, hopped off my lap and held out his hand for his little lady friend to take. Then he ever so nicely guided her out of the cafeteria and into the hallway, shielding her from all the other 5 year old Don Juans...

After we heard all about what next year would entail, the kids returned and sang us a song. It was so cute, and unlike Francesca last year, performed with a smile! I cannot believe that next year BOTH of my babies will be in elementary school. Yippee!!!

Our Saturdays are free again...

TBall ended today. Whew. It was fun, but it was hot, and some days I could not take the whining that came off the Nissan City bench. Who pushed who, who touched who, who didn't want to sit next to this person or that person...Our final game was at 1PM and the end-of-season PCYBL BBQ was at 3PM. I have to give kudos to the PCYBL; every child got a trophy and we all ate for free! By the time the BBQ started the we had been at the park for close to 3 hours. Francesca was whining (of course) because she took too many spins on the circular swing on the playground, she thought she was going to throw up. She told this to just about everyone who came within 2 ft. of her. Gavin was OK until Scott picked him up and he bumped his chin on Scott's shoulder. This caused him to bite his tongue, hard I might add. There was blood of course, and crying. His tongue now has a rather large black and blue on it. Anyway, after we handed out team pictures, got something to eat, and gave our team a big round of applause for their trophies, we left. We were tired and sweaty. The kids both said they will do it again next year. I will post their pictures soon. They are too cute for words.

The Birds and The Bees...and Gavin

Just when I think it's safe to take a deep breath and relax, Gavin comes up with a zinger. We were driving to school this morning and listening to the radio. The news reported a car accident (or what I like to call "2 cars bumping" - doesn't scare the kids as much). I wasn't really paying attention but apparently Gavin was; see previous blog post "Hey Shithead" from back in February, which explains how well he really does listen! Gavin says to me,

"Hey Mommy, do you remember when Daddy bumped the deer with the minivan??"

Actually Gavin, yeah I do, and Daddy did not bump the deer, the deer bumped, or should I say jumped, into the minivan...exactly one week after we got that damn car. Anyway, there is NO WAY Gavin would remember that, as I was 5 MONTHS PREGNANT WITH HIM AT THE TIME.

"Well Mommy I remember that. Where was Francesca? Was she scared?"

So after I try to explain to him that he did not witness the minivan massacre (neither did I, I was at work) he asks me if him and Francesca were inside my tummy at the same time. No, I told him, she came first. Then him. Well, that was not good enough for Gavin.

"But why did Checka come first? How did we get there? Are you sure we both weren't there at the same time? That can happen you know, my girlfriends are all twins, they were in their mommy's tummies together! What did you and Daddy have to do to get me in your tummy? Did you order me from God?"

Okay...I am not going into that with you right now, I thought. Not now, not in a year, not in 5 years. Yes Gavin I ordered you and Checka from God. Yes, I apologize for ordering her first. I still love you.

Sometimes I wish he wasn't so smart :)

Soaked on Sunday

Today was a really nice day. After church, we grabbed our packed picnic lunch, got some breakfast, and headed off to Brooklyn. BROOKLYN!!??? Why, you ask, did we go to Brooklyn? Well, we were on an adventure, headed to the Prospect Park Zoo. We have a family membership to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which includes the Bronx, Central Park, Prospect Park and Queens Zoos and the NY Aquarium at Coney Island (another great reason to go to Brooklyn). It took us about 45 minutes to get there, and we walked through the gates shortly after the 10AM opening. The kids loved watching the sea lions being fed, the petting zoo and the aviary. We loved the fact that it was not as huge as the Bronx Zoo. We also really loved the fact that there was no gift shop. Well, there was a gift vending machine. It dispensed small stuffed animals at $5 a pop. At first Scott and I grumbled, but then I figured we actually were getting away pretty cheaply, compared to the loot we've brought home from other places in the past. It was fun to walk around, see everything and have lunch while watching the sea lion feedings. After 2 1/2 hours, we headed home.

Once we got home, the kids decided they wanted Daddy to fill their kiddie pool so they could cool off. Great! We could sit outside and relax, we had no other places to go or things to do (Scott had mowed the lawn Friday night and I went grocery shopping yesterday). So they splashed and we sat. I enjoyed a nice cold gin and tonic and a book. Then the water fight began. Gavin and Francesca were already splashing us and squirting us with their pails and water pistols. I am not sure how it got out of hand, one minute they were filling up the water pistols, the next minute I had filled a large bucket in the basement and was ambushing Scott. He had the hose, I had the bucket, the kids were in between us running around...Eventually Scott and I were SOAKED and he picked me up and dumped me in the kiddie pool. By the time our friend Roland stopped by to say hi we were drenched. After the kids took showers and we put on some dry clothes we grilled outside. F and Gav were soooo tired but just did not want to go to sleep, thankfully they did eventually. It was a nice day, I hope we have a summer full of them!!!