Robert Moses Beach

We're trying to find our favorite beach. Robert Moses Beach was the location for our baby announcement photo shoot. This trip was probably the most fun because we went on a Saturday and didn't have to come home until we were good and ready. That meant we ate dinner at 10 pm, but we also enjoyed a glorious sunset over the water as we traversed the many bridges home again.

Happy Trails

Torpedo joined us on a Saturday morning hike past The Cloisters.

Jone's Beach

Just a few favorites from our midweek excursion.

Pictionary

Thursday June 21 was beautiful and we couldn't stay away from the beach. This was our first trip to the lovely Jone's beach and we decided to let the siblings in on our little Christmas surprise by playing pictionary in the sand. Pine tree-Christmas! Gift box-Present! Baby-Jesus! Pregnant woman-Mary! Hmmmm.... this was tougher than I thought it would be. So I drew 6 heads in descending order-Our Family! (dramatic pause) And I drew one more head at the end of the line-Screams and wild delight! Mom's having another baby!! Hey?! What about Dad? At any rate, they continue to be thrilled about their Christmas sibling and everyone is submitting ideas for reconfiguring the apartment.

Father's Day

This Father's Day weekend, we had some unexpected house guests. We were happy to have them, but we got a little off our groove and didn't get the camera's battery charged to record our epic journey to Montauk Point. This is the absolute end of Long Island and they don't call it "long" for nothing. We finally arrived, wowed by the historic lighthouse and stretched our legs for lunch at the playground. One family shared their kite with the girls and everyone seemed to find a friend. Then, it was off to the beach...

Let's just say, we were the only ones with a blanket and beach ball. The shore was incredibly rocky and everyone under 5 feet was leaking complaints about the smell of dead starfish. So far, this was just Father's Day. We packed everyone up again and traveled 10 minutes south to find tons of free parking and gorgeous sandy beaches. So THIS is the Hamptons. Finally, we put the "Happy" in Happy Father's Day and got our groove back on as the live band at Nick's restaurant wailed our play out music.

Sunday, between church responsibilities and house guest needs, we snuck in an hour at the botanical gardens where roses were the main attraction for most visitors, but our brood was keeping it real rolling down the grassy hills and chasing "Indy." This time, we had the camera and the battery was charged, but I left the battery at home. =( Plenty of beach and garden pictures ahead, though.

When a thing is wick

We love the garden! We spend as much time as possible in the Howell Family Garden where the children can dig, water, plant, harvest and eat organic produce. They love to compost, hunt for worms, complete botanical crafts and usually have a seasonal treat. June also welcomes hundreds of types of roses. We may not do the planting, but we make this our backyard whenever we can.

Gorgeous!

A beauty extravaganza sponsored by our dear friend, Katie, who moved away and bequeathed all of her MaryKay sample packets to my girls. Here's to you, Katie!

Kid Nirvana

Sparkle is swinging on a star in her cousins backyard. This was one of the many benefits of being in Virginia, access to so many cousins and all their cool stuff!

Swimmin' hole

Finally, something we can all agree on.

Mount Vernon

The girls spent a couple of days visiting Mount Vernon. There is certainly a lot more to see than when I was a kid. George would be proud to see all of the improvements made on his property. And what a view! Still, there is no air conditioning in the house, so with all due respect, I'll keep my apartment in Manhattan.

Too Much Fun

We saw all my siblings (save J who is serving a mission in Stockholm, Sweden) and even my parents and paternal Grandmother flew out for the reunion. We had a great BBQ and visits to the pool, etc. I guess we were having too much fun to stop and take pictures. Hopefully, there will be a 'next time' soon. Fortunately, I managed a couple of shots with my parents and Grandma on their way home.

Library of Congress

During our VA trip, Grandma and I took the kids to the Library of Congress. My NYC training netted me some sweet street parking and who spends more than 2 hours in a museum with kids anyway. Star was disappointed to learn that you can't actually go into the library portion of the library unless you're doing some special approved research. She was one grouchy book-aholic. Almost everyone adjusted quickly to the palatial environment. Torpedo says ,"Give me liberty or give me death!"

Aquaman

Torpedo fell asleep in the tub! Fortunately, Super Dad was there to save the day. When I figure out how to add movies, I'll include the clip of his head-bobbing trick. What a sweetheart!

Caribbean Mother's Day

Caribbean exhibit at the botanical gardens, that is. Now, we don't have to take that cruise! Plus, check out my kickin pants.
I had to slip in one of my sneaky aquaman. He loves water!

Go, go Speed Racer!

You gotta love little boys! Sparkle is loving every minute of this creative race car birthday for her dear friend, Oliver.

Notice anything different about me?

Angelfish got her ears pierced!

Angelfish's baptism

We couldn't figure out where to put an extended family collection of 27 loved ones in our apartment, so we met half-way in Virginia for Angelfish's baptism. It was quite fitting since she was also born in Virginia. She's wearing the dress Grandma O made for Aunt T and was a full participant in her baptism. She sang a musical number with her sisters and cousin. And she gave a talk about baptism all in addition to getting immersed and confirmed by Dad. This is the good stuff!

Bad things happen when you leave the city

We returned from a house hunting excursion just in time to join our lovely neighbors in making a movie with hundreds of her birthday balloons falling from her 5th floor window. We thought, why would we want to leave the city?

Serendipity

It generally take us 6 months to plan a Saturday afternoon BBQ with friends. But this little party came together miraculously and we're so grateful for our good friends, familia Turley! Check out their gorgeous daughter Ava, Torpedo's intended. Or maybe, I should say, our intended for Torpedo.

Hoighty Toighty

Angelsifh and her Dad get hoighty-toighty at the theatre. What a fun show, but a big surprise when there was a nudey-patootie as the brother's learn their manners. Yikes! You just never know with those theatre people.

I shall take no tea

I'm playing blog catch up a little. This is a picture from Angelfish's last day in public school. They held a Character tea party, but as a colonial patriot (Felicity Merriman) and a Mormon girl, Angelfish brought lemonade. Not pictured, Mom trying to dress as George Washington (recently read 1776 by David McCullough and recommend it), but ended up looking more like Napoleon.

Funny Moment: Giving a hint to one of Angelfish's classmates about my character, I said "I was the general of the Continental army in the Revolutionary War, the first president of the United States and my face is on the one dollar bill." "Are you a person or an animal" Just another reason we home school.

Mom's Birthday

This year I got flowers for my birthday. First, it was the gorgeous bouquet of roses from My Hero, my one true love. Then we played a game called "Elimination Celebration," in which I had to choose between an iPod, zoo membership, new car stereo system or a botanical garden membership. Whew! That was a tough one, but I finally chose the garden and we've all enjoyed it. We went 2 days later to see the Magnolias at their peak. That's also when I first told My Hero about baby #5. I guess I'll be in bloom this season as well. =)

Growing up Finnish

My Hero and the kids all filed for Finnish citizenship June 2006. Here Star proves she's serious about it. She made these beautiful Pulla entirely on her own without any supervision. I see the spark of national pride in those blue eyes.