Not So Happy Valley

A couple of weeks ago, news broke about the 'scandal' at Penn State. Apparently, Jerry Sandusky has sexually abused children for many years. There were many people that knew about it, but nobody did anything!
As a Penn Stater -
I'm disgusted.
I'm sad.
I'm sickened.
I'm mad.
I can't stop thinking about it.... the children, the mothers.

Pumpkin Patch

For the second year in a row, I chaperoned Nicholas' day care class at the local pumpkin patch.
IT WAS COLD!!
Nicholas and I were dressed for winter. Some of the other kids only had sweatshirts on... Don't their parents watch the weather forecast?!?

All the kids loved the big slides! For a while, I stood at the top controlling the 'butters'. Yep, I was the mean grown-up that made the kids wait in line - ha!

Baltimore Zoo

Two weeks ago, we went to the Baltimore Zoo. It was awesome!
The weather was perfect.
The kids were perfect (well, almost!) Reagan would much rather push the stroller than ride in it... and she's not a very good driver. So, after several "I'm sorry"s to strangers whom she ran over, I finally buckled her in the stroller... kicking and screaming!
Seriously though, it was the first time I had been to the Baltimore Zoo. I think I like it better than the National Zoo in DC. The only down side was, unlike the DC Zoo, it's not free. Still, it cost less than $45 for the entire family, which I thought was very reasonable.

I threw in this giraffe picture... I love how he has to spread his legs straight out to reach the grass. This rickety rail was the only thing keeping the giraffe in. I wonder while he just didn't step over it and visit the concession stand next door!

Reagan's 1st Haircut

Reagan's First (real) Haircut...

I snipped her bangs before, but that doesn't really count! She actually did pretty well. She sat on my lap and drank her juice box. Note to new mothers: juice boxes are wonderful at keeping kids calm while they're getting their hair cut.

Kathy's Wedding

On August 5, my Aunt Kathy married Jeff. The wedding was outside at their house... It was a perfect day.
I didn't take a single picture. My cousin, Kelly, and my sister-in-law, Andrea posted pictures on Facebook, so I was able to 'borrow' them for the blog.

Here's a photo of the whole family (from left to right: Jason, Kelly, Ali, Ella, Kevin, Angie, my Nan, Marc, Jennifer, Jay David, Aunt Kathy, my Mom, Jeff, Reagan, my Dad, me, Nicholas, Mike, Rob, Austin... hey, just noticed that Andrea is missing - I guess she snapped the photo)


Andrea took these photos too....

I'm going to frame this one - I LOVE IT!


Nicholas looks like he's posing for a catalog shoot. Notice his hair... he asked me to gel it, so he would look cool.

Man, I think I should take a photography class... my pictures never turn out like this.

Power Day

Two weeks ago, we had an open house where I work... they call it "Power Day". Basically, at Power Day they have fun (free) activities for the public. They're the best kind, right? Additionally, the public can take a tour of our manufacturing facility and see how engines and transmissions for Mack and Volvo Trucks are made.

There was a celebrity guest at Power Day - the real Megatron from the Transformers movie! Well, it was the real Mack Truck, but fortunately he didn't transform!


Look at this h.u.g.e. Mack bulldog...


There was a petting zoo. Nicholas became good friends with this calf.

It took a lot of persuading, but finally Nicholas got on the pony. He gets so anxious about trying new things. But, after he saw his little sister do it, he reluctantly agreed... and actually enjoyed himself!

It was a fun afternoon until....

Reagan dropped her entire bag of chips on the floor in the busy hallway inside the facility. While I was cleaning them up, I stepped on Nicholas' balloon and popped it. Some lady passing by actually said, "Wow - what a way to get noticed." About two minutes later, Mike was pushing Reagan in her stroller. She decided to get up while he was still pushing her.... and crashed onto the concrete floor.

That's how our Power Day ended! Why do our family trips always end with Reagan's head crashing on the ground?!? (Remember the Hershey Park trip?)

Beautiful

Singin' in the Rain

Hershey Park Happy

A couple of weeks ago we took a family trip to Hershey Park.

Nicholas' favorite things about Hershey Park:
* the Scrambler
* Zoo America
* the cows singing at Chocolate World

Reagan's least favorite thing about Hershey Park...

... the Hershey Bar Guy! She was terrified!

Aaahh - don't we look like we're having fun?

About two minutes after this picture was taken, I got up to see how long the line was for the Kissing Tower. I sat Reagan on the ledge (you can probably guess what happened next)...

Yeah - she fell off! Fortunately (I guess), she fell head first onto the concrete instead of falling in the water.

But, we were "THOSE PARENTS" that had the screaming kid in public. You know - it happens to the best (or worst) of us!

Hershey Park Happy? Well, for while at least :)

The New Playroom

Well, it's not really new... several months ago, we remodeled the basement. We removed the bar and poker table area and replaced it with a playroom. Yeah - I know, that's definitely a sign that I'm getting old.

Anyway, we've done some painting and decorating... So here it is!

Nicholas displaying some of his art work

Now, if I could only get Nicholas and Reagan to play there by themselves.

Mike's Birthday

Happy (Belated) Birthday Mike! It was actually on August 8th. I'm just a little slow at getting it posted.

We surprised daddy with cupcakes and and "We Love You" balloon. We couldn't wait until daddy got home from work so we could give them to him.


Reagan loved the cupcake


Nicholas too

We have such a special daddy and husband. We are truly blessed. We love him!

Resemblance?

I've had three different people tell me that Reagan looks just like Cindy Lou Who. What do you think?

Reagan's Favorite Things

Her Dora Crocs! She LOVES them. She wears them all day, every day.
When she's not wearing them, she's carrying them. In fact, today she was even trying to eat them!

(love those pudgy legs)

Thanks, McKenna!