Natick 4th of July Parade

We weren't sure the Natick 4th of July parade was going to happen this year- one because they've had a hard time finding someone to oversee it, and two because it POURED about an hour or so before the parade was about to start!  But by the time the parade started, it was beautiful!  We enjoyed our usual pancake and sausage breakfast sponsored by the Kiwanis Club.  Well... I should say that the kids enjoyed it, since we don't eat that!  We didn't get off to a good start, because it was raining, Todd forgot his wallet, then the sun came out and we didn't have sunscreen, so he had to run back home a few times.  Very frustrating.  But alas, the parade was a hit!

The kids were in their seats for the start of the parade!

Here comes the start of the parade!  We took our usual seats on the west side of 135, south of Main Street.  This is the 4th year we've gone to the parade.

 Grant decided for a while, he wanted to play cars with Daddy.  This was, of course, after the firetrucks came though.  Natalie, Todd and I wore earplugs.  Grant wanted to hear the whole thing, and did.

It's not a Natick 4th of July parade without good ol' Rex Trailer!  He's still singing!  Happy 4th of July Rex!

Natalie's Gymnastics Birthday Party

In addition to the party we had at home with the family, Natalie had a birthday party with her friends at the place where she goes to gymnastics- Planet Gymnastics.  It's a great little place for a party- kids get lots of exercise, the folks who work there do all of the cleanup, and all you have to do is bring a cake!  DONE!

Natalie was THRILLED that one of the two coaches for the party was Miss Holly, her teacher from this past year!  Here she is explaining the rules to all of the girls.

 

Natalie is my little dare devil.  Above, she had to jump several feet and grab onto the bar, then swung into the foam pit!  You'd never find Grant doing this!

 

"Hey Gaby, you come to this gym often?"

 

I somehow caught this cute picture of Lyndsey giving Natalie a big hug.  Lyndsey and Natalie were really good friends this year!  They're both really sad that they're going to different elementary schools.

Next up was a game where you had to throw the blocks to the other side and try to get as many on the other side as possible.  Like their hot potatoes or something.  The team that has the most blocks on their side actually loses.

The birthday kid always gets to be put in a jumping/flying contraption and swing around the gym like they are flying.  Miss Holly is strapping Natalie in.  When she was swinging back and forth, Natalie was saying, "I'm flying!  I'm a real fairy!"  SO cute.

 Because we had the 5 pm time slot, we provided pizza for the kids (all girls except Grant and Stanley!).  Natalie got to sit in the "queen chair" while we ate pizza, cake and ice cream!

 I got this AMAZING cake from this great little bakery in Westborough, the Bagel Bistro.  Amazing, huge, and beautiful cakes, and they aren't super expensive.  I highly recommend them!  They are actually very tasty too!  Happy 5th birthday to my Sweet Pea!

Grant brushing his teeth

This is the way Grant brushes his teeth.  It's a bird!  It's a plane!  It's Super Tooth Brusher!

Natalie's actual 5th birthday

I couldn't help but post this adorable picture of Natalie.  She normally doesn't show her teeth when she smiles... and I finally got her to show teeth.  Isn't she the most beautiful little 5 year old you've ever seen???

Natalie and Bean's birthday party & Father's Day

In June, we invited the entire Bailey clan to our house for some birthday fun.  Bean's birthday is 5 days before Natalie's, so we celebrated both.  KK made an AMAZING cake (complete with fondant!) of Merliah the Mermaid from the Barbie mermaid fame.  I love the graham cracker "sand"! 

Natalie and Bean cut their birthday cake.  I'm sure Bean was thrilled to get a Barbie mermaid cake!  Grant and Seth anxiously await their piece of cake!

I love this picture of Seth helping Grant go down the slide.  Grant fell off the slide a few weeks before this and was really scared.  So Seth helped him go down and he actually didn't cry!  Big cousins GoGo and LuLu supervise.

The three youngest cousins, Seth, Natalie and Grant as they are waiting to open Natalie's presents.

We also celebrated Father's Day!  Lots of food, presents and balloons!  (And um... beer and sangria!)  It was a nice day, but it was actually a little cool- notice how everyone has a jacket on!  In June! Unbelievable.

I still can't believe Natalie is 5- and Bean is... well, a little older than that!

Grant-ism!

Grant (2 y.o.): "I see Jesus." (Pointing to a cemetery.)

Colleen: "Really? Where is he?"

Grant: "He's hiding in the bushes."

:)

June Fun

We did a lot this summer, but didn't take a lot of pictures in the process.  Just one or two here or there.

First, we had Natalie's gym show.  We took a lot of video, but hardly any pictures and we weren't exactly in the best location for pictures anyway.  Above, she's working on her wall walks, aka: handstands during the obstacle course portion of the show.  Below, she's getting her medal. Please note that she has pink bear in her hand.  She had a little separation anxiety attack before the show (complete with screaming and crying because she didn't want to be away from mommy and daddy).  She's been going through a bit of this ever since we went to Aruba (note: it's now nearly October and she has gotten a little better about it all!)

Next up was a trip to Grammi and Bean's house in Plymouth to celebrate Madison's high school graduation.  Really?  Madison was with Todd (and Kathleen) when I first met Todd 10 years ago.  She was just 8 years old, and now she's already graduating from high school???

It was a really nice weekend, so the kiddos were outside playing.  Grant likes to water plants and Natalie was cooling off in the kiddie pool.

And of course, I've been going to CFNE- above is a picture of my 5:30 am class!  This is my second family.  Below we are doing a pyramid- poor Alison is crooked on top of Big Mike and little Eugene!  My 5:30 am ladies (Sam on the floor, and on top is Katie, Alison, me, Heather and Judi) are the BEST!!!!

Natalie's final days of preschool

We went to an ice cream social in June just for the Butterfly class kids and their families as they are sending all of their Butterflies off to kindergarten in the fall!

They didn't do a preschool graduation, per say, but they did have this nice little social and even sang some songs that they had practiced and gave out little certificates.

Here is Natalie with some of her best friends, Lorelei, Gaby, and Julia.

The kiddos never turn down an opportunity for ice cream! 

Kare Bear and Josh's wedding!

Kare Bear got married!!! Kare Bear got married!  Such a fun time down in Savannah- not a fun trip getting down there, but it was just so good to see my Auburn girlies again.

Todd and I got on the Boston-Atlanta flight just fine (using my mom's Delta buddy passes- when will we learn!?)  We got to Atlanta, and went to the Savannah gate, and who do we see?  Ayala!  Sweet!  A bestie on my flight? I'll take it!  Of course... I get on the flight, and Todd doesn't.  Uh oh!

Oh but have no fear!  Claudia to the rescue!  Claudia just so happens to be driving through Atlanta on her way down to Savannah at that very moment!  But the looming questions is... will our bags be in Savannah?  Because that's what Delta in Atlanta is telling us.  Yeah right... but okay, let's just get out of Atlanta and get down to Savannah!

We get a phone call on the way down to Savannah.  It's Ayala and she says, "Hey guess what?  We got your bags!"  Seriously?  Okay, let's party!

The rehearsal dinner was Friday night.  Had a blast, and went to a piano bar afterward.  Good times.  At the actual rehearsal dinner, there was a firework display, and everyone patted Josh on the back and told him well done for setting up the fireworks.

Todd and I walked around on Saturday, had a big breakfast at the Cobblestone Cafe, and I seriously considered getting on this boat and taking it for a spin.

Kare Bear looked classic and stunning, as we knew she would, at her wedding on Saturday evening.  It was at this really cool place that looked almost like an old barn.  Very cool.  Here she is, above, dancing with her new husband Josh.  I can't figure out why I didn't get any front shots of the two of them.  Darn open bar...

There was a photo booth, which is by far, the coolest wedding reception fun I have ever had.  Claudia, Ayala and I snapped a few shots of us dressed up in the silly props.

And of course, here we all are- Missy, Stacki, Kelly, Kim, me, and Ayala with our Kare Bear!  If you're wondering about the gang symbols... let's just say, it's a Zeta thing!

San Antonio work trip

In May, I went to San Antonio for my only work trip (out of town, overnight) of the year- to the Association of State Floodplain Managers conference.  San Antonio was a pretty nice little city!  Lots to see and do, and pretty awesome food.  The conference was good too- I came back with lots of ideas, and of course, did a lot of networking.

You can't take a trip to San Antonio and not see the Alamo!  It is, as everyone says, much smaller than it looks.  I didn't actually go in, for lack of time and I think it was kind of pricey.

One day, during a part of the day that didn't have any interesting sessions, I took off and took the riverboat boat ride around San Antonio.  I mean, I wouldn't be a good floodplain manager if I didn't do this.  Because as you can see above... everything is built RIGHT on the river.  Now, some of the river is actually man made. Above, you can see an outdoor theater in the La Villita area of San Antonio.  This is along the man made portion of the river.  The theater is on one side of the river, and the seating is on the other.  They filmed a scene from the Sandra Bullock movie, "Miss Congeniality" here in this theater.

The entire river is very pretty.  But I can't help but think of what happens when they get like, an inch or two of rain here!  I mean, the river is just pretty naturally high.  But this is just one giant flood control project, so it doesn't seem that they've had a problem (in a while anyway).  There's lots of shops, restaurants and hotels along the riverwalk.  I guess there's some crime too, but overall, it's pretty nice.

The above picture is of the flood wall that separates the man made portion of the river from the natural side of the river (you can see, this is a T shaped area). 

 But it was just really pretty and kind of peaceful down in the riverwalk area, which is one or two stories below street level.  You almost forget you're in a city!  If you're ever in San Antonio, you have to check out a restaurant south of town (but within walking distance of the Alamo, although it's kind of a long walk) called Feast.  Best meal I've ever had in my life.  American style tapas- they change their menu from time to time, and the food is outstanding!