The Weekend: All about dough

We had a really great weekend. We started out tackling a 3 acre corn maze at Lake Farm Park.

Then I tried my hand at making pizza the way Andrea showed me on vacation. They turned out great! I can't believe how easy it is when you know what you're doing. We all enjoyed them very much.

And to top it all off I made a peach pie. From scratch. With fresh peaches. It just came out of the oven and it looks amazing. We won't know how it tastes until later, but hopefully it will be as successful as the pizzas. And of course, we have vanilla ice cream. Because fruit pie is so much better a la mode.

End of the summer......

Tomorrow I start back full time at JCU. I'm not complaining because I know I have a great schedule, but it's hard switching gears. We had a great summer, full of all sorts of fun activities. This weekend is going to be beautiful, so we're trying to think of something fun to do. Joe Cip just brought a delivery of pizza dough and round pizza screens. Can't wait to try my hand at pizza making on Saturday night.

Kyla is doing really well with the adjustment of going back to school. She walked in by herself this morning, and bounced off the bus in an awesome mood!

First Day of School - Second Grade

Weekend

On Friday we headed to the Botanical Gardens with yiayia, Peter, and Maria. It was a HOT day but we had fun. Saturday we were planning on going to the Greek festival for dessert followed by fireworks. Mother Nature had other plans. It started raining in the late afternoon and didn't stop until after we went to bed. Instead, we made Pad Thai and watched a new family favorite, Ponyo. After Kyla was in bed, Jon and I watched Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We really liked it, and it was the first time we've stayed up until 11pm in a long time. On Sunday, Kyla had her last swim lesson. She jumped off the low diving board for the first time. She was so excited! Summer vacation is quickly dwindling. Today we are supposed to go to the park for a picnic with Lauren, Jacqueline, and Lucy. We'll see if Mother Nature is more forgiving today. It's very cloudy and has been sprinkling on and off this morning. This afternoon we'll be heading up to Sunview to see if the class lists have been posted. Kyla is very nervous about starting second grade. She'll be in a new hallway this year. Change and unfamiliarity are really hard on her. I don't know what it's going to be like when we move and she changes schools. Speaking of moving, we have a showing tomorrow afternoon. It would be great if they made an offer, despite how crazy it would be trying to sell, buy and move just as the school year is starting.

Avalon

We're back from our vacation with the Mecchi's. It was an amazing week and we enjoyed every minute of it. Kyla and Lucia hit it off from the start. How could they not? They are mini's of me and Andrea. Here are highlights from the week:

- The beach - digging pools and body surfing

- Learning to make pizza

- Pete's Pad Thai and spring rolls

-Ocean City board walk amuzment park, all the kids getting air brushed tatoos. Kyla's was a panda bear

- Ocean City water park - great water slides

- Meeting Dan and Holly

- photo session in a wind storm

- Stone Harbor - ice cream and the girls getting their hair wrapped, we agreed before knowing exactly how much it was going to cost - Kyla's was almost $40, but so worth it. The girls couldn't contain themselves they were so happy afterwards

- meeting Jacob

- Jon being told he was the next Orlando Bloom

- playing poker with the boys

- Andrea's Europe story (the band not the country).

- Being so surprised that Kyla had no fear of the ocean - she learned to body surf, and that she loved the log ride at the amusment park

We're already planning to go back next year. This time with the addition of Joe and Donna and Dan and Holly. We should be able to get a really nice house on the bay side. Joe will bring his boat. It's going to be a blast!

Vacation

Our summer trip is finally here. Tomorrow we leave for Avalon, NJ. We rented a house with the Mecchi's. We are all so excited. Today was a crazy day, full of last minute preparations for the trip. Kyla and I also went to see the movie Ramona and Beezus. I was so surprised that she wanted to see a movie. She's been really avoiding movies at the theater. She'd rather just watch them on DVD, and even then, she really doesn't like watching something she hasn't already seen. She's made alot of big strides this summer. One huge one has been with swimming. She is finally comfortable under water, is swimming, went on the water slide, and even jumped of the low diving board at one of her swim lessons. She also decided she wanted to go back to dance classes. This was also a big surprise. I'm so glad that she's getting a little more courageous and allowing herself to have fun. We'll be back in a week.

Just starting

I started writing a journal when our daughter was born (just over 7 years ago). My hope was to catch all the things we'd want to remember. I finished one spiral journal and have started a second. I can't remember when the last time I wrote in it, and so much has happened. Big things, but mostly little things that make the days go by with smiles. I'm starting this blog to see if I can get better about writing about our days.