in NY, safe and sound....

we got in to the mascias' at about 10:30 last night. the drive went swimmingly (literally for about 20 minutes there, it poured! but only for a bit, mostly smooth clear sailing).

the girls both slept from maine to massachusetts and entertained each other. lots of laughs and screching with joy. isabelle made us a delicious lasagna for dinner, then we baked cookies! it was a blast. of course chester and the girls were so happy to see each other again.

we left mass. at just before 7 and maggie fell asleep at around 8:45. nina finally fell asleep around 9:45, but she was resting happily before then so it was all good. we slept very well at the mascias', and all 4 girls have been playing all morning. now it's just after 9 and we're about to head to the playground!

i know, i know, i am neglecting the blog again...

i'm sorry. i try to average at least one blog entry every other day over the course of a month, and july has been a bust. barely one a week. it depresses even me. first it was the laptop in the shop, then the christening, now i have no excuse. i got out of the pattern. then also, i'm reading more at night than i usually do. first i got hooked on the twilight series, then i realized how if i stopped doing everything except read in the evenings, i can get an awful lot of reading done. plus we're at the library at least once a week for story hour, and i can't help but pick up a book or two... i think the reading is as much to blame as anything else.

speaking of reading, one of the most recent books i read was about the polio vaccine. very interesting story! polio was quite the scourge in its day, glad that it's not in my hemisphere any more. speaking of vaccines, maggie is due for her chicken pox shot when we get back from austria. i don't know if that one is on the state schedule, so i'm not sure if the government will pay for it or not. hm, i'll have to look into that.

well, it's not me you all tune in to read about, so on to the children!

they are loving maine. maggie wants to be outside from the moment she wakes up, even if it's raining, and nina wants to live at grandma and grandpa's house. she practically does.

we've been doing a lot, trying to take advantage of this "summer." rain and a high of 59 might not be summer to some, but that's what the calendar says... so, we've been to railway village at least once a week, usually on the damp but not raining days. we get gummyworms and then ride the trolly, go to story hour on fridays, and play at the fish playground. of course, we play on the swingset almost daily (even in a light rain, what's a little water), and once went to the botanical gardens. kids loved it! oh, and we finally took nina to play mini golf. like most things, she had a great time but got bored about half way through.

also, nina's friend from preschool cate came for a visit one day last week, and the girls had a blast together. her family has a place in brooklyn (maine, it's near blue hill apparently, i didn't know there was a brooklyn maine...), so we're planning to meet up again over labor day weekend for the blue hill fair.

and of course, we head out for our big vacation in 2 days! nina is very excited. she loves to stay in hotels, so she's really looking forward to the boat. and of course, she can't wait to see her oma and opa. i can't imagine maggie really comprehends that we're going to take a boat across the ocean and visit oma and opa, but i think she's going to enjoy herself too. she pretty much likes everything except the car, and even that has improved over the last 2 weeks.

so yeah, that's all. i really do intend to start writing a lot again. definitely going to update during the cruise to let you all know what we're eating. i mean, doing! hahaha.

also, the camera is broken (dropped one too many times i guess, the battery cover won't stay on anymore. we could tape it i guess, but you know how that goes... it works for like a week, but the batteries last like, 1/4 as long, so it's really not worth it). we're getting a new one, so just wait and see the amazing pictures we're going to take. for a week, before it gets broken again.

maggie sings a song

quick update

christening is this morning!

having a grand time with family!

here's some pics to make up for being lame and not posting anything lately.

they're here!

vanessa, micah, ethan and bider are here! the girls couldn't be more thrilled. nina is sleeping over at my parents' house because she can't bear to be away from ethan for more than a second, it's too cute.

yesterday we went to the circus, and the opening act was performing dogs. maggie LOVED it. she was screaming with joy. it was adorable. nina was enthralled by the circus until about half way through, then she started to get bored. by the end she kept asking if it was over. then when it finally was, she clapped and cheered with joy... not because she had such a great time (which she did, she loved it), but because it was finally over. it reminded me of erik and isabelle's wedding (amen! is it done?).

maggie is also head over heels in love with bider, vanessa and micah's dog. BA-DA! she keeps yelling. she was chasing after him, clapping her pudgy little hands. it's adorable. he isn't so into the kids though, not like chester. chester can't get enough of them, bider kind of ignores them. but he was pretty excited to be out of the car and in the country, and into checking out the house, so maybe tomorrow he'll be more into them.

erik, isabelle and chester arrive late late tonight, so tomorrow should be something!

update ramblings

maggie is still awake! this child all of a sudden doesn't want to sleep any more. she doesn't want to nap--fine, don't nap, i'm up anyway. but bedtime is really non-negotiable. well, apparently it is negotiable, because it's 8:30 and her majesty is still awake.

nina is out at least. she has been a little wild these last few days, i miss preschool. that really tuckered her out and took the edge off. i think it was a little too much for her, she'd often be tired in the mornings and in the afternoons after school, but if there was an in-between that'd be nice. i'm sure it's just all the rain we've had, being cooped up inside too much... the sun finally came out today and things were much more normal. oh, she gave herself a haircut earlier in the week, kind of long bangs. it looks like she had bangs a few months ago and now she's growing them out. at least she cut her own hair and not maggie's. she didn't hurt herself either, whew.

the house is almost done. we have some things to take to the thrift store still, and a big old box of stuff for vanessa and micah, and a bookcase in the basement that we're refinishing and going to put in the kitchen, but we're like 95% there. that part is going well. i must say i miss the 40 lb capacity washer in the old building. i'm used to doing laundry once a week, if that. now i do laundry, and three days later i'm doing it again! not good!

i do love finally having a dishwasher though.

ok, i promise to be back on blogging track from now on. part of the problem was that the laptop was getting fixed, and i do all of my blogging on the laptop while maggie is nursing to sleep (which she is finally doing, thank god). but now that i have the laptop back and unpacking isn't priority #1, and i'm not sick anymore, the blog will not be ignored.