NYC

We're back! What a busy week. Let's see, the girls and I drove down to NYC with Vanessa, Wyatt, and Ray on Wednesday. It was a lovely trip! The kids did a great job and we didn't hit any traffic until it started to downpour like all getout on us in Connecticut. Then things had to slow down because of the extreme puddling on the roads. All things considered though, the slowdown was minimal.

We rendezvoued with Nick and Ethan at the hotel, then headed to Pete's place for the night. The extreme weather had caused his flight to be cancelled, so we actually got to see him! The girls were very happy.

Thursday Vanessa and I took the five kids to Rockaway beach. It was wonderful! The girls had never gotten to play in such warm ocean water and they absolutely loved it. Here we are, loving it:

Loving it while staying safe from the sun, of course!

We loved it so much that we went back the next day!

This day, the clothing was more about staying warm than sun protection...

On Friday, it was Happy Birthday America and Happy Birthday Grandma! Uncle Thomas and Aunt April hosted a giant party at their place. There must have been more than 100 people there, many of them under 30. Lots of beer consumed.

Two cakes! One cannoli cake (left) and one ice cream cake (right. obviously)

Then even though it was storming, the pool was warm and the kids swam, swam, swam...

Look at these cuties!

 Nina even got into cannonballing!

Don't worry, it was the shallow end. She still hasn't gone under.

On Saturday we swam again, had pizza at great-grandma and great-grandpa's, and then picked up Philip to head home.