August 2016

At the beginning of August Abby was still in tennis lessons (1.5hrs once a week) and Rob was still working at AutumnView (a lot...double shifts sometimes too).  It has been fun to see Abby improve on the tennis court from her skill level last year. The town of Hamburg offers these lessons in the summer that run for 6 weeks and end with a big fun game day pizza party. It is only $20 for the whole program- super reasonable. We have all really enjoyed it (Ben and I enjoy watching and getting fresh air while she does tennis drills with the coaches). She got "player of the day" award for being so peppy, ready to go, and excited to improve. Rob was able to come watch with us a couple times during his breaks from work. He was working a bunch more before school starts back up in order to make us a bit less tight financially. We are always so thankful for his hard work.

We had the opportunity to attend the Erie County Fair this year! It runs every summer at the fairgrounds right here in our town (Hamburg, NY) and we've been meaning to check it out. We went on a day when admission was free with a canned food item (gathering donations for the food bank). It was super hot and humid outside so we tried to stay cool and hydrated when possible. We were pretty successful in our goal of steering clear of spending tons of money on all the crazy food and rides. The highlights for us included: Tops Kiddie Farm Hands activity (the kids got to experience a little of what it would be like to work on a farm and see how the whole farm to store process works), Ferris Wheel ride (huge, colorful, and we could see the city of buffalo in the distance when we were at the top! Rob was actually pretty nervous but I think we all loved it... we especially loved feeling the breeze and taking a break from walking around in the heat), and all the animal stables (horses, cows, rabbits, chickens...fun fun fun). Then we grabbed a bag of kettle corn and hit the road...Boston here we come!

We made the 7 hour drive that evening to get to Boston and visit Auntie K and Uncle Bill. Its a long drive but we always look forward to the adventures that we will have when we get there. Boy, were there adventures! :)  The first day we rested and recuperated a little during the day, only leaving for a a quick walk to the store and a little park outing. Then when Auntie Karen got home from work we all quickly got ready and went out for a night on the town. She took us to Fenway park where we were able to score some tickets to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees ball game! Very fun! AuntieK's Yankees won the game!

The next day we woke up early and caught a train into NYC Penn Station where we met up with Uncle Bill (who was already in the city on business) and went to the Statue of Liberty. It's funny because it doesn't look like much while standing in the city but it was AMAZING up close and in person. We were able to take a boat onto the island and go up inside the pedestal for a closer look and visit the museum inside. Great views. Great history. Fun day. On the way back to the city our boat stopped at Ellis Island. Really neat to think of how many people came through this area. They came to this country seeking freedom and a better life. I hope that people hang on to the values and strength and freedoms that made it so desirable in the first place. Moving on with the evening, we headed to the hotel, got cooled down and cleaned up for dinner. We walked through Times Square to get to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. The bright lights and busyness were so crazy! Dinner was delicious and we were all ready to sleep!

Day 2 in NYC promised more heat (I believe with the humidity it was forecasted around 114 degrees) and more walking. We were excited for the adventure but were cautious of heat exhaustion. As classic NYC experiences we made sure to catch a yellow cab once and ride in the subway, but mostly we walked. We bought tons of cold waters along the way anytime we saw them for sale. We saw the Empire State Building, FlatIron building, Wall Street, the Stock exchange, Rockefeller center, Madison Square Garden, NBC hq (tonight show/today show), 9-11 memorial/new Freedom building, St Patricks Cathedral, and Central Park. As we walked through central park we found a great carousel for the kids to ride, listened to some talented street musicians, and stopped in at the Plaza for lunch. Eventually we ventured back to Penn station to head back to Boston via train. While we were sitting there waiting the kids munched on some snacks- Abby started crying while eating a chewy chocolate chip cookie...we discovered that her loose teeth were done hanging in there. She lost 2 teeth in the train station! What a trooper, haha.

Once we returned to Boston, the weather cooled off a bit and was even a little drizzly. We ordered a pizza as a late night dinner and hit the hay. Sunday we enjoyed a leisurely family day with a picnic and the beach. Playing catch, building sandcastles, chasing seagulls, and dipping our toes in the water. Monday was Auntie Karen and Uncle Bill's Anniversary. They invited us to stay and enjoy one last festive family dinner before heading home Tuesday. As usual, it did not disappoint. They always have some amazing food and we have absolutely adored spending time with them. The  ride home to Hamburg was long and uneventful but good.

In Hamburg, we had a bunch of lazy chill days but also tried to do a few last fun summer things.

We went to an outdoor family movie night at the Prasad's house. They set up a projector, created a theatre in their backyard, and showed Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.

Rob and I were able to attend a Buffalo Bills vs NY Giants preseason football game at the Ralph Wilson Stadium/New Era Field. Brother and Sister Burnard (Wes and Jodi) thought we could use a date night and gave us their tickets and parking pass- He works for the Bills. Brother and Sister Allred came to our place to watch the kids. They are always watching out for us. The kids loved having them over.

Later that night we decided to make some pumpkin spice muffins (to use as Sunday breakfast) and we were having a family dance party in the kitchen while the muffins baked... at some point Ben twirled, slipped, and hit hit face on the ground- giving himself a fat bloody bottom lip and hitting his front teeth hard enough to make them bleed as well. Called the on-call dentist and ended up deciding to stay home, calm Ben down, let him sleep, and made an appointment for Monday. After an x-ray and check up they determined that he was mostly okay- just have to watch for potential future infections and make sure the roots heal okay (no crunchy things this week). We were so careful all week.

Friday evening we went to StonyBrook State Park for a ward BBQ. It was so fun getting together with our ward family. The kids had a blast running free and playing with friends. We enjoyed talking with the adults. Hot dogs, grilled corn, and potluck sides/desserts. As we were all cleaning up to head home, Abby came running over "mom! ben slipped going up the slide and hit his face again! he's bleeding!" I ran over, Rob already had Ben in his arms, some ward ladies gave us some paper towels and an icy water bottle. Once we got the bleeding to subside, we were able to see that this time he had given himself a fat upper lip and again hit those top front teeth- there was also a new purple gash line in his top gum line. Rob was supposed to stay and camp with the scouts so we decided to split forces and I would keep him posted. My phone was close to zero battery- Sister Wade let me borrow her car phone charger. Abby, Ben, and I got on the road and headed home (needed to put the leftover food away in the fridge AND I was still trying to get a hold of the on call dentist again) Ben fell asleep on the way home so I hurried to put the food away, took care of a horrible spider issue *shudder...yuck*, and spoke with the dentist on the phone. They told me issues to look for (flappy gums needing stitches, wiggly broken teeth aspiration hazard...) and we once again determined to wait till morning. Took him into the dentist again, more xrays and exams, again he is somehow okay overall ... still watching for infections and trying to be more careful during the healing process. They say that gum tissue is amazingly resilient. We keep telling Ben that (1) heavenly father gave him some good lips to protect his teeth and (2) he better be careful because if he looses those teeth he won't get new ones in for a couple years! Poor kid. Hopefully we can make it past this awful clumsy stage with all teeth intact.

A couple important thoughts to note:
***Ben has been the absolute best little helper kid. He LOVEs helping me do the laundry, unload the dishwasher, carry the groceries, ... everything. He also enjoys holding or opening the doors- "after you, Ladies" and standing by the car with one hand on the hood and saying in his manliest voice "hello, people"... haha we love this little gentleman of ours. I am sure going to miss having my errand buddy and helper man around BUT I am excited for him to learn and grow in PreK this year. Good thing its only 3 hours each day...it will ease us into the school years.
***Abby has the strongest desire to do good, an intense love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and a sensitivity to feeling the Spirit. She has been asking and learning all she can about gospel topics...fasting, tithing, baptism, temples, scriptures, missionaries, testimony... she tells us on a regular basis how excited she is to be baptized when she is 8 and how she wants to serve a mission someday. She got upset when we told her she didn't need to pay $3 tithing on her $3 of tooth money. "But mom, 30 cents is not very much. I want to give more."The past 3 fast Sundays, she has been writing down her testimony during sacrament meeting and going up to the pulpit to share it with the whole ward. I admire her pure goodness.
***Rob brings so many special attributes to our family and our home. He's fun and adventurous and brave. He's smart and silly and strong and faithful. I am so thankful for him. On fast Sunday (for September- should technically be in next months post but I didn't want to forget it) he faithfully fasted and brought such an incredible dose of the spirit into our home. Before we broke our fast and had dinner, he asked if he could give us all special father's blessings to start the school year. There was a palpable feeling of peace and love. The kids (were super crazy beforehand) were actually extremely reverent during the blessings. Ben sat SO still. I love seeing their little faces- arms folded, eyes closed, mouth quiet but smiling as they each took their turn. I love seeing Rob filled with the spirit, worthy and ready to serve and bless our family. I really wish I had written down the words of the prayers but this will just have to be off my crazy memory...some of the phrases that stuck out to me were: "excited and ready to learn" "find good friends that will encourage you to do your best" "be a light and a good example" "help and look out for others" "health strong body, resistant to infections and illness"... after the blessings we enjoyed a sweet family hug, made a delicious dinner, and enjoyed a family ice cream party and movie.

As other activities for the month, we also went berry picking as a family at Awald, took a stroll through the farmers market for some awesome produce, got back to school letters and supplies for the kids, had a "campout" in the living room with our beach tent, and continue to stay busy with church callings and family walks/bike rides. We sold our little tykes cozy coup car and used the money to buy a bike for ben. We also took abby's training wheels off and started teaching her to ride a two wheeler. It was a total disaster at first. She's had the toughest time. After asking for advise from other parents we decided that taking the pedals off and getting her used to a "balance"bike was a good idea. It seems to be helping her get the hang of balancing and steering and getting comfortable with a little more speed. Oh! and Rob has already started his fall semester at D'youville. He's rocking and rollin with his thesis, taking care of his online class,  and getting into his Good4You2Go meals food service rotation on campus. He's doing awesome. The kids will be starting soon. Fall is in the air!