Wait, what?

So I started out this summer on a roll.  Got the photos organized every week, took some time to blog about the life and times of JJ&e when BLAMMO!  It's August 20 and I have exactly one week left until I am thrown into what I can only imagine will be the most frantic two years of my life, and I have about four weeks' worth of happenings to report.  Here goes nothing!

Two days after the last post one of my childhood friends passed through the Upstate area with her family.  Kelly and I were classmates throughout elementary, middle, and high school, and I love that we've kept in touch even as the years and miles have expanded.  She's been living in France for many years now with her husband Eddie.  They have the liveliest couple of French cuties ever.  Jesse, Eily, and I had the pleasure of lunching with them at Circus Cafe in Saratoga Springs during their annual trip across the pond.  As you can see, Eily, Aiden, and Mathis were greatly impressed by the enormous plate of cotton candy that arrived at the end of the meal.  (Before and after this, most of their talk centered around Angry Birds, of which they all seem to be quite fond.)

 That same week, I informed Eily that we would be going to see Enter the Haggis in concert on Friday.  You're probably all well aware from previous posts that Jesse and I define our relationship on our mutual love of Celtic influenced bands, and ETH is the cream of the crop. Along with being phenomenal musicians, they are truly good people who give their fans everything they've got.  Seeing them is never a disappointment - in fact, after eight years following them around, I would say I'm surprised by something they do almost every show.  It never gets stale, and I love that Eily has already started to appreciate them as much as we do.  I shot a video right after telling her about the concert.  Considering she knows their most recent album, Whitelake, by heart I knew she would have a few requests.

Now, being the good little SLP-wannabe I am, we always make sure to keep Eily's ears protected.  Here she is happily sporting her OSHA-grade child-sized earmuffs (the same ones she wore here at 2 months old).   Meanwhile, I'm happily sporting my cup o'Smithwicks.  Mmmmm!  (Daddy has a Guinness, of course.)

 

Eily had a chance to chat with each of the guys for a few minutes before the show, and Craig (aka. "Uncle" Craig) even posed for a pic with her onstage after.  Eily was over the moon by that point, and as I pushed her out of the fairgrounds in her stroller she told me, "Maybe someday I can be a singer like that."  It totally melted my heart.  I'm so glad she shares our love of music!

Some of our other fun July exploits have included:

BLUEBERRIES!

One for the basket, two for me....

Forget it, they're all for me!

DANCING!

Eily and Rayleigh having a dance party before bedtime.

AND STALKERS!!!

Kelsey and I came home from a night out to find Kevin and Jesse watching the video monitors and cracking up.  Apparently the girls were highly entertaining, albeit naughty for not going to sleep!

Oh yeah, and Eily got to go to her first race at the track in Saratoga.  We only got to see one race, but she still had a blast!  Here you can see Eily's head at the bottom of the frame and a thoroughbred whizzing by in the upper-central portion of the picture.  I wish we had placed a bet while we were there.  I was going to put my money on #8 in honor of our new address, and wouldn't you guess that's the one that won?

The last weekend in July found us back in the NJ/PA area for a very quick trip to congratulate our dearest friends the Shillidays on their new forever house.  I didn't get a chance to snap any pictures of the happy homeowners, who make a return to their hometown after years away in NY and VA.  I did, however, catch a few of Grandmom/Debbie.  She's always the life of the party, though there was an unruly frog who gave her a run for her money that night.

Jesse and Debbie - trouble is usually brewing when these two get together.

Mr. Frog is up to no good:

After the party, Eily and I rode back to NY with Kevin and Kelsey while Jesse stayed behind for work.  Here's how Eily and Rayleigh entertained themselves in the car during the trip back:



The beginning of August saw us making a long overdue trip to CT to visit my family.  Here's Eily with Noni and Nono:

 And here are Eily and her cousins Victoria and James having an impromptu playdate at Gigi and Gramps' house.

The day after returning from CT, it was back on the road to hang out with Auntie Kiki and Grandma Mary in Rochester.  Eily loved having a "slumber party" with Grandma in the living room.

While we were there, we checked out the Seneca Zoo.  They had some amazing exhibits!  Eily's favorite was the lion area, where you could walk up to the glass right next to the sleepy lions.  I loved the safari bus, where one of the female lions chose to take a snooze in the afternoon sunshine.

Yo, lion on the bus, gimme five!

Sleepy lion on the bus.

 After seeing all of the animals, Auntie Kiki bought Eily her very own elephant.  Umbrella, that is.  Eily felt the need to take it for a test walk before we left the park.

Of course, no trip to Rochester is complete without dinner at Grandma Linda's house.  Eily always loves running through the vegetable gardens and picking fresh veggies for the evening's fare.

Making homemade ice cream is always fun, too!

 

This past weekend was our last big bit of fun before I dive into graduate courses and clinic work.  We spent it in the company of great friends at the Hartman's shore house in Somers Point.  Here are the kids at the beach on Saturday.  If only they were this easy to manage all of the time!

And there you have it - a whole summer gone in the blink of an eye.  We've had a blast seeing everyone, and I will be looking back fondly on these pictures as the crisp autumn air begins to settle in and my days are quickly filled with assignments and deadlines.  Thanks for a wonderful time everyone!