Friends, Family, and Regionals

The girls have been staying busy, despite Sabine's decision not to do camp this year. Swim team keeps her busy every morning, and there are meets every Saturday, where she has earned several "Speeding Tickets" (personal best awards)



and she even went to regionals to mark the end of the season. The was an exciting experience, and despite having a minor incident involving some flippers on the sidewalk and a hurt wrist and scratched leg, Sabine swam well for her team, The Dolphins.



She recovered well enough to go for manicures to celebrate the end of the season!



And she was awarded the "Bravest Swimmer" medal at the awards night at the end of the season! That was pretty special.

Meanwhile, both Sabine and Aspen have been having lots of adventures with their cousins



even up at (Great) Aunt Diane and Uncle Nat's house



and other friends



including the daughters of one of Mommy's college friends, who came to visit for a couple days!









It's fun watching the next generation get along so well. We just wish they lived closer!

Tiny Town

We had a fun trip to Tiny Town with Grandmom and Grandpa!

This was Aspen's first time, and Sabine was happy to show her around.



There was the mandatory train ride,



and the girls were brave enough to ride in the kid-only caboose together.

Then we had fun exploring all the buildings,





windmills,



and wishing wells!



We finally all got tired from the heat,



but fortunately there was soft serve available to help cool us off. It was a fun, summer day!

Happy Fourth!

Sabine, daddy, the cousins, and lots of friends made it to a fireworks show in Erie on the 3rd this year!

And then we celebrated cousin E on the actual 4th!



This guy is rocking Kindergarten and enjoying life. The girls enjoy spending Sundays with him and his brother, and they all love playing with each other and the dogs.





Cake never hurts, either.

East Coast Trip, The Beach

The second week of our trip was mostly spent at the beach in Lewes, DE with some good family friends.





We made it to the boardwalk for lobster,



rides,





and ice cream!



And we made it down to Fenwick Island to visit one of Grandmom and Grandpa's very best friends.



But mostly we just logged lots of good times on our little beach on the bay. (So lots of horseshoe crabs and not so many waves.)













It was a great visit, we miss these guys a lot! Just missing daddy.





We had a blast, but we were tired, too, and ready to get back up to Newark for comfier beds and room-darkening shades!

We actually made an impromptu decision to stop by the house where mommy grew up.



With some luck, we ran into the current owner in the yard, and she was nice enough to invite us inside to peek in a few rooms. It was really special for me to get to share this with Sabine.


kitchen (different colors and counters, but similar layout to when I grew up there)


dining room




looking out the window in the living room


looking back into the living room from the picture window

Then she let us wander around outside in the yard for a bit.



The current owners have done beautiful work, and the yard is nicer than I think it ever has been in the past. Most important to me was to show Sabine the "Cathy tree," a massive weeping cherry tree that used to bloom (I suppose it still does!) pink flowers around my birthday. Sabine took a picture of me in front of it.




And I took one of her!

Back with Aunt Betsy and Uncle Butch,



we got to try out their pool,



see one of mommy's oldest friends and her new baby,



polish Aunt Betsy's silver, because Sabine LOVES it,



get some good family time in,



including a visit to Great-Grandmom's grave,



and one last cousin visit!



Then we got Rita's Water Ice and headed home to daddy!