Love Ya Lions!

The day after my awesome reunion was Daddy's birthday and we planned on a FUN day in State College and on campus! We started our adventure off at The Arboretum at Penn State. The Arboretum was opened about three years ago on the north end of campus and it's my new favorites spot on campus. Gorgeous and peaceful. And great for kids with lots of energy.

Daddy got some nice pictures of plants. Starting with these awesome gourds growing over a metal arch. There must have been a dozen hanging down. At least. Colin kept calling them big pears.




And the water lilies were just lovely this visit.




I will say, Gillian was quite a piece of work most of the day. She was obviously very tired from the day before. She didn't have major screaming breakdowns, but she consistently went right when the rest of us went left. ALL DAY LONG. Finally we threatened to throw her in the car and GO HOME. WITH NO ICE CREAM. That worked just enough to make the rest of the day bearable. Just.

Next up. LION! Colin had been desperate to visit the Lion since we had left our house on Saturday morning. He kept telling us he'd sit UP ON TOP. Yeah, once we got there, he realized how tall the Lion is and told us no WAY. He did stand next to him though.




Then we had some Lion fun.





G, on the other hand, loved it up on top of the fellow!

I have a feeling she's going to rule that campus someday.

Then we headed down campus to check out Old Main and head toward town for lunch. Playing chase with Daddy was first up....with ubiquitous construction in the background.


We heard the bells chime and checked out the elm (and squirrels).



Little Man on Campus.


Some love for the birthday boy too!


We picked up some t-shirts for the kiddos at Family Clothesline and made some mental birthday lists at the local toy store. Then it was time for lunch. Daddy picked The Corner Room (of course). And we lucked into a window booth!


Colin discovered a fun game of grinning and waving at everyone walking past and keeping score of if they waved back. He got the most waves out of lovely, young ladies. Of course.

To wind down our day we made a quick stop at The Creamery. That is some seriously good ice cream. And HUGE portions. So we made the kids share. It only took a few tears on BOTH kids' parts to settle on strawberry with sprinkles. Good grief.

Blue and white sprinkles. Obviously.





Ok, I admit it, I stole some. Although Daddy and I had shared a yummy chocolate flavor too.



Ok, and another one...


We had such a fun weekend. The visit may have been a little bittersweet, given the events of the year, but State College and Penn State will always feel like home.

Mommy's Reunion

Well, nigh on ten years ago, I was in graduate school with about 30 lovely ladies and one nice young man. That's how speech therapists roll. My class was wonderful. Funny, compassionate, inspiring people, for sure. And we've managed to stay in touch, mostly! Since it had been TEN YEARS since we graduated, we decided to throw together an reunion this summer! A HUGE thank you to the ladies that organized us! We had such fun!

First up we had a potluck-ish, family picnic at a great park in the State College area! It had a playground, wading stream, and sand pit! All great fun, I assure you! C&G have been wanting to go wading FOREVER, but we can never seem to get ourselves together to get it done....until last weekend! I should add, it was not WARM that day. And the water was FREEZING. Oh well, can't deter a determined three year old.


(Mostly dry, here)


(Less dry, more wet)



(Threw a shoe)


(And totally wet now. And shivering. But not giving up the fun.)






A huge THANKS to the Foor kiddos, Alina, Maddie, and Nicholas for wading in and out and up and down with Colin and Gillian. Big kids are FUN. Especially the Foor kids!

Colin and Addison having to fun in the mud.


I wish you could hear the shrieking and giggling this involved. It was pretty contagious.

Ok, finally we them out of the water, dried off, and changed. And off for more fun.


We managed to get some group shots too.

Fourteen out of 30 isn't too shabby, right? I had so much fun talking and catching up with everyone. They are still the same wonderful ladies, just with 10 more years of life under their belts!

And one of the kiddos. So many beautiful, happy kids. Makes me smile to see them all together! And there are three sets of twins in this shot. And two sets aren't there! So, YES, FIVE sets of twins out of 30-32 people. We are just too cool. No one has a set of boy-boy twins yet, so there's hope for more!


Finally we got our tired, grimy kids out of the park and stopped for a quick tour of my department's SHINY NEW clinic on campus (thanks, Dr. Finke!) and then off to our hotel.



Those kids were TIRED. We managed to get some dinner into them and Daddy with minimal screaming. Not NO screaming, just minimal screaming. Then bath and bed. And then Mama headed OUT for a fun dinner with my classmates! Thankfully Daddy was gracious enough to stay in the dark, quiet hotel room with passed out kiddos!

It was a fabulous day, if I say so myself. I so enjoyed it. I hope it's not 10 years before we do it again!!!

Up next, more fun in State College!

Ballerina Photoshoot

I snapped these before Gillian's dance camp a few weeks ago and just found them again on the bigger camera. They crack me up. Such drama. Such intensity.




And then she started dancing for me.




(I think she was throwing in some yoga poses here....)

Love her.