First Day of School.

This last week was the first day of school for the Gettysburg Family kids. Shea had his first day on Wednesday. Atlee had her first day on Thursday. I didn't get any pictures on Wednesday because that sly dog was out the door before I could even think about where I had left the camera. Greeley just saw pictures being taken and wanted in on the action.

The traditional pose for the first day of school picture was quickly followed by the traditional bolt for the school bus stop to avoid missing the bus and therefore losing screen time.

Under the Category of Things I Never Thought I'd Do As a Parent

When I worked at the Mirror Lake Inn, I remember wondering what sort of parent paid for their 10 year old to receive a pedicure. What madness is this? Then I moved to Southern Pennsylvania and before you know it, this happens:

For the first day of school (which is Thursday for her) she had her feet soaked, scrubbed, clipped, massaged and polished.


Her absolute delight in the entire experience has taught me why parents give their kids pedicures.

For the record, we went to the Gettysburg Day Spa. We had a wonderful experience there. They did not pay for this promotion, but if they want to kick me down a gift certificate for a couples' pedicure, Rich and I will gladly write a rave joint review.

Last Road Trip of Summer

And oh what a summer it has been. We hit the road for our last trip of the summer last Thursday. We had a whirlwind tour of New York State planned, and it all started in Syracuse. Are you ready for an inconsistent photo journey? I took odd pictures this vacation.

We visited our good friends Brandi and Ash. Greeley helped make dinner.

Brandi and Ash got a new dog, Maddie, in the last year, and every now and then through the evening she looked a lot like my Mom's old dog, Cassidy. I kept hoping I could capture the very Cassidyness of the dog, but it didn't happen. So much for the plan where in a year I slip the Maddie-dog to Mom and take the Cady-dog off her hands.


On Friday, we drove east to Glens Falls and had dinner at Mom and Dad's. A lot of family was in town because we were having a family reunion outside of Chestertown on Saturday. It was everything a family reunion should be. There was a swimming pool and oodles of noodles.

There were kids games- including (gasp!!) fishing in a bucket of WATER. Greeley and Atlee were in heaven.

And there was live music. My brother Mike's band, Nom de Plume, played for a lively crowd. I would offer a link to the band, but I can't seem to find one on the internet after five minutes of looking. So this is where we'll check to see if Mike regularly reads the blog and can provide his own link.

On Monday we went north to Wilmington. We had dinner with our former neighbors. See Sam on the left? When we first met Sam he was like 11 years old. He was our first babysitter. Now he's a sophomore in college.


When you have dinner with your former neighbors you get to see your former house.

On Tuesday, we spent the day with Judi. I have no pictures to show. I'll provide a link to her website, Lost in the Trees- even though she hasn't posted anything new in four months.

Moving on... on Tuesday evening we went and had dinner with Kelly and Phil. Kelly showed Atlee her garden. They picked some peas.

Atlee then ate A LOT of peas. A whole lot of peas.

After dinner, the kids played with their Wii. Shea tries Guitar Hero for the first time.

And Atlee tried out the Wii Fit action.


And we'll wrap up this post with a picture of the kids on the beach the week before.
School starts on Wednesday. I better get in position early to get my papparazzi stalker style pictures of Shea on the first day. It also means my access to the computer should become a bit easier and my commenting and posting will increase.

IOU one post.

Alright- I really owe a lot of posts. But today? Today was not the day. Today was an anticipated high of 97 degrees. I don't know what the actual temperature was, but it was hot. Gross and sticky hot. Miserable hot. The kind of hot that makes you pack up all your kids and drive fifteen minutes to a friend's house because she has central AC. (That's also known as a good friend.)

There are severe thunderstorms predicted for tonight, which will hopefully take down the humidity. Because then I could post some of the pictures of my friend Gret's visit this weekend. Or the kids on the slip-and-slide this evening. But tonight, I'm going to go melt on my couch.