40 Happy Years Together {My Parents' 40th Anniversary Party}

My parents' celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on August 25th.  My sister-in-law suggested back in the spring that we do something for them to celebrate.  My parents have a LOT of friends... I mean a LOT.  So, we decided to gather some of their nearest and dearest including several from their wedding party and have a party for them in Lake George, New York last weekend.  This is the same weekend as the Adirondack Balloon Festival making it a fun trip for anyone not local.

Here are a few pictures of my parent's wedding in 1973...

And leaving for their honeymoon...

And 40 years later enjoying their party at a local restaurant -

Although my parents knew a party was in the works, they didn't know any details other than the date.  The biggest surprise was that four couples came from loooong distances (2 from South Carolina and 2 from Michigan) just for my parents' anniversary.  Here is part of the Michigan contingent (all friends from Siesta Key).

Of course, I had to put together a few decorations for the occasion.  

The banner was from this shop.  The albums were from my parents wedding and honeymoon.  I made the poster on the left using black foam core board and gold duct tape.  Here's a closer look.

I also made a guest book using a Shutterfly photobook.  I just made custom pages with lots of blank area.  My parents loved reading the comments the next morning.  

My sister-in-law found this cute way to make a great keepsake for them... their 3 grandchildren holding up signs.  This can be done long distance which makes it great for families who are spread out across the miles (like ours!). 

We made a last minute decision to add some mums to the tables.  It felt pretty bleak in the private room when my sister-in-law and I went to set up earlier in the afternoon.  I thought of some mums and my sister-in-law's mom came up with the burlap, ribbon, and "40" picks made with her Cricut machine.  Her awesome family assembled these just hours before the party!  They came out so well and everyone loved them!

It was a really fun party and a great weekend.  And of course, we got to see a few balloons go up (although not nearly as many as we would have liked!!).

 Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary, 

Mom and Dad!

Summer: Where We Went

First day of school: CHECK!  Totally successful and both kids liked their teachers.  Elizabeth ate most of her lunch (that's a whole other post...) and we're off to the races.

It was a bit of a crazy summer for fun and travel... we had the BEST summer.  We checked many fun things off of our bucket list... more on that later this week or maybe next.  This may be a "bonus weekend" of summer fun.  I make the rules, right?

We had a lot of fun travel this summer, so I thought I would share a bit here today and tomorrow... We are super lucky to be able to travel in the summer both financially and with our jobs.  I work part-time (2 part-time jobs actually which doesn't really mean "part-time" but who's counting?) and Handy Hubby has some flexibility to work from home or pretty much anywhere.  We were lucky to have 2 beach vacations, plus a trip to Philly to celebrate my niece's 1st birthday party and a trip to Massachusetts to visit Handy Hubby's family and go to Six Flags New England.

1.  OBX

In June, we went to the Outer Banks for the first time with our good friends and former neighbors.  It was a GREAT vacation.  We had only gone away with them one other time and just for a night.  BUT, we have spent oodles of time with them particularly in times of crisis like the blizzard of 2010 when we had 30" of snow on the ground and couldn't leave our street (literally) for 3 days.  Neighbors who call and ask your kids over, bring special cocktails in the middle of the 2nd straight day of being snowed in, or offer to help shovel your driveway, the road, or a sidewalk for the 30th time in 2 days are good friends, and likely friends who we would want to travel with.  Fortunately it worked out beautifully.  Back to the trip...

I have wanted to go to the OBX for years.  Many, many DC-area families go there year after year and I wanted to see what the fuss was all about.  I had never been to North Caroline beyond an airport, so this seemed like a good opportunity.  It took us about 5.5 hours to drive down on the last Sunday in June.  We were lucky to have a Sunday-Sunday rental which helps with the traffic situation.  There are tons of theories about the OBX traffic patterns but fortunately we didn't have to buy into any of them - no real traffic other than typical DC traffic.

We rented a house in Whalehead beach with a pool and it worked out perfectly for us.  Most of the houses in the OBX are huge (particularly in Corolla) but we were able to find a smaller house for our group of 9.  We brought my 16-year old niece along to lend a hand and babysit when the adults wanted an adult meal.  I would definitely bring her again!

Other than spend lots of time at the beach and our private pool, we didn't do that much!

We climbed the Corrituck Light House when we first arrived because our house wasn't cleaned yet.  The view was amazing...

We took a tour to see the wild horses on the north end of the island which was well worth it.  We don't have four wheel drive on our swagger wagon so this was the only real option for us to see the horses.  Highly recommend this easy excursion!

2.  OCNJ

In August I spent 2 weeks in Ocean City, NJ with my family.  My parents rent a beach condo and we stay there together.  My kids and I stayed for two full weeks and it was a great break for all of us.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you are looking for a Jersey beach town that is great for kids and reasonably convenient to get to - OCNJ is your place.  It's a dry town so no alcohol is served on the island (not even BYOB), but there are very convenient (and awesome, huge) liquor stores and decent restaurants and bars just over the bridge... not that I would know anything about that!  

We, of course, spend every day we can at the beach.  Happily, the beach was recently renovated (thanks to Hurricane Sandy funds) so it was wide and beautiful.  The kids LOVED the water this year.  The riptides were pretty bad the first few days so we had to be super careful and watch them every second even in knee-deep water directly in front of the lifeguard.  Fortunately it calmed down considerably in the latter half of the first week.   

 My niece Claire getting into the fun!

And one obligatory family picture:

The kids also love the rides at Wonderland Pier, a short walk down the Boardwalk from our condo rental.  We went almost every night - at least the kids and grandparents did!  

 

So, that was our summer of fun!!!  

Back-to-School Clothes Organization

Many of my friends tell me that I am lucky that Elizabeth is not very interested in clothes.  As long as an outfit is reasonably comfortable, she won't fight me.  She will occasionally wear skirts and dresses so long as she can wear tights, leggings, or bike shorts underneath (bikes shorts have been a LIFESAVER!).  I generally put out her clothes for school the night before and she puts them on.  Last year I tried to encourage her to pick out her own clothes but she is nervous that it won't look right if she does it.  I have analyzed the problem and realized that I often mix and match outfits, brands, etc. and that rattles her organized, rule-following mind.  She is her father's daughter.

While on our beach vacations this summer, I started organizing her clothes by outfit instead of by type of clothing (shirts, shorts, etc.).  She could pick out her own outfit without worry, thus exerting some of her own choice. AMAZING.  Perhaps I should do this for Handy Hubby too?

I reorganized her closet last week before school started - she was excited immediately!  Woohoo!  Here's how it looked before (though not quite this neat):

Here's how it looks now:

I took out a shelf and hung a bar at her height (thank goodness for Elfa).  I will probably move that shelf with the bar below it up another notch or two, so she has room for a few baskets for headbands and tights on top of her shoe cubbies.

I then assembled her outfits on a single hanger (for the most part):

She even helped me put outfits together and immediately put on an outfit that I don't think she has ever worn before - probably because I didn't even think of it as an outfit.  I found I put more thought into what goes together and what she could use to complete outfits -  more so than if I just throw things together the night before.  I realized she only has one shirt to go with a pair of bright yellow jeans (she does love colored jeans which is great).

And a picture of the proud closet owner (blog photo bomber):

I hope I can keep up with this system throughout the year.  I often hang out in her room while she gets ready for bed (pushing her along) so perhaps I can do some outfit assemblage instead of just sitting and waiting.

And here are my cuties on the first day of school.  Her dress is from Gymboree. Wish they had the dress in my size!

First day of school: DONE!  Both kids loved their teachers.  I hope the rest of the year goes as smoothly!

Summer: What I read

First day of school!  Check out my Facebook page for pics of my kiddos today... Where did summer go?  I'll update you on our bucket list soon.

One of the items on our list was to read a bunch of books.  This item was aimed at my daughter but I took it on myself as well!  I don't think I have ever done a book post on this blog.  I have written a lot about our built-in bookshelves but not much about the fact that both Handy Hubby and I are avid readers.  Sure, we didn't read much when our kids were babies, but we both generally have a book going.  Some books just take longer than others...  And when we go on a vacation where my parents are with us, we pretty much bury ourselves in books every chance we get.  I'm totally hooked on GoodReads (friend me!).

Here's what I read this summer and my super brief reviews...

1. Inferno (Dan Brown).  This was my Memorial Day weekend.  DaVinci Code is one of my favorite books of all time, and Angels and Demons is also pretty high on the list. The Lost Symbol was one of the most disappointing (and at times BAD) books I have ever read.  This tome falls somewhere between.  It wasn't disappointing and I liked the ending.  It certainly kept me interested and I googled "overpopulation theory" pretty much immediately after finishing.  Rating B

2. Tell the Wolves I'm Home (Carol Rifka Brunt). Although technically a young adult novel, I really enjoyed the story.  It was outside my usual picks in the historical fiction genre, but I liked the writing a lot.  A fun, well-written quick read even for teens and adults.  A-

3. Only Time Will Tell (Jeffrey Archer).  Technically, I listened to this during a long road trip to our college reunion but I'll include it in my summer reads.  It's a long listen but great if you have a long car trip in your future. I'm a huge fan of Jeffrey Archer - As the Crow Flies is an all-time favorite.  None of his books have ever disappointed me and this was no exception, but not one of his absolute best.  Lots of twists and turns in an epic story of one man (like most of his books).  It's the first in a trilogy and I think I'll read the next volume soon.  B+

4. Mariana (Susanna Kearsley). Historical fiction set in the English countryside with some mystery mixed in.  Can't go wrong in my opinion.  Susanna Kearsley is a great writer and her characters suck you in within the first few pages.  This book follows her usually format of seamlessly switching between modern day and historic times in the same location.  Lots of fun and suspenseful - kept me guessing.  A-

5. Secret River (Kate Grenville). Although I learned a lot about Australian history, this was my least favorite book of the summer.  The book went off on several tangents regarding aboriginal relations that seemed unnecessarily drawn out.  I finished it but I definitely did some skimming in the middle.  Fortunately it was a free Amazon Prime choice.  C-

6.  Waverly Bryson Series (Perfect on Paper, etc.) (Maria Murname). If you are looking for fun, lightweight chick lit, look no further. Waverly is not quite Bridget Jones or Carrie Bradshaw but she's a close second or third.  I read all 3 of these books within a few days and really enjoyed them all.  They were predictable at times but I didn't care. Sometimes you just need fun.  B

7. War Brides (Helen Bryan).  This is a great story about several women living in WWII London and the countryside.  The ending really irked me and almost ruined the whole book but it's a good read and I would still recommend it, particularly if you like WWII historical fiction but The Secret Keeper (see below) is better if you are only going to read one.   B

8. The Secret Keeper (Kate Morton).  I really like Kate Morton and I plan to read her other books this fall and winter.  Her books are clearly well-researched and always keep me guessing.  This book is really well-written and had several totally unexpected twists.  I never guessed the ending!  Highly recommend!  A-

9. The Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey). This is one of the  most beautifully written books I have ever read - haunting and creepy at times.  I felt like I was in Alaska in the 1920s - a truly unforgiving place.  The couple at the heart of the story are a truly sympathetic pair - I really was routing for them throughout. I didn't absolutely love the story because it was really bizarre at times, but the writing alone makes this book worth reading. B+

10. Language of Flowers (Vanessa Diffenbaugh). I can see why this is a bestseller and has generally great reviews.  It's the story of an orphan emancipated at 18 and her life in foster care (through her looking back) and her life after her emancipation arranging flowers based on their Victorian meanings.  I definitely enjoyed the book although it was implausible at times and I found it hard to identify with the main character - perhaps she needed more character development.  Still worth reading. B+

11.  The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett). The longest book I read this summer (over 700 pages) but also the best book I read this summer, and probably all year. Maybe last year too.  An oldie but goodie epic story of a family and other supporting characters and a cathedral built during the middle ages of England.  I knew very little about the evolution of cathedral architecture and the influence from continental Europe.  Has everything that makes books great - great story, well-developed characters, and hateful villains. If you haven't read this, you need to.

So that was my summer reading list.  I'm currently reading A Thousand Splendid Suns and I LOVE it.  Somehow this book slipped through my bookshelf when it came out (I loved the Kite Runner).

Despite a houseful of books, here's how I read all of those books...

Yup, e-books.  I bought Handy Hubby a Kindle for his birthday about 2 years ago.  He loved it.  He still reads "real books" but he loves his Kindle. Then I bought myself a Kindle at the end of last summer.  I haven't read a piece of paper since.  I'm obsessed. I borrow a lot of e-books from our local library - it could not be easier and you are really missing out if you are not borrowing e-books.  I also use the free Amazon lending library for Prime members.  I seriously love Amazon Prime and think it's worth every penny for us.  I also buy some books - particularly newer books or books not available from the library which is still quite a lot unfortunately.  If you are interested in the Kindle, we went with the cheapest model knowing that we travel, have kids, and are just generally tough on electronics.  If we lose it or break it, we'll be sad but we won't be out $200.  And here is my no-frills cover (pictured above) in case you are in the market for one.  Note: This not a sponsored post - we just love our Kindles!

Now spill... I need some more good reads!  Comment with your favorite reads from this summer or any time really!!