Kindergarten News!

Kayton finally got her kindergarten teacher assignment today!! Her friend Alex got his last week and we have been dying (I say we...it was really me!) to get the information. Also, I have been waiting to see whether she would get morning or afternoon. Well, her teachers name is Mrs. Sauers and she will be in A.M. kindergarten!! Her first day is August 25...just 27 days away! I will post first day of school pictures later!!

It finally happened!!!

Kayton got her ears pierced!!! She mentioned in the car today that she might be interested in getting her ears pierced. I told her to think long and hard about it because we weren't going unless she was going to go through with it.

She decided that today was the day!! We went to Claire's, filled out all the paperwork, got swabbed, marked and then they asked if she wanted one person or two. I opted for two so she wouldn't chicken out on the second lobe. She had a few tears and then was thrilled. Trey even told her how pretty she looked!!

Forest Lake

This was ALL the cousins / grandchildren at Forest Lake in Grafton, NY.
Doug's family (Rick, Cindy, Trey, Tom and Doug)
Kayton and Doug in Dinnie's new kayak.

Dinnie with all the kids.
The Harrisburg, PA Oglesby's!

Birthday Bash Weekend

My friend Jenn's birthday is July 7th. Her husband invited all of us to their house in DE for the weekend. He hired a limo to drive us to a winery for a wine tasting. We had so much fun! Here we all are at the winery (Chad, Jenn, Nevin, Suzanne, Heather, Colby, Doug and me) We went back the Jenn and Chad's house and went swimming and then went out to dinner for possibly the best meal we've had at Moro in Wilmington, DE.
Jenn and I tasting the wine.

The girls (Heather, Jenn, me and Suzanne) all went to high school together.
Dougie and me at the restaurant before dinner.

Billy Joel...or his dad?

Before the concert (Heather T., me and Brooke)
This is Heather sitting in the car seat drinking beer!
This was taken after the concert of Heather in the back...it makes me laugh because it looks like she took off her shorts! Woo hoo!!!
Here is Heather with her "coconut purse" as a bra and Max's neck rest on her head


My friend Brooke got concert tickets for Billy Joel from her AWESOME sister in law, Laura. She is an accountant that goes on tour with musicians.


Anyhoo...Brooke asked if her two favorite Heather's (Heather Tressler and me) wanted to go with her!?! Duh!!! Of course we both went. Well, it was so great! We had great seats...8th row...center...right by the stage! We even saw the governor, Ed Rendell. And, by the way...had better seats than he did!


Billy got on stage and was joking with the audience by saying "Hi, I am Billy Joel's dad. Billy couldn't be here today...he's at home brushing his hair." (If you've seen Billy Joel lately he is bald and gray).


The concert was great. He sang all the hits you know and love...ending with Piano Man (my personal fave!)

Best Zoo Ever!!!

We went to the Poconos with some friends. They have the most amazing zoo there...who knew? Here are Trey and Nathan hatching out of dinosaur eggs. The kids dug for bones and found baby dinosaurs in the sand.

This is my friend Sarah and her boys (from left...Alex, Nicholas and Nathan)
Here is Trey as a kangaroo and Kayton as a joey.

While we were at the zoo, we also fed birds. I have video of them flying all over the place. They were on my head, arms and on the kids. We also fed a giraffe, goats and sheep. We saw lions, tortoises, alligators, owls, birds, llamas and so many more animals that I can't remember!

Swimming Lessons

The kids have been going to swimming lessons a couple times a week. Mr. Mike is "amazing" at teaching small children. Kayton has bloomed into quite a fish! She is now spending lots of time under the water and jumping in. There is very little fear of the water. Trey and Kenyon are also doing great. They are both jumping into the water and going under with no problems. Thanks Mr. Mike!!!

Whirlwind Summer Plans

The last few weeks have been absolutely CRAZY. We went to the beach from Friday, June 27th (Doug's birthday #35) to Wednesday July 2. We drove home, unloaded the car and went to our friends' house (Sarah and Jim Winters) to go swimming. We got home late and went to bed.

Thursday morning the kids went to swimming lessons and then we came home and I did laundry and unpacked all of our luggage from the beach. Are you still with me? The kids and I went to run errands in the evening. My friend Sarah called while I was out and said they were thinking about going to the Poconos for the weekend and did we want to go? I called Doug right away and we decided we were in!! Why not?

I went home and repacked what I just UNpacked!! We left around 7:30p.m. and got to their cabin around 9:30p.m. The kids were sleeping, so we set up beds and the adults had some "coo coo juice" and sat in the hot tub .

Friday July 4th was a great day! Sarah and I took our kids (6 total) and went to Claws and Paws which is the zoo in the Poconos and in my opinion the best zoo hands down. The guys went golfing with the understanding that Sarah and I get some time without kids later.

We finished at the zoo (pictures to follow) and found a pizza place for lunch. We drove back the cabin and 5 out of the 6 kids fell asleep. (Kayton was the non sleeper). The guys took over kid duty and Sarah and I went Horseback riding.

We had a great time with the horses...we walked the trails and trotted and ran. Our legs were so sore the next day!! After that we had dinner with everyone. The next morning we packed up and were on our way home.

We had a pool party to attend Saturday afternoon. We went to the party and then went to watch fireworks in our development. Then Kayton and I went to our neighbors house for s'mores.

Then, Sunday we went back to Sarah and Jim's house for a cookout and swimming.

All in all we had a GREAT time! We were so busy. By the time Monday rolled around I needed a vacation from our vacation!!

Kenyon and Tessa ~ Bathing beauties at the reunion

You could not keep these two out of the water...their clothes were soaked, so we just took them off and let them do their thing!!

Hamilton Family Reunion

This is Jeri and my mom at our family reunion. They were watching Kenyon and Tessa playing in the baby pool. Everyone around them got soaked.
This is my cousin Leigh and her husband Brian. They live in Allentown. Leigh is the closest cousin in age to me...we grew up together, so it's great to see her!!!
I was practicing my skill at taking pictures of myself with Ashley and I suck at it!!
Ashley is the master of these photos and hers were much better than mine as you can see!! (I, by the way am NOT topless...though it certainly looks that way!!)
Ashley had something in her teeth and took this great photo to find the culprit!!

Kayton's Preschool Graduation

Kayton graduated from her "TK" (Transitional Kindergarten) class. This is her class and her teachers. They are all dressed in their caps and gowns. They got to keep the tassels from their caps.
Here we are after the ceremony. She was so proud and got flowers from mommy and daddy and Gammy and Pop.
Kayton with Gammy and Pop agter the ceremony.
These are Kayton's teachers. Mrs. Gallagher is on the left and Mrs. Sadlock in on the right.

Trey had his end of school program and sang some songs. Here he is with his class. The little girl to his right (and slightly behind him) is his girlfriend Andi.

The class did the "Hungry Little Caterpillar" and each kid was a kind of food. Trey was Salami...it makes me laugh whenever I see this! Ha!!

I just liked this picture...

That crazy hair and amazing blue eyes...it's Kenyon in a nutshell.

Can we go for a ride on your bike?

Kayton has school every day...this means that there are days that I only have two kids with me. Trey and Kenyon are always asking for a bike ride and this day I took them for a spin. We went all over the neighborhood and ended up at the "blue park" (named for the blue swings and slide). Needless to say, they had a GREAT time and I was EXHAUSTED!!!

It's official...I'm a soccer mom!

Kayton played soccer this Spring. She had a great time playing. Her team was the "Gold Lemons". There were six girls on the team and all were first time players. She even scored three goals during her season...she liked it so much that she wants to play again in the fall. Stay tuned for Fall soccer updates!!

I'm sorry that I have been so negligent :-(

The reason that I started this blog was because I am really bad about remembering to take my camera and then sending pictures to people when I do remember. Well, I fell back into old habits and I am terribly sorry! I got yelled at by fellow bloggers that they were sick of my stale blog site and I needed to update immediately!!!

Well, I am writing this now and will work on my site and get my act in gear!!! Check back soon!