Monday, June 27, 2011

Whoa, hold your horses!

Okay, how many minutes since my last post and now little man is in his room punished for all the SPIT I found on his bedroom floor.  Hocking drooling loogies all over his floor.  He has been yelled at for DAYS about this ridiulous drool thing and (PS - He's 4 1/2) and UGH!!!  I don't know how to get through to him..  He says he's sorry because he thinks that's what I want to hear.  It actually grates me when he says it.  He doesn't know what it means to be sorry.  AAHHHHH> 
Unbelieveable.
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Posted by ~Wendie at 5:39 AM 1 comments

Summertime

Ahh, summer has officially begun.  School is finished.  Piles of papers from my son's desk are strewn all about.  Can't wait to throw THAT all away!!  Officially a second grader, I'm so excited for him.  I think I may be the odd mom out on this one that I am excited to see my children move forward.  My littlest one is starting pre-k and I couldn't be prouder.  Not nostalgic.  Maybe that'll change in 3 months when I drop him off in his classroom, but not now! 
The past month has completely flown by.  I have no idea where June went.  I thought we could slow down this week, but that's not happening either!  I suddenly am feeling pretty popular and that's not too shabby.  Pool party today, possibly tomorrow.  Sprinkler date on Wednesday and another pool date on Thursday (although, she doesn't have a heated pool and I'm spoiled so I won't be going in that one!!)  Then it's 4th of July weekend!! 
We have a whole weekend of family time that I am SO looking forward to.  I have planned ahead with my cake baking so it shouldn't disrupt family time.  We'll be seeing lots of friends.  Now it's another 8 days of go go go!!!  I love it!
Here's to a fun filled summer! 
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Posted by ~Wendie at 5:22 AM 0 comments

Friday, June 24, 2011

An Overdue Thank you!

I have to give a very belated shoutout to Jeannette at Crafty Hippo Designs.  She did this amazing job on  my blog design!  She was patient and kind with all my silly requests and was always in contact with me.  Jeannette, I thank you!!  http://www.craftyhippodesigns.com/


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Posted by ~Wendie at 3:02 AM 0 comments

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fantastic Connecticut Weekend

What an amazing weekend my family had!  We were afforded the opportunity to go spend the weekend in Connecticut through Family Fun Mystic.  We had the option of choosing from 4 different adventures and we found the perfect ones for us!
We started out on quite a dreary, rainy Friday morning heading out to the Orient Point Ferry on the North Fork of Long Island.  The rain was teeming at times and even at 9AM, lightning danced across the sky as we headed east.  We got up onto the ferry and found ourselves a cozy table to sit at and sat back.  On occasion, my husband did take the little guys outside, but they're not much for getting their faces wet!  The trip across the Long Island Sound was an hour and 20 minutes.  The boys handled it well for being indoors and sitting still.  They were just thrilled that they were on a boat!
When we were ready to get going to our first destination, The Dinosaur Place (www.thedinosaurplace.com) we were still a little iffy on the weather.  But, we proceeded because we knew ultimately, we wouldn't melt. 
We pulled up to a GIANT T-REX name Monty wearing a neck tie!  The boys squealed with happiness and my husband and I knew we made the right decision.  The rain actually stopped completely by the time that we had gotten there, but it was still damp and cool.  The other plus for us (and don't tell on us either) all the kids were still in school.  We had the place to ourselves!!!  It truly doesn't get any better than that!
We started off wandering around the amazing gift shop.  Every type of dino-related toy was available plus beading and gems.  It was beautiful.  The only disappointment we had was not being able to  hit the jackpot mine where you look for "fools gold".  That didn't stop us!
We headed across the parking lot to head into the mini Jurassic Park.  The gentleman in the little shop had told us to start the trail by going off to the left first.  Boy, did he give us the best advice.  To start, the hourly volcano (yes, a volcano) was about to blow!  We waited 5 minutes before the ground started to rumble and smoke started to pour out of the top.  It got louder and louder and smoke was getting thicker.  Finally it blew (water) everywhere,  which didn't matter because we had already decided that we weren't going to melt, remember that part? 
And now, the dinosaur hunt begins............



Then, this is why I truly give the admission guy KUDOS!!  I don't know if he had kids or not or maybe he was just that smart, or maybe he really did just want us to see the volcano first.  There is a HUGE playground in the park as well.  The boys went nuts - and once again, it was ALL THEIRS!!!  (spoiled rotten little boys) Did I say that out loud?
What fun we had!  There was a giant "spider web" looking thing that they spent most of their time tooling around on and admittedly, so did I!  Then there was a playset with a bone bridge, a rope bridge and probably the most fun slide that I have been on - it was all rollers so that meant SUPER SPEED!!  I went on that one A LOT! 
Yeah, everything was wet, but that's one of the reasons I packed extra underpants, right?  The other fun thing to do there that we didn't need to have open anyway was their splash pad.  That was opening on Father's Day and we were celebrating a few days earlier.  The cats around here wouldn't have been to keen on it, but, I know a lot of other kids that would have a blast there!

Then we were off to our hotel - the Marriott Springhill Suites.  We had a great room, 2 beds, a little living room and little kitchenette with a fridge and microwave.  The boys were exhausted and needed to take a break (yup, they needed to take a break).
So after resting up, we went down to the indoor pool (the only way I roll) and played around for a while to exhaust them some more  play.  It worked.  Me and the boys were passed out by 8:30.  I don't know what time hubbs passed out.  I didn't ask.  Apparently there was some wicked storm going on too........

Saturday morning, we enjoyed our free breakfast buffett and we totally took advantage of it!!  Fresh waffles, sausage, eggs, english muffins, bagels, muffins, cereal, fresh fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, juice and coffee.  Lots of coffee.
Then we were on our way to the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat www.essexsteamtrain.com.  We were really excited for this one too(until the little guy asked if it took us to the Dinosaur Place and I had to let him down easy.)  The boys had never been on a train before so when we pulled into the parking lot, they were in awe at the size of the engine (okay, so I was a little too!!) 
We went to stand in line to get our tickets and there was a conductor walking the line to move things along, prefilling orders of which tour they wanted to take.  Some people had made reservations, others were just getting there.  Here's my advice.  Get online and order your tickets in advance - especially if you want to take the riverboat.  Apparently, from the woman that I had befriended while standing on line, she was there for her third attempt at getting train and boat tickets.  The third time she got wise and bought her tickets online. 
Now, back to the conductor that was walking around.  He was moving things along finding out what each person was doing.  Some people were there just for the train ride.  Like me, others were there for the train and boat and there was a third option as well that included a hike.  The first stop off the train was a hike to a ferry with a short trip across the river to another short hike up to Gillette's Castle.  From the river, the castle looks beautiful.  (My knees thanked me for not going up that hill!!)  Definately something that I know I would have enjoyed!
So we set off on our train ride.  A lovely 1/2 hour ride, whistle blowing, slow trip up the tracks.  Locals wave at everyone on the train as we pass by. 
 When we got to the end of the line, the train goes in reverse.  First the Castle tour gets off the train.  Then we back up some more for the Riverboat.  During that stop, the train engine detaches from the front of the train and goes to the backside.  The kids loved watching that.  
We boarded our boat and grabbed some seats together.  We meandered down the river while a guide told us stories of the boatyards and the castle and the Goodspeed Opera House.  The scenery was beautiful.  The four of us went topside and enjoyed the scenes some more - we even saw a bald eagle!!  The boats, jetskis, yachts and all the beautiful scenery made for a relaxing hour long excusion.  Even the boys dealt pretty well for the length of time.  As we were docking though, they were getting ants in their pants to get back on the train!!
It was another 1/2 hour ride back to the station that we enjoyed.  And Sue, if you're reading this, you can be expecting my husband and I back for the Essex Dinner Train.  We were REALLY intrigued and thought it would make for a great date night!
Our weekend was coming to an end.  We couldn't believe how much we had accomplished in 30 hours!  Whirlwind, yes!  Full of memories, definately! 
I haven't been to Connecticut in over 10 years.  I think they are going to be seeing our faces more often - those dinosaurs haven't seen the last of my little men yet and I have a pending dinner date with my husband on a train!
Most of this trip was compensated by Family Fun Mystic, but all these opinions are my own.
http://www.familyfunmystic.com/


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Posted by ~Wendie at 12:36 PM 1 comments

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

How lucky am I?

Very!  2 blog redesigns in 1 weekend!  I get to premier everything all at once!

I must tell you about my day in NYC!!  Names may be changed, but, since I don't know how to block out faces, the innocent shall have faces only! 
Our awesome day started with meeting in the parking lot of the Ronkonkoma train station.  14 incredibly awesome women with the whole day to themselves!!  So, we got ourselves some mimosas in to go cups and boarded the train.  Since there were so many of us, we looked for a large group of seats that could face each other.  Easily done.  As we boarded the train, there were several stray passengers in the car.  Most of them left.  One poor soul did not.  He was warned.  He was a smart single guy.  He had a name.  It was.................Random Guy.  Yup.  We called him Guy.
The train to Ronkonkoma is 90 minutes to the city.  90 minutes of mimosas and Random Guy.  90 minutes on the 10:40 train to Penn Station.  That was the beginning of our day.  It was an awesome day.
What happens when 14 women walk past Macy's Herald Square?  If I have to tell you, then you're reading the wrong blog!  One of the lovely ladies just wanted a gift certificate for a party she was going to the next day.  45 minutes later, we had boobie pasties, a new shirt, a new necklace (on clearance and with a coupon), 3 Starbucks iced coffees and a gift card.  Yeah
Then it was off to the show.  We managed to find a bar before the show - you know, because they serve drinks during the show, but, why not start early - it's our day off!!  Poor bartender didn't know what hit him.
Then it was SHOW TIME!! ROCK OF AGES!!FRONT ROW SEATS!!  It was like being at a rock concert - and I caught a thong! 

Then I flirted with the guitarist a little -

Good Times!  Oh - and then I posed with the lead actor who was in his broadway debut -
What a fun show!

Then it was off to Tony's DiNapoli.  We were wearing our playbills in front of our faces so they wouldn't recognize us from last year.  (Saving the not so innocent there!)
But, all was well and we all sat down to a fantastic dinner that included a lot of seafood that I have no interest in talking about, but what I ate was:  Fried zucchini, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, penne a la vodka, chicken parmesan, chicken francese, tri-color cheese tortollini in an alfredo sauce and meatballs with sausage. - No No - I didn't get that all on one dish- Tony's is family style!  It was outrageously delicious and honestly, $60 per girl to feed 14 girls, ain't too shabby! 
After dinner we headed back to Penn Station to catch a rather early train - which is highly unusual!  We were about to board the train when we noticed - RANDOM GUY!!!
He was stuck with us for the ride home and had to listen to us carry on and laugh and sing and all sorts of good stuff - the conductor actually came by and said that we had to quiet it down.  Kill Joy.
I have to say, not to sound old, it was a wonderful day and I was so glad to be home before midnight.  Not too much before, but, long enough for me not to worry about pumpkin status!
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Posted by ~Wendie at 10:51 AM 3 comments

Saturday, June 4, 2011

From Riverhead to NYC!!

Can't wait to share tomorrow what I'm doing today.  It's GIRL'S DAY in the CITY!!  So happy to be spending the day with lots of my favorite ladies, taking in a Broadway show and having a fantastic dinner.  Wait 'til you hear the details tomorrow (if allowed, I'll post some pics too - they can get a little out of hand......)
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Posted by ~Wendie at 4:13 AM 5 comments
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