Fabulous Fourth

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays! I love everything about it - the summer weather, the food, flags, fireworks... This year we were able to get together with some friends for a barbecue and then we went to Waveny Park in New Canaan to watch fireworks. I wasn't sure how Nora or Daniel were going to react but - Nora actually slept through the fireworks and even though Daniel was extremely tired- he loved it!

I had to make a flag cake. My sisters usually make them so this was my first year making one but I think it turned out great. It tasted yummy!

Daniel ready to walk through the park to see fireworks.

Watching fireworks

Newport, RI

This weekend we went to Newport, Rhode Island. It was a great town and the scenery was gorgeous! We toured two of the mansions which was so interesting. I can't wait to go back and see more.

The Breakers: The Vanderbilt's "summer cottage"

The Breakers

View from The Breakers balcony

The Elms

The Elms

Gardens at The Elms

We walked along The Cliff Walk for a while - which is a path that goes beside the water and in front of a lot of the mansions.

We went to the beach while we were there. Nora tried to eat the sand.

It was pretty foggy but still nice.

Book Worm

I just thought this was such a cute picture. My friend Joni came to visit a few weekends ago and snapped this picture of Nora standing in front of the bookcase in her room.

Anniversary

It's hard for me to believe that Shannon and I met 10 years ago this August and were married 6 years ago this past Saturday on June 27, 2003. Time flies! I feel like a very lucky gal.

Father's Day

Father's Day we enjoyed church, spending time together as a family, and yummy food. It was a relaxing day. We really appreciate all Shannon does for our family. He is a wonderful dad and we love him very much!

Shannon wearing his gift from Nora and Daniel: A t-shirt with their hand prints and foot prints on it. My sister Kathryn gave us the idea. Daniel loved making it although it was a little tricky getting Nora's prints.
Another thing I love about Shannon: He wore it proudly.

For our Father's Day dinner I made: chili rubbed skirt steak with a spicy cilantro salsa and loaded mashed potatoes (mashed baby red potatoes with crumbled bacon, cheese, and green onions).

More steak ...just so I can drool over it again later.

Shannon prefers fruit desserts. He would pick some fresh fruit over a cake or cookies most of the time - he's so much healthier than me! So, I made this fruit salad...and then...

This was the final product. Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream. I put a dollop of the mixture I use for cannoli filling (marscapone, ricotta, powdered sugar, and freshly grated nutmeg) on top of the fruit and it was really, really yummy together. A couple of almond cookies can't hurt either.

Pirate Tea Party

Yesterday, Daniel's cousins who live in Kentucky were having a Princess Tea Party, so Daniel and I decided to have a Pirate Tea Party (Thanks for the inspiration Em). He got all dressed up in his pirate gear and even gave Nora a bandanna to wear. We threw together some snacks (tiny round pb&j sandwiches, squares of cheese, and some slices of green peppers) and used some marshmallow roasting sticks to spear our food instead of forks. We decided a pirate wouldn't use a fork...

Drinking big gulps. He makes a good pirate.

Pirate Nora

Spearing his food.

Success!

Saturday in NYC

This Saturday we went into the city to go to the American Museum of Natural History. Daniel has been asking to go back for a while. It was a beautiful day. The weather was gorgeous! Fun was had by all.

Famous NYC bagels: H & H Bagels - yumm

I love grocery shopping, little markets etc. so I had to pop into ZABAR'S. Shannon humors me.

Nora taking a nap

Perfect finish to the day:

GROM a wonderful gelato place on the upper west side. I had to have a moment of silence it was so good. I got the chance to go to Italy with my dad when I was in college and I think I ate gelato at least twice a day while I was there. I couldn't get enough of it. Some of my favorite flavors were hazelnut, pistachio, and lemon so that's we tried at GROM. It took me right back to Italy.

Nora was a fan.

Rainy Days

We've had several rainy days lately. One afternoon while it was raining and Nora was taking a nap - Daniel and I went out on the front porch and ate a snack, watched it rain, and played the car game. The car game was a game my sister's and I used to play when we were little. We would say - the next car that comes by is your first car, or the next car that comes by is the car you're going to drive when you have a family etc. Then we'd wait till a car drove in front of our house and it would usually give us something to laugh about. Growing up in North Carolina -on our street anyway - the car selection was always entertaining. It could range anywhere from a tractor to some low-rider thing with a huge muffler that you could hear coming from a mile away. Daniel's decided it's a pretty fun game however, it's not the same playing it here. The car selection isn't nearly as entertaining.

Playing the car game.

This is what happens when I try to get a picture of us.

Another rainy day: Curled up on his toy chest watching the rain.

Kent Falls

This past Saturday we drove to Kent, CT to see Kent Falls. It was a perfect day trip. We took a picnic lunch and then hiked up to the top of the falls. It's only 1/4 of a mile so it was really easy for Daniel. It was beautiful and he splashed around in the water when we were done.

Kent Falls: (Note the shirtless old guy in the picture with the sombrero - nice touch eh?)

Ready to start the hike.

Splashing Around


The town of Kent was really cute. We stopped at this little chocolate shop for some homemade ice cream before we headed home. The banana ice cream was really good!