Evangola State Park

 After an early Sunday morning mass (8:00 a.m. with the three kids mind you) we headed towards the South of Buffalo to check out Evangola State Park, which is right along Lake Erie. Upon arriving we recalled that we had been here once before prior to having all three boys. It was a perfect day...

 We had to check out the playground.

This little man enjoyed walking everywhere.

 The sand was a huge hit! Seeing a "beach" was on our summer to do list.

 Cheese!

 Making a sandcastle.

 It was a very windy day. I didn't take any pictures of the boys in the water, but they all enjoyed going in and swimming.  They loved jumping over the waves and going out with Daddy a little ways off the shore.

 Flying the bee kite.

 Each week this summer we've been having a letter of the week theme. This week was "Ii week." The boys made an insect habitat. We also talked about islands, being an individual and of course ice cream!

I froze ice in different shape containers so the boys could make ice sculptors.

 This activity quickly turned into ice bashing and ice eating!

Just some "light" before bed reading.

The joys of summer!

  This has been a FUN summer! The boys are at perfect ages where they just want to explore, play and read books day after day.  To them the world is a beautiful place, in which they have nothing better to do then laugh and live freely. I wish in some ways they could keep this innocence forever. The above picture is Jay and Theo getting ready to watch Williamsville's Old Home Days Parade.

It was a hot night, but the boys enjoyed the fire trucks, free lollipops and hanging out with Maya from Jacob's preschool class

. We parked rather far away and it was quite the adventure dragging everyone and our chairs back to the car after all the excitement.

 Another morning we headed to Greg's U-Pick for some awesome blueberries! We picked berries with a fellow resident's wife who also has three boys.

 Jacob very meticulously picked about 2 lbs worth of berries. Raphael on the other hand would pull off entire branches of berries. 

 Just happy to be enjoying the morning!

Enjoying an indoor picnic.

Jacob joined the Little Champs soccer league. It is precious watching these three and four year olds chase after the ball and forget which goal is for their team.

Here is Theo cheering on the red team.

Raphael was pretty upset that he is not yet on a soccer team. He proceeded to watch the game from afar in his own chair and on his own terms.

Jacob has very proudly been telling everyone that he has already made four goals in two weeks.  We're trying to teach him not to brag....

Rosario, Raphael and Jacob hanging out at Delaware Park. We've known Rosario's parents since before Jacob was born.  They are a great family and our children get along well together.

Marisol, our god-daughter, who just turned one. Isn't she beautiful?!

This is a dark picture, but our 81 year old neighbor John came over for dinner the other night. I think he was probably grateful to go back to his quiet home after spending an hour with us!

Some days the boys find entertainment in the silliest things, such as removing every single food item in the pantry. 

The 4th of July and Forest Lawn

 This 4th of July we have been thinking alot about our freedom.  It is so easy to take freedom for granted, but due to the current state of our political climate, here in the United States, we are realizing that we need to fight for our freedoms! We made the above 4th of July decoration out of colored rice.

 Here is another fun banner that we made for our dining room. 

 Here is our attempt at a picture of all three boys. Theo would have nothing to do with it!

 Jacob and Raphael were a little more cooperative.

 In the afternoon the boys put on their swimming trunks and hung out by the pool and played a little of the all-American past time.

 Theo is walking everywhere! He's unstoppable.

 Here is a picture of the lavendar and blanket flower.  Our garden is in dire need of rain!

The zinnias are finally starting to bloom!

 We had a delicious meal of scallops, corn on the cob, tomato basil salad and garlic bread (thanks Jay)!

 This was for dessert!

 On Sunday we headed to Forest Lawn cemetery for "muster in the meadow," a Civil War extravaganza of sorts.

Jay enjoyed talking with one of the volunteers about how wounds were treated during the Civil War. I love history!

Our neighbor, Miss Nance, was working at the event and enjoyed taking Jacob around. As soon as Raphael heard one of the guns go off he wanted to leave. 

 Nancy took this cute picture of Jacob and the one of Theo below.

Playing the Civil War drum!

A volunteer is showing how the blacksmiths played a role in the Civil War. 

 Forest Lawn is an incredible cemetery.  It is gorgeous and perfect for an afternoon stroll.

 Just relaxing at the cemetery (all we need is a t.v.....)

We gave Theo his first official hair cut! He is growing up too fast.....sigh!

A day with Uncle Mike and Aunt Pam

 Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike live only about an hour away in Webster, NY. We hadn't seen them in quite a while and they had yet to meet Theo, so we spent an afternoon at their lovely home.  And boy were the boys spoiled!

 We had a wonderful lunch of grilled chicken, salad, fresh fruit and all you could drink juice and water (oh and beer for the grown-ups). 

 Since it was a hot day the boys and Uncle Mike put on the swim suits and played in this cool contraption that Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike bought for the boys.  There was also plenty of bubbles and chalk!

 After playing outside everyone came inside to watch some Donald Duck. Uncle Mike does the best Donald Duck interpretations. 

To top the day off we enjoyed ice cream sundaes complete with gummy worms, cookies and chocolate sauce.  We had a wonderful time and hope we can get together again soon.  We sure do love being with family!