2 DAYS!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!


here i am in beautiful upstate new york, hanging out with the family & loving the sunshine & celebrating the birth of our great country :)

its been great being back on the east coast- flew out with jen on june 18th to new jersey and spent a few days with mom and getting everything ready to take up to the country. once we got to the country we ot everything unpacked and were just able to relax in the fresh air. one day we went into oneonta to wal-mart and spent most of the day buying supplies for the country house. then another day we took a drive to one of the finger lakes and was able to have a picnic. then another day we had a lovely lunch with some family in new berlin.

we then left the country for nashua, nh to visit the macgregors. had a great day picking strawberries and seeing kung fu panda. ate great food (my favorite, steak & salad!) with great company. i hadn't seen them since dec. so it was great to spend time with everyone.



we then headed to hingham to visit grandma & grandpa joe & the connors family. we had an exciting time seeing all of them- spent a nice afternoon with the grandparents and then had a great time in Boston going to the aquarium and seeing the african penguins!, watching different street performs in faneuil hall, and taking the trolley tour around boston! i even met a south african family while on the trolley who taught me how to say "please" and "thank you" in Afrikaans!




we spent a day in newport, rhode island with aunt eileen- had a great a lunch by the harbor and then spent some time shopping and then driving around to see the mansions. it was a beautiful day out & it was great to be by the water.



we left early on thurs. morning to pick up dad at Albany airport & then drove to the country house. later on the 3rd uncle fran, aunt liz, tyler, connor, and riley arrived and we ended the night playing monopoly.... sad to say aunt liz dominated all of us. tyler went out first, then me, then jen... it was a slow painful death



the 4th has been great. got up and ran about 5 miles into town with uncle chris, josh, zach, dad and jen and then came back to relax for the rest of the afternoon. aunt jen and i took riley, connor, tyler and taylor to the creek later on and had a good time being out in the sun. boy, has the creek changed since i was a young girl. its def. not the same, young & lively creek as it once was. but it is still a great place and it'll always bring back memories of my childhood summers spent here during fair week. at around 4ish we started getting the cookout going & had a lovely little dinner together around the picnic table. then we hung out a bit before dessert and the bonfire/s'mores making. while we were making s'mores we brought out the fireworks and had fun with that. we ended the night by a competitive game of "irishopoly" in which we declared uncle chris the winner... after making it to midnight we called it off... i proudly state that i came in a "close" second... ha ha .

overall it was a fun, relaxing day & it was great to see everyone. we missed all the family that wasn't there & i look forward to our next family reunion!

well it's getting late and tomorrow dad leaves to go back to san diego...weird to think that i probably won't see him until the spring :( ... mom, jen and i leave to head back to new jersey... gotta get everything together in order to leave on sunday night... i really can't believe it is here.... I'M GOING TO AFRICA SO SOON!!!!

until next time, love love love!