power outage

Hurricane Irene came through our area this past Saturday and early Sunday.

The wind and rain wasn't as bad as we were expecting.

Though, we did lose power around 2 am Sunday.

When we called to report the outage, we were told it may take up to a week to restore!

We stayed home Sunday, and dealt with no power.

Aaron and I decided we should think about planning for a week without power, just in case.

On Monday, Aaron went to work while Riley and I drove to MD to stay with my parents.

Aaron can sleep at work (worst case scenerio) and at least then he could keep a watch on the house (our cat) and every day check to see if we have power.  We had a plan!

Sure enough, shortly after I leave Monday afternoon our power came back on!

Aaron found out that night after getting home from work.

Because I drove to MD, I wasn't in any rush to drive right back. 

So Riley and I enjoyed a lovely visit with my parents for a night!

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those that are still dealing with the after effects of Hurricane Irene.

Mom and I took Riley for a walk/run.
We got to see cows!

Huge garden spider in my parents' kitchen window

Hard to see...but it's on the right
It takes up a good portion of that window pane - just to show you his size!
GROSS.

Grandma P and Riley blowing bubbles

Riley enjoyed sticking her hand in the bubbles

I was bored with bubbles,
so went to take some pics of the butterflies.

Riley smelling the flowers.

Riley loved this garden bunny.
She always hugged it (as she's starting to do in this pic)
and would say "bye bye" to it when we walked past.

visit with Grandma Pat

Last week my mom came to stay an overnight with Riley and I. 

Aaron was out of town for work.

It was nice having mother-daughter time together.

I know that Riley enjoyed the visit very much too.

Thanks again, Mom!

Riley's first visit to Bertucci's (a family favorite)
She loved playing with the dough that they give kids!

Grandma was helping her use her imagination with the dough :)
They made all kinds of animals and things with it!

She even got to color some.

 

Me and Riley
Walking at Smithville Park the next morning.

We let the wild girl free to explore and run around.

Riley even got to play at the playground some...
before having a huge tantrum!

Grandma Pat and Riley

Riley started getting really sleepy,
which explains the tantrum she had earlier.

Poor girl, ha ha -
Lucky for her this was at the end of our hike.

Later that night.
Grandma P reading to Riley.

random silly pics

Here are some pictures taken of Riley last week.

Riley got this bucket stuck on her

she kept trying to figure out how to get it off!

so funny to watch her.

pretty girl - trying to pull her pigtails out!!

view of pigtails from behind...
she did end up taking her elastics out this day.

It's getting harder to take pictures of her sitting still!!

space cadet

"Hello, Earthlings!"

Emillie's Birthday

Emillie is officially 14 years old!

We celebrated her birthday this past weekend when we had the girls over.

Emillie said she got her new cell phone as her big present.  She didn't have it yet though, as it was arriving in the mail the day after we had them.  I'm guessing that as I sit and write this, Emillie - somewhere, is texting on her new cell!

It's our tradition to take the girls to a restaurant of their choice on their birthday, and they pick what "treat" they want. 

I love baking and have not once baked for the girls on their birthday!  Can you believe it?!  Usually they just order a dessert when we're out.  We don't eat out often (since Riley's been born) so it really is a treat for all of us.  Besides the girls get to have two celebrations every birthday (one with their mom's side and one with us).  They get a cake (or something of the like) with their mom.

Emillie picked the Chinese buffet near us and Rita's (Italian ice) as her "treat."

We had a nice day together, as always. 

Emillie said she had a good birthday.  She kept saying, "I keep forgetting I'm 14!" the day we had them.  It was cute.  I remember that feeling too.  There is so much anticipation for a birthday, and then you just feel the same when it comes.  You have to keep telling yourself your new age, because it's easy to forget!  Haha.

Here are some pictures of our fun day...

Indoors and Out...

 

 

  

Restaurant

Rita's & the mall

Gifts

Happy Birthday, Emillie!