13 years old!

this month our fur baby turns 13 years old.  i can't believe he was so tiny when we first brought him home.

happy birthday to the craziest cat i have ever know.  here's to lots of kisses, cuddles, and tuna!

love, laurie

dad's shirt

noah insisted on putting on ryan's shirt recently and then carried his baby wipe container around the house.  we couldn't stop laughing at him.  he looked like a little alter boy in training.

love, laurie

tiny theatre technician

this guy really likes to help us prep for shows in the theatre.  he does lighting, he does audio, he does it all!

he really likes pressing buttons!

love, laurie

patriot day

we had the opportunity to visit ground zero eight years ago in september, just after the 12th anniversary of 9/11 and it was a moving experience.  the waterfalls and the reflecting pools that sit within the footprints of where the twin towers once stood are a lovely tribute, and the freedom tower is quite a sight to behold.  our thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who lost a loved one on this day 23 years ago.

love, laurie

roba family farms

noah loves going to lakeland orchard to play!  we were all very excited to use our season passes at the season passholder sneak peak at robas last week before they opened for the season.  

noah loved exploring the farm, seeing the animals, and riding the rides.  the first festival of the season is dino fest and he enjoyed checking out the incredible live size animatronic dinosaurs at the farm!

love, laurie

tiny general contractor

work is chugging along on grandma and grandpa's new house.  general contractor noah had to stop by recently to check on the progress and he brought his toy drill with him to tighten up some screws!

love, laurie

la festa italiana 2024

i've mentioned numerous times that my favorite end-of-summer tradition is visiting our local italian festival over labor day weekend.  it's especially important to us since it's where we went on our very first date back in 2004.  i can't believe this year is 20 years since we first went together! 

noah was really into it.  he loved tasting everything, sight seeing, and dancing to the live music!  we made multiple trips to make the most of our favorite festival.  on friday, while we were sitting at a table eating, ryan spotted a four-leaf clover next to his chair.  he then proceeded to find a total of 9 four-leaf clovers and 1 five-leaf clover!  unreal.

let the countdown begin for next year's festival!

love, laurie

. . .

previous trips to the italian festival: 

2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

thinking about somewhere tropical

i can't travel anywhere tropical, but i can think of a tropical location every time i walk out on my back deck and see these gorgeous flowers!

love, laurie

choo choo - here comes conductor noah!

my co-worker gave noah this cute pop-up thomas the train tent for his birthday.  he has really been enjoying playing in it.  i found a conductor hat in my dance costume bin in the basement from back when i tap danced to the polar express.  it was a kid's size so it fits him nicely.  he keeps saying "foo foo" for his choo choo!

love, laurie

2 cute!

noah's actual birthday fell on a wednesday this year.  we kept it pretty low key at home because ryan had some meetings at work and we had noah's big party planned for the weekend.

we had been saying that we really wanted to get lunch from henry's on clay because that's where we went to eat the day before noah was born, but we didn't have a chance to go, so ryan brought home take-out for lunch between meetings.  we had our favorite sandwiches from there and then stuck a 2 candle in a cupcake for the birthday boy.  (it was a blueberry waffle cupcake and he really enjoyed it.)

love, laurie

happy labor day

i'm sad to see summer go, but i always do enjoy the fall.  

i won't miss the insane heat and humidity we had this summer!  

slightly cooler temps are welcome!

happy labor day!

love, laurie