Madison Turns Double Digits!

Maddy had a double celebration for turning double digits! She spent the day itself with Auntie Gail and had a great time doing crafts, going to the movies and shopping. In the evening we all went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and then back home to eat another of Aunt Jen's fabulous cake creations. Despite the fact that we are still kitchen-less, it tasted just as good off paper plates! On the Saturday we had her party at Family Extreme Adventures - the new laser tag place. We all had a lot of fun! Thank you to everyone for making Maddy's birthday so very special - we love you!

Macaroni nCheese...I mean Grill...

Maddy and Gay...

Me and my baby...

My baby with her Hannah Montana tickets!

Jen's cake and opening gifts with Mya...

The laser tag crew...

Maddy's "Big Cat Rescue" cake...you can't have too many...

Taking it easy the next day at the beach with Mya!That night...

Happy Independence Day

Here's Mike and Maddy with their "Flicker" box of fireworks. An upgrade from previous years as you can tell from Maddy's yelling :)

Boston and the Cape

Boston was everything I was told it would be and more! We had a really busy but amazing time. It was rainy for the first few days and we were probably the only people there who were happy about that after leaving Tampa:)
We headed out to the Cheers bar as soon as we arrived. Turns out that although the outside and entryway is the actual one on the show, the interior is completely different and this location was only the inspiration for the show. For a whole hour we sat and watched countless tourists walking in and being visibly disappointed once they got inside which was hilarious to watch! When we asked the 20-some year old waiter why they don't make the inside look like on the show he told us that "Cheers has been off the air for 17 years now." Are we really that old!?
So here it is - the bar where, turns out, "everybody doesn't know your name"...:)
Here's Maddy driving the DC Duck Tours boat. Our guide was absolutely hilarious - we laughed the whole time!Everything is so accessible in Boston once you are in the city. Here's Maddy at the Boston Common (the oldest park in the country). You can see the high rises in the background. Here's Maddy at the Children's museum...
We finished our Boston experience at the Wang Theatre to see 'The Color Purple' with LaToya London and that woman from "I'm a Celebrity..." The theatre itself was gorgeous and it was such a fantastic show - much closer to the book than the movie. I totally loved it.

On Thursday we drove up to Cape Cod and met up with Scott and the kids. Here's Dylan and Maddy "off the hook"...

After a few days we drove up to Provincetown (or P-Town) which is where the Pilgrims first arrived on American soil prior to sailing across to Plymouth. It is a great place for art, shopping, whale-watching and festivals. Provincetown is also the best-known gay summer resort on the East Coast and we arrived just as the "Portugese Pride" festival parade was about to take place...

Mike's feeling the P-Town vibe...

We got on a boat for the whale watching tour and saw about 50 humpback whales. You can see just how close we were. It was totally amazing. A must-do if you are ever up that way!

A group of whales 'flipper slapping'...

The kids going nuts

Dylan!

Scott and Jayden...Mike and me!

The kids back in P-Town...

Life is Good!

I went to a presentation in Boston by the CEO of "Life is Good" - a company who retail clothes promoting optimism! It was absolutely amazing. Here's me getting my books signed by Burt Jacobs...