Maddy Turns Seven!

Maddy turned seven on Thursday! Jen, Rich and Mya came over on the day itself and we had a cake at home and opened gifts that we had received from England. We had a great night and the girls finished up with the 'Cha Cha slide'!
On Saturday, we had Maddy's Cosmic Bowling party. Ten minutes before we got started Michael caught his finger in part of the alley and had a nasty cut on his finger. He braved out the party and self medicated with some Budweiser until we could take a proper look and get him bandaged up. Fortunately, it's healing up now!
Maddy had lots of toys and loved the party (including more Cha Cha slides). Thank you to all of our wonderful family and friends for making it such a special day for her!

Thursday night with Jen, Rich and Mya...

Cake number one...

Bowling fun on Saturday...



Michael putting a brave face on...

The injury...
"Happy Birthday to you!"
Blowing out the candles...

Maddy and the gifts...

Maddy's Lost Her Tooth!

Such a big girl......

New Jersey and New York Vacation

We had the most fantastic vacation in New Jersey and New York last week!
We arrived on Saturday at our beach home for the week right next door to Scott and Trish's house. No A/C and not very clean (Scott’s was a lot better) but a great location just a couple of blocks from the beach.

Our place... We met up with Scott, Trish, Jayden and Dylan and Steve, Kate, Pia, Tom, Beth and James, Kerrianne and went for dinner at the Crab’s Claw on the first night. Scott and Michael went down to Steve’s crew’s three-story luxurious beach house while Trish and I caught up on some gossip. After multiple noise complaints from the neighbors, Michael rolled on back home to recharge his batteries for the rest of the week.
In the morning, we discovered that we had been infested with ants overnight which was no fun. Greg and Lynda arrived and kindly brought New Jersey tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, a huge box of fruit and a kite and boogy board for Maddy. It really made our day and it was great to catch up with them. Trish had prepared crafts for the kids (painting shells, making July 4th T-Shirts and doll-making) which kept them busy for the whole week. We spent some time on the beach with the new boogy board and arranged for the whole crew to meet up and our houses later that night.
We had amazing thunder storms all night but still managed to grill out. The kids played with the live lobster for a while and then had a camp out and watched ‘Shark Boy and Lava Girl’ while the adults got down to more serious partying and poker. It was a crazy night. Steve got a call during the party that their house had been struck by lightning and got home to a note from the police and a big hole in the room at the top of the house.

Steve and Katie...
Scott and Trish...Beth and Kerrianne...Tom and Pia...Michael and me...
Greg and Lynda...
Maddy, Dylan, Jayden and James camping out...
Maddy and Jayden...
The Poker crew...
Greg, Mike and Steve hanging out...The lightning damage...
The next day Trish and I went shopping while the boys spent more time on the beach. In the evening we flew kites on the beach which was packed with kids doing the same thing. The kids gave up pretty quickly, but the adults looked like they had more fun when they took over anyway. We all went back to Steve’s place to watch the fireworks from the balcony. It was amazing, particularly considering it wasn’t the 4th until the next day!
Steve and Scott having a blast with the kites and Tom sulking because he hasn't has a turn yet...
Check out the magic in Scott's eyes and the children behind him....
The following morning we got up and went crabbing with the kids. The kids caught about 20 Jersey blue claw crabs but we let them go after we were done. The kids loved it. In the evening we went over to Steve’s and hit the beach for the Independence Day fireworks. They were totally amazing – I have never seen so many in my life! We lay out on blankets for a couple of hours just watching the sky.
Jayden, James and Maddy with their catch...
Maddy with the bucket of crabs (there are about 20 in there!)... One of the many decorated homes on the shore for the 4th...We woke up to rain in the morning and everyone started to leave to get back to work. We made our plans to meet again the following year and said our goodbyes. Michael beat Maddy and me at Mini Golf (Maddy got two holes in one and I came in last) and we got an early night having moved to Scott and Trish’s upscale place to get ready for the Big City in the morning.
We left for New York (about an hour away) in the morning and started at Ground Zero since neither of us had been there since 9/11. There’s very little there by way of a formal memorial – just some boards explaining the time line on the day and a list of all of the names of the victims. The cross made of girders is striking and the children’s artwork in the subway station is heartbreaking. It’s unbelievable what a massive hole there is in the city now – it’s a very powerful place to visit.We had promised Maddy that we would visit some of the places from the movie ‘Elf’ so we went to the top of the Empire State Building and stopped at Rockefeller Center for a drink. We also took the Circle Line boat tour to the Statue of Liberty, something I’ve always wanted to see up close. It was beautiful and we got a great tour of the city from the water.


Michael and Madison on 42nd St....Me and Maddy on the Circle Line...Madison at Rockefeller...

Friday was a quiet day on the beach topping up our sun tan and winding down.
All in all we had the most amazing family holiday – action-packed, great weather, and amazing friends…until next year…