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Happy Birthday to my California Cousin

Posted on September 27, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up, I still remember the summers that my cousins MC and DN would come from California to stay and visit us in New York.

They would stay a block away at my Nana and Papa’s house. Over the years, MC and I became closer. (I grew up and stopped being a complete brat). I recall polishing Nana’s bracelets together, knitting, swimming, having cherry pit spitting contests and more. We sent snail mails to each other like pen pals (dinosaur days before e-mail). I still remember my first cross county trip to her Bat Mitzvah. It was an adventure that included sleeping in O’Haire International Airport in Chicago on the floor on the way back home.

We saw a lot of the San Francisco area and beyond while spending time praying for our lives in a rental van. (Above: Back row Moi and MC. Front row DN and my little brother). We were quite the mix during that trip. Here is another photo of our Nana, MC, me and my brother when we went to see a robotic dinosaur exhibit at Berkley. This was long before the days of Walking With Dinosaurs.

When TechyDad and I were planning a trip to Las Vegas as a last hurrah before starting our family, MC and her parents met us there for a few days. The three of us had a blast walking around and seeing the sites. We explored all of the resorts that were featuring the Cows on Parade. Then, one night, we went to see an old style Vegas show. We had no clue it was going to be topless. Rather than be uncomfortable, the three of us sat there and made up a game. The "R" and "F" game. You know… R = Real or F = Fake. I kid you not, the three of us played this game for quite some time and had a blast. Must locate some of the photos from that trip – NOT that show!

Today is Cousin MC’s birthday and I wish I could be there to give her a hug in person. We do not see each other in person nearly enough. Still, my boys talk about Cousin MC and her hubby BP. They remember seeing them in the snow storm when they visitied over a year ago. MC is also one of the people that inspired me to start my own blog. She had a blog that she wrote on regularly. My cousin has quite the talent for the written word. So, today, I wanted to thank her for being my California Cuz and being such a special person in my life. I miss you and hope to see you for an extended time again soon.

Love,

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Driving the boat

Posted on September 5, 2010 10:46 pm by TheAngelForever

Today, the kids were so thrilled. Uncle M took a bunch of us back out on the lake to try for another ride without rain. You see, while we were just starting out on Saturday it started to rain pretty bad. Each of the kids had one thing in mind, they were excited to be able to drive the boat with Uncle M. This is now a tradition and the kids look forward to it. Each of the kids were able to go behind the wheel with Uncle M twice.

NHL started off. At first, he drove in figure eights. Then, after a while, he figured out how to maneuver the boat around to go in the wake to hit some big waves.

Next up was cousin SG. She was a little timid the first time. When she tried again, she was quite into doing donuts on the water. Yes, we went round and round in circles. When she finally stopped, she was intrigued by the shore.

When it was time for JSL to drive, he was so quiet. He was thrilled to sit with Uncle M and kept going int a straight path. It was really nice and calm – no fear of getting sea sick with him as the captain.

Thank you again to Uncle M for making some very happy little skippers on the lake today. These are definitely memories that we will all treasure.

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Some views of the Altamont Fair

Posted on August 25, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

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A cherry picking family record

Posted on July 12, 2010 8:51 pm by TheAngelForever

If you have never been cherry picking, I urge you to go. Even if you are not a fan of cherries, the experience is well worth it. Two years ago, we went cherry picking with my brother and his family. When we tried to go last year, it did not work out. The crop was late and we were out of luck. This year, we watched carefully and planned the weekend to go.

Two years ago, we had four adults, an almost five year old, just one year old and 10 month old with us. This time we had six adults (Nana and Papa joined us), an almost seven year old, just three year old, almost three year old and four and a half month old. Having two extra adults was a blessing. This year, we went to a new pick your own cherry location called Singer Farms. Our first impression was not the best thanks to too many people swarming and too little parking. After we got over trying to find a spot in weeds that were taller than our little car, we got situated. JSL was sleeping after the pre-cherry picking fiasco and so was the baby. Everyone else went over to get buckets to collect cherries.

When we got to the orchard, it was amazing. The trees were overloaded with tons of cherries. For as far as the eye could see, there were trees filled with different types of cherries. We stuck with the sweet cherries. As we were getting settled, JSL woke up and joined the picking crew. Nana helped the little kids some, but was also in charge of pushing sleeping BA around in his stroller.

The cherries were absolutely amazing. Each time we were ready to stop, more sucked us in. It was like ADD of the cherry kind "Oh look . . . pretty cherry!" Finally, after just under an hour, we decided that we had more than enough to feed all of us and many others. We carried our precious cargo back to get weighed so we could pay for them.

We mainly picked two kinds of sweet cherries. One was similar to a bing (or may have been) and the other looked like a rainer cherry. Those were definitely a fan favorite. They have a yellow hue to them and when you bite inside the flesh is light colored. The interesting part, they taste like a peach – without the annoying fuzz outside.

If you read my Tweets from our adventure, you know how many pounds we had. If not, what do you think?

I will end the suspense. We picked 33 pounds of cherry goodness. That beat our record of just over 22 pounds! We ate a lot of them Saturday throughout the day and Sunday morning. Then, we divided them up. We took about half of them home to share with others. Tonight, when the kids are in bed, there is a bowl of cherries with my name on it!

Thank you to Uncle I, Aunt M, Nana, Papa, SG and my boys for a wonderful experience with my extended family.

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Cousins, museum, cherries, pirates and more

Posted on July 11, 2010 11:11 pm by TheAngelForever

This weekend, I was a little busy. Thursday night, we went to visit my brother and his family out in western NY. We arrived rather late that night and my niece SG was sleeping. Thanks to this, the kids saw her at breakfast the next morning. Here, they bonded over cereal while we planned what to do on the rainy day since cherry picking was out.

We eventually made our way to the Buffalo Museum of Science. They had a new dinosaur exhibit that we thought the kids would love. Here is a preview of our time there:

When we got home, it was time for Uncle I to go to work for a little while. The kids played and even baby BA enjoyed tummy time fun with a little help from the bigger kids.

Saturday morning, Nana and Papa came to join us. As we started our journey to the cherry picking place, we had to stop and go back home. JSL decided to add some fun and excitement to the day. He was drinking water, started to gag – and well let’s just say he needed a change of clothing. We made our way to the cherry orchard and all you could see were trees chock full of cherries of all kinds. They were gorgeous. Before we knew it, we had picked a LOT of cherries. More about that coming soon. Here are a few photos of the cherry picking group and our delicious finds.

After this, we wandered at a Pirate Festival by Lake Ontario.

The views were gorgeous and the kids even enjoyed looking at the water below.

Once we had lunch, we wandered back to the house. The kids played outside for a while, we all had dinner and then it was time for bed. Sunday, we stayed until after lunch and then it was time to head home. It really was sad to say goodbye to Uncle I, Aunt M, SG and BA. We had a wonderful weekend with my brother and his family. The kids had so much fun together we can not wait to see them again.