holy bad blogger bat-man

testing...testing...is this thing on? just checking. wow - i can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. no excuse really except for shear busyness in the lives of us 3-amigos here in pennside. but you don't really want to hear about what we've been up to...do you? oh, ok, you twisted my arm...let me bring you up to speed.

alright...since i last posted, friends of ours, chris and bobbi-jo welcomed their second child, a daughter, kara ellasyn. she made a grand, grand entrance a bit earlier than planned (you can read about it here) but is doing just fine! ryan is the doting big brother and we couldn't be happier for this new family of four!

the week after the pasta run (6.21-6.28), the 3 of us and corinne, dave and harrison loaded up the cars (yes, despite the horrible gas prices)and headed to rehoboth beach/dewey beach searching for a week of fun in the sun! we found it. it was a fun time and the weather couldn't have been better. we had 1 night of rain/thunderstorms but it was after we were all tucked in bed some of us already sound asleep. this was t's first real experience at the beach (we were in sea isle city for a weekend when he was around 10 mos, so he doesn't remember anything), and he absolutely loved every part of it...the sand, the ocean, the boardwalk (i love when he says that word - it's more "bode-wok"), and the rides. he slept well even taking 2 hour naps bundled up on the beach blanket under the umbrella. here he is dancing up a storm on the boardwalk to a rod stewart impersonator. you can click here to view the photo album from our vacation.

he loved his time with harry! who, by the way, began crawling while at the beach that week. it was a fun milestone and i was excited to be able to share it with him.

we went to several picnics this summer so far and have been having fun with friends and family which has been occupying every weekend we have...guess it's why this summer seems to be going by so fast. here are a few pictures of anthony and his girlfriend abby at our friend sue and jd's pool party this past saturday.

tomorrow we head back to the reading phillies for berks homes' company picnic. it will be nice to visit with john's co-workers again (especially the ones from out of town that we don't get to see often except for the christmas party every year). john and mike lutz (and the lutz boys) will be leaving immediately from the picnic to head to hickory run and skirmish to meet up with dave and the rest of the men (and their [older] sons) from church for the 2nd annual camping trip. they should have a great time playing paintball and having "manly talk" by the fire - oh, and i'm sure there will be some stuffing of faces and beer drinking too.

in other exciting, yet sad news...next thursday is tony's last day at miss michelle's. she will only be working 3-days a week this coming fall and that just doesn't fit in with my 5-day work week and needing 5-day care for him, so as of 8.4 he will be starting at kindercare in exeter. we visited back in january and made the decision that's where he'll be attending, however we are going for a "trial" run tomorrow to spend a few hours (with me there with him) so hopefully he won't be as scared on the 4th when he has to do it by himself. i can't type too much or i'll get sappy, but i will really miss him being at michelle's. she's been caring for him since he was about 9 weeks old and i can see how much of an impact she's had on him and his behavior. i don't know how i will ever thank her enough for the love and care she has given to him these past (almost) 3 years. we will be making a stepping stone for her to place in her new landscaping by her patio with his handprints as a reminder of him.

i know i've probably missed so much, so just take my word that if i think of something i forgot, i'll update it pronto...i'm back on my [blogging] game.

oh, and have i told you all recently how much i love these two guys?