deep creek 2010 - recap

we have been back from vacation now and completed an entire week's worth of work and i'm now just finally getting around to the vacation recap. so much for blogging on vacation...we were having too much fun enjoying the lake, the pool, the house, our family and just plain relaxing!

the weather didn't cooperate with us nearly like it did for last year's trip (kinda overcast), but it still made for fun times. i personally was only out on the boat 3 times (didn't settle well with my stomach, weather aside). but everyone had a great time tubing, and the guys went fishing pretty much every morning. a couple of catches, but they released everything back into the lake.

here are just a few, very few, of my favorite pictures from our trip

mama and tony enjoying an evening boat ride

cheesing big with daddy's hat on!

checking their fishing lines

tony did plenty of sleeping on the boat too...not a single boat ride was taken where he didn't fall asleep for at last 1/2 hour...one day was almost 2 hours!

tony was a fish! he showed off a bunch of his swimming skills he's learned from swim class and was doing a great job with or without his floaties!

tony tubing (with daddy hanging on from the back of the tube).

i took a bunch of pictures, and you can check them out here if you like.

i just want to thank my mother-in-law and father-in-law for doing the legwork in researching and locating the house and for giving us the opportunity to pitch in and enjoy the week. it makes all our hard, long hours at work worth it if that's how we get to spend our money and time off on vacation!!

(mostly) wordless wednesday

boy do i miss my little mouseketeer!!

overload.

now that i've completely overloaded your google readers with my catch-up updates, you're probably wondering how the heck i had all this time on my hands the past two days to spend on the blog...that would be because this little guy isn't here...

up, up and away...

yep - you looked right. that would be tony strapped into his southwest airlines seat headed to sunny florida this past saturday 10.10.09 with his mimi and poppop by his side.

my dad has a "family-friendly" work conference this week in orlando, and tony got to hitch a ride for all the fun. he's attended two cocktail parties and has a dinner party tomorrow night. here he is at tonight's cocktail party...the hosts of the conference even arranged for crafts for the kids to keep them entertained through the evening.

cocktail party crafts

the conference is being held at universal studios. they arrived in orlando and headed off to their first cocktail party before heading back to their portofino bay hotel (on property) to enjoy the pool. tony loved it...maybe also because it had a jumbo screen wall tv showing scooby-doo cartoons poolside.

they spent today (and will spend tomorrow) at sea world before heading over to check-in to their disney hotel at all-star sports on tuesday for the rest of the week. they'll be in the disney parks wednesday and friday with a trip to visit the berger's just outside of cocoa beach on thursday...heading home saturday!

to say he's having a good time would be an understatement...to say we don't miss him would be lying. it is so weird after almost 4 years of scheduling your life around someone, to be left to your own devices to go about your day as you wish. john and i spent a portion of this evening just staring at each other with that blank look like "what do we do now?"...and he's only been gone a little over 24-hours.

we did get to skype with him last night and see him for a little, and they are going to continue to send texts/text pictures and check-in through skype when they're able. he was in his swimsuit headed for the pool and looked waaaay older than he did when he left yesterday a.m.

i have a lot to do (surprising him with a new room upon his return), but again, would be lying if i said i didn't think saturday could get here soon enough.

summer (fun) - in - review (august)

the beginning of august we celebrated harrison's 2nd birthday at my aunt's house in hershey. it was a fun day of swimming and relaxing in the sun. apparently i didn't have my camera at that event, so i will have to enjoy my sister's/mom's pictures and unfortunately, unless you're friends with my sister on facebook (yes, folks, my sister is now a facebook junkie -- actually worse than me!), you won't get to see them. sorry. bad kiki! next up...

deep creek lake, or bust! that's right folks, august brought vacation with the scollick-d'angelo family!! once again, john's mom and step-dad gary rented a house and boat at deep creek lake in western maryland for a week. it was 2 1/2 years ago that we did this, and this year was even better than that trip which i talked about here and here.

when we weren't boating, fishing and swimming in the lake, we were hanging out at the beautiful home, spending time with each other and just relaxing. we played wii, poker, had pleeeennnnnttttty of wine and margaritas...and the occasional mo-ji-to too! we stayed up late and slept in and plain just had a good time!

we all had so much fun in fact (as evidenced by the 150+ pictures i took which you can view here) that not even a week after returning from the trip, a different house (this one with a pool for some of us folks that are freaked out a bit by swimming in the lake) was booked along with a yellow pontoon boat for next year's trip...kathleen's crossing, watch out for the scollick-d'angelo family trip 2010!!

front of our home-sweet-home for the week

side deck overlooking the lake

tony, ready to head to the lake

what a ham!

daddy and his little buddy sportin' some shades

mommy and her little guy

not one's to stay at home for any period of time, the weekend immediately following our return from deep creek, we loaded up the camper and truck and headed to knoebel's for a long weekend with jack and sam for our annual trip!

despite the downpour of rain (which also seems to have become part of our annual trips) we all had a great time. my parents, and sister, dave and harry joined us for the day that friday (the worst rainy part of the weekend) and after a brief hour+-long downpour and waiting it out under some shelter, we enjoyed the rest of the day together.

tony on his "international harvester"

in line for his first roller-coaster!

tony ridin' rides with harry b!

tony and sam

tony and jack

i think jack and sam were pretty excited that tony can go on all of his rides alone now and they don't need to cram in kiddie-rides with their knees up to their eyeballs anymore! we are already excited about next year's trip...if jack & sam aren't done with it yet!! i didn't take a ton, but what pictures i did take, you can view here.

summer (fun) - in - review (july)

the beginning of july brought about more camping for the d's. we spent 4th of july weekend camping with the brumbaugh's and enjoying a reading phillies game. not too many camping pictures, but a few cute shots from the game can be seen here.

also in july was anthony's first year of vacation bible school (not the same bible school my friend luci refers to here). he spent the week with betty nana and attended at her church, st. benedict's in mohnton. he had a great time and although he spent much of the program not singing the songs...he definitely enjoyed it as he sings them for us all the time. here is one video that actually shows him singing and dancing...

tony - bible school from Christy D'Angelo on Vimeo.

the middle of july allowed for a night out for john and i with corinne and dave (thanks to mimi and poppop for watching both boys). we headed to philly for a little sushi and drinks mass quantities of sushi and wine at raw and then headed to walnut street theatre to see mel brooks' producer's. it was a great night and i can't wait until our next show with them the end of this month! here are a few pictures of our night.

one of the best pictures of john and i in years!

dave & corinne

the last bit of sushi and edamame left on the table

all 4 of us...stuffed and feeling good...ready for the show!

the end of july brought my sister and my "girl's get-away" weekend. we loaded up the convertible (thanks mom & dad) and cruised our way to delaware for a long weekend in dewey/rehoboth! this trip was a first for my sister and i as the two of us never went away together just us...it was a lot of fun. no husband, and no kids allowed us a lot of sleeping in, followed by a ton of time on the beach. yummy late dinners and boardwalk fun too. it was great and something we may need to turn into an annual trip!! there weren't many picture taken, but here were just a few.

on the beach @ dewey

following a delish dinner at la la land

headed to rehoboth on the jolly trolley

it was a lot of fun and the weekend (albeit a long one) was too short! thanks for a fun time corinne! can't wait to do it again!

wordless wednesday

"not me" monday - deep creek lake style

seeing as how we're on a week-long family vacation, this is going to be a family effort for nmm!

my brother-in-law bryan, whom we've always referred to as the renaissance man, arrived at the lake and realized he certainly did not leave pennsylvania without his shaving kit containing his toothbrush, razor and other toiletries and we definitely do not now refer to him as encino man.

yesterday while out boating, we stopped for a swim in the lake...tony and the hubs hopped out and the boat drifted slightly away...tony in is floaties and john treading water and getting a little nervous, asked us to throw a rope...sue throwing the rope, realizing it's too short, jumps into the lake...fully clothed. it was at this moment, that my husband did not put his feet down to realize he could actually stand and was able to walk himself and tony back to the boat.

last night while enjoying some peaceful alone time in the hot tub part of the house by herself, my sister-in-law sue, after her strenuous rescue efforts earlier in the day, did not swear she saw and heard something in the woods (you know, like freddie krueger-ish, or mike myers-ish) outside the house and frantically, heart pounding, most definitely did not throw the cover to the hot tub back on, not bothering to secure it and run through the door and up 2 flights of stairs to avoid her [imaginary] assailant.

we awoke this morning to some nice weather and all gathered our belongings to head out on the boat...my father-in-law gary and sister-in-law missie headed in the car to go over to the marina. the plan would be for john, sue, tony, and bryan and i to drive the boat over and pick them up there. they left and we headed down the backyard to the dock. it wasn't until after we were down there that we certainly did not realize that gary took the boat key with him to the marina. nope, not us...we're professional boaters.

oh, and i was just given orders from my mother-in-law to make sure i tell you all how sweet she is! i certainly did not just type that while crossing my toes and fingers...just kidding.

head on over to mckmama's blog to read more funny (ok, funnier) not me mondays.

ketchup...not just for hot dogs!

so i am trying to play "ketchup" and bring everyone up to speed on what's been going on with the d'angelo's the past few weeks since we've been "mia". i've posted two posts (is there a better way to say that?) below. aside from that, we've pretty much been up to nothing. i'm busy acting as "wedding coordinator" for my co-worker clarisa's wedding in june...creating, printing and assembling invites, bulletins, and guest cards...picking out flowers...etc. all the stuff i enjoyed doing for my wedding...but i don't have to pay for it!

john's been busy doing this...

he took his motorcycle permit test, followed by the state paid safety class to get his license and has been happily enjoying cruising around the past week. my boss has kindly lent one of his bikes to john to keep up his riding.

tony loved when dad surprised him the one night by pulling into the driveway on a "moker-cycle". he asked so nicely if he could just sit on it and was soooo excited when daddy said yes!!

tony started a new room at his "school" and will be moving again in september to pre-k...he is doing really well, and we are very proud of him!

work is keeping me really busy, but i am loving my new position and responsibilities and wouldn't trade it for anything...especially given the state of so many and their jobs right now. i am truly blessed!

we are gearing up for camping season. we have our first long weekend planned for memorial day weekend and will be staying in a site across from my sister and dave. it should be a good time. we have several other camping trips we are planning through the summer, although we are really looking forward to some fall camping!

we will be headed to deep creek lake again this august with john's family (i think there will be 14 of us going). his mom and stepdad have rented a huge house for us all and we'll be getting a pontoon boat again. tony is looking forward to tubing again this year as he's much bigger than he was 2 year ago when we were there and i don't think he'll be as scared!

stay tuned...i promise to be back on my game with blogging...we have lots of fun stuff in the works with the d'angelo family!!

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?

there's no place like home

after a fun weekend out of town (and a ton of driving), there is definitely something to be said about being home! we had a great weekend and the weather couldn't have helped more in making the weekend an even bigger success! the sunny days yesterday and today were just gorgeous and made the long drive (and main reason for not having been back to iup in 8 years) much more enjoyable.

we pulled off of mayer street around 7 a.m. and made a quick stop at giant to load up on children's motrin and tylenol for tony who spiked a high fever through the night. after that little snag in the plan, we were off, tony (still in his pj's) and determined to have a good time at the wedding he's been talking about all week.

after one stop, we arrived at iup, only to find out that it was the culmination of a week long celebration leading up to indiana, pa's hometown boy, the late jimmy stewart's 100th birthday...a huge, huge, huge deal for the indiana residents and an unexpected treat for the d'angelo's.

we enjoyed a great lunch uptown at the coney, walked philly street and "visited" some old haunts, took in some of the js b-day celebration and then headed to campus for a visit to the oak grove and to check out some of the changes that have occured since i was last there.

it was wonderful to be able to share the oak grove and the beautiful (very quiet this time of year...graduation was 2 weeks ago) campus with tony and john. at one point, t said to me, "mama, i like your school...it's nice". it was very cute. we were also able to view the new world trade center memorial in the oak grove. there were several iup alumnus that lost their lives in the towers on 9/11 (many worked at cantor fitgerald). standing tall in the oak grove is now a piece of the twisted metal from one of the towers with a plaque, dedicated on 9/11/02 (one year after the attacks) to those that lost their lives. it's quite amazing to see it that close.

we loaded into the car and continued on our road trip to greensburg, pa to check in to the hotel and get ready for doreen and paul's wedding. we had a great time, and it was nice to share in this special day in d&p's new life together! it's been a long road to get there, and i know i can speak for all of our friend's that we couldn't be happier for doreen as she has truly found her prince ! emotions were definitely high as we watched her on her father's arm walking down the aisle.

everyone had fun at the reception. tony was excellent for being "sick", although he wasn't as into the dancing as he normally would have been and was content to dance while being held by either myself or john (and watch the pretty little girls in their dresses from the sidelines) before crashing in his stroller for the remainder of the reception and heading upstairs to our room for the night.



on our ride home this afternoon, we thought it appropriate this memorial day weekend to stop at the united flight 93 memorial site in shanksville, somerset county to pay tribute to those brave people who stopped the terrorists from sending the plane down in dc and instead into this empty field, thereby limiting the casualties to themselves only.

we personally did not know anyone connected to the 9/11 attacks, however you can't help but be overcome with emotions when you see the field and the items left behind by loved ones for those close to them they've lost. the national parks registry has the typed out transcripts of the phone conversations many of them had with the 911 dispatchers...just a few words into i was unable to continue.

we hope everyone enjoys the rest of their long holiday weekend and hope that in the midst of rushing from one picnic to the next, you are able to stop and take a moment to thank all those people who have left their families and loved ones to fight and then lost their lives so that we may continue to live ours. happy memorial day!

click here to view the full album of photos from our weekend! enjoy!