Back to the Van Buren Pool

Caleb swimming in the "big" pool and Alana in the baby pool.









<- Larry and the kids in the water.









Daddy tossing Alana ->



Matt and Alana picnicking.











Matt diving in.

More weekend photos

Caleb said his back hurt so Alana is giving him a massage with her feet (!)



Below, the kids camping out on the bedroom floor.







Caleb and Alana jumping on Matt.

Another branch of the family tree

Since I have some photos of The Family, thought I'd add them. Here's my insanely sexy older sister, Lisa, with her roommate Cathy's miniature dog, Memphis.

And my gorgeous niece, Amy Danielle (yes, she's voguing).

And here's Amy earlier this year with my adorable nephew, Henry when he was about 3 months old (he's my brother Leo's son, not hers!)

Here's her brother (my nephew), Ian, with Caleb in February.

Van Buren Pool

Another perfect (weather) day here in central NY. We went out for breakfast at Larry's favorite diner, Stella's, and then took a walk along Onondaga Lake (the most polluted lake in America). Weirdly, a bee flew into Larry's sandal and stung him on the top of his foot. We rushed him home and he put ice on it and look some Benadryl. That put him out of commission, so I took the kids to a nearby (20 minutes away) Rec Dept pool that my neighbor Joanna had told me about.

It was lovely and the kids had a great time. The local YMCA is only 3 minutes away but they don't have a baby pool and Van Buren does - Alana can't touch the bottom in 3 ft deep, so she really prefers a baby pool to play in.

The pool has a nice snack bar, with a good selection and reasonable prices - after swimming, Alana enjoyed an ice cream sandwich.

I remembered the camera, but it died after the first photo (the batteries I hope), so again these (mediocre shots) are from my cell phone.

Back to the beach

We went to Oneida Shores today. It was a totally perfect day - the water was warm and the weather was ideal - sunny with a nice breeze.















Matt built a sand castle with a big moat, then Caleb helped him fill it with water (during a brief break from swimming).















Alana played in the sand most of the time, but got in the water with Caleb for awhile toward the end.



These photos are from my cell phone, since I forgot the camera yet again.

This week's flowers

The Pony Game

Larry's teenage son, Matthew, returned with us from NJ (where he lives) - he'll be spending the month of August with us in Liverpool. Alana got everyone involved in this adorable board game that she got from Gma Jeannie and Gpa Jerry last year.