Ripley's New School: Little Gems

This evening, Ripley and I got to officially visit his school for the first time now that he is an enrolled student.  Ripley is in Emerald 4 with Ms. Tamina.  We were invited to meet Ms. Tamina (who is SO nice) and to see his classroom for the first time. 

I didn't get great pictures but I hope you enjoy a little peak at his new classroom. 

The science area.

Into the main classroom.

Happy 9th Birthday, Teddy!

Happy 9th birthday, Teddy!  We celebrated today with presents in the morning and a feast at Cheesecake Factory, topped off by a giant piece of chocolate mousse cheesecake. 

Little Cuties in Sunglasses

2017 Solar Eclipse

Today we went to Pace University to watch the solar eclipse.  We made our own viewing tube but got lucky when someone gave us safe viewing glasses.  It was a fun afternoon!

Can you see the tiny eclipse?

Cousin Love

Teddy's 9th Birthday at the Lake

A highlight of the summer for Teddy is being able to celebrate his birthday with the entire family. 

The birthday cake!

Hockey Lessons

We always love having a private skating lesson at the Simsbury International Ice Center, a yearly birthday gift for Michael from Phil and Nancy. This year Ripley wanted to get in on the ice skating fun!

Teddy got all suited up for his lesson.

Ripley takes the ice.  

Thank goodness for traffic cones!

Nature's Art Village

After leaving Long Island by ferry, we stopped at Captain Scott's in New London, CT for a seafood feast!

Did someone say lobster roll?

After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed down the road to Nature's Art Village where they had something for both of the kids - mining for gems (Teddy) and dinosaurs (Ripley).  Ripley fell asleep in the car so Teddy and I got to mine some gems.  Teddy had 10 minutes to collect as many gems as he could and he found TONS!

Ripley woke up so we headed over to the dinosaur park to see some dinosaurs.  This is a picture of Teddy photobombing Ripley's very serious dinosaur photo.

Teddy and I pretended to run away from the dinosaurs.

And Teddy got in on the silly fun at the park.

The boys then went crazy on the play structures!

It was a great day.  Teddy even tired himself out and fell asleep on the ride home - something he hasn't done in years!

Long Island Mini-Vacation

We had such a wonderful time in Greenport, Long Island with the Brennan family.  

We spent the morning at the beach and found ourselves a little fun on the swingset!

Ripley isn't so sure about the swings!

We then went to Wooden Boatworks where Patrick works to see the boat he is working on. 

We then walked downtown to visit the carousel.  I was obsessed with the "grab the ring game." 

That night we went to a free concert in the park!

Pleasantville Boomers

We are so thankful that Lynn and Pete have wonderful friends from Pleasantville, called the Pleasantville Boomers. It was fun to share in a reunion luncheon, hosted by Lynn and Pete, with all of their friends who now live both near and far.

The Boomers.

The next generation!

And the grandchildren!

The crazy Russell/Brennan boys.

And our little red-faced munchkin!

Hartford Yard Goats

We had an awesome night out in Hartford, CT with the Hartford Yard Goats baseball team.  Michael got a special invitation to watch batting practice before the ballpark opened.  Teddy was really excited to be a VIP!

We got to sit anywhere we wanted during batting practice!

Teddy and Hilary even caught balls during batting practice!

One of the security guards even let Teddy go out onto the field for a photo.

And then he showed us the best spot for Teddy to stand so that he would get autographs.

Teddy got two autographs by players!

On the way up to our seats, someone asked Teddy if he wanted to say "Play Ball" at the very beginning of the game.  He was very excited to go onto the field at the beginning of the game.

Teddy did a great job saying, "Play Ball!"  He was very proud of himself and we were so excited to see him on the big screen!