New D...DOT

We got a new dog! A few weeks ago I posted a few pictures of Sally and mentioned that we might be adopting a new dog. Although Sally was extremely adorable.. G thought that she was not the greatest fit for the family. The following weekend G and the Littles went to Long Island to see G's sister, and go to a water park... only on their way home they decided to stop at the local Long Island animal Shelter to adopt a 12 week old puppy! They think that she is a Rhodesian Ridgeback, but I think that she has some hound in her. She looks like the red boned coon hound that my best friends family got when we were in Middle School. Anyhow they decided that since she might be part Ridgeback, they would give her an African name..apparently most people that own Ridgebacks give them African names because that is where they originated...So her name is Zahra, which means wild flower. And here are a slew of pics! (some of them are blurry.. I just couldn't get the little fir ball to stay still!)

Munchkin Monday..BI wk 2

So in Week 2 in BI, we did even more fun stuff! Including Riding horses for the first time ever!!! I had a blast, we rode them down the street and then onto the beach. The total ride time was for an hour. My horse's name was Chester, and he was chestnut colored. Very handsome guy. We did this with, G, S, Little Ann, 2 of her cousins, and G's Sister and her husband, so it was quite the group of us.. my favorite part was when the horses started to gallop a little bit (although it took some getting used to), and then when we were on the beach S's horse laid down and started to roll in the sand! He had to jump off so that his horse didn't roll on him too. It was pretty funny and S was fine.

Then we went Kayaking in the great salt pond. It was fun, Little Ann and I shared a Kayak, and we went over to this shallow area with a nice sandy beach where we played for a while, until the clouds turned a menacing shade of gray and we decided to head back. By the time we got home, it was pouring down raining! (I have no pictures of the kayaking because I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to take my camera in a small boat in a large body of water!!)

Another fun thing we did was that the little neighborhood that the cottage is in had a bbq and potluck one day followed by a bonfire down at the beach! It was really fun, and the kids got a chance to run around and play with some of the other kids in the area.

Then of course we had more time at the beach everyday, taking walks, building sandcastles, playing in the waves with the kids, having picnics, and trying to relax, which usually ended with chasing kids and dogs down the beach!



One morning I woke up at the crack of dawn! (literally) So that I could watch the sunrise and get some pics.. unfortunately my camera broke, halfway through the sun-rising process..
I did get a few pics though. So the one on the left is the sun rising on the day I woke up really early and the one on the right is the sun setting some other night earlier in the week.



The day before we left, I was able to take a break to go into town and have some much needed "me time"! I bought a dress, a bracelet, and a pair of earings... oh and some lavender gelato! Yum Yum! And then we took the ferry back pretty late, and got home around 10pm on Sunday night which meant straight to bed, and then to work in the morning... but at least I was back at home in my bed!

Block Island Puppies!

Katie of course got to go with us to Block Island! She loved the wind on the ferry on the way over! And while we were there she got to spend a lot of time with her friend Nala (who belongs to G's sister's family). They had a blast romping around the beach and the field together! Life as a dog is more fun with a companion, and Katie and Nala both had a blast! Here are some pics of them while we were there.

Week 1-Block Island

Block Island is an island off of Rhode Island in between the Block Island Sound and the Atlantic. G's sister has a house on the island and lets the family use it for a week for free and then G and another of her sisters rent it for an additional week. We stayed for a total of 16 days.
This island is a very beautiful place with something awe-invoking to look at around every turn. I can imagine it being a very peaceful place for G & S... especially since they have me there to work for them 24/7 while we were there. In the time we were there, we did several fun activities, and had a blast, but at the end of every day, I just wanted some me time.. which wasn't really an option, so I became tired and grouchy by the end of the second week.
Let me focus on sharing about the fun things that we got to do during week one.
The cottage is right off of the beach, about a minute walk, so every morning we would take the dogs (Kati and G's sister's dog Nala) to the beach for a romp in the sand with all the other doggie visitors. Of course the kido's had to join us too, so it was just craziness, and fun! Everyday we pretty much enjoyed the same activities, beach time in the morning for the dogs to run, then back up for breakfast and to change, then packing lunch for more beach time in the afternoon, where we can play in the waves, build sandcastles, chase children and dogs trying to get them to stay in our little area. Going in the water carrying little dan and then holding little ann's hand. We were on the Atlantic ocean side of the island, so we had to be extra careful in the water bc of the undercurrent.

One afternoon, G dropped off Little dan and I at a playground for 2 hours, another night we all went to go see the movie "Get Smart", then that friday was the 4th of July Parade, which was very cute, followed by a nice lunch at a restaurant called the Oar and then a fireworks display in the evening. And that was pretty much it for week one!

Laura!

Laura came for her visit June 19th through the 23rd. While she was here we spent most of our time just hanging around CT. We did head down to nyc for a day to shop a little and explore the wonder that is China town. The thing that I love most about China Town is all of the little 'secret rooms' (or secret vans on the side of the street if you're extra special like Laura and I..don't worry we made it out ok), they are all filled with knock offs of great handbags! Coach, Gucci, Prada... you name it-they've got it, and it can be yours for around $25, depending on size and quality. of course they'd all have you paying $50 but most of us love the game of bartering for your bags, and you end up getting some real steals!

Other than New York and China Town, we went up to try going to Six Flags which is right across the border into Massachusetts. But of course with our luck, by the time we got up there, there was thunder and lightening and bc a great sum of their rides have metal framework or are water rides, they were pretty much shut down. We found something wonderful to replace it with though! couples massage! We were going to go in for just the standard opening but of course for the time slot they had open there was only a couples massage available, so we did it. It was very relaxing!



For the rest of Laura's stay here, we spent some time with the Little's at the beach, we went to some of the local malls to shop, and we just hung out. All in all it was a relaxing and fun weekend!

Hip Hip Hooray!

I finally have my computer back!!! Yay Yay Yay!

I know I'm a big nerd, but I'm just so happy :D

Anyhow, here is a quick update and then I will post more in detail with pictures soon:
My friend Laura came for a visit in the end of June (the weekend of the 20th)...we had a blast!
The following weekend I left with G, S, and the little's to go to Block Island from the 28th of June through July 13th... it was fun, but it was very exhausting!
After we got back I had an entire week without anyone visiting or me going anywhere which was great!
This past weekend Kelsey came to visit, and this weekend my friend Kelly is in NYC with her family and that brings us up to date.
I will start posting with details on one event at a time since I have been busy and without a computer, and I have lots of fun and crazy stories, as well as some good pics to put up for everyone to check out....

And one last yippeee!! for getting my computer back!!! Hooray!