In July, we drove to Nashville to visit our friend Val. Val used to live across the street, but landed a job with the Nashville Zoo. It took 2 days to drive. We started our trip at 3:30 in the morning with the hopes we would make it far, and that the kids could continue to sleep. No such luck for us...Matthew talked from 3:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. when we told him that if he didn't stop talking we were leaving him on the side of the road! We stopped at Luray Caverns in Virginia and the kids had a blast.
We ended up camping at Nashville Shores. The camp ground was ok - but we won't go back. There was a water park as part of the campground and that was an extra charge, and there was nowhere else to swim. David and Dominic did a ropes course, and Dominic and I went Jet Skiing while there as well. We spent lots of time with Val and she ended up taking us on a behind the scenes tour of the zoo too!
On Labor Day Weekend, we decided to do one last camping trip with the kids and we went to Falmouth, Cape Cod. The weather was cold, rainy and raw, which doesn't make for any fun camping, swimming, or being at the Cape. We tried to make the best of it. Grammie and Grampa came do visit one day and we took a ride to the light house. We ended up packing up a day early to head home because the weather was so bad. We did take the kids to the beach one day and I'm not sure how they went in the water, as the air was so cold that day!
In October, David and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We celebrated with a trip to Mexico November 3-10. We ended up going back to the same resort we went to for our honeymoon 10 years ago. The weather wasn't the best, but it was better than the 40/50 degree weather we had here. We had 80 degree weather in Mexico, but it rained and was overcast most days. Regardless, we had fun. We didn't do any excursions this trip, we just laid on the beach, or laid by the pool for 7 days! We met a great family from New Jersey and hung out with them every day too! We are already talking about going back for David's 40th birthday in 2016 - going to charter a plane and try to get as many friends / family to come with us! The kids are already talking about it.
Finally we end with Christmas. The kids had their holiday concert for Pre-K2 and they were superstars! Matthew sung his heart out and Ari, well she was just a doll. We took the kids out for frozen yogurt to celebrate after their concert. Christmas Eve Eve celebration in Fall River was fun too. We did our annual cupcake wars, and this year I took the prize! I made Tiramisu cupcakes and Snickers Candy Bar cupcakes...yum. My sister had a plaque made up for our annual tradition.
Christmas Eve was celebrated at David's brother's house this year. I don't remember too much of that because apparently the 1 drink I had put me over the edge and I got sick...whoops...Speaking of sick, 4:30 a.m. on Christmas Day Matthew woke up with the stomach bug. The poor thing was stuck in bed all day. When we let him come downstairs, he had to wear a face mask so he wouldn't spread any germs.
This year has been a fun year with many blessings. Some friends got married, had babies and got new jobs. We are lucky for our parents health and we are looking forward to see what 2014 has to bring. Happy New Year from our family to yours!
