Summer 2009...Madison

I love being home in Madison...our entire family totally relaxes here..it is 3 weeks tomorrow that we have been enjoying summer...some highlights:

Trip over - the last day of school was the Junior School Speech Day. A great event which celebrates the girls achievements in drama, speech, academics, sports..very touching. That ended at noon - we left at 2 for a 5pm flight to JFK :) Rachel was awarded a prize for her house in swimming. Megan was commended for her great behavior in the classroom.

Ramsay flew Business Class with Lolo in the cabin. It went fairly well. We gave him plenty of homeopathic remedies to keep him quiet. When we arrived at JFK, we just whisked him through customs and immigration and we were on our way home in a jiffy.

Food - we have eaten at all the following:

McDonalds Wendy's

The Wharf Rice Bowl

Red Tomatoe Rain Forest Cafe

Dunkin Donuts Friendly's

(not to mention countless hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill)

Yes - I have gained 5 pounds in 3 weeks.

Activities:

Megan started the summer with cheerleading camp - so excited and happy - High V/Low V/ Middle V/T!!

All three girls are riding this summer. Three days a week we trek to Guilford Riding School...they do love it and are improving...in addition to two lessons a week, Rachel has camp every morning this week which includes feeding her horse, cleaning him (and I am paying them?) a lesson and swim in the pool - she loves it!

Our neighbor Kim who suffers from chronic issues from Lyme Disease, hosted an art auction in Stony Creek. Over 30 artists came down for the day to paint and donate their art for charity. We had a great day and raised lots of money for Lyme Disease research. I added lots to our walls too :)

We went to visit cousin Kate at her job at Nordstrums and shopped for a few hours - fun. Meg has not taken the dress off in almost one week. (Update Aug 9th - going on 3 weeks in that dress)

Lauren and Vinny spent last Saturday getting their Safe Boating Certification - well done!

Papa took us all out on his new boat on Monday - its so fun seeing getting out on the water and zipping around!! Thanks Dad! Next time, let Lauren drive :)

The annual HERCC picnic was lots of fun, even though Lauren has decided she is too old to dress up.

(Rachel and Sandy celebrating there victory in the balloon toss)

Kim had the girls out painting and sketching in the sun yesterday for 2 hours..it was lovely and she gave them lots of pointers.

Nothing like Madison in the summer.