It's about that time...

Orders are in and we are moving to San Diego in the fall!  Ben will be stationed at Camp Pendleton and we are looking forward to being back on the West coast.  Our house will be going on the market this week, but we've already had 2 non-listed showings.  Finding things to do when we have to be out of the house is going to an adventure.  This week, Alison went to a friends house and the boys and I went to Ralph's.  Ralph's sums up what it's been like living on Long Island...we are saying the same words, but they mean completely different things. I ordered a chocolate sundae, thinking it would be a safe order.  In my head, I should have received this:

Instead, I received this monstrosity.  The picture does not do it justice but it felt like a half gallon of ice cream with a million layers of chocolate.

It was so entertaining that I got an Eli smile!

Colin ordered a "twister", which turned out to be layers of ice cream and Italian ice, which equaled a GIANT mess.

Then we went on a little stroll down by the water.

The picture looks peaceful, but you can't hear Maya losing her mind because she want so badly to get on that beach and chase all the things.  But dogs aren't allowed on the beach and she was going crazy.  She even attempted to jump through the fence!

The boys played and even with a crazy dog, it was a beautiful evening.

Legoland!

We had the best day!

Alison is in Kansas with Aunt Beth and the cousins at Sign Camp.  While she's gone, we took the boys to Legoland, New York.  Eli has been asking to go since we moved here, so it was time to check it off our New York list.  The weather was perfect and there were less crowds the day we went.

First stop, jail.

We got an overpriced, very small lunch and then hit some rides.  The boys drove the cars...they were definitely a little big, but thankfully there was also a middle school choir group there, so they fit right in :)

Then we drove the boats.  They yelled a lot about NOT using your phones during the ride, but I had to sneak a picture...throw back to our first ride!

I also got yelled at for taking this picture:

I guess I'm not really phased by people yelling at me anymore.

Then we drove the firetruck and won the race by a landslide.

Then it was time for Mini land.

I would say this was Eli's favorite part.  We walked slowly through the land, looking at every building.

More rides:

Colin and I had a snack, while Ben and Eli rode the big coaster.

Before hitting the store, the boys built cars to race.  However, there were only 3 sets of tires to be found in this entire building! #fail

That didn't stop Eli.  He built his own tires.

It was a perfect day and one I will forever be thankful for to have with my boys.

 

Fleet week date

Ben was in the city for Fleet Week and I was able to meet him there one evening.  He was staying in Times Square and made reservations at a Mediterranean restaurant right around the corner.

Then we went to see Hamilton!

It was phenomenal!  We had an incredible evening and maybe the most impressive was that we made out of Times Square on a Friday night.

 

Paddle boarding with the boys

The boys and I met our friends, the Clark's at Huntington Beach this week to paddle board.  It was my first time doing the boards all by myself and I am proud to say that we did it!  The boys were very helpful and we had such a fun day!

 

My birthday/Prom/Porch Fest

Happy 42 to me!  The day was FULL of fun things.

First, Ben took the boys to basketball while I helped Alison get ready for prom.  She met Nico at Starbucks and he invited her to the North Shore Jr. prom...which was at noon.

I heard they had a really fun time and she even knew several other kids there.  Afterwards, she went with another friend to the fair.

While Alison was partying, porch fest was going on in Sea Cliff.  I went for a run and it was so fun hearing all the bands play and seeing everyone out walking around.

Colin and I biked to get some our favorite cookies and then we went to watch his guitar teacher play in one of his bands.

It was raining some.  Did you know that it always rains on my birthday?

And this was the only picture he would let me take.

 #lifewithmiddleschoolboys

Oh, I forgot Eli was at Damian's during all this.  

The rain was torturing Colin, so he went home and I went to hear the Porch Pickers.

Ben smoked some pork during all this and we had a great bbq dinner when we got home. 

 

This and that

 Colin won a three-point contest at the YMCA!

Maya's new favorite spot is under the kitchen table.

{Photo credit: Alison}

Eli has only had Beat Saber a couple of weeks and has already mastered the expert+ mode to several songs.  It's VERY impressive.