Life as it happens with our three beautiful and adopted children, Shayla, Yamira and Manuel: Another month nearly gone!!!!

Where is August going? Why is it moving so quickly. I want another month of summer. So sad that all four of my family members are going back to school. I have so much more I want to do with them all. Boo.

It's been two weeks since I was here last. As always, we have been busy beavers. We even had a little vacation thrown in. So let's start with the fifth since it's been that long since I have checked in.

On Sunday the 5th, we jumped in the car and headed to Pennsylvania to a place called Nemacolin. It is a 2500 acre resort that has several accommodations, places to eat, places to play and swim. We checked in, emptied our suitcases and went and had some dinner at "The Wildside." Not a fancy place by any means. Ping and Bill had a pizza, the younger set had chicken fingers and I tried a quesadilla. It was good, but I could only get a few bites down. The Wildside has bowling, a bar, machines you can play like the ones at Chuck E. Cheese, a climbing wall and a few other things. After dinner we went by shuttle back to the hotel to go to bed as it was late and the kids were beat. It was hard getting them to settle in. At midnight, Manny and Yamira were still staring at me!

Monday morning we got up at 7:30, had a quick bite in the room and took the kids to Kidz Club for 9:00 am. We then headed off to the Safari Tour that I had booked when I booked our reservation. The tour was fabulous. We fed bears, a wolf, a few tigers, zebras and some other animals. It was fantastic. We got up close by feeding them raw chicken. We truly had the best time. While we were doing that, the kids were off having their own tour of the animals, then they ziplined, climbed a rock wall and swam. After we finished our tour, Bill and I headed to Fallingwaters. A Frank Lloyd Wright's designed home. That was really nice. We then headed back to the Kidz Club so we could pick up the kids by 4:00 pm. A quick trip to our room to change into our suits and then off to the pool. The kids swam for hours. About 8:00 am, we left the pool, changed and went to dinner at The Tavern. The Tavern has a huge fish tank. The kids kept falling asleep at the table. They were wiped. Yamira was wide awake, but Manny and Ping kept bobbing their heads. Guess Kidz Club as a hit. Can I send them daily? After dinner it was back to the room and bed. I then headed to the library and read my book for hours.

We got up at 7:30 am on Tuesday and after a quick bite, we headed to the Kidz Club again. We dropped off the kids at 9:00 am and then Bill and I headed to the Adventure Center for our 4x4 Jeep Rubicon ride. That was a lot of fun. Both Bill and I learned how to drive a jeep over rough terrain. Once that tour was over, we headed to a local winery. We were hoping for a tour, but there wasn't one. We bought two bottles of sparkling wine and then headed back to the hotel. We had 2:00 pm reservations for a 40 foot canopy tour. So we suited up and headed out to the course. Bill could do it, but I could not. I tried to crawl up the pole, but I didn't have the strength to do it. Given what my body has been through, it was just too hard for me to do. So Bill continued on and I waited for him. He said it was hard to do, but he was glad he did it. Once he was done, we headed to the Kidz Club to get the kids and then drove to the Flight 93 Memorial. That was great to see. Very hard to explain what it was all about to the kids, but we did our best. After spending some time there, we headed back to the hotel. About 5 minutes from the hotel, we stopped at a place for dinner. We then went back to the hotel to get the kids into bed. They were spent. We all were!

We got up early on Wednesday and took the kids to the pool for a little over an hour. We then got dressed, checked out and headed home. It took us around eleven or so hours to head home. We stopped for lunch at Bonanza which I thought was horrendous. We then stopped to go to the bathroom. So we didn't stop all the time. It just took forever to get home. We arrived at the house around 11:00 pm or so.

On Thursday morning, we drove to Lowell to see a concert in the park. We then headed home for lunch. Manny and Yamira napped and I took Jezebel to her yearly check up. She is doing great. She is now up to 8 lbs. Hard to believe given how small she is! We spent the rest of the day at home doing some cleaning and organizing.

On Friday, Bill took Sasha for a hair cut and I took the kids to One Stop Fun in Westford. They had a great time. Bill enjoyed the peace at home I am sure. He did do a few things around the house while we were out. Once home the kids at dinner, showered and went to bed. They were zonked. It had been a busy week.

On Saturday morning, I was going to take the kids to a concert, but it had been raining out and the ground was wet, so I decided not too. Wish I did. We then were going to go to something in Wellesley, but the weather was iffy, so we decided to take them to the Mapparium. It was fine, but a waste of money. Not worth the money to park or to get in. I have wanted to take the kids for some time, so I am glad we went. They enjoyed it. We then headed to Jordans in Framingham to look at a few things. The place was packed due to it being a tax free weekend. We were not there long. We had to get home because Bill was on call at 6:00 pm.

We got up early on Sunday morning because we had 11:30 am reservations for high tea in Warwick, RI. The place was cute. We had a great time. The three kids got breakfast food and Bill and I got the high tea. I got a wonderful tea called Paris something. Wish I could remember the name. It was delightful. Bill got a chai and loved it. I then tried a mango tea that was lovely. We had a delicious scone with jam and clotted cream, hot and cold sandwiches and then a few desserts. It was a nice time. We then headed to Staples and Walmart for some supplies. Once home we had dinner and put the kids to bed after a book. Bill was on call this night as well.

On Monday, Bill went to work and I packed up the car to head to a house I am watching on Comet Pond. The kids and I brought some stuff in, put on our bathing suits and drove over to the public beach area to meet our friend and her three kids. We were there from 11:00 am till 5:00 pm. We had a wonderful time. I got a little burnt, but that is okay. I piled the kids in the car and headed back to the house which was two minutes away. I went to go into the house and the key wouldn't work which freaked me out a bit. I had to call the owner to ask what the trick was. Sure enough there was one. Once we got in the house, the kids and I went out through the basement and they went swimming there and played in the sand box. They had a great time. Finally I said that we needed to change and have dinner. Unfortunately, Daddy got hung up at a call and couldn't get to the house late. On top of that, the microwave at the house didn't work and Bill had the food. So after I gave the kids some snacks, I tucked them into bed. They were so tired from being out all day long in the water and the sun. It was a great day. I felt bad they didn't get dinner, but what could I do? Bill finally arrived around 9:00 pm and cooked a hamburger for he and I. Unfortunately, there was no ketchup to be found. That was frustrating! However, we made due. I watched a little TV upstairs while Bill watched downstairs. I finally crawled onto the water bed somewhere around 2 am or so. I slept pretty well, but found the bed to be very painful on my back. That surprised me as I always heard that water beds were good on most people's backs!

I got up at 7:00 am because three kids were staring at me. I was less than thrilled. I would have preferred 8:00 am! Both Bill and I got up, fed the kids and then packed them in the car to head home. Bill had to work at noon and I had an appointment at the house in the morning. So I came home and showered and met with the guy that was doing some work at my house. Bill headed off to work and then I took the kids to the library to put in their final chances for the reading program. We then came home and I met with another man that had to do something at the house. Once he left, we were free to leave, but I got involved in doing a bunch of stuff and so we stayed here till Daddy came home. Once Daddy changed, we headed off to the house. The kids played on the playground and then we had dinner and put them to bed. They were disappointed they didn't get to swim, but it was sort of cool and it was very late. I watched a movie after they went to bed and then crawled onto the water bed somewhere around 2:30 am or so. Bill joined me at some point after that, but I have no idea what time. He had been watching TV in the basement.

I woke up pretty miserable. Not sure what is going on, but I am allergic to a few things at the house. First of all, Bill had a blanket from the basement. I think that is what set me off. I was stuffed up and my eyes were horrendously itchy. Drove me nuts. We fed the kids breakfast and I cleaned up the house, packed some stuff to put in the car, locked up the whole house and then we headed home to our house. I needed to shower as did Bill. We wanted to get the kids their school supplies and I had other things to do at home. I told Bill that because I felt so miserable, had plans for dinner with a friend tonight and because he has to work first thing in the am, it would make sense that we just stay at our home for the day and sleep here this evening. So that was the plan. Bill went to Walmart with Shayla. Manny and Yamira napped. I worked on a few things at my desk. Then later on I headed out to dinner with my friend Cheryl. I had a fantastic time! It is so nice to be able to go out and have a nice uninterupted dinner. We have so much in common, it's really great. Now I am home getting caught up here.

Well that is all for now. The kids are nearly back to school. I am really sad about that as I have so much more I wanted to do with them. Hoping to do some great stuff next week. Till next time, stay well and enjoy the rest of your summer.

Mama Out!!!!!!!!