Summer Vacation 2009

This summer we decided to take a road trip up the east coast to see Uncle Brent, Aunt Sue, Billie Jo and Natalie in Portland, Maine. The last time we made a trip to Maine was after Natalie was born...she's 7 now! So we were long overdue for a trip. We decided to drive because it was cheaper than flying 5 people (go figure! we chose the cheaper option?!?!) Not to mention, that's how we traveled when we were children and it was such a fantastic bonding experience for the whole family! (I am lying...it was just cheaper!)

The weather was great--I was a little worried that it would be chilly, but honestly it was hot! What a shock! We did go to the beach and the kids felt like little human ice cubes when they got out---no way did I even touch that water!






We ate lobster...more than one...Jeff decided he was going to be sick of lobster by the time he left Maine and I think he was successful!
Here's Eliott with his very first lobster!
and here's Jeff polishing his off...I don't think he's had enough yet!

Uncle Brent has apparently had too much lobster!


And Aunt Sue apparently had a little too much of something else... HA HA!! :)

We visited several light houses along the coast of Maine. It was really beautiful!




We picked blueberries...just like Sal!


We went to a native American Indian Festival--- kids got to do a little Indian dance and then it rained a little later...apparently they were doing an Indian rain dance!
One night Brent and Sue whipped up some amazing sushi...it was awesome!!!



And we also cooked a lobster dinner one night...here are the kids with their lobsters. Millie wouldn't touch hers without a napkin!


Jeff also managed to make a day trip to Boston with Eliott to see the Boston Red Sox play

and to the patriots training camp

Nice shot of Eliott with the Patriots cheerleaders...I am sure he will appreciate it one day!!!
That was the day Sue and I went shopping at the outlets in Kittery, Me. and Uncle Brent took the girls to Mackworth Island to build fairy houses. That is also the day Millie got a huge wad of bubble gum stuck in her hair and ended up with a great new haircut...alas if only the fairies could have been there to help me get it out maybe I wouldn't have had to use scissors!! :)

We really pack a lot into a vacation!!! Oh wait...we're not done yet!!

Of course we couldn't be that close to NYC and not stop at Aunt Brenda and Uncle Philips place. We spent a couple of nights in New York and did just a few things before we headed back home...went to the children's museum


played on one of the many playgrounds in Central Park,

had a double date (with Philip and Brenda) at a great little restaurant in little Italy and dessert at Cafe Lalo...where they filmed" You've got Mail".

and of course Jeff went back to China town for some roast duck--this man is completely driven by his taste bud!!! Well, almost.
We didn't really have a long list of things we wanted to do this time---we were just there in November and it was such a quick stop. But you know we pack it in...and wouldn't ya know....Jeff would find a way to squeeze in little sporting event! Jeff took Eliott to a Mets game with Uncle Philip and Jonathan while Aunt Brenda, Laura, Chloe, Millie and I all went to have a little "girl time" at Alice's teacup in Manhattan. It really was fun--I know the kids loved having their own little guy/girl time...and mom and dad loved it too!

The vacation was great. Being with family was great. The road trip was...well, it was great at times, and it certainly was great to have a dvd player in the car! But need less to say, after a 10 day road trip with multiple stops, traveling with 3 small children,traffic, a 10 hour drive back and not sleeping in your own bed for too long...coming home was GREAT!!!

I am so grateful to have a brother and a sister living in such fun places to visit! We are so blessed to be able to travel and do so much in such a short amount of time. The kids had a wonderful time--Chloe and Millie's favorite part of the vacation was Mackworth Island, ME. and the tea party in nyc and Eliott's favorite was going to baseball games with daddy...my favorite thing was being able to spend quality time with my family!!!

Grandma and Grandpa's Birthday Bash

Well, it has become quite obvious that I can't keep up...this blogging thang is for (the birds) very organized people out there with orderly and non-chaotic lives---I am just sure of it! So I am not sure what I was thinking! I am about to go on another family vacation and I haven't even mentioned the last one! Either I need to learn to type and upload faster or we (the trinh fam) need to SLOW DOWN!!! I think I know which one...

So even though I am pretty much lousy at this I still do it more than I ever did scrap booking...(which was..umm...Never!) So I may as well keep doing what I am doing--which is better than nothing. Hopefully one day my kids will look back and love all the fabulous things we did together as a family and will overlook the fact that I posted about july after school started in September. :)

The Wooten Family Birthday Bash goes back many years. I can't even remember when we did the first one. I do know that it was before I had Chloe because I remember getting a baby gift when I was pregnant with her...so at least 9 years. The Birthday Bash started because our family is scattered all over the US (and used to be all over the world), and remembering niece, nephew, cousin, grand children's bdays was tough and pretty much impossible to travel to all of them not to mention trying to mail out all those gifts each year! So, my parents have a weekend each summer when we cook out and have a HUGE birthday party for all of the grandchildren--11 in all! (Grandma really didn't want it to end on an odd number but it was up to me to produce grandchild #12 and Jeff was not interested---can you believe that!)

So we have hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, tons of dessert, and the occasional congealed salad (be afraid...very afraid...one should never eat something that is called" congealed"--it just sounds bad! just call it jello for crying out loud!) I mean the Wooten family does love to eat!!! And then the kids open presents from grandma and grandpa and all the aunts and uncles. It's great...just like Christmas in July! My kids absolutely love this Wooten family tradition and I am so glad that we get to see everyone usually twice a year--Christmas and Birthday Bash! I love that my parents came up with this tradition--and I am sure when it started that no one knew it was destined to become a "family tradition". But isn't that just what family is all about...finding time to be together, in spite of the distance and difficulty or cost to get there. My kids probably think it's about the presents right now, but I think they are already starting to see that the joy of being with people you love and are connected to is better than any gift they can unwrap. I know they will grow up with wonderful memories of being with family each summer---Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Chloe's Piano Recital

How could I forget?!?! Chloe had her piano recital in May...she was so nervous! She played two songs: Indian Dance Song and When the Saints come marching in. She did great---didn't miss a single note, but she was really glad when it was over.
Chloe and Ms Ashley--her piano teacher

For a child that likes attention she really didn't seem to like being in front of all those people! We really were proud of her...and maybe next time she won't be so nervous! Aunt Laurie came all the way from South Carolina to see Chloe's performance. And Mrs. Green, one of her teachers at Sherwood Forest came too. She has so many fans! :)
Chloe and Mrs. Green

And of course a few photo ops before the recital...you can't pass up an opportunity to photograph these precious children when they're all dressed up!

June...schools out! Now what?

YAY!!!! I love it when school is finally out for the summer! (for about 3 days)

Just kidding! I do love having my kids home in the summer. There is no schedule and the days are long and the house is a disaster, but we love being together. I am so glad that my children love each other and play so well together. I hope as they grow up we can continue to foster that love for each other and the desire to spend time with each other. Don't get me wrong there are occasional fights and arguing and at times I will have to keep them apart, but deep down they clearly love each other and that brings me so much joy.

As soon as school was out Chloe went to spend a week with Aunt Joy and Aunt Laurie to be spoiled and supposedly to help Aunt Joy. We are getting excited to welcome new baby Johnson at the end of this summer and Chloe was thrilled to be there to help and play with cousins Cole and Hannah Rae. Eliott didn't want to leave her in Greenville, but he was excited to have kindergarten camp at Sherwood Forest Elementary. He met his teacher, Mrs. ? and made some new friends--? And got to do some fun kindergarten stuff. I know he is so excited to be starting school this year...mommy on the other hand is having a hard time!!! Thank goodness I still have Millie home to play with me everyday. :)

Finally, as June came to an end we had VBS. It was worth all the hours and hard work we put into getting it together....really--It was! It was the best VBS we have ever had---and that is directly from the kids! We had a little unexpected visit from Uncle Brent, Aunt Sue, Billie Jo and Natalie right before VBS started. What a great surprise! They came down for the Wooten Birthday Bash and spent a few days in Winston before heading to Chattanooga. The kids had a great time playing together...I think Billie is a little too big for playing, but hopefully she had fun anyway. We spent lots of time just trying to keep them cool---the hot weather in the south was quite a contrast to the 60 degrees and rainy days they have been having in Maine. We did the slip-n-slide...what fun!!! And went to 2 neighborhood pools and it was still unbelievably hot! Charlie even got some MUCH needed and long over due attention...doesn't she look happy! :) We should spend more time in the back yard!

We are going to pay them back with a visit to Maine in August...hopefully it will top somewhere in the upper 70's by the time we get there...or they may have to turn the heat on for me!!!

May...what a great month!

Well, May started out GREAT with the best girls weekend ever! We definitely missed Bekah, but managed to have a really great time. We spent the weekend at myseabrookcottage.We decided to cook instead of eating out a lot and it turned out to be a great plan. Mandy pulled together some amazing recipes from her cooking club and the pioneer woman too. I don't know if I have ever eaten so much good food in one weekend. We definitely ate better than we would have if we had gone out each night. In addition to the great food we had some great laughs...I actually think my ribs were sore when I got home from all the laughter. We went to the pool, the beach, bike riding, shopping, watched Twilight (we were all a little disappointed in the movie--the book was much better), talked, ate, watched Mandy text :) ... and laughed A LOT!!!What wonderful therapy it is to be able to get away with friends and just enjoy spending time together and laughing til it hurts. I am sooo thankful to have such wonderful friends to escape with each spring, and a wonderful husband who knows how important it is to me.

"here's to good friends, tonight is kinda special" pretty much sums it all up!

Preschool came to an end in May. The spring program was so cute--everyone dressed in white and denim and wore bandanas. All of the songs were a western theme. It was precious. Eliott sang his heart out and did every motion. Millie had a little stage fright, but at least she didn't hold Lukie back this time! :)

Eliott's class performance and graduation



Millie's class performance

Chloe's Brownie troop had their last meeting and Badge Ceremony and unfortunatley we came home with more than a few badges! Lice went through the troop and we did not escape without a few lice treatments. I guess it could have been worse, but I hope we NEVER have to go through that again!

Chloe receiving her badges from Troop leader Mrs Chaves


Here she is unknowingly being infested with head lice! Thanks friends!!! :0 Cute picture though!

May was fun and it ended with some great end of the year parties. I know the kids had a great year and Eliott is so excited to be leaving preschool and moving on to kindergarten...sniff, sniff!

Eliott's party was great...there was cake...and there was WATER!!! They played and jumped in the sprinkler and then washed a few cars! Wouldn't ya just love to have that little cutie wash your car? We might hire him out in a few years!


At Millie's party they splatter painted like Jackson Pollack and then played and ate ice cream...good times!

We were very excited to have Aunt Laurie there to enjoy some time with the kiddos...and spoil them rotten...and take lots of pictures! I guess that's what Aunts are for!