Oh Beulah Land 2014

This year at Beulah Family Camp, they had activities for all ages most afternoons. On Tuesday, Gaëlle and Robin went for a cake decorating class. It looks like the cake has been decorated but lo and behold, the cake decorator extroadinaire has not yet begun. 

When the kids were little, Robin decorated all of the cakes. He is artistic and actually had some very clever cakes. So there's no way he could sit by and allow the decorating to be finished. 

He got in the act. 

It was Grandma Cindy's birthday, so this special cake was going to be given to her. 

They had some beautiful weather and it looks like there is a beach outing in the works.

This was Grandma Cindy's first experience with Beulah at Family Camp. I think she enjoyed it. We certainly loved getting to know her. 

 A rare group photo. 

The last Friday of camp, the VBS kids sang a song for us all. 

It's hard to get a good photo but I think you can tell by the smiles, that there was a lot of excitement about singing for the crowd. 

Jersey Shore

We took a trip to the Jersey Shore and the weather was perfect but the water was cold. 

You can see there is a little hesitation getting in. But they did go in and the boys managed to stay in for a while throughout the day. 

My parents had some beach toys so the kids had fun digging.

And digging and burying. 

I didn't get a lot of cooperation with picture taking on this day. 

But you can tell form the smiles, that they had fun. 

We ended our last night by going to a high end mall. The Short Hills Mall has stores ranging from normal department stores like Macy's to exclusive stores like Dior and Gucci. The 4 of us who went enjoyed window shopping and just walking around. 

Our very last excursion was to a buffet for lunch. Needless to say, Peter did a little fist bump when he heard we were going to The Habachi Grill and Buffet. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of his joy but he was happy to be there.

We all enjoyed it and hated to leave. But with full stomachs, we headed back to Canada. It was a great visit once again and I'm so thankful the details all worked out so we could go and connect again. 

New York City & New Jersey Suburban

Josh joined us for the weekend and it was so great to see him. The 3 of us haven't seen him since Christmas. The excitement getting on the train was pretty high.

Again, riding the train was pretty high up on Gaëlle's list of things to do.

Ellen wanted to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and so that was the plan for the day. Peter loves art and was excited and Gaëlle just wanted to be with the group.

The Egyptian display is always a hit.

Another photo opportunity. The Impressionist Art is fairly easy to recognize so Gaëlle wanted her picture taken with one by Van Gogh.

Dad and Treena went on a bus tour around the city. We ate our lunch of the steps of the Met and watched many buses go past. It was a beautiful day and I think I would enjoy a bus tour if there was a guide who could tell more than the name of a building but could also share some history and unique points of interest. 

It was a gorgeous day.

I love to see artists around the museum. This man seemed too good to be true. When he asked me if I wanted to buy his drawing, I wondered if he was a scam artist. I googled him and lots of people have taken photos of the same man with the same sketch occasionally using the pencil for a little shading. But who knows.

The rooftop garden is worth the visit. 

This was probably the craziest thing I saw. We were in one of the Ancient Asian displays and there was a stuffed deer with glass bubbles glued on. This was created in 2011. Hardly ancient Asian. 

Around 3:00 we split our group into 2. Gaëlle had a bit of luck and found $20 on the floor of the museum. I wanted to stop at American Girl Place but didn't want to overwhelm her. She was anxious to spend her money and happy to see AG dolls in all their boxed glory. 

I was completely impressed by her. The place was packed and she enjoyed looking but she didn't ask me to buy her anything. And believe me, every other girl in there was raking in the AG trinkets. She was just so pleased to be able to spend her own money. She came away with a movie; Molly and she was truly pleased with her purchase. 

I don't know if you can tell but this is a Joe Fresh store. On 5th Avenue. Joe Fresh is a grocery store brand here in Canada. I found it kind of funny.

We happened upon a street fair where Gaëlle was able to spend the rest of her money buying a bracelet for Ellen. A happy Canadian/Haitian Girl. If I ever get my act together she will even be an American Girl. 

Ruth took the rest of the crew to China Town. They had a great time and came home with some dragon fruit and lychee fruit. After all, that is Ellen's favourite. 

The weather was perfect the whole time we were there. Sunday we went to church with my parents. This is the whole group.

The kids had a lot of fun playing games with each other. I don't even know what they are doing here but you can see they are pretty intent.

My dad BBQ'd and the pork chops were very good. Peter of course, ate and ate. But even Gaëlle who only asked for a little bit, ended up eating 1 1/2 pork chops. Very tasty. 

We spent some time in the afternoon at the Watchung Reservation. An enterprising young lady was selling lemonade and cookies for only 25 cents each. Josh took off late afternoon but I'm so glad he was able to make it and spend some time with us. 

 We all gathered round for some MOLLY movie time. Look who is smiling? She is pretty happy with herself.

The kids loved the Crokinol board game and spent the entire evening laughing and fighting it out. 

A really fast wonderful Vacation

The kids finished school and we headed out for NJ. Our first stop on the way was Massachusetts where I got to hold sweet little Ruth for the first time. Oh yeah, we also spent the day with my brother and his family at Six Flags New England and Ruth was pretty much like she is in this picture. Just an angel.

It was such a treat to have Treena with us. And a real bonus for me because it was nice to have another adult in the car to help me stay awake. We all spent a bit of time peeking in at little Ruthie.

And we would often see her sleeping soundly.

Ruthie with her precious mom. 

Here's the gang ready to go on the rides. I didn't know how Peter and Gaëlle would handle these big rides. They love the rides they have been on but the roller coaster at Crystal Palace can't even compare to anything at 6 Flags. Tim wanted to take us on the biggest rides in the park right off the bat. I asked that we start with something that David could go on. So we went on a kids ride called "Catwoman". We made it. 

The he took us on a ride called Bizzaro. It scared Gaëlle but the rest of us made it. Ironically, whenever Tim would ask Peter if he wanted to go on bigger ride, he turned him down. It was an experience. 

David's favorite ride is called "Pandemonium". My body just can't handle all of the twists and turns of the rides and after the first 2, I sat this one out or I was afraid I would embarrass myself. But Tim is always ready for an adventure so he went with them.

This was the newest ride in the park; swings that go way up in the air. The kids wanted to go on this but the line was too long. Maybe another year.

We had our lunch in the parking lot which was perfect and a nice break.

During the afternoon we spent time in the water park where I was too busy playing in the water to get many photos. This is also a favourite of David's and I can see why. I personally loved the Lazy River. 

We went up and down these stairs a few times. Love the colours.

The tram took us back to our cars which was a nice break. Are they just 2 of the cutest kids ever? We had a great day and are thankful we were able to visit Masachusetts. It was way too short and I wish we could do it more often.

My mom gave all the girls aprons and so here are the lovely models. 

Gaëlle said over and over how excited she was for the BIRTHDAY Party. My mom is so creative and always hosts a giant birthday party for everybody. This year's theme was the Circus. We all had cotton candy, peanuts, and cracker jack popcorn for our pre-dinner treats. 

Some big smiles for some excited girls.

My mom usually chooses one person to be the Birthday girl/boy. This time it was Treena. Surprise. And you thought your birthday was in the fall.

After a great meal of hot dogs, corn on the cob, salad, and of course cake, we started with the games. Joseph was the keeper of the scores. We had to guess how many peanuts in the jar. Then we had to toss the peanuts in the jar. We think the fix was in and one corner was the lucky corner. 

My mom always finds some fun way to hand out the presents. This time, there were numbers in the boxes. We would take the wrapped package that matched the number. Then we would open it and guess who the present was for. Usually my mom spends all kinds of time gathering presents from yard sales and thrift stores and other places. This time she was completely different and took us to Barnes & Nobles where we were instructed to choose 2 items from the store. That was fun. 

For the most part it was easy to guess the person who chose the book or item. But there were a few surprises. It was such a fun night and I know Gaëlle was not disappointed. The birthday party of 2014 was a huge success.