Cheerio from London

Hi again,
We have been in London for three days and have already seen a great deal. We have becomme quite adept at traveling around using public transportation.  We have used the bus, train, the tube and of course  our legs. We have seen so many things The Royal Art Museum ,the Londo Tower ( there we took a tour with  the " beefeater" he is dressed in uniform and verydramatic, funny and knowledgable.  That was great. We. Went to the theater and saw Jersey. Boys. It was wonderful and they actually have half price ticket booths in the theater district.
Still no tickets and I don't think we are going tobe able to get any. The official site is only selling to residents of the UK. We did hang around the XL center hoping to buy some but no luck. We are off to the Olympic Park tomorrow that should be fun and we will try to see the today show. Also we did see the Olympic Tourch that was amazing we went to the right place at the right time and had a great view on the Tower Bridge. We were also interviewed by Sky TV but never saw it. That was fun.
The family we are are staying with are all very nice an in a perfect location.
Look for us on the Today Show tomorrow ( dad's birthday)
Sheryl and Gail

Bonjour from Paris

Hi, Just wanted to keep you updated on our fabulous trip. We have been in Paris for five full days and it has been perfect. Our hotel is very charming and within walking distance to just about everything we wanted to see. Needless to say we have walked many miles! Sad to say we are leaving in the morning it has been absolutely amazing. the people have been friendly and very helpful. We ended our last evening at a famous cafe' "Les Deux Magots" we had a glass of wine sat outside and people watched which is quite popular here. Now preparing for our trip to London tomorrow morning. We will take the metro ( which we have become good at),and take the Eurostar to London it's very fast and comfortable. Then through customs we heard it's tight in London. We have heard there's a good chance we can get some tickets when we get there hope so! I'll try to keep you posted. I did try to attach pictures from my new best friend my IPad but couldn't figure it out. So Bonsour for now. Gail and Sheryl

When Daddy is in charge....

it's a pickle on a stick for breakfast. I give him credit for getting everyone up and out of the house so early.

I married a rock star!

As our 8th Anniversary passed and I found myself working 12 hours and falling asleep shortly after Claire proclaimed - Mommy, Daddy bought you a cannoli and shoving it down my throat, I quickly realized something....I think I married a rock star. For real, as much as we tried to "plan" for this contingency at work, it wasn't until I was up at 3AM on July 1st checking my E-mail and realizing the company had locked out the union workforce that I realized this was going to be tough. And just a few days into this ordeal it dawned on me that Dan certainly has the raw end of the deal,  but he is handling it like a champ! I get up every morning, head to work for a 12 hour work day, where they feed us if we are near a work out location and head home, usually arriving around 8. By that time, Dan got up and got himself and both girls ready, dropped Jenna off at daycare and Claire at the bus for camp, worked a full day, came home to pick up Claire, pick up Jenna, make dinner for the 3 of them, do dishes, and baths. Sometime Jenna is out before I get home, other days I see her long enough to get a few hugs, read a book, and lay her down. Claire is excited to see me and never wants to go to bed. But I promise you, when she finally is tired she only wants her Daddy to brush her teeth, her Daddy to read her book, Daddy to tuck her in, and of course she only wants to snuggle with her Daddy. In the race to fall asleep, I have been beating Claire hands down! There have only been a few days she is out before me. Dan had them both on July 4th and had them out and about and to a friends for dinner. And both Saturdays he had them - this past weekend taking the car to be inspected, taking them to a pool party 45 minutes away and then back to Hoboken for another birthday party that afternoon. Yesterday I tried to give him a break, but I know he must be tired. And with all that going on, I nominate him for Father of the Year (as did many at the birthday parties!) and I came to the realization that I married a rock star.

Now the big question is how long is this going to last? I really wish that I had an answer for that, but all we are being told is pace yourself and prepare for the long haul. I'm not sure there is an end in the immediate future. Let's just hope it is over before our Labor Day trip to Vermont and the Zac Brown Band concert.

Since I am not seeing the kids much, Dan is wonderful about sending me pictures in the morning and afternoons. Here are some of the ones I have received



She could not be any happier with her camp! And let's forget Dans first successful pony tail...

  

Dan took Jenna for her follow up appointment with the surgeon. She got the all clear and no need to return again. Her stitches are still there, but do not bother her one bit. So glad this was done and over with!

I had to lay out their outfits, but they were sporting their 4th of July shirts for school and camp on July 3rd

Heading to camp this morning. This girl is rocking an awesome tan that I am super jealous of!

I told you Dan had this Mr. Mom deal down pat, right? He sent me this picture of the girls heading from the pool party to their second birthday party of the day. Either there is a gas leak in the car or he did a good job of tiring them out!

Not a bad work location for my first assignment, but unfortunately this gig ended last week.

And that is our crazy life right now! Claire is growing up before our eyes, preparing for the new school she got reassigned to for next year and Jenna just gets bigger every day. She took herself off the bottle about 2 weeks ago when she finally got the hang of the sippy cup. We had to give the cry it out method a go for the second time since we babied her so much during her surgery and Claire being gone. Jenna is down to one nap a day and no longer eating baby food. She loves the Dr. Praegers food - potato bite, brocolli bites, sweet potato, spinach, etc. She is not a fan of chicken nuggets but will eat brocolli and corn. She is already a better eater than Claire ever was.

Changing of the Camps!

Claire has successfully completed Camp Wishing Well Way and Pipere lives to tell about it - imagine that! It seems that Claire had an awesome time and she was such a good sport. While I do believe she was a little lonely, she pushed through and was kept busy with all the activities that were planned for her. I am pretty sure she swam more in those two weeks than she has in her entire life, ate more ice cream than you can imagine and dined with Pipere on a frequent basis - let's not mention how many times she celebrated her birthday. Pipere was ratted out once through when Claire reported back that he had a beer during lunch. And after Claire climbed back in the car with us, she proclaimed that she has a new favorite way to eat pasta, just like Nana - with butter and lots of salt. I enjoyed a good chuckle. Now that she is back I am sure Nana and Pipere are enjoying some quiet time and being able to sleep in the same bed because every night at Camp Wishing Well Way was a girls night and Claire and Nana slept together and kicked Pipere out to another room. What a precedent to set!

Claire moved directly from Camp Wishing Well Way and we met up with her at a counselor meet and greet at her new camp - Deerkill. She was super excited and thrilled to see one of her classmates there, while showing Nana, Pipere, Mom, Dad, Jenna, Andrea, and Matt where she would spend her summer. We got to see her group house along with all the playgrounds and animals that are on site. Then we headed out to a birthday party where Claire proceeded to take off the swimmies and jump in the pool, pop right up and start swimming to stairs. Not sure when exactly that happened, but she can swim! And I am sure this will only improve as she is now spending 40 minutes a day in swim lessons and another 40 minutes in free swim. She went off to camp this morning without any trouble. Dan said she woke up at 6:10 and asked if the bus had left yet. She gets picked up at 7:45 and returns no sooner than 5:15. She is going to be one tired little girl!

In the meantime, what we had been planning for at work finally happened. It looks like the Company offered the Union to continue negotiating and they chose not to, so they were locked out. What does that mean for me? Since I am management, I am now working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day until this gets settled. Not exactly sure how long that will be, but we will get through it. Dan has welcomed his role as Mr. Mom - at least on Day 1, we will see how that progresses.

Claire enjoying her visit to NJ on the weekend between Camp Wishing Well Way. She is so excited to have her own hat - a Cleveland Indians hat to boot!

Jenna sure enjoyed a little alone time with Mom & Dad

Claire anxiously waiting to get on the bus to Deerkill. She was so excited for her first day!