Lemonade stand

Dylan had an epiphany about two weeks ago that it would be a really good idea to have a lemonade stand and sell cookies. He was trying to think of a way to make money to put away in his bank account so he can build a castle when he grows up (this boy is too much). He said that he saw on a tv show once that a little girl sold lemonade and she made money doing it. I never want to discourage my children to try things and Stephen and I were quite impressed that he came up with this on his own.

When I was in the Dollar Store last week I picked up a piece of yellow oak tag and he wrote "Lemonade for sale" and drew lemons on his stand. I was away this weekend with my aunts visiting family and was pretty happy when Stephen sent me a pic of Dylan sitting at his lemonade stand. He is quite the little entrepreneur and surprisingly made a lot of money Saturday afternoon!

Last Day of Summer camp

Oh has this summer flown by...Dylan was a little sad that today was his last day of summer camp. I had to remind him to pack up all of his stuff today and say good bye to all of his wonderful counselors at Frost Valley. He made me promise that he will be returning to Frost Valley next summer. I told him most definitely! Now what to do next week??? Camping is on the schedule for next weekend but we are going to plan something special for one day next week---could it be Medieval Times? Knoebles? Museum of Natural History???? Stay tuned....

Almost done...

I have checked off 3 more items from the house project list. Brynn was thrilled when she came home Monday night and saw that her room was also painted. Our painter Donna loves it when I call her for one of my house projects. She said she never knows what to expect when she opens a can of paint! Brynnie's former soft pink bedroom is now a very bright shade of pink. I think we are done with painting for a little while now. Here is a pick of an ecstatic girl showing off her big girl room (and her favorite part is the new canopy!)

Red Caboose

I was trying to kill some time Friday while waiting for Stephen to arrive at the campgrounds with the camper. Instead of taking the shortcut to Mongaup Pond, I decided to go through Livingston Manor and let the kids play by the old red O & W Railroad's caboose that is parked right as you get off of the exit. Of course Dylan was beyond delighted and the girls were happy checking out the steering wheel and train tracks. Simple things like this make my children happy and I shouldn't take these simplicities for granted--the half an hour or so we spent there was very exciting for them since it's something that captures their interests

Riding lesson #2

Brynnie really surprises me these days. What a lady she is becoming. Wednesday morning she got up, asked to put on pants (it was very muggy out by the way) so she could be ready for her ride with Comanche. She was pretty talkative this week and rode quite a bit. She is a fast learner and I don't think I have given her enough credit for this. After grooming Comanche and saddling him up, she quickly hopped on and was ready to go. I try to stay as far away from her and Amy so Brynn doesn't get distracted. She went around the ring a couple of times, did some zig-zag patterns around the cones and is learning some commands like "walk on" and "whoa".

After 3 more lessons, she is going to be able to go on a trail ride with Ms. Amy. She doesn't forget anything and asked me last night how many more classes before she can go alone with Amy--my little girl is growing up!

Another finished project....

I'm seriously on a mission! Yesterday Dylan's bedroom was finally painted! He has been asking for a blue bedroom for months now and when we arrived home after camp, he was pleasantly surprised with a VERY blue bedroom. I love, love, love this color! I have been trending more towards darker colors these days, trying to keep everything as clean as possible for as long as possible. Stephen's not really a fan of Dylan's new big boy room but it doesn't matter because the smile and "thanks mom" I got at the end of the day was totally worth it. Next project, Brynnie's room.

Wayne County Fair 2010

Sunday afternoon, after completing a little school shopping in Honesdale, the kids and I headed over to the Wayne County Fair. Holy moly was it a HOT day! Dylan was able to ride all of the kiddie rides, Brynn, my skinny little peanut, unfortunately was still too short to ride on some of the rides alone and poor Em could only go on 3 rides :( Since my girls were a little dissappointed we played a couple of games, ate some ice cream, and headed home to play. Maybe next year all 3 will be fortunate enough to enjoy the rides at the fair.

Riding lesson #1

Brynn started riding lessons yesterday morning at a local farm with our friend Amy. She was a little apprehensive at first but once everything was explained to her and she started brushing the horse, something instinctively snapped and she was in love. The horse she is going to be training with is named Camanche. He is a beautiful pony with a blonde mane and tail. Brynnie asked if she could go on a trail ride with Camanche at the end of her lesson and Ms. Amy promised her after she completes 4 more lessons, she and Amy are going to go on a trail ride together. It made me smile knowing that my little girl is going to have the opportunity that I didn't have growing up. Hopefully this is something that she will enjoy doing for years to come!

And then there's a butterfly...

Friday morning while I was getting stuff ready to put into the camper, I noticed that the chrysalis that we have been waiting to see a butterfly emerge from was BLACK!!! It was quite bizarre because it was dark but you could see through it and see the butterfly inside it. Dylan watched patiently to see if the butterfly was ready to come out but unfortunately we had to leave the house and I told Dylan that by the time we got home from errands, the butterfly would probably be out.

I was right and Dylan was amazed with seeing the beautiful butterfly that was 10 days prior a fat ugly caterpillar. Brynn squealed when she saw the butterfly that afternoon and Emily just wanted to touch it and play with it. After a couple of hours it was ready to be released. The kids hoped that we could keep it but I explained that it had to be free. It was a very good experience for my 3 kiddies!