Rachel's 9th Birthday

Rachel turned 9 on July 22nd. She went to the Franklin Park Zoo with her uncle Noah, his girlfriend Heidi and Carmen.





I gave Carmen and Rachel one of my cameras to take pictures. It is always fun to see what pictures the kids take of a trip. Carmen and Rachel helped me write this blog since I did not go to the zoo with them.


Here are Noah and Heidi:

Rachel had the camera and took this photo of Noah. They had a great time.


Noah and Rachel had a plan to go to the zoo at Christmas time. They wanted to scare the hippos and see gorillas. The Franklin Park Zoo had both.

Well, it had a Pygmy hippo who didn't move the entire time they hung out near it. I hear they yelled at it and did many things to wake it up, but to no avail. A bit disappointing, but I'm sure Rachel and Noah entertained those who were nearby!



The gorillas provided much more entertainment. Not photographed but well remembered was a young gorilla. According to Rachel, he would run across the room sliding on his butt and then rub it as if it hurt. but he continued to repeat these actions over and over again. Many of the gorillas were eating orange peels. the young gorilla did take a break from his sliding to sit in a pink chair for a snack.




Here is the big grandpa dude! He mainly chewed on straw and orange peels and rarely moved. I hear everyone spent a long time in the gorilla area.



Carmen did like the zebras. This picture is quite tranquil.



Until I read this sign Carmen photographed, I had no idea that a giraffe could weigh more than 2 tons! The giraffes at the Franklin park zoo can grow up to 19 ft and live for 30 years. wow!

OK, more zebras and an ostrich.

I liked this picture of a zebra. They are beautiful.

The comedians are posing. They found a sign with Rachel's name on it.


Here is the close up.


And now to compare Rachel's wing span to an Andean Condor. That's one big bird!



Noah and Rachel had fun climbing on these trees. Rachel said that Noah is a better monkey than she.



OK, she's not happy that Carmen is torturing her with the camera.


In the words of Rachel: I know the ostrich. He is a very nice man. He lets you look through his eyes, walk under his belly and climb on top of him without him making a sound. He's so quiet, he's like a statue. PS. He's actually a statue.

This ostrich was so cool. There was a tube that went up the statue's neck so you could see like an ostrich could. It had the same details that a real ostrich would. It let you stand right next to an ostrich without being hurt.

Here is a real ostrich. It is not as nice as the statue one. It yelled at you as if it wanted to talk to you as you walked by.

Carmen was excited to know that there were kangaroos at the zoo. but disappointed to learn it was only a tree kangaroo called a wallaby.


Cat nap time. The lion was boring because he just slept the whole time they were there. Sounds like my cats on a warm day.

Lions are huge and majestic.

I thought this picture was artistic. Poor Rachel couldn't get away from the camera, even in the bathroom. This takes teasing your sister to a new level!

Bird time

This bird landed on Rachel's arm.

The zoo said that flamingos bond by bickering. Rachel says they would squawk at each other. Someone would get mad and peck an other's butt. Then other would start pecking. At some point they'd stop and begin fighting over who could sit in the mud to heal their butts! Sounds loud and bothersome yet entertaining!

Yes there were horses at the zoo too. Fake ones and...

real ones. Rachel has a calm demeanour around animals. She wants to be a vet. She said that the horses were happy to get her attention and then the huge donkeys came in and pushed the horses out of the stall.

This donkey is huge. I must imagine mules when I think of donkeys. Rachel confirmed that the donkeys were huge.

Camel time. There was a mommy and a daddy camel. The mommy ate just right and had nice upright humps. The daddy camel over ate and his hump was floppy. Camel store fat in their humps, that why they stay upright. If you overeat and have too much fat then the hump fat is not stored in the there and flops over.

While Rachel and Carmen were at the zoo, I was able to wrap presents and prepare her birthday dinner: baby back ribs and mash potatoes with skins. She had made her Fun Fetti cupcakes the night before. Mainly so she could like the batter from the bowl! I made chocolate cupcakes during the day.

Rachel asked for Duplo legos for her birthday. She especially liked the collection of families I found for her Duplo homes. She prefers making multi-story houses with Duplos. With the new collection of people we have more kids. Most of the people we had were zoo keepers from when Tobin was into Duplos and preferred all the animals to the building blocks.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

I love the tower of cupcakes.

I had to include this picture of Tobin. He has embraced the Coleman jug so much so that I affectionately call it his "buddy". I offered it to Sarai and Carmen when they were at the Holy Cross camps, but they were too embarrassed to use it. Not Tobin! He loves it since it holds much more water than the average water bottle. It travels with him to practices, side jobs and around the house.

I thought this was an elegant picture of Carmen. She is rarely photographed in this blog since she had the camera much of the time.

Jenna gave Rachel a present of doing a sewing class at a new place in Northboro. It is called Ready Set Sew. Rachel chose a class that taught you how to make pj bottoms. Before taking the class Rachel had a short lesson on how to use a sewing machine. This sewing center has been a wonderful experience for her. After he brief lesson at the store, she came home and was practicing sewing circles I drew on fabric. Circles helps her learn to follow a curve carefully. She took the pj class with 3 other girls. Rachel said that the instructor said she sewed the straightest! the pj class was 4 hours long.

Here are the pjs she made. She did a great job!

Once she had finished her first sewing class she asked to do more. I signed her up for two more classes. One to make a pillow learning some quilting techniques and another to make a messenger bag she can use as her book bag for school. In the time between creating the pjs and making the quilted pillow, she used my sewing machine and made a pillow with a ruffled edge for her bed. I had bought material a few years ago that matched their curtains so I could create pillows. I didn't get too far.

Here's the pillow with the ruffled edge. I created much of the ruffle, but pinned it so she could sew it together. She likes sewing much better than hand sewing because her creations stay together longer.

This is the pillow she made in her second class. She used fleece pieces.

I like the method used here on the back. All the pillows I've created needed buttons or zippers to allow you to take the cover off so you could wash it. I am learning new techniques from Rachel going to these classes too.

While waiting to take classes and learn new skills, Rachel and I purchased another sewing machine. I hope this will free up a machine that I could use to sew my curtains on.

Rachel also went clothing shopping with Grammie. Of course all the girls went and did a bit of shopping too for school clothes. I do believe Rachel had a wonderful birthday.

Boating on Lake Winnepesauke

The day after Carmen's birthday, July 17th, we went boating with friends on Lake Winnipesaukee. We had done this last year too. Our family friends, the Stewich's, own a boat and keep it on the lake all summer. I didn't realize that it was Kristin Stewich's birthday though! Her daughter Madelyn has been friends with Carmen since 4th grade. It was great to spend the day with them on the lake.

When we arrived at the lake it was almost lunch time. We decided to have a few snacks. The container of whip cream came out and a few mouths were filled.




We spent a good amount of our time tubing!

Here's Rachel, Madelyn and Carmen in the tube.

Then Carmen and Madelyn went out without Rachel.

Next were Tobin and Sarai. Usually we don't change riders until someone gets thrown off the tube. Bill slowed the boat down so Tobin and Sarai could get pulled in and Tobin just rolled out of the tube. He was done!

Rachel LOVES tubing. She gets thrown out of the tube, floats back up and says "let's go again!". Here she is with Carmen.

Now it was time for Abram and I. Last year, Bill tried very hard to flip us over but was unsuccessful. This year he did it! According to the kids we did a full flip in the air. Abram actually got a small black eye from the impact with the water. We did have a great time!

Time for lunch. Abram and Rachel rode the tube from the middle of the lake to a shallow area where we could anchor the boat for lunch. Boating has a world to itself. There are stores just for boats to dock and get food at. There is an ice cream boat with the same music we hear in our neighborhoods. There are also police boats.

Happy Birthday Kristin. Bill gave her sunglasses for running. They have three different lenses just like our biking glasses do. Dark for sunny days, auburn for dusk or cloudy days and clear for evening or rainy days. She was very happy.

While we were anchored Carmen and Will (Bill and Kristin's son) hung out on the float upside down.

We jumped into the water for a cool swim.

Rachel is my fish!


After lunch, we tried water skiing. Rachel, Kristin and I were the only brave ones though. Rachel tried several times. She managed to get up a bit, but not completely.

Kristin went in and out of the wake without falling. This is a first; perfect to do on your birthday.

I tried it again. I believe this is the best I did. I was able to get partially up each time but not stand up completely.


Here I am getting too much water from my butt and it all went up my nose. My arms were very tired the next day.

Sarai was given a chance to drive the boat.

So was Tobin. I believe Bill opened the throttle completely while Tobin drove. That should mean he was driving the boat at 50 miles and hour. Glad we had lots of lake without many boats to maneuver around!


We docked the boat at a restaurant called the NazBar. It has a tables on the beach and a DJ. As we walked into the restaurant area I was asked for my id. I had left in the car before we went on the boat! I told him that Sarai was my 14 year old daughter, I had to be at least 21. It took a while for him to believe me. He stamped my hand to say I could drink. I should be happy that they still want to card me.

We had a wonderful time with Bill and Kristin. Thank you for sharing your boat with us. We hope to go on it again soon. Rachel didn't get a chance to drive the boat because the sun was setting and it is too hard to navigate a boat at dusk for a novice. She hopes to do it this summer soon. We'll let you know if she does.

Cheers and again happy birthday, Kristin!

Carmen's 12th Birthday

Carmen turned 12 in July 16th at 7:37am. This is the first year that we did not have to wake her up at the time that she was born. For years she would set the alarm clock so that we could say "happy birthday" at the time she was born. I guess it is official, she a teenager. Sleep is now a priority or not getting up early.

The one thing Carmen wanted for her birthday was a new bed. Rachel and she share a bedroom. Carmen has a loft bed that Abram made for Tobin and Sarai. Rachel has a smaller bed that Abram also made. We made the difficult decision to buy a bunk bed. Everyone cherishes the beds Abram has made. The day before Carmen's birthday we went to Bunk Beds and Beyond and found a bed. We ordered a double bunk bed. There is a double bed on top and on the bottom. Rachel didn't want to sleep on the top bed and since this was Carmen's big present, as well as one for Rachel's birthday, I felt Carmen should get a larger mattress like Rachel. We should have it within the next week.

Here they are modeling it for dad. I was taking pictures of the beds and sending them to Abram at work. This is not the one they are getting since the top bunk is as big as the bottom one. Yes, they will have drawers underneath.

Happy Birthday Carmen. She's looking older.

I love how animated she is when she opens her presents. After we had looked at

bunk beds we went shopping for sheets. She picked out this white, soft, fuzzy double person blanket for her new bed.

Carmen also had asked for gift cards for her birthday. I thought it was odd for me to give her gift cards if then I was going to go back to the mall later and take her shopping. So her birthday was spent at the mall finding and me buying her clothes. Sarai, Rachel and my mom came too. My mom gave her a funky pocketbook.

Here is a picture of Carmen wearing one of her birthday outfits. An Elmo shirt, jean shorts and long socks. We decided at the store that the Elmo shirt needed to fit all of us. I am sure that I will have reason to wear it to work, being that I am a kindergarten teachers aide. Yes, the shirt does fit me perfectly well.

Her birthday dinner was at Bertucci's. Here are Aidan and Rachel playing while we waited for our table.

I tried to capture a picture of Jenna, Isaac, Aidan and Sierra. I prefer the candid pictures.

We were given a wonderful waiter. He called Carmen Elmo. Rachel told him that it was Carmen's birthday. He later brought out a triple layered chocolate cake with fudge frosting! I didn't ask for him to sing to her, he took the initiative. The staff and our table all sang to her. The cake was perfect for my chocolate lover.

I forgot to say who was at dinner with us. Tobin, Rachel, Abram, Isaac, Jenna, Aidan, Sierra and myself came to dinner. Sarai had her last night of volleyball camp. Bertucci's does have a gluten free menu. I was able to order her favorite: chicken and mashed potatoes to go.

At home I had made ice cream pie for dessert. The large pan has chocolate ice cream with fudge topping. I also make individual ice cream pies in a rubber cupcake pan. I made one for Sarai with gluten free cookies as the base. The larger chocolate pie had wheat based cookies in it. I also made Java Chip Frapuccino ones for Carmen and Isaac. They both love this brand of ice cream from Starbucks. Then I made an individual one for Rachel, who doesn't like too much chocolate. Hers was cookies and cream.

Carmen asked for 13 candles in her ice cream pie; one for good luck.


Here's Sarai. After dinner we picked her up from camp and came home to sing "happy birthday"