Lounging Poolside

Henry and Mo joined us at the pool on Friday for one final hurrah before going back to school. As you can see in the photo above, Ellie was feeling very relaxed and casual that day.

The big 3-0

Although I turned 30 on Tuesday, it seems like there is no end to the festivities. We celebrated with my family in Buffalo, John and I had a fantastic dinner on Tuesday, Erin and Pat came up for a fun dinner on Wednesday night (and brought Magnolia cupcakes!) and my friends took me out for a great night out on Thursday. So far, 30 isn't too bad!

Ellie is 21 months old!

Ellie is now 21 months old! She continues to talk up a storm and is ever the social butterfly. She went back to day care for the day and enjoyed seeing her old friends and meeting some new ones as well.

Back to School

Ellie came to school yesterday to "help" me set up my classroom. She thoroughly enjoyed finding a comfy spot to sit in the cubbies. As you can imagine, it turned out to be a pretty unproductive morning at work.

Welcome, Ruby!

Our friends Colleen and Tommy had their first baby, Ruby Jane on August 12th. I was able to see her while I was in Buffalo and she's beautiful. Congrats to the new parents!

Buffalo Girl

We spent last week in Buffalo visiting with friends and family. Ellie really enjoys visiting her second home, Mimi and Papa's house.

We had lunch with Mimi's old friend Anne.

We spent time at Grandma and Grandpa's everyday. Ellie would walk in the door and ask them for a cookie each time.

Quinn had us over and let Ellie play with all of her great toys outside.

We went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday.

It was a great trip and we're already looking forward to our next visit to Buffalo.

Fun with Cousins

playing ball with Annie, Erin, Timmy and Luke

Timmy, Annie, Ellie and Luke

Luke and Ellie

The Walsh family came to the pool with us tonight. Even though only half of the kids joined us, we were happy to have them. Ellie loved being doted on by the kids, especially Luke.

Nantucket

We flew to Nantucket for a quick two day trip. The weather wasn't the best, but we had an incredible time. Ellie loved flying in a tiny nine-seater plane and kept asking to go to the beach. We were able to spend time both in town and at Surfside beach. Many thanks to the Raffertys for hosting us! To see our entire album from Nantucket, go to: ACK 08.

Will, Abby and Ellie

devouring corn on the cob

she even loves Nantucket in the rain!

hanging in town

Family Picnic

We traveled to Vermont yesterday for a get together with John's family. There were lots of relatives there, Ellie enjoyed hanging out with 20 of her 21 first cousins and some extended family as well.

Ellie enjoyed eating her "cakecups"

Ellie and Tommy

Family photo - everyone was there except for our nephew Jack who is in the Coast Guard Academy

Ellie with Maggie

Chicago

I traveled to Chicago for a math conference last week and had a great time. I didn't take many pictures as I'm usually delinquent with the camera when Ellie isn't around. Alexis took me around Millennium Park and I finally went on the Architecture Tour I've been wanting to do for years.

Millennium Park

Chicago skyline

The Sears Tower and Mark's office building (directly to the right of Sears Tower).

ENP in NYC

Ellie and I had a great (albeit quick) trip to NYC on Friday.

on the train

visiting Adam's office at the NBA
Fordham girls at lunch: Meg, Maggie, Ellie (class of 2028), Kaitlin, Colleen, Ferg and Christine

Pat, Ellie and Erin at a W. Village playground
Adam, Erin and Ellie at the White Horse Tavern

breakfast bagel in Prospect Park

with Ashley and Beak

Ellie had the quintessential NYC visit; she went to a fun lunch, FAO Schwartz, the Central Park Zoo, dinner at the White Horse Tavern and then slept in Brooklyn and visited Prospect Park before leaving. She seemed to love every minute of it, I always knew there was a real city kid in Ellie! To see our entire album of photos, go here.