Why can’t tomatoes from the grocery store taste like the tomatoes from my grandma’s garden? Why?

Liam attended fencing camp in the mornings this week. Coach Emi comes with quite a resume. She was the 7-time National Foil Champion of Bulgaria and took the silver medal in the European Championships. She was also the head coach of the Bulgarian National Women’s Foil Team and took her team to the 1996 Olympics and most importantly, she is so good with the kids. Here are some pics, I will post a video of Liam fencing soon.


This book is not going to win any literary awards any time soon, but the pictures are Legos, so who cares what the story is all about. 🙂

I love memoirs. One reason I like reading them is because usually the authors have had extraordinary things happen to them and you have to keep telling yourself that this really happened to someone…they lived through this. This book is no exception.

Another day, another trip, this time to Moon Marble. The boys had a lot of fun picking out their marbles. I think their favorite part was the names of the marbles. Each type of marble has its own name based on what it looks like. We got some galaxies, some watermelons, some tigers, bumblebees, etc. This trip was also extra special because Grandma and Grandad played hooky from work today to come with us.


Picking out his “surprise” marble.


Marble toys


Making marbles…the one he was making looked like a baseball when he was done with it.

Pics from our fun trip today. It was quite a drive up there, but it was well worth it.


This cow kept licking and nibbling him. Clearly he liked it.


Fresh ice cream and super creamy!

If you have not been to the Reading Reptile, you really should go. They are an independently owned children’s bookstore. They are trying to stay afloat, but it is not easy. We try and go there at least three times a year. There is a toy and science store next door and a Baskin Robbins next to that, so you could easily make an outing out of it. My kids can hang out/read/play in the bookstore for at least a good hour there is so much to do in there. It is in Brookside. Here are some pics to entice you…


They have fun places for the kids to sit and read. They even have a “secret” reading hole which my boys love.


One of the play areas


You can never tire of looking at things in this place. There is a lot to look at.

You know how when you are reading and you kind of read ahead so you know what is going to happen before it happens? Well, at Mass today I was following along with the reading and I see that the word “nakedness” is coming up and I brace myself for the worst. I know my boys. Liam snickers, but quickly shuts up when I shoot him the look. Colm, in true Beavis and Butthead fashion says, “He said “nakedness.” Of course, I shoot him the look too which entices him into saying it again. At least they’re listening.

Liam was at Engineering Camp in the afternoons this week. They did so many fun things…they made rockets that they shot off, they made catapults, they built this dome thing (you’d have to see it to appreciate it) and also built bridges. This also included a contest to see whose bridge was the strongest. Liam and his four teammates tied with another team for first prize. There are so many fun things they can do in the summer once they hit this age.