Celebrating TEN Years in Delray Beach!

It's amazing how long a moment can last when you're in it, yet how quickly it went by once it's passed...  I know, deep thought.  But that's how I feel in hindsight thinking about our recent week long trip to Delray Beach, FL to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary.  We really did love every minute of it- relaxing on the beach, by the pool, or in our condo unit; enjoying the yummy food that this adorable, trendy little town had to offer; and just catching up on reading and talking!!!  It was a bit of a random choice in the location, just sticking with RCI time shares in the states with good reviews, but we are so thankful this is the place we landed on!  While it was hot, there was always a crisp breeze in the air, and the occasional rainstorms never put us out and only cut one beach outing slightly short.

Here's a recap in pictures of our trip! 

Ocean view from our balcony and where we had breakfast every morning

Pool view from our unit

We were on the 2nd floor.  Right across the street was the beach!

Dinner at a Tapas Bar with awesome baba ganoush!

Cute Delray Beach downtown in the background

Overlooking the inter-coastal waterway, on the bridge we'd pass over to get into the downtown area.

What our beach time looked like :)  We did go in the water each time at least!

Chocolate chip pancakes one morning :)

Lunch across from the water

Lunch overlooking the waterway

One of our little "friends"- we saw dozens of these guys that week!

Beautiful water and beach!

Our delicious "celebration" dinner!

Yes, the snake is real!

Taking a cruise along the waterway on our last full day...

Final evening walk on the beach...

And a slideshow of more:



Oh, what a special week it was!!!  We are so grateful it all worked out, and so grateful to my folks for making it possible for us- both for giving us the week of their time share AND for keeping our girl while we were away!  It was definitely strange to be without her for so long but we knew she was having a blast and keeping busy, and are SO thankful for texts and picture texts! :)  Another post to come shortly with her fun week!!!

Here's hoping there's another trip like this in our future after another wonderful 10 years... :)

The 4th with Friends!

Our fourth of July this year didn't have quite the firework power of last year's, but spending it with several of the same friends made it special still.  We had a picnic at our nearby Carl Schurz Park and were so glad a couple of our building neighbors were even able to join us!  The kids had fun running around and we had fun watching them... and eating :).  Given our early morning departure the next day for our big trip, we weren't able to get any live fireworks viewing in, but it was a memorable day celebrating our country none-the-less. 

Here are some of our favorite pics from Independence Day:

Getting red, white, and blue crafty!

Festive Food

Close pals- James, Jessa, Desiree, and Ethan

Delicious dessert!

 

The gang

 Some of our favorite NYC friends- Todd & Jessa and Desiree, James, Jay, & Ethan

A couple of our sweet neighbors- Miss Jenny and Richard

And a slideshow of more:

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday, as well!  Pictures from our amazing anniversary trip to FL and Maelee's sweet time with Nana & Pop-Pop to come soon!!!

Time to sit back and unwind...

Summertime is officially here and while I wouldn't say we've been sitting back and relaxing a whole lot, we have been able to unwind a bit more than usual.  Maelee's "school" ended the last week of May and gymnastics ended the first week of June, and we had several fairly open Saturdays to get out and enjoy our city.

The month began with a fun trip to VA where we spent a morning at Nana's school, had fun at Market Square, and even got to meet good friend, Cindy, and her family for dinner!

Maelee loved hanging out with the teachers and students at Davis Middle School, especially the teacher who loves unicorns and was happy to share (!), and her new friend, Brian (a troublemaker normally, but super sweet with Maelee!).

 

 Fun at the farmer's market at Market Square!

Delicious fresh squeezed orange juice!

Making friends with the snake at dinner.

Enjoying some mango yogurt with blueberries!

And dinner with sweet friends!

A slideshow of our VA visit:

It was a fairly quick trip but we all enjoyed it while Steve was away for an ad board in Chicago.  Maelee was very happy to see her daddy when we got back and loved showing him the new Science book that Nana had given her to bring back.

 

Rainbow ice cream goodness at Carl Schurz playground

Our little gymnast

A fun trip to the East Village for some Butter Lane cupcakes

And more playground fun with the steep slide!

Lunch break at the playground with friends!

Saturday morning at one of Maelee's favorite places- the Carousel at Bryant Park

 

"The Bears" in Central Park, after a Father's Day picnic

Fun on the camels at John Jay Park

A fun filled Saturday walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and taking in some fun in DUMBO

To Maelee's delight, there's a new carousel along the Brooklyn water front!

Enjoying the famous Grimaldi's pizza...

And Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

 And while Steve was away for a quick ad board in Boston the last Saturday of June, Maelee and I had a special day which started with breakfast at Alice's Tea Cup,

 
Followed by a fun visit to "Make Meaning" where Maelee got to make "Cupcake Soap" with a blue ducky!


Proud of her soap :)

And a slideshow of more June fun:

It has been a pretty fun month with our girl and we are grateful that it's been a bit milder of a month in terms of some behavior issues! :)  There's been a bit less of the defiance and a bit more of the sweetness so we are enjoying it while it lasts.  She has gotten quite demanding at bedtime lately which is both frustrating and hilarious as everything has to be just so (fresh water AND "fresh" tissue, a/c on, just the right friends and songs, ladybug light on, etc, etc), but then when she adorably yells, "night night, i love you!" as we go up the stairs, we don't seem to mind as much.  She is starting to play the "but mommy said" and vice versa when she doesn't like the answer one of us has given and she continues to get defensive when corrected with "but, buts!" But she is our little Miss Chatty and Miss Outgoing and we love to just watch and listen sometimes :)  She's gotten particularly obsessed with dinosaurs this month and we love that she's just as interested in pirates, cars, trains, and dinosaurs, as she is with dolls.  We've got an exciting July planned with our big 10 year anniversary trip to FL while Maelee has a blast with Nana & Pop-Pop so we're looking forward to some unwinding then!