Lakehouse with Reagan and Avery

John and I were planning to get stuff done around the house this weekend, but when Diane told me I should come to the lakehouse, we figured the girls would have much more fun there, than stuck inside our house while we cleaned. I left on Saturday afternoon and only stayed one night, but it was totally worth it :)

Instead of cooking, we took the kids to Arby's for dinner.

On Sunday, we spent the day outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

Then I caught a frog for Reagan!!! I'm not sure who was more excited about it, Reagan or me.

Reagan climbed right on Grandma Connie's lap and floated with her. I was so proud of Reagan, as she spent the entire day in the water, swimming with her floaties. She had no fear and she loved feeling the waves from the passing boats.

Grandpa Jack helped Reagan figure out a name for the frog: Tu-tu the frog became his name! Diane gave us a "critter cage" to put him in and he stayed in there most of the day. Reagan refused to put the critter cage down ... the poor frog got thrown around inside while Reagan ran through the "Crazy Daisy" (sprinkler):

Crazy Daisy with Tutu

This is such a great clip of video ... Tutu jumps out of my hand and I catch him (with my left hand, so it's pretty impressive!)

Reagan was dying to bring Tutu home, but she was such a good sport about returning the frog to its home on the shore.

Saying goodbye to the frog ... Reagan put him in the water, but he didn't seem to respond very well, so we picked him up and tried leaving him on the rocks.

Harrison's Birthday Party

Harrison's 4th birthday party will go down as one of my biggest failures as a mother. Talk about a disaster! The party was at the Tenafly Nature Center and the invitation stated it would take place Rain or Shine. It was a very warm August day, but it was POURING rain. I figured that since it would be held "Rain or Shine" that the party would be indoors. Since it was a hot summer day, we were in summer clothes (Reagan in a dress, me in flip-flops, etc). It was at 12:30, so I was already pushing Avery since she usually naps around 1:00.

Just the walk from our car to the pavillion got us very wet under our umbrella. Then we all walked to the indoor center for the program and we got wet again. All the other kids were dressed appropriately in rain coats and rain boots, having fun splashing in the rain. And there I was, carrying Avery & the diaper bag, holding Reagan's hand as well as the umbrella over the 3 of us.
Inside, there was a woman who showed the kids a few creatures, then it was another walk outside in the rain, back to the pavillion for lunch. By now, it was getting close to 2:00 and Avery was melting down. The walk back was horrible, as the rain was coming down so hard! I was carrying Avery, trying to hold the umbrella over all of us, but the rain was coming off the umbrella right onto Reagan! By the time we got to the pavillion, Reagan's dress was literally soaked!


Reagan was NOT happy about her very wet dress. It was so wet that she started getting cold, so I had to take it off of her. Being the horribly unprepared mother that I was, I had NO change of clothes with me. Luckily, Nicole let me put Mia's raincoat on Reagan so we could stay for lunch and cupcakes.

Reagan (in Mia's raincoat) eating her cupcake.

Amanda and Avery

Not the best video, but at least you can see the pouring rain. We couldn't believe how dark it was outside in the middle of the day.

By the time we left, I was so frazzled. Both girls were at their breaking points and so was I. It would have been a great party if I'd been better prepared ... all the other kids were having a great time! Looks like it's time to buy rain coats and rain boots for my girls!!!

Balloon Festival

I was determined to take Reagan to the Balloon Festival for her 3rd year in a row (click here to see last year's post), and although it was almost the death of me, I'm proud to say I managed to pull it off ... barely!


When Diane invited me to the lakehouse, I was really excited about it, but also a little disappointed that it fell on the same weekend as the annual Balloon Festival. Reagan enjoyed the balloons so much the previous two years that I was looking forward to taking her back. Of course, when Diane and I discussed the overlap, we both tried figuring out a way to cram both the lakehouse and the festival into the quick weekend!


We were planning on driving straight from the Poconos to the Festival in Readington, NJ, but I had to go home first instead to get Avery (John had to go down to Union City to fix a clogged pipe for one of the tenants). I drove home (just under 2 hours), picked up Avery, then got back into the car and drove both girls to Readington. Its about 62 miles, so it should have been about 1 hour, 15 minutes, but it took us about 2 hours to get there, due to the craziest summer storm I've EVER witnessed! It was sunny and we were about 20 minutes away when Maribel called me from the balloon festival ... Maribel, Marcelo, Joaquin, Nayda and Pepin were had just arrived when a crazy thunderstorm hit. They found coverage in a tent and once it passed, the sun came out again, Just after hanging up with Maribel, I hit the storm and it was insane! The rain was coming down so hard that everyone on the highway pulled over to the side of the road - it was literally impossible to drive in it! As soon as I pulled over, the rain turned to huge balls of hail! The hail was so loud on the car the Avery started to cry. Yet after a few minutes, the rain let up and I got back onto the road. Within 5 minutes of driving away from the storm, it was sunny skies again. Talk about bizarre!!

Silly expression, but I thought it was a funny picture ;)

Avery and Nayda

My little model posing

This is a classic video of Reagan - I pulled out the camera and she thought I was going to take a picture. I love watching her pose, as I'm pretty sure I used to do the exact same thing when I was a little girl.

We ended up lying our chairs and blankets down around the same place as last year, thinking we'd have a prime spot for the "mass ascension" of the balloons. Except they changed it this year! The balloons ended up taking off from an entirely different area, one that was rather far from where we were. We moved our chairs, but by then, we were a little too late. I felt like we missed the mass ascension and I was disappointed that I didn't get any really great pics of the balloons. I was too busy trying to purchase dinner and feed the girls and then move to a new spot. Oh well. At least Reagan and Avery had fun playing with Joaquin!

Maribel and her crew were pretty disappointed with everything ... Maribel and I went together last year and had a great time, so Nayda, Pepin and Marcelo were all looking forward to going for their first time. We hyped it up and then it ended up sucking. I doubt they'll be returning in the years to come! And rightfully so - they braved the storm, then the MUDDY grounds that followed, then a pathetic number of balloons in the mass ascension (hardly any compared to last year) and they'd dropped $100 just to walk through the gates! ($25 per adult).

*~*~*~*

Then there was Diane. Poor Diane! She ended up driving her 3 kids from the lakehouse and her GPS wasn't doing a very good job of giving her directions. After a very stressful, long drive, she got there as the balloons were going up. She threw the older kids in the double stroller, strapped her baby to her chest in the baby Bjorn, then trekked across the very muddy parking lot in flip flops, all the while telling her kids to look up to see the balloons floating away. When she finally arrived at the gate, the attendants told her it was closed to new entries. At that point, she put her hands over her eyes and cried. Thank goodness this worked, as they finally allowed her to walk in, just as most people were leaving.

I met her inside and we went to the area with rides and begged the young attendants to let the kids ride them. Thank goodness they accomodated us and Diane's kids got to have a little bit of fun!

Reagan and JP had fun riding the ponies

... while Avery waited patiently in the stroller

Kaitlyn, Erin and Diane

After the pony ride, we walked out together ... the clouds were rolling in again and it started to sprinkle as we got to the car. I got the girls in and by the time I moved the car, it was already coming down pretty hard. This made for a VERY long drive home! It took us about 45 minutes just to get to the main highway because of traffic. We inched along the sideroad painfully slowly. The girls were exhausted (to say the least) and they were completely spent. To make matters worse, I only had about 20 minutes left of battery on the portable DVD player. The following video is in the car, just after we left, with the rain pounding down:

Once we got on the highway, the girls lost it and both started crying (over tired). At one point, I had to pull over to try to calm them down. After they both had finally fallen asleep, my gas light came on! I had to find a gas station and pull over, which of course made Avery wake up. Anyway, we didn't get home until just after 11:00 pm and everyone was happy to be home!

We'll see if we make it next year for the 4th year in a row ... let's just say the circumstances will have to be perfect because I won't brave thunderstorms next time!

Lakehouse with Reagan

A couple months ago, Diane asked if I wanted to join her at the lakehouse the last weekend of July, since her husband Jack had plans to go to Canada for a bachelor party. Her in-laws were planning to go to the lakehouse that weekend too, so there wasn't room for all of us. I just took Reagan so that she could have a fun weekend with her friends and so we could spend some quality mother/daughter time together. John stayed home with Avery and the dogs. I felt badly leaving him since Brutus died the morning that we were supposed to leave, but John insisted that we go and have a nice weekend. He ended up having a nice weekend too, bonding with Avery, so it all worked out nicely.


As usual, the kids all played so well together (Kaitlyn, JP, and Reagan)

Here is 4-month old Erin sitting on Gramps' lap, just after her bath

Reagan had such a wonderful time on the beach ... here she is with Grandma Connie, making mud pies on the dock. After making mud pies, digging in the dirt, and throwing rocks into the lake, she decided she wanted to swim in the lake. I put the inflatable floaties on her arms and she was in heaven, swimming around the lake! She's a little fish ...

I love this serious picture of Kaitlyn in her sunglasses ...

Eating goldfish

JP with flushed cheeks, due to the warm, sunny day

Many thanks to the McTigues for another fabulous weekend at my favorite retreat!!!

I love piano music ...

I rarely get on YouTube, but I couldn't help but play this song over and over while I was going through my pictures tonight. Listen to the entire thing because you'll hear how the song came to be at the end. I tried embedding the video, but if that doesn't work, you can click on this link which will send you to YouTube: Love Story (Taylor Swift) meets Viva La Vida (Coldplay)

The first part of this song reminds me of Lauren (John's niece) and Reagan: When the song "Love Story" came out by Taylor Swift, Lauren told us it was her favorite song. I was shocked one day soon after when we were in the car and it came on the radio ... Reagan immediately said, "this is Lauren's favorite song!"

The second part of this song is dedicated to John and Chris (Heid) ... it's sort of an inside joke between the two of them and we joke that it's "their song!"

Jon Schmidt is a pianist who lives in Salt Lake City so I think it's pretty cool that he's gotten so much attention for this YouTube video and his arrangement of these 2 songs put together. My readers in Utah have probably seen this a lot by now, but maybe it's new to some of my NJ readers (if I have any left, since my blog has suffered so much since I started working!). For those of you who still check in, THANK YOU!

Father's Day!

My girls are truly SO lucky to have such an amazing father. It's impossible to describe the love that John has for his girls ~ it runs so deep and I know he would do absolutely anything for them. I am so happy to have married John and have children with the worlds greatest father!

This year, I knew I wanted to get John a new pair of running shoes, since he's been exercising in the pair I got him for Father's Day 3 years ago and they seem shot! I wanted to surprise him, but I also wanted to spend some time with Reagan. So after yesterday's playdate at Jen's, I took Avery home for her nap and took Reagan with me to the mall. I told John I needed to get to Sephora because I was out of my all time FAVORITE product, my dry shampoo ... this was all true. For those of you who've never tried this product, order some today! I use this every other day so that I don't have to wash my hair each day. Unless you have really dark hair, I promise you'll be happy with the results! ... I seem to have gotten off track here, since this was supposed to be a post about Father's Day and I'm now talking about women's hair care products. SORRY JOHN!!

Anyway, I wanted to get John these cool sneakers by Nike and I was trying to find them at one of the stores also at Garden State Plaza, since I was already there. As I was going from store to store, I was also looking for a bathing suit for Reagan, since I hadn't gotten her one yet. Reagan was a trooper and followed me from store to store as we power shopped! When we came out of Lord & Taylor, we saw some people waiting in line (a pretty short line, actually) to get someones autograph ... when I looked down, I realized it was Justin Guarini. I took this picture with my iPhone and emailed it to John, asking if he wanted me to get him an autograph for Father's Day, since he's such a HUGE Justine Guarini fan!


Of course, I'm totally kidding about that, since John and I are always making fun of this guy and his bizarre career of milking the American Idol gravy train. I mean, it's not like he has a successful music career, right? He's certainly no Clay Aiken!

Once again, I've gotten off-track, at an attempt to be humorous. Sorry honey. I'll leave the comedy up to my better half!

The point of this very long rant is this: I spent the entire afternoon with Reagan shopping, the entire time telling her that we were getting Papa a pair of shoes for Father's Day and that she needed to keep it a surprise until the next day. The entire way home from the 2nd Sports Authority (where we finally found the desired style in his size), I argued with her about when we were going to give him the gift. She wanted to give him the shoes as soon as we got home, but I kept telling her it wasn't Father's Day yet and we had to wait until tomorrow. She was very unhappy about this but I finally got her to agree to the arrangement. She promised she wouldn't say anything about the shoes. It was going to be a surprise and she could give them to him first thing the next morning.

I pulled into the garage and even had Reagan help me get the shopping bags in order before we went inside: I put the shoes in the trunk of the car to "hide" them and we brought everything else inside.

To Reagan's credit, she did last about 60 seconds, but then the anticipation was just too great and the words came bursting out of her mouth, "Papa, we got you some new sneakers for Father's Day!!!"

John was watching TV and tried not to pay any attention to her and I used the opportunity to distract Reagan with our other purchases ... I got out her new bathing suit and told her to show John, then I even got out the dry shampoo. But Reagan was on a mission. She had to make sure John knew about his gift. Pretty soon, I gave in too, realizing it was a loosing battle and there was no way to keep the secret. John and I burst out laughing as we listened to Reagan's enthusiasm ... after she revealed the secret about 3 times, it occurred to her it was supposed to be a secret so she told John again by whispering into his ear. To be quite honest, I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard! Reagan was so excited about the gift that she was bouncing off the walls, talking about the shoes nonstop! John and I couldn't stop laughing at her and it will definitely go down as one of the funniest Mendez family moments. My words can't do it justice, so I'll stop trying to describe it now.

Anyway, I got the shoes out of the trunk and let Reagan give them to him, despite the fact that it wasn't quite Father's Day yet. Reagan certainly learned the joy of GIVING, which made me very happy.
We let John sleep in this morning, then I made a big breakfast for everyone. I suggested that we do something fun together as a family, so we all went to see the movie "Up" in the theater after Avery's nap. This was Reagan's 3rd movie and Avery's 1st. Reagan did VERY well (of course, since she's 3 1/2 and loves movies!), and I must say that Avery did quite well for a 20 month old. She got pretty antsy at the end, but that was to be expected. When the movie ended and we walked out of the theater, Reagan started crying. She kept saying, "I don't want to leave!! I want to see another movie!!" It was kind of cute at first because she'd had such a great time and we were happy we'd taken her. But the crying continued for most of the ride home and by then, it just wasn't cute anymore. Despite the crying, John said he had a wonderful Father's Day and he thought the movie idea would be a fun tradition to continue in years to come. While we were at the movie, I had ribs slow cooking in the oven, so I think the day was an overall success! I love you honey!!

Of course, I can't post about Father's Day and not give a little "shout out" to my own dad ... I was a pretty lousy daughter this year, and only sent him a measly card (I know, I suck!). I love my dad so much and appreciate all the things he does for me. He's an excellent father to me, father-in-law to John and Grandpa to my girls. Thank you, Dad, for being my wonderful father!! I love and miss you!!!

Babysitting the Heid Kids

Nicole and Chris went to a wedding today, so we watched Bennett and Mia ... the 4 kids had a blast together!!

Reagan and Mia - I know it's overexposed, but I still think it's a cute pic!

Cheeseballs

It's so hard to get a perfect pic ...

Handsome Bennett

Beautiful Mia

I took the big girls with me to Harmon (beauty supply) and let them pick out a nail polish ... they chose this florescent pink (it was hideous!) and then I painted their toenails.

LOVE this pic of them, waiting for their polish to dry!