The Adventures of Jake and Allie: September 2014

August started with a trip to one of the happiest places on earth...camp! While I'll always be a "Westie" having loved being a a camper and staff at West, I can't help be grateful that CYJ Texas is almost literally in my backyard.

So when my fellow westies, Alisa Vorbioff and Ron Rauch came to pick up their own kids from camp here I was more than happy to play chauffeur and for Jake and I to get to check it out!

They had all kinds of activities going on including a petting zoo, rikud (Israeli dancing) and a big BBQ lunch.

In May at the CYJ West reunion we went to Jake and Eden became fast friends and will be eventually in the same group at camp. The second we found Eden she was dragging Jake off to explore and to look for the gaga pit.

Back at our house the tired campers and siblings relaxed before their flight. So much fun seeing everyone and having our kids play.

Green day at camp! Can't wait for football!

"Throwing O's"

10 years!!!!! This August we celebrated our ten year anniversary!

August, 8 2004

August 8, 2014

We celebrated ten years in DC where we met!

Not too bad for ten years, 2 kids, 2 cities and 2 homes!

We stopped at my old neighborhood favorite, Medaterra! One of the original owners was even there and remembered me!

The Cleveland House! My home, sweet, home for over five years. I also have the Cleveland House to thank for two of my best friends and roommates Lisa Helfman and Libby Reder!

The first place we lived together and our favorite spot we lived in DC, the Charleston Condominium in Arlington, Virginia.

Jake finished up his summer of camps with art camp. He's done this several times before and really liked it each time. Kids got some skills! This week they had an ocean theme. I particularly like the cat-fish.

All summer long I had been wanting to have some time away from the everyday with my little family of four. So we were excited for a quick trip to Galveston.

Lunch along the way!

First stop after checking into the hotel...ice cream at La King's Confectionery, an old-style candy store that made these two kiddos very happy!

After a little ice cream and a walk around the historic district, we headed to the beach! The gulf has had a serious seaweed problem this year but I wanted everyone to be able to at least put their toes in the water!

Jake LOVED it and literally jumped right in!

Allie was a bit timid at first but once she tripped and got wet she was all in!

A very successful first dip in the water!

Saturday we spent the day at Moody Gardens, a resort with a number of onsite attractions. First we went to the aquarium which was pretty awesome. Jake only had eyes for the sharks! It was so fun to watch their eyes light up at each turn.

In the shark cage!

After lunch we ventured over to the rain forest. Lots of bugs, birds, flowers and lush greenery.

After the rainforest we saw an imax 3-D movie about Penguins. It was Allie's first "movie theater" experience and she did great.

Finally we were ready to hit the "beach". Moody Gardens has a man-made beach and water park called Palm Beach. It sounded great with a splash pad, lazy river, wave pool, etc, but it was instead dirty, crowded and frankly, kind of trashy. We gave it a real try with a few trips in the lazy river but all Allie wanted to do there was to "relax on my towel" so the princess relaxed and then we got the heck out of there!

After we left Moody Gardens, we headed to the Hotel Galvez for a little poolside relaxation! I must admit that drinks and dinner by the pool were much more our style!

We left Galveston Sunday with a great breakfast at the Mosquito Cafe. Allie clearly loved her breakfast and Alex really loved his corn beef hash tacos! They were yum!

Right after we got back from Galveston, Alex and Jake took off for a week in North Carolina with Dory & Zayde. I couldn't miss work right now and feared that taking Allie as well might be difficult so we stayed in Austin.

Jake loved being in North Carolina and had a great time being with Dory, Zayde as well as getting one on one time with daddy! Plus they did super fun stuff too.

At the Durham Bulls game with Daddy and Zayde

He scored lots of sweet treats!

Alex and Jake spent time at the Apple store getting Zayde and Dory set up with an iPad so we could do FaceTime with them! Lucky for Jake, the Lego store was right around the corner and his grandparents helped build his collection!

Jake got to do some rock climbing at a gym near Dory & Zayde's house.

Heading home after a fun week!

I must admit however when we made this plan I either didn't remember or didn't think about the fact that she didn't have school that week but we made it through with a little help from our friends, our favorite babysitter, Taylor, a day at my office and some "working" from home.

Time at the office!

Ice cream after our walk to the grocery store!

Morning walk to Starbucks!

I've loved seeing the many ice bucket challenges, knowing that people were talking about ALS and what a horrible disease it is, and most importantly the tremendous amount of money being raised. This is personal for our family as my Aunt Judy is suffering from this hateful disease. Please take my challenge to make sure to support the ALS Foundation, www.alsa.org, or the group in Eugene that my mom has been working with (care givers need support groups and care too) and the Willamette Valley Walk to Defeat ALS.

There are some great videos (including Alex's) but this is my most favorite!

This summer went by too fast but we're glad it's back-to-school time! Jake was in NC for his back-to-school day but Allie and I went to check out her new teachers and friends in the Donkey room. I think it will be a great year!

Allie and I were super happy for Jake and Daddy to get home on Friday! Saturday after we had some good cuddles we headed out to the O'Driscoll kiddos pirate themed birthday party. Jake met Lachlan last summer and we became friends with his parents and Allie likes his twin brother and sister who just turned 4.

The cutest pirates!

It is amazing that no one got hurt during this pinata experience (Allie's first) but the kiddos loved it!

Jake's turn!

One more swim before the start of school!

The first day of 1st grade and the donkey room at the ECP!

Things are good in the donkey room, especially since she get's to hang with many of her turtle friends from last year in the afternoon!

Jake has had a great first week and his teacher reports that this has been a great start to the year!

It's only been a full week but I've already received great reports from both teachers! Allie's class has been busy and her teacher, Dganit sent lots of pictures!

Getting ready for Shabbat and getting down at tot-shabbat!

Jake's class has been reading the book, "Freckle Juice" and made the recipe in the book. Jake said it smelled disgusting but it was fun to mix so many ingredients together!

August offered us one more weekend of fun including the start of college football! Go Dawgs & Go Ducks! We're super excited for this season!

On Saturday we headed down to The Tavern to watch the first Georgia game of the season.

Jake with our good buddy Stacy

On Sunday we headed to Kiddie Acres with the Gray's for some OLD-fashioned amusement park fun. It was perfect for Allie and Hailey and Jake was a good sport and loved anyhow. It was planes, trains, and Automobiles and they loved it!