Update on Hurricane Irene~ Local damage

This is a link to pictures I took right down the street from our house, and next to Dan's office. Lots of flooding. I'll write more later, but for now I'm off to Hershey Park for a family vacation.

Click on the word: flooding To take you to the pictures

Hurricane Irene

As sensationalized as the news made Hurricane Irene sound, and annoying as that is, I am grateful that it wasn't as bad as they were making it out to be. I am VERY thankful for that because the damage that occurred is still bad!

(Although, I am annoyed at the news for talking, talking, talking about what was going to happen and now they aren't updating what actually did happen. There was a tornado in the next county over that damaged 40 homes. And there is nothing this morning about it. I've decided that our local newspaper must not have a photographer on staff, given the pictures of the after math are 1in by 1in stock photos they use on every article, nothing on all the flooded roads by the river.)

Hurricane Irene was intense for all of the people in the coastal cities. It is amazing how the storm could hit each and every state along the East Coast.

I feel horrible for all of the people whose houses are flooded and walls torn off and even houses inland that are flooded from rivers overflowing.

This is a picture from Yahoo AP Photo by Steve Helber in Virginia Beach, VA

More pictures are posted here:

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/hurricane-irene-1314075193-slideshow/pat-valent-helps-friends-clear-belongings-severely-storm-photo-131241618.html;_ylt=AjYNyhitWuynuBuO4NueMd5faP0E;_ylu=X3oDMTNyN2FrN21uBHBrZwNmMzk4MmFjNy03ZjVlLTMyODItYjA5Yi04ZDc4OTI2NTJiNDYEcG9zAzk0BHNlYwNNZWRpYUNhcm91c2VsUGhvdG9HYWxsZXJ5Q0FYSFIEdmVyA2I1NzgwNTEwLWQxNzctMTFlMC05ZjZmLWZhYmJjODA4MGFhMQ--;_ylv=3

I know that the beach we went to on Tuesday (when the Earthquake occurred) Long Island, NJ, is probably in a world of hurt right now. The island is only 10 blocks across. Driving down main street you can see the bay on one side and the ocean on the other and tons of beach homes stacked very close together in-between.

God bless everyone affected by this hurricane and I pray they had insurance.

Whew!!!!

Okay, it's true! I am ALL caught up on my blog posts! I am very relieved to have this all finished! It is an amazing feeling! There are 20 new posts, so take a few minutes and scroll through em all! I am trying to see if I can finish all my sentences with an exclamation point! (j/k That part wasn't planned, I just can find another way to convey the excitement of catching up on a whole year of blogging in less than 1 week)

Jersey Shore!!!

~Or a much more tame version.....

This week we went to Beach Haven, NJ. It was a beautiful warm, dry, sunny day. Just amazing weather and a little bit of excitement with an earthquake. I went with my friend Ashley and some of her friends. I didn't take my camera on the beach cause I wanted to actually play with my girls rather than worry about my camera getting ruined.

And play we did. We borrowed some boogie boards and Ashton was a boogie boarding queen. She is so independent, rough and tumble, and happy! I love that girl. I pulled Adrienne around on it so fast I was sore the next day from running in the sand! Then I slept on the warm sand and Ashley and her husband watched my girls. Thanks guys!

Ashton took this :) She liked the bell

Fun, Fun, Fun, til school takes our summer away!

This summer has been a blast! The girls learned to swim within 2 weeks of each other. Ashton taught herself first and then Adam taught Adrienne. They can swim all over the pool with out me, even in the 9ft deep end! Ashton likes to dive down and touch the bottom and Adrienne is very gifted at floating on her back ~ I need to take a picture of it because its amazing :).

On another note: My mom bought the girls Hello Kitty pajamas and they love them! BTW my girls are goof balls!

Ashton as a fairy princess!

Also! I bought myself a new lens and I am sooo sooo excited about it. I'm going to be using it at my upcoming weddings and I couldn't be happier about it :) Now I just need to book a few more photoshoots to pay it off hint hint ;)

The other day my friend Heather and I went to a little zoo and ate home made ice cream there too. The girls were hilarious and played great together!

DUUUUKKKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Visits!!!

My parents came to visit for 12 days at the beginning of the month. My Dad came to work and my Mom came to hang out with me and the girls. Even with the men working we were able to fit in some sightseeing too!

Hershey Factory

Valley Forge National Park

My mom bought us a year pass to the Philadelphia Zoo and I am REALLY EXCITED about it! I love the zoo and so do the girls. We have already used it 3 times this month and we are going again on Friday!

The bird house was really exciting. The birds were just out flying around next to us. I get a kick out of learning about all the birds. I wish there was a book I could take home to study about all of the amazing animals. I'm a geek, I know.

Crowned pigeon

They had a parade and the girls got to be in it and sing a little song- one that I still have stuck in my head to this day.

MADAGASCAR! One thing I really like about the zoo is that the animals are really easy to see and seem to be just wondering around free...see the little guy on the other side of the fence? That is a sidewalk :)

Token picture of kids on a statue.

Yawn. I am yawning just looking at this picture.

We went to an elder's quorum party and they had the best face painter ever. Adrienne LOVES and is OBSESSED with Spiderman. She says that Peter Parker lives at our house. One time we went out to dinner and Adrienne told us that she had to hurry home so she wouldn't be late for her date with Peter!

Belmont Mansion

Philly in the background

I am missing my mom so much now that she is gone! Despite that, it was fantastic having her here, the girls kept telling my mom over and over how glad they were that she was here and that she should stay for 14 months! I agree girls. I wish we took pictures of our all day shopping spree, my mom bought the girls a ton of new clothes for school. They want to have a fashion show and post all of their pictures for Grandma to see, so we'll have to do that soon! (Ahhh, it feels so good to be anticipating my next blog post again, rather than thinking about all of the things I need to catch-up on!)