Camping with Gran 2010

Every year the girls & I go camping with my mom, Gran, at least once. Even though she lives in Cincinnati now that didn't stop us from meeting half way in New Stanton, PA for a few days of camping. One of the girls favorite things to do with Gran is go fishing. Here is Joceline waiting to get a nibble. She managed to catch 2 fish this weekend. Alyssa was not so lucky, so she decided she didn't care for fishing that much after all.

We spent some time in the game room as well. Here are Gran & Joceline in an intense game of foosball. I believe Joceline won this round.

And here is Gran NOT acting her age!

Alyssa...as usual she was ready to strike a pose!

And here's Alyssa mid-slide!

Joceline's Trip

As you all know, Joceline had the privilege of traveling to England & France this summer with People to People Student Ambassadors. While she missed us like crazy (and us her), she did manage to have a GREAT TIME! She also took some awesome pictures. Because of how blogger uploads pictures, they are not in order, but I tried.

This was inside the Louvre...Joceline thinks this is supposed to be one of the Greek gods.

Inside the museum at Normandy. Per Unlce Phil this particular plane was what kept the Britains from being defeated by Hitler.

The Louvre.


Beautiful statue inside the Louvre.

Notre Dame Cathedral.

View of the Palace of Versailles.

Another view of the Palace of Versailles and the beautiful gardens.

Joceline thought this door in Frace was really cool! That's the door knob right in the middle at the bottom.

On the very last day they went to Disneyland Paris.

This is a close up of some of the detail at Notre Dame.

This is in England, in Stratford Upon Avon, where William Shakespeare was born.

These actors, whom Joceline called The Pinnochio's, were at Warwick Castle in England.

They went punting on the Thames River.

This is the National Gallery in London.

Looking up at the London Eye.

They visited Stonehenge...Joceline is squishing it!!

Here is Joceline in one of the capsules while on the London Eye.

This is another one of the actors at Warwick Castle.

Joceline loved these particular buildings.

And here is Warwick Castle.

Philly Zoo trip

On July 15th we went to the Philly Zoo with Aunt Karla, Jude & Eva. The big attraction right now are Lego displays of 10 different animals. This is the largest one, the polar bear, which used 95,000 pieces to build.

And here is another display, the golden lion tamerins.

All the kids on a bear. We had a great time!

Eva, Alyssa & Jude.

Another new attraction at the zoo is the Rainforest Carosel. Eva is on a cheetah and Alyssa is on a frog.

FLORIDA!!

We just got home from a wonderful visit to Grandma & Grandaddy Kane in The Villages, Florida. New on the list of things we did was visit the Florida Carriage Museum. They have an awesome display of horse-drawn carriages (among other cool items), as well as offer trail rides and tours of their breeding barn. Joceline thought she was in heaven!

One of the other cool items at the museum is this Rolls Royce!

Ice truck.

Alyssa is not as in love with horses as Joceline, but she did want to pet them.

The fine print says John Deere Wagon Co. The very small beginning of a big endeavor!

Just some of the carriages.

Gorgeous horses!

Swimming at The Villages is a must! Some of the fun the girls have with their Dad!

We couldn't resist an invitation from Danielle to visit with her, Steve, Nady and of couse, the little man himself, Xavier!

John entertaining Xavier (or at least trying to!).

Joceline & Xavier.

Joceline & Danielle (who had burned her arm at work earlier in the week).

Daddy & his not-so-little-anymore Joceline.

It's a little easier to pick up Alyssa, but not much!

And Alyssa with Xavier.

Visit to Granpa & Grandma Schneider's

So back on June 24th the girls & I went out for a "quick" visit to see Grandpa & Grandma Schneider. Unbeknownst to me, part of 81 South was closed at that time, so it took us over 5 hours to get there, and we turned it into an over-nighter. Here are the girls just falling asleep on the air mattresses.

And here are my girls with my folks.

We had a great visit and will try to do a sleepover again sometime soon (deliberately).

Gymnastics Exhbition June 26, 2010

On Saturday June 26th was the gymnastics exhibition at Silvia's Gymnastics. Unfortately Jasmine couldn't be there (she was missed, though!) but here are some video clips of Alyssa. This first clip is with Mr. Rob who is one of the best instructors at Silvia's, as he is also an official judge with USA Gymnastics. So, when he tells you how to do it right, you're getting it from an official!

And here is Alyssa on the balance beam doing a cartwheel. She is still working on landing back on the beam, but this is how they start...getting comfortable just doing what you see here.

Here is the last video of Alyssa. This is showing some of the skills they learn on the floor. The first lady in the video helping Alyssa is Silvia Mitova Hutchinson, owner of Silvia's Gymnastics. She was an olypic gymnast for Bolgaria in the 80's, and comes from a long line of olympians. Both her parents were olympians and also work at this facility. The final video clip is of some of the college girls who competed at nationals this year; they are on the balance beams.

Gymnastics

So we finally got a new camcorder! Here is Alyssa on the balance beam and Jasmine on the uneven bars (and no, Jasmine shouldn't be hooking her right arm over the bar to get up, but it's a start!). Alyssa definitely wants to continue with gymnastics next year, and Jasmine hasn't quite made up her mind yet, but I'm pretty sure she'll continue as well.