Summer Fun

This weekend we had considered going to NYC to visit a very fair weather friend (yes this means you Xie, Dong) who is moving to Hong Kong. The timing was off and we sure will miss our dear uncle Donald, but we decided to enjoy a local adventure this weekend instead... Night swimming!

Before we went night swimming we enjoyed the Haupt family tradition (or at least the east coast Haupt family) of Friday night pizza. Then we watched "Meet the Robinsons" since we don't have a brother of our own (Lewis would fit right in with the techies in our family).

We were really excited to show off our suit suits!

Oh ya, and our goggles.

At night in the lazy river the lights come on. It made swimming that much more fun!

Emma is learning to swim this year. She can swim about 15 ft on her own with her head under water. She also loves to jump into the pool.

Yes Charlotte is still alive despite what these pictures look like ;)

We love the jets that make the current

On our way home we found Prince Naveen, the frog!

Emma even dared to touch his belly

Next time you're in town we would love for you to join us, don't forget your floaties....

Summer Fun

For those of you that may be wondering the months of hibernation have been totally worth it. The summer time in upstate NY it lots of fun!

Since our complex pool has opened on Memorial Day weekend we have gone swimming almost 3 times a week. Both Emma and Charlotte love the pool. Emma has gotten really good at swimming on her own. Who knows, by the end of the summer she may be able to swim without the floaties.

Charlotte on the other hand is fearless when it comes to the water. She will lean back in her float and put her face in the water, or try to climb out of the float when we are not looking. She loves splashing and moving in the water whether in her float or when we hold her. It is a really fun family activity either way to take our girls swimming.

The girls are becoming the best of friends! It is so fun to watch. Whatever one does the other wants to do. Charlotte loves to lay on her back and look around from upside down. Of course Emma had to try it. With Charlotte now crawling she spends all of her time trying to get to where Emma is just to have Emma move to get another toy. Also, Emma loves getting her hair done and now that Charlotte's is growing out Emma loves to include her in the post-bath/pre-bedtime ritual.

Emma's most recent obsession however is the Congress Park Carousel. Some how she can sense that track season is coming and she wants to ride a horsey! Yesterday on my day off we had to drive by 3 times to check to see if it was open. Unfortunately it rained all day and they never opened. Today however, we were able to go between rain storms.

Emma had a blast! It took her a few tries to settle on which of the wooden horses to ride, but it was so fun to see Emma have fun like she does on Papa Word's trusty bouncing horse Ginger. Emma had brought enough monies for 2 rides, although this was not even close to enough. We ended up staying to watch the Carousel go around 2 more times.

This is definitely going to be one of our summer traditions as long as we are in New York...

1st family vacay

I cannot say enough how much we love Levi's schedule. We did this last long weekend up right! Levi's wonderful co-worker was gracious and let us have the weekend in his time-share at the White Face Lodge, in Lake Placid. We left Friday at noon and by about 2:30 we were checking into our fabulous hotel room! At this resort there was an indoor-outdoor pool, game room, fitness center, free movie theater and popcorn, ice-cream parlor, spa, restaurant, tennis courts, and seasonal ice-skating rink.... I could have easily spent a month getting everything done just there at the resort.

This is the view of the pool complex and grounds from our room.

However we had the girlies with us so we spent our precious time in the fabulous pool and at the NIGHTLY s'more campfire. I don't think I've had s'mores since girls camp. It was fun to teach Emma, all she wanted to do was roast the "mallo" She would have one bite of the whole thing and be ready for another roast. With Emma constantly saying "You want one?...ok" we ate way too many but, we were having so much fun!
This resort has thought of everything, there was an underground tunnel between the pool complex and the main hotel so that guests could still enjoy the pool in the winter months. There were also huge robes to use on this little jaunt across the grounds so you wouldn't be cold after the pool.

With Emma's floaties she had a lot of freedom. This is just a taste of the fun she had. This is her enjoying the over powering effects of the "warm" jacuzzi. Its a good thing that the pool at our complex has opened, knowing that she can go all summer long is the only leverage we have to get her out of her "suit suit."

We also made the short drive through the adorable town to the Olympic Ski Jump facility. Lake Placid hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1980, but some still practice there. We watched as young teens would go off the ski jump ramp and do flips into a bubbling pool. Levi and Emma also rode the ski lift up to the top of the long ski jump.

After this experience Emma wanted nothing more than to "jump in the pool" like the big kids . She must be Levi's child , their equilibrium and sense of balance is fantastic.

On the other hand, poor Charlotte is all mine. While in the pool, Daddy spun her around in her intertube a little too much. When I took her back over she was head down and moaning the all -too-familiar "moan of the dizzy" She may not have "Olympic figure skater" in her future, but we'll still love her!

Oh how lovely was the Morning

I thought I would do this post a little different since there were so many fun pics to share.

Friday we had a road trip to take our ward missionaries to the mission home in Utica, NY and then we as a fam went on to Palmyra, NY. Hope you enjoy the show

Sitting at the bottom of the Hill Cumorah monument

The angel Moroni ( of course) at the top of the pillar

Emma sitting in the parents' bedroom of the Smith Family Log Cabin

Emma standing in the boys room, the same room where the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph

The Palmyra NY temple that overlooks the Smith farm and the Sacred Grove.

Emma running down the road between the log cabin and the frame house, crossing county lines.

Sitting next to the hearth in the frame house where the Golden Plates were hidden

The tree that may have been planted in Alvin Smith's honor ( we don't know if its the exact tree but its old enough to be)

Emma checking out the old barn

One of the trees in the Sacred Grove that might have been there when the boy Joseph was there ( there are 6 of them still there, we had to look for the oldest and the biggest)

Walking through the Sacred Grove. Supposedly this is what it looked like when Joseph went to pray ( early spring) that just ruined the song for me :)

Pooped out from our trip through the farm and the Sacred Grove

Emma, when we got home and discovered that she has quietly squeezed out a mini candy bar all over herself and her car seat (gotta love the sister missionary who gave her the candy) :)

It was a great day, we are so excited to be here so close to where it all began and to be able to visit these Church History sites! We hope you enjoyed our little outing as much as we did, we'll post more pics when spring actually comes and we go back. Also we are a mere 2.5 hours the other direction from Joseph Smith Jr.'s birthplace memorial, that's next on the list!