Acacia's first concert '11

Long story short ... I took Acacia to see Brittney Spears.  The end.


OK - a little explanation... Dianne (Randy's sister in law) got some GREAT comped tickets to this show so we decided to take the girls (Acacia and Jenna). It was quite the eye opening experience for both of us but on very different levels. I was in total shock with the outfits that the concert goers choice to wear. It was more like a hooker convention .... or they were gay. The show it's self was entertaining with lots of dancers, lasers, fireworks and such. Acacia was pretty entertained just by the amount of stuff there was going on at any given time! She did not seem too distracted with the outfits walking around. She did say it was too loud and suggested that we listen to it from the bathroom.  These pictures were taken with my phone so sorry about the quality ... or lack there of.

Jenna and Acacia

That is Brittney with the wings ...

Kings Dominion '11

We departed Emme and Nono's for Richmond, VA and Aunt Kelly's resort and spa. The Faglioni's welcomed us all so the Berg's and Learish's both crashed and made use of every means of entertainment they had to provide!!

Swimming ...

drums ...

Guinna pigs ...

watching TV ...

and playing piano ... to name a few ...

The first coaster was telling! Many brave soles got on with smiling faces but not all got off so happy. There amount of total fear in a couple faces was not worth photographing. BUT, as the day progressed everyone did the same coaster again and enjoyed it!!

I was the only one "cool" enough to get my picture taken with any characters!!

The first "ride" had a thrill rating of 1 = LOW!  BUT I still managed to get a headache from it. 

You have to wonder how a face this happy could show such sadness just moments later ....

A small group broke away for the larger thrill rides ... these made Mark break into a cold sweat!  But, Acacia loved them!

Meanwhile, Chris and Maddy became the thrill seekers on the medium thrill rides!

The infamous lunch ... aka salmonella anyone??

Bill and Julianne waited in a special line for the front seat on the volcano ride.  This was one of my favorite rides actually.

somewhat dry ...

somewhat wet!

I believe the highlight of Chris' day was Dad winning him the "small" Pek a chou.

So, that was our day at King's Dominion. Fun was had by all and we actually closed the park down! As we were leaving Hailey got sick so she was able to get one last ride it ... a wheelchair ride out to the parking lot! But, still kind of cool ... right??

Annual 9*11 ride '11

This was sooooooo cool ... once we found out what it was. On our way from VA to PA I started noticing a VERY large police/EMS force presence ... like for miles (15-30 miles). Cop cars and motorcycles all over the place. Ambulances and fire trucks just lined up and also TONS of civilians just parked on the side of the road, standing on their cars, crowding on over passes ... choppers in the air and this went on for miles and miles. Then we started to notice that there were NO cars coming in the opposite direction again for miles. I was sure it was some kind of man hut or something! But, to be sure we called the Berg's and asked them to look online or turn on the news and see if they could tell us what it was.

As it turned out it was an annual 9*11 motorcycle ride to honor and remember those from 9*11. It starts in Somerset, PA and ends in NYC after it makes it to Arlington, VA. It takes three or four days to do this but the roads are completely shut down to allow them to ride through. It was the coolest thing to see the beginning of this. It's not often that you see a huge highway completely shut down and then off in the distance miles and miles of motorcycle headlights coming at you.

click here to see the website explaining this ride

East Coast Tour '11

We departed Clearfield, PA and headed for NC. It was a long drive and Randy was starting to come down with something but we made it arriving late Sunday night. Valerie and the Berg's were already there so first thing the next AM we headed to the beach. This year we all went in on a super huge awesome shade providing tent that a small village could fit under. This made a huge difference for everyone ... even us sun goddess!! The waves were also very tasty and perfect for boogie boarding!!

We took the opportunity to get manis and pedis!! It was a bit nuts doing this with all of us but the salon did a great job on every ones toes and fingers! The high light was the black light dryer ... very "glowy" ....

Feeding everyone was always a treat! We tried taking turns and this proved to keep the meal selection all over the place. Everything was delicious and even leftover night proved to be scrumptious!!

Mimosas are always a good thing to have on vacation!! :)

Other activities were bike rides, tattoos from Auntie Val from HI and making bird houses with Nono!!

An afternoon with Nono fishing yielded two fish and a lot of smiles!

And to make sure everyone got enough exercise we did the Emme and Nono's Great Race!! This was a triathlon for the kids. The distances were taken from a real youth/junior triathlon site and they all did AMAZING!!

Here is everyone showing off their "ink" ... black racer numbers on their arms and legs.

Chris was the first racer and completed the age appropriate distances of 50 yrd swim, 1+ mile bike and about a half mile run.  He never stopped and did GREAT!

Next to start the race was Hailey, Acacia and Maddy.  Maddy opted to step it up a notch and do the "big kid" distances which were 100 yrd swim, 4+ miles bike ride and a mile + run.  Maddy did the bike ride on a Princess bike that was way too small for her and, like Chris she did not stop and finished in seconds over an hour!!!  WAY TO GO MADDY!!!

Here we have the older girls first flip turn ...

and here is the end of the swim.

Samantha did a version of the race similar if not the exact one that Chris did!  Just like her big sister Maddy, she was going to exceed every one's expectation and she did!!

Here we have all the winners with their medals!!  A stellar performance by all!!!  Keep in mind, this was done in NC in AUGUST!!  We made every attempt to do it while the sun was not blazing but it was still pretty darn hot!!

We also celebrated a few birthdays! Valerie, Bill and Manny all have birthdays very close to each other! Soooo - we opened presents one day ....

Val's new golf shirt .. 

and new shoes ..

Group hug for Auntie Val!  You have to look closely but all four girl cousins are in the shot .... look closely for Samantha's eye!

Manny got many cool gifts but this talking soccer ball was his favorite!

And Uncle Bill's new golf shirt!

..and extra cool t-shirt!

After all the gifts were open everyone went to bed. And of course the next AM we all had cake and ice cream for .... BREAKFAST!!!

Manny's very first ice cream!!  mmmmmm

Hailey and Acacia performed a fantastic song and dance for us!  They wrote their own song and choreographed the dance.  The lyrics literally brought tears to my eyes.  They were so sweet.  Auntie Julianne and Uncle Bill missed the performance and they MUST make Hailey do it again for them (maybe get Maddy to play Acacia's role??) 

The final good byes were tough but everyone got a good hug or two in!!!

My favorite photo!!  ALL the cousins having some quality bonding time with each other!!  Until next time!!