Chloe is a Big Sister!

On Sunday, my ex-husband and his wife came over to visit before a family gathering. They brought their new baby, who is Chloe's little sister. She's so tiny! I got to hold her and give her a bottle. It's neat to see the resemblances to Chloe - she hiccups a lot, has dimples, and it looks like she has the same chin.

Chloe has not been so excited to have a little sister, but I definitely think she's warming up to the idea. She finally admitted that she thinks the baby is cute! I love the below picture, it looks like Chloe is really enjoying holding her (but, perhaps...is wondering why I need to take so many pictures...!)

Ha - Camera Shy Already

Sign that I'm taking too many pictures? LOL!

Chloe's Birthday

We celebrated Chloe's birthday last Friday night (the 3rd). We took a few family members to Red Robin for dinner, and then to a movie - Monsters vs. Aliens 3D. Dinner was fun, it was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves. Chloe opened some presents, and the waiters sang to her and gave her a sundae. I got to have my favorite RR dinner - Cajun Clucks and Fries, and shared them with Ray (you can see his fingers in the pic above - hee).

After dinner, I gave everyone their 3D glasses, and we had a good time trying them on. Below is Chloe with her auntie at the movie theater. It was a pretty funny movie, we all liked it. The glasses were just a bonus. LOL!

School Concert

Chloe had her band concert last night. She's in the 8th grade band, and plays the trombone. She's really good at it, and we enjoy listening to her play. I only get to listen to her play at the concerts now, as she does her practicing when she comes home from school, when she's at my parent's house. I miss hearing her practice like I did when I was on my sabbatical.

At the concert, the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade bands played, and the orchestra played from the 6th grade. I noticed an improvement in the orchestra, even for a 6th grade group. The bands played a lot of seasonal and wintery songs, which I liked. All in all, it was a nice time, and I really enjoyed watching Chloe play. There's just something about that pride you feel when you watch your child doing something well that they worked hard at mastering.

In the pic, she's on the far left, one of the only two trombones in the 8th grade.

All A's!

Chloe got all A's on her report card this quarter! Whoo-hoo! Good job, chiclet!

School Concert

It was the first school concert of the year tonight. They had all three grades, with choir, orchestra, and band for each grade. The orchestra has improved a LOT this year, all of the grades. It was really amazing.

The orchestra did a fun piece called "Remote Control", where they had a sound effect representing a remote control, where the orchestra would change tempo and piece. They did quite a few little bits of songs, and even had singing and screaming! It was pretty funny.

The band teacher played the saxophone on one of the choir's songs, that was pretty cool.

Chloe is in band, and we were *just* able to see a little bit of her during the concert. It was cool to hear the pieces this time, since I was able to hear her practice them last month when I was home. All in all, a pretty good concert.

We got home in time to watch the very last part of Survivor, hopefully they'll have it OnDemand tomorrow night so we can see the whole thing.

Such Cuteness

Ray took over the driving today, so I was able to turn around and get a pic of Chloe sleeping in the back seat with her puppy, Gold. Awwwww!

Chocolate World - Hershey, PA

We went early this morning to Chocolate World, in Hershey, PA. Got there before they even opened. There was a walking KitKat bar that Chloe hid from (she does NOT like character mascots now that she's not 4 years old), and it was getting warm (got up in the 90's today). But finally, they opened and we took the chocolate tour and got in some shopping.

Here are the singing cows that help make the milk that Hershey uses in their production of milk chocolate. They said on the tour that one of the reasons that Milton Hershey picked this area was because of the abundance of farms with cows.

Cows are always funny.

Chloe and I both thought this was cool - the readerboard of the day's production so far. Keep in mind that this was about 9:40 am!


Chloe and I went shopping in their little marketplace and got some souvenirs for her Dad and Tina, along with a Hershey pillow for her and some *magnets* (!) for Tj at work. LOL. Chloe also got a really cool mikshake, it was vanilla with Reese's bits. She really liked it.

I enjoyed the tour, and it wasn't too much for us to do. I've been really tired the last 2 days, and this was nice to get out, see some stuff, but then get back on the road.

Passing through Vermont

We're in Keene, NH right now, in a Best Western near town. To get here from Syracuse, we traveled part of the way on the Molly Stark Byway through some towns and this overlook. Of course, Chloe smiled pretty for the camera, and I also got a few shots of the mountains.

Vermont is really pretty. I loved going through the towns and seeing the historic houses along the way. We stopped at Dunkin' Donuts (I miss having those in WA!) for some donuts and coffee.

The weather today has been beautiful, it's a welcome change from the rain we've had the last couple of days. I get so sleepy driving in the rain!

A Note from Chloe

Chloe wrote the following post:

My favorite parts of the day included going to Navy Pier and also to the American Girl Place. At Navy Pier we rode the Farris Wheel. It was kinda scary when it was teetering (the whole ride) but the seat was very secure. We both found something we liked at American Girl.