Auntie Meli got Married!!

Doug & Mel

It was a big summer for my sister! She got married and celebrated it three times for extra fun!

First Mel and Doug got married privately, celebrating their decision just the two of them.

Mel & Doug

Then mid July, my parents had a party for them in Ohio. This was to reach all of our extended family, and because they were also super excited lots of them came. It was a fun, fun party, and a great time to see our aunts and uncles and several of our cousins as well as many of our parents friends who have been a part of our lives, all of our lives.  You know, the kind of people you still address as Aunt and Uncle even though there is absolutely no blood relation. This was a terrific celebration!

Mel & Doug

Rachel & Stefanie

Extended family celebrating Mel & Doug

Three gorgeous sisters - Aunt Elsie, my mom Kathleen & Aunt Theresa

At the end of July, Melanie and Doug had a weekend celebration for their friends and immediate family at their home in Massachusetts. It was another fabulous celebration and my sister did an amazing job organizing a beautiful outdoor reception. She even managed perfect weather! It was another superb weekend and the perfect way to end our time in the US!

My parents and Mel & Doug

Rachel, Mel, Stefanie

Dominic, Rachel, Mel & Stefanie

Todd, Mel & Missy (youngest to oldest, tallest to shortest

Parents of the bride killing it on the dance floor!

Pottery with Jackie Sedlock

Dominic, Stefanie, Rachel, Todd, Missy & Granny

A bonus to attending Mel's wedding party and art show in Massachusetts was being able to spend some time with Jackie Sedlock in her pottery studio in Vermont. The only disappointment was my cousin Tim was at work and their son Leo was away visiting his uncle!

Stefanie & Rachel with Jackie and Shadowfax (Leo's bird)

Jackie is an amazing potter, we LOVE her stuff and you will too, check her out Here!

She spent the day teaching us about clay and we all made our own little push pots.

Todd

Dominic

Stefanie

Granny

Rachel

Next she had each of the girls try to throw a pot. They both did great under her careful and awesome instruction. Jackie has a gift, she is patient and calm and can clearly teach and convey what needs to be done. It's incredible. The girls were thrilled. Then after all this she fed us an amazing lunch!

Stefanie

Stefanie & Jacki

Rachel & Jackie

Rachel

We also got to check out her new studio and artist residence that was still in progress. This will be an amazing place to take classes, workshops or retreats. The location is beautiful on top of a little mountain in Vermont! Read more about it here.

Lastly she shared with us her Silo pool that she and her brother constructed. Totally cool. Also? Totally cold. Jackie swims in it every day but we weren't quite brave enough to give it a try!

Auntie Meli's Art Show

We were fortunate enough to be in the US for the opening of my sister's solo art show in North Adams, MA. North Adams has a sweet little downtown with cute little galleries and on the first Thursday of the summer months they have a gallery walk.  It was fantastic to be able to be a part of Melanie's opening.  North Adams is also the home of the MASS MOCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) and just a short distance from Williams College.

Melanie's Website

Mel's opening was a huge success and we really enjoyed getting to be a part of it.

Rachel, Auntie Meli & Stefanie

Sisters

Rachel, Granny & Stefanie

A little Ferris Bueller fun!

Uncle Todd, Dominic, Rachel

Uncle Todd, Rachel, Stefanie & Dominic

A quick visit to Albany!

We hadn't seen our niece Bethany this summer because she wasn't able to join us in Ithaca since she is due any minute with twins!! So we made a quick stop in Albany on our way to my sister's wedding celebrations!

Seriously, she rocks!

It was so great to see Bethany looking so fabulous and awesome and spend some time with Steve's sister, her family as well as Bethany and her family!

Pouty girls

Steve's sister Vicki and Dominic

Happy Birthday Granny!!

The birthday queen - do her granddaughters know her or what?

We were lucky enough to be in Ohio to celebrate my mom's birthday with her this year!  Always fun to be able to celebrate in person!!

Stefanie, Granny & Rachel

We had breakfast with my parent's friends after church and then celebrated together throughout the day. It is good to be the queen!

Date Night in Cleveland

Todd, Abby, Missy & Steve

My brother Todd and his wife Abby are both great cooks and really enjoy some of the famous TV chefs. Steve and I are a little out of touch... One they particularly like is Michael Symon who is from Cleveland and has the restaurant Lola. When my parents volunteered to kidsit their boys so we could go out we jumped at the chance!

Lola's was amazing and it mixed some very typical Cleveland food into its gourmet menu. My brother really enjoyed his pierogi starter! Plus it was just fun for the four of us to get out together and have an evening out on the town!

Cedar Point

Steve, Rachel, Missy, Nathan
Dominic, Grandpa Teddy, Stefanie, Todd, Abby, Granny
Jack

Cedar Point is one of our favorite Ohio activities. This year my brother's family joined us so we got to experience amusement park fun with younger kids again!  Even though it was a wicked hot day we had so much fun!

Granny and Grandpa Teddy took the boys via the skyway to the back of the park while we waited for them to remove the barriers so we could start with the roller coaster Maverick!

Dominic, Rachel, Stefanie, Missy, Todd & Abby

After the big kids rode the back park roller coasters we headed to the Old Tyme cars. 

Todd & Jack

Nathan & Abby

Rachel & Missy

Stefanie & Granny

At one point Nathan and Jack were in Snoopyland and Dominic was watching over them.  The cute girl in the pink shirt asked Nathan to ride with her.  He explained that he needed to ride with his brother to which she quickly answered that's OK I have to go with my sister. Dominic pointed out with a terrific White Christmas reference - it was cozier - boy, girl, boy, girl.

How do you end a super hot day at Cedar Point?

With a giant sno-cone of course!

Abby, Nathan & Jack

And a beer!

Steve & Todd

 And of course a visit to the shooting gallery! Granny always has money!