Summer is winding down...

Wow....The Friday before Labor Day....where has the time gone...? Seems like just yesterday, we anxiously awaited the last day of school....Now, school for Zach starts next Tuesday....!

We can't complain, as we had a fun-filled summer.....trips to Storyland....a visit to my brother's place in Maine....visit to our friends on Long Island.....a great vacation on Martha's Vineyard.....a wonderful reunion of China 137........day trips here and there...all and all, a wonderful summer......

We had some pictures of the family recently taken, and this was my favorite......Bella leaning against her big brother Zachary....

I hope this post finds anyone who is still reading it doing well, and that you had a fun-filled summer like us.......Fall will be just around the corner....!!

best wishes!!!

Super Star....!!

Bella has her pose down, and is ready for the, oh, let's see, the 2024 Olympic Gymnastic Team....!!!

More stories and photos to follow, especially from our wonderful China 137 Reunion...!!

Bella LOVES the Pagano men....!

Bella certainly has a soft spot for the Pagano men (Dante, Michael, and Steven)...I guess she has good taste...! (as long as she doesn't grow up cheering for the Yankees or the Giants....!

Pictured here is Michael, Steven, Jianna, Zach and Bella.....

Zach looks up to Steven and enjoys hanging out with him when we get together....both Michael and Steven are some of the nicest, most polite boys you could ever meet......job well done, Dante and Carmen..!!

Friends for life.....!!

Our daughter, Bella, will forever be bonded with her Chinese 'sisters' from our trip, especially the Guangxi Girls (Roma, Jianna and Laina)....We hope they remain friends for life...

Bella and Jianna in a Chinese outfit that our friend, Carmen (Jianna's mom) got them....

Dress up time

Here's Bella and Jianna having fun with hats in New York....

VERY stylish.....!!!

Bathing Beauty.....

In July, we visited our very good friends (our 'extended family' in New York)......We had a wonderful, relaxing visit with them and enjoy their company very much....They have a great pool and hot tub in their yard, which we took advantage of....Here is a picture of their sweet daughter, Jianna, who is a year older than Bella.....She's all ready for the pool!!!

Riding the Flume at Storyland....

Getting a little wet on the Flume at Storyland......For what it's worth, I thought the Flume (Yule Log) at Santa's Village was better.....

Pictured here is me, Zach and Zach's friend, Alex....

...Just tell me when we're back on the ground!!

Tina lookin like she can't wait for the Ferris Wheel to stop......!!

Riding a bear....!

Another picture from Clark's Trading Post, which I don't think has changed much since when we were kids.....Bella and Zach seemed to have a lot of fun there...Zach especially enjoyed the train ride through 'Wolfman Territory..'

Older we get, faster summer goes bye...!!

Wow, here it is August 12th....Where has the summer gone?? Seems like just yesterday, Zach was getting out of school for the summer break....we were making plans for the summer.....Now, it's almost back to school...! We did have a fun filled summer, and it's not ever yet as we leave for vacation this Saturday for Martha's Vineyard...!! It should be a lot of fun.....I've been there for day trips, but never for an extended time...We are going with good friends of ours, and looking forward to it.....but, we did do a lot this summer.....we went to Storyland...Santa's Village in North Conway....Visited our friends, the Pagano's in New York.....visited my brother's family in Maine....took day trips here and there.....had our China 137 Reunion this last weekend up in Northampton (pictures and stories about that weekend to follow).....Seems like every weekend we were doing one thing or another....it keeps us busy, for sure......! As I haven't updated pictures here in quite some time, I thought I'd take this opportunity to post some of our summer pictures......hope you enjoy.....!

This first picture is from Clark's Trading Post in New Hampshire. We went up there the week after Zach got out of school...