Benscoter Family: July 2015

Sophia started her first swim lesson on July 1st at our local Community College. She had such a blast! On July 2nd we had a fun family day by going to see Inside Out in the theater followed by lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. We also got wonderful news that the Dixon's daughter Claire was born! We celebrated the 4th of July by going to my friend/co-worker Missy's house for a barbecue lunch and pool party. We ended the day with another barbecue at the Grimes' house. It was a great day filled with fun with friends and yummy food!

Joe left for a trip to Germany, Cairo, and Portugal which started on July 8th. On that same day Evan, Erin, Ava, McKenzie, Grandma, and Grandpa came to NJ to visit! We all went to Sesame Place on July 9th to celebrate Tyler's 3rd birthday! We all had SO MUCH FUN! We got there as soon as the park opened and started with all of the dry, carnival-type rides. Around noon we went to Dine with Elmo which is a buffet lunch where you get to see a lot of the Sesame characters up close. The kids had a blast and even got to dance quite a bit (check out the videos below). We spent the last part of our day at the water park portion where we went down slides and ran through a splash pad. When we got home, we had a quick rest followed by barbecue dinner, cupcakes, and presents for the birthday boy.

On July 10th we went blueberry picking just a few miles away from our home. It was a very hot day but all the kids had a lot of fun! The blueberries were delicious and Evan and Erin even made a tasty blueberry crisp dessert for our after-dinner treat that evening.

Evan, Erin, and the girls headed back home on July 11th and Joe came home from his trip later that afternoon. We celebrated Tyler's birthday again on July 12th with our neighborhood friends. We ordered pizza and had a few water activities in the back and side yard for the kids.

On July 13th we got the very sad news that Erin's dad passed away. Joe, the kids, and I drove to Bedford, Massachusetts on July 16th to participate in the celebration of Mr. O'Reilly's life. His funeral mass and reception was on July 17th which we were glad to be present for. We drove back to New Jersey that afternoon.

On July 22nd I took my dad to a Shania Twain concert in Philadelphia to celebrate his birthday. We got to the venue early enough to have a hot dog dinner and lots of good conversation. We had amazing floor seats and I was really excited when I found out that Gavin Degraw was opening for Shania. The whole evening was a lot of fun from start to finish.

Joe, the kids, and I drove to Grandma and Papa Rini's house in Ohio on July 25th to spend the week with Nana, Papa, Aunt Melissa, Uncle David, and Aunt Julie. Once we arrived, Tyler was eager to throw sticks into the pond. We were all very grateful to be out of the car! The kids had fun riding on Papa Rini's tractor and in the canoe on July 26th. The weather was perfect and we were glad to spend such a beautiful day outside with the family.

On July 27th we drove up to Sandusky, Ohio for a couple days of fun at Cedar Point! Nana and I took the kids on several rides, bought cotton candy, and they got their faces painted. The rest of the adults spent all day riding all kids of cool roller coasters but we were able to meet up to have lunch and dinner together.

Nana and I took the kids to Soak City on the morning of July 28th. We spent the rest of the afternoon taking the kids to the kid rides and, of course, got their faces painted again! We met up with the rest of the family for dinner at TGI Friday's before we all drove back to Grandma and Papa Rini's house.

On July 29th we went to Hale Farm to have a picnic lunch near a beautiful, cool creek. It was fun tossing stones into the water, getting our feet wet, and watching a few ladies paint pictures of the covered bridge that went over the creek. That afternoon Melissa, David, and I went to get pedicures! I definitely enjoyed the relaxing pampering time with them! We started the morning of July 30th helping Papa do some yard work. It was another beautiful day outside and we were happy to help while getting some more fresh air. That evening we celebrated several summer birthday's to include Tyler's, Grandma Rini's, Joe's, mine, and most importantly Papa's up-coming 60th birthday. We also took several family photos in the back yard so we can remember and cherish our Ohio summer vacation.

Unfortunately, our Ohio vacation came to an end the morning of July 31st. Joe had a few more days of vacation time so we decided to take the kids to Niagara Falls. Our first stop was to go on the Maid of the Mist which is a boat ride that takes you up close to the waterfalls. The waterfalls are so powerful that we all got soaked by the mist even though we were wearing ponchos. It was so much fun AND it was a great way to cool off on a hot summer day. From there we took a trolley around the American side of the falls followed by a quick stop for ice cream. Afterwards, we drove to the Canadian side where we checked into our room at Embassy Suites. We had dinner at a place called Zappi's where the kids got to make their own pizza! After dinner, we took a horse and buggy ride and watched fireworks which were done in celebration of Canada's Civic Holiday.