Ah, summer.

Some favorite shots from this summer...

Bye, Mom!

So first grade started this week. Ryan has been so excited for this! No trepidation at all. Here he is on his first day - and as you can see (although a bit dark), he didn't even look back. After the first day, we asked how he like his teacher. "Oh wow. She is one million, gazillion percent good!"

Party Time.

So while we were in New York, Paul surprised me with a 40th birthday party. And when I say he surprised me, he really really surprised me. He had lots of co-conspirators and party planners. He, Kimmy, and Mo-Ma did a great job!

We'd had a birthday get-together at Kristen's house with icebox cake and gifts a couple days before and I certainly wasn't expecting anything else (secretly longing for maybe, but not expecting ;)

After a day in the sun on the boat, Kimmy suggested that we head over to the Algonquin by boat for some shrimp cocktail and steamers, just us girls. So off we went. Apparently, her task was to keep me busy for 2 hours. After eating, she started driving all over the lake - looking at houses, looking at islands, quizzing me on the island names - crazy.

As we pulled back in to our dock, there was a lawn full of some of my favorite people, a tent full of food, decorations, and a bushel of littleneck clams! Happy Birthday to me!

The decoy birthday party:


Our arrival:




Pop cookin' up the steamers:


Man, I love cupcakes. I can't even describe how much I love cupcakes. Even the fluorescent looking ones at the grocery store. I can't help myself sometimes. Knowing this about me, Paul gave me a dream birthday cake - a tower of cupcakes.



Everyone was wearing these buttons with a beautiful baby on them...



They thought of everything. Everyone signed this poster (with the same cute baby on it) - which I have in the office now.
What a great night! Thank you!!!!!! Love, your favorite 40 year old.

here's one last shot I tried to do of the moon and some boats going by using shutter drag...