Anna Grows

Anna began second grade on August 26.  She was quite excited to go and immediately ditched her parents at the door as she headed for Mrs. Gorog's classroom.  So far, Anna's biggest challenge is the new school start time of 8:30.  This cuts into her morning television time.  Yesterday she asked her Dad for an alarm clock.  This morning she used the alarm clock, but decided it was too "startling" in her words.  To be continued..... Her issue last night was lunch.  She requested shrimp cocktail, making Theresa wonder what the other kids were having for lunch.  Today, she had chicken which is perhaps a step up from PB&J. It was a great first week back with many things to look forward to.  Hopefully her enthusiasm continues.

Mohican Cliffs - Block Island Anna had a great summer full of sun, friends, field trips, and vacation.  Of course she also got to hear the recurring line from her parents:  "When I was your age, I NEVER got to do that!"  The grand finale for the Fagella family this year was a relaxing week on beautiful Block Island.  This was definitely a trip of discovery on several fronts. The first discovery was that leaving at 10 AM on a Saturday in August to drive I-95 north is NOT a good idea.  We discovered many quaint towns along the way while trying to find an alternative to I-95 (Havre de Grace, MD - very nice).  After 9 hours of traveling, we discovered that there were no diners in Westchester County New York for dinner, so we opted to drive closer to Connecticut.  After finally making it to Connecticut, Theresa and Anna were happy to discover there was a Dunkin Doughnuts on virtually every corner, which proved very important the next morning. Myst...

Anna's Riding gear Anna's summer adventures continued with a week long visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Ohio.  This is one of Anna's favorite vacation destinations....a kid resort of sorts.  There is always entertainment planned and Grandma let's her eat all the food that Mom and Dad usually do not (a few trips to McDonald's for a Happy Meal can always be expected). Mom and Dad flew Anna out July 27 and stayed for a long weekend.  The weather was unusually cool for the end of July/beginning of August with temperatures in the 60s, making jackets a necessity.  Sunday everyone headed to Grand Rapids, Ohio to enjoy a canal boat ride and tour of the mill.  Theresa enjoyed walking around the town and was able to give Joe a tour of the 100+ year old court house (Joe was initially concerned about getting through building security since he did not have identification with him until he was reassured that the extent of the security was the sign on a door that...