A Morning at the Track

Another amazing part of having Saratoga Springs in our backyard; The morning backstretch tour of Saratoga Race Track. After breakfast on The Porch in the clubhouse or just to line up for the tram the entire morning experience is enlivening!

First, we watched this horse get a new pair of shoes.

Then, a view of the warm up track and to the stalls (some pictured here).

Every worker walking the grounds is a professional at their task. And the other professionals, the horses, were busy working on warm ups, cool downs, morning meals, and resting with their pets (their companions at their stalls).

The children enjoyed the walk and watching the horses (especially watching a loose horse gallop past)! Mommy and Daddy and friends enjoyed learning about the horses and history and being a part of the morning community of the backstretch!

The Rudnicks stomping divots after the 3rd chukker

Guest blogged today on MaltaMama!

Head over and check out my account of our time at the Saratoga Polo Match on Sunday.Rowan keeping an eye on the match with his own horse play in hand.

Our baby girl is now our little lady,
Evangeline has turned 2!

We celebrated over two weeks continually saying, "Happy Birthday!" and "How old are you now"? Evangeline's reply? "I'm two!"

We had time with family and family friends and invited The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Evangeline is one hungry little girl so the idea for her birthday just stuck!
We celebrated during a beautifully hot day at the lake and the birthday girl enjoyed every minute of it!

The Pedal Bike

We are blessed by our family. Our family come and go, sit and stay, we laugh and cry, and work and play. Recently, we have been blessed to be with our family and feel their love and care for us in so many ways. Here are a few of those moments that were caught on camera:

Every day with PopPop is special!

Grandma passed this June. Her life was full and beautiful. She left us with love for others, a thirst for knowledge, and a wonderful man that we call our Dad.

Evangeline and Memme visiting together in Saratoga Springs.

Pops, Jill, Lolly, and Jenna (7 months)

(EVANGELINE, 23 months)

Just a friendly reminder to stay safe on the roads this summer. You never know who they'll let drive these days.

It is watermelon time. I think we've had more watermelon these past two weeks than we had all of last year. It's not necessarily in peak season but the delight is irresistible for all those that crave summer - and we crave summer! Watermelon snack, watermelon at picnics, watermelon for dessert, we even brought watermelon in to school this morning for watermelon day! The Rudnicks have taken a bite out of summer and it tastes great!!!

Today I was honored to be a guest in Rowan's classroom. Yes, we volunteer and join the children throughout the year but today we were the 3's guests. They made a special snack for us, set a place setting for us, and shared their homemade artwork gift for us. They also shared special music. It was a joy to be in a room filled with happiness and love.Rowan, you are my sweet dear son. I pray you always set a place for me so that I may share in your wonderful life!

Easter Day teased us with sun and brought us some rain. We celebrated from Sunrise through an evening Easter Dinner. Just like any other day there is always time to play away! I am not surprised in the least that there are bicycles in our Easter 2011 photos!

Although we are not able to live next door to our sisters, brother-in-laws, and the cousins, we find so many blessings in our time together visiting. Breakfast through after-bedtime are spent together with all of us stuck like glue to each other. This spring break we celebrated with a visit from the Pintos!

(Connor, Rowan, Tyler, Evangeline, Kyle)

Cool rainy days slowed us down a little but didn't put us out.

(Tyler, Evangeline, Aunt Robin)(Uncle Alan, Kyle)

Everyone was right there outside, riding scooters and bikes, playing at the parks and on playgrounds, to church, to an Easter event, dying Easter eggs, the gym, Saratoga Springs, the Children's Museum, and even a blast at the local fun center.

(Connor)

Crafts, games, and silly times around the house are still my most memorable moments, sincere and dear to the core!

(Tyler and Rowan)

(Rowan, Kyle, Evangeline, Tyler, Aunt Chrissy and Connor on the couch, playing Hullabaloo)

Photo Credits: Uncle Scott! Thanks!

It can never happen again. I went the whole year 2010 without ordering our digital photos to print. This translates into hours of editing, uploading, and ordering (with online code shopping). Digital photo management organization is a whole new ball game for everyone I'm sure. Once printed, I sort our photos in a photo box labeled by date, occasion, and location. Even though they don't make it to an album I have them ready if and when time allows. 436 photos later, with two photo books left to order, I'm at least caught up through this March.

So, after spending the last week reliving 2010 here are some memories from around this time last year,...

January 2010
March 2010

April 2010

Oh, we had big plans this past Saturday to visit the Boot Monument at the Saratoga National Historical Park with high hopes to show our Pops a good time. To our disappointment not only was the park road closed but the hiking path to the monument would have been anticlimatic too since the monument is still covered by a box for the winter. Only slightly discouraged we settle for the Visitors Center. In the end, the Visitors Centers turned out to be an educational, thought provoking, hands on experience enjoyed by all visiting ages.Lolly was teaching the children through dramatic role play and got a little overzealous with her approach (note the other lady's hand).Preparing the canon.
The reenactment portion of the center, a please play area for the children (and dress up for me).
Yes, wearing Rowan's fire-raincoat is always her idea.
Who couldn't end the day with ice cream? It just felt patriotic.