Introducing . . . The Lewis Family!

It was wedding weekend again!

This time, in New Jersey!

It was great. It was Jerseylicious. There was a lot of kissing.

Sarah is my friend from Taylor. She was a straight-shooting, softball-pitching, East Coast girl and fellow El Ed major. She introduced me to my first water ice, Wawa, and taught me how to "have a ketch." And this weekend, she became a wife.

Here she is practicing her walk with her dad, who sweetly cried often. He loves his little girl.

The happy couple, at their rehearsal dinner.
Kissing AGAIN?!

Getting laced up by her mom and sister-in-law.

This is Auntie Ann. Six years ago we were in town for her 90th birthday party (you can do the math!). At the time, she still went to Atlantic City to play the slot machines with her girlfriends.

And this is the bride.

Sarah's mom made all the church decorations! Amazing!

I always love a flower girl.

Mr. Jonathan Lewis and Mrs. Sarah Rebecca Sarracino Lewis!

There was a party bus. It had Herr's chips on it. (Lauren, we thought of you!) And champagne. It was a party.

The beautiful cake.

Not pictured: the beautiful dessert bar, featuring chocolate mousse, tiramisu, ice cream with fruit compote, carrot cake bites, mini creme brulee, and CANOLI. Did I mention this was an Italian affair?

This would be the groom breaking it down with his new father-in-law.
Proud parents of the bride.
It was, obviously, a party. Maybe not so obvious is that it was a dry wedding. These Italians just know how to have fun.

Lucky me, living so close, I got to have these two dolls at our house for a night!
It's not often that Johanna, Amy Jo, Sarah and I can get together . . . since we now live in Chicago, Colorado, New Jersey, and Long Island, but it is always a WONDERFUL time! The four of us are tight from Taylor days and by God's grace have managed to meet up at least once a year since. I had such fun with these two, staying up late talking, as if we hadn't spent the whole day talking anyway. I loved having them spend time with Matt. They only met him at the wedding, since we so unconventionally (and wonderfully) met in Kenya! And, of course, Moose. The other man in my life.

So, thank you Lord for weddings and friends.

berry pickin

This is "what to do with your kids on Long Island" part 2.

Head out east to Harbes farm in Mattituck and pick some berries!

Blueberries and raspberries were in season, so each kid got a basket and went to town. I enjoyed the educational aspect of learning where you food comes from, how it grows, and what it looks like when its maturing and ripe. They enjoyed eating everything one for every berry they put in the basket.

Oh, the excitement at finding the biggest blueberry in the world . . . Can I eat it? Yes, you can!

I laugh because these pictures look like such a charmed life. There's really a lot of this:

Which is how I felt when I realized I sat on a raspberry and had a huge smash of red on my new shorts. After four applications of Zout, they look much better, but boy, did that put me in a bad mood!

The farm was supposed to have a "Barnyard Adventure" where they take your money and then show you all the animals . . . but it wasn't open. Fortunately it provided plenty of other interesting sites for the kids and views for me to make our trip worth it.

So, Harbes Family Farm. Take your kids there today. :)

happy 4th!

Hello, and happy 5th of July!

I saw this bald eagle at a nature preserve with the kids earlier this week and I was really impressed, the thing is HUGE, bigger than the 2-yr-old kid I had in the stroller! I thought he belonged in this 4th of July montage.

We had a last minute decision to invite people over for the 4th (walking from the car into small group on Wednesday - should we have people over? ok!). We've been working so hard on this house and I feel like we have so far to go . . . but I also realize that we've come a long way, and if I wait until everything is perfect, we'll never have anyone over. We ended up with two couples from church and two couples from Matt's residency. Also present were a brand-new baby, 2 kids, a Cavalier Spaniel, and a bulldog.

Getting ready for a lowcountry shrimp boil . . .

red, white, and blue + mason jar
I found these at a garage sale. After hanging them from the umbrella, I decided they would look better hanging from the giant tree in front of our house . . . but just left them for today. Also, I didn't have any little candles. But eventually, they'll be cute.




The shrimp boil might not have been as big a hit with this northern crew, but I enjoyed the nod to the South and everyone else enjoyed the brats. And Lori made Pioneer Woman's potato salad, which was REAL good. Apparently pickles are the secret ingredient.

We also made our first batch of homemade ice cream. Despite my panic that it tasted wrong and there wouldn't be enough . . . it tasted great and there is still some in the freezer!

After our guests left, we went down to the water to enjoy the sunset - something we haven't done yet, despite living here for a month.

Look at this beautiful sight:

And THIS beautiful sight:



The fun wasn't over yet . . . a couple friends came back over and we set up the "Yezerski's Drive-In." Matt fashioned a screen out of a sheet and some wood, and we projected The Sandlot outside. And roasted s'mores. It might have to become a more regular activity.

I realized this was my first Independence Day back in America, as I spent the last three in Kenya. I also realized that besides Kenya, this had to be the COOLEST I'd ever been in July. It was warm during the day, but at night watching the movie, I definitely had goosebumps. Living in the northeast has its perks!!

KOLI - 1

I will now commence my summer series of "Kids On Long Island," highlighting places to take children while spending your summer on Long Island.

First place of note:

Long Beach Town Park. This beach is technically for Smithtown residents only, so don't ask how I got in. I just happened. :) It seemed like a regular beach at first - lifeguard, kids, pebbly, with the addition of a snack shack. A dream come true for little kiddos - if their nanny has cash on her. Whoops!

What sets this beach apart, however, is . . . The Sand Dune.

After about an hour of peaceful play, the kids discovered the looming dunes down the beach and had to climb them.

After a bit, the littlest and I had to join them.

I'm glad I did, the view from the top was gorgeous! The boys all appreciated the beauty with me, and I appreciated how worn out they were getting by running up and down the thing so many times.

They were pretty proud of their athletic abilities.

After exploring for another hour or so, it was time to head home. They loved talking about the dunes all day and retelling stories of how dangled dangerously from the edge, almost falling, unable to get up . . . It's fun to see life through the excited eyes of a child.

erin elizabeth

It is SO GREAT to have friends. Especially friends who visit you all the way in New York! I didn't realize how much I missed spending time with people who know me deeper than these few months in Long Island. Every time someone comes, I think what a blessing it is to have them - I know it's not an easy trip to get all the way up here!

Erin came last week!

(one from the archives)

I don't really know where to start with this girl. Technically, I guess you could say our Senior Capstone trip to Washington D.C., when a group of us in the back of the bus decided Charlotte might be a nice place to settle. Our friendship was cemented by walking to Contemporary Christian Belief every MWF and sharing the textbooks. Since then, the girl has been with me from a very difficult first year of teaching to sending me tearfully off to Africa. We traveled - to Dataw, Boston, NYC, and Arizona. I have about a million embarrassing photos of the two of us.

And our most recent shared milestones were to stand in each other's weddings. Erin's husband Ben couldn't come this weekend so I had her all to myself. :) We missed the other two that lived our Charlotte adventures with us, but they were in our hearts - the one traveling in an Airstream through the western US and the one teaching unruly MK's in Kenya. :)

We did some vacationy stuff while Erin was here. We headed out East to see the picturesque North Fork and "Lavender by the Bay." They sneakily charged $25 to take pictures so my dreams of capturing the blooms with a proper camera were banished . . . so I snuck a few with my phone . . .

Extreme Makeover Home Edition was in Setauket last week to throw up a home. We caught the tail-end of the action, after it had been unveiled to the family. It is quite the undertaking and I am even more impressed with the show now! It really does happen! To real people!

We decided to kayak and borrowed 2 kayaks from the family I work for. When we got down to their dock, there was Matt, freed from a meeting, bobbing around in his yellow kayak! The three of us paddled out to a beach and enjoyed being almost the only people out. Lovely.

Of course the only picture we took was this sad, early morning one on the platform before she bravely took public transportation to the airport and I went back to real life work.

Thanks for coming, friend!