the girls....

wendy


heidi


manya


caroline


& me!

these are my girls! friends from the start of college where we all got roped in to rowing crew (or were at least roommates with someone who did!) we just went on our annual girls weekend. what a joy to look forward to and what a good time was had by all. i hear of weekends that girls just partied till dawn, and those who were able to travel great distance on some exotic adventure. but i don't think that's what this weekend means to me. i like to just - be. just get around my dear old friends and tell stories from our past, laugh at the same old jokes, and talk about fresh new events in our lives. since we're all over the U.S. i look forward to this time to go and sit and - be. hang out at a coffee shop like i would love to do with all of them throughout the year. window shop and walk around town with out a care and just - be. the weather helped us out this year. in Breckenridge, CO is was 50 and chilly, and rainy! so we were forced to just hang out and - be, and i couldn't be happier. sure there were great adventures planned and I'm sure we'll get another chance but it didn't stop my good time one drop. to me, it doesn't matter so much what we do it's who we're doing it with. like trying to cram a year's worth of coffees, movies, and bottles of wine into one weekend! it's not enough. i guess it never will be, but i take what i can get. we chitter chatter right to the airport and then, some, even on the plane home. there's always something to say and the joy of being able to just - be, without all the little "mommy i need help"s, "mommy he hit me"s in the background. time to just focus on each other and ourselves.
i can't wait for our next trip and i'm excited to get started planning. like one of my wise dear friends just said "you just can't make old friends". you've got what you got and i cherish them immensely. i love that we all bring something to the table. different backgrounds, different careers, different lifestyles and such, but i think what makes us works is that that's what we love about each other. we're eager to hear from each other and learn what the others are doing. those without kids allow us to go on and on about them, and we crave to know what exciting adventures others have gone on that we have not been able to.
well i could go on and on. i just love this time we have together and i just get so excited when i hear anyone talking about their girls weekend. it translates into the same thing no matter who is doing it and where they are going, time to just - be.
be together
be free
be fun
be happy
be whatever you feel like being.....


the girls...


snow topped breckenridge, in AUGUST!!!!

cheers to jenny who was there in spirit and is certain to be at next years!

Danny Boy

check out this sweet angel! he really is as sweet as his big, beautiful eyes suggest! what a mild mannered boy and a big flirt! mom really wanted the big gummy smiles she's so accustomed to but nothing bowls me over like eyes that look like they want to know everything! and what's cuter than little piggies!!!!!

our week in the poconos

we had dreams for a more exotic family vacation, but one thing led to another and we ended up in our own backyard. we drive through the poconos every time we head to poppy and grandma's house, what an unusual sensation to stop and get off the highway and make that our home-away-from-home for a week of family vacation time. somehow seeing deer on vacation is SOOO much more exciting that seeing the deer we see all the time at home.....
ron and his family came for a short visit over the weekend. ron and eric were able to steal away to the nascar race and emily and i occupied all the kiddos. we also had mimi's family come up to their family house for part of the week. it was fun getting to see them outside of home and do new and exciting things with them.

a brief recap of our trip in photos...


playing baseball and all sorts of games right out back of our condo. we were on top of a ski slope (well, they called it a ski slope, keep in mind we're still in PA you have to use your imagination) and had a beautiful view.


swimming in the icy waters in the pool associated with our condo. gracie and i were the only ones brave enough to go in!


jackson taking a turn driving mimi's pop pop's boat on lake wallenpaupack when they visited us over the week.


again, little miss swimmer braved the waters to dabble in a little lake swimming.


and here's little miss pass out realizing that a weeks worth of vacation activities is proving to be a little much for our BIG girl. she actually fell asleep sitting up while the boat was moving full speed holding on the hand rail. poor thing....


FINALLY jackson braves the chilly waters on his own time and in his own way hours later.


now THAT'S a bubble bath! what more could a girl want than a jacuzzi bubble bath!


a trip to claws n' paws. a local "zoo". never saw a giraffe so close up before! they do feedings there and he comes right out to you!


family portrait on our way out.

things i didn't have the camera for were a trip to the county fair. we had a GREAT time on the rides and winning expensive really cheap stuffed animals and getting to see all the farm animals up close. and a trip to the amusement park which started out iffy with whiny and tired kids but ended up being a great afternoon of bumper boats, go karts, mini golf, and a little swimming, of course by just me and grace:-)

action packed, fun filled, great time had by all. vacations don't necessarily mean the same thing once you have kids. we still go go go, partly because we want to do fun things in new places but partly we know the kid's need to DO stuff will eventually drives us out anyway! so we may have over planned but we enjoyed everything we did and you can tell the kids did just about the right amount that when their heads hit the pillows at night the fell asleep fast and hard.

Shameful representation in our Hollywood movies...

Hello everyone.

I am contacting all of you in regard to Ben Stiller's new movie that is scheduled to be in theaters this Wednesday. It is called "Tropic Thunder." I was informed by the National Down Syndrome Society that there are significant portions of this movie that depict people with mental disabilities in an extremely derogatory light. The entire movie's premise is "actors making fun of actors" and "using extremes to make fun of movie plots", but part of this "poking fun" includes a pretend movie entitled "Simple Jack." There is one particular conversation in the movie between Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr that discusses Stiller's character acting in "Simple Jack" which is a movie that outwardly exemplifies prejudices and stereotypes of people who have mental disabilities. The derogatory word "retard" is used repeatedly and in a negative connotation to those who have a disability. I specifically viewed a clip of this portion of the movie and I was horrified and disgusted. There is one particular part of the clip where Downey Jr says "nobody goes full retard" and means that when you play that role in a movie, you never are completely changed into that particular character, where Stiller felt like he was "stupid" or in his words "retarded" as a result of playing Simple Jack. There are many more parts within this movie that are extremely offensive in the same nature.

As a mom of a child with down syndrome, I was so disheartened and disappointed that the stereotypes and ignorance that I try to combat every day of my life within the community were going to be featured, highlighted, and even made to be "funny" on the big screen. I know Hollywood is anything but upstanding when it comes to morals and decency, but I feel the line needs to be drawn somewhere. It would not be acceptable for another minority group in our country to be disrespected, so why should it be any different for those with disabilities? Do people think they cannot voice their thoughts and defend themselves? If so, they are severely mistaken.

I ask you to spread the word about this movie to anyone you know as well as discuss it with your children who may be part of the target audience. This will not only result in less money that ends up in Ben Stiller's pocket, but it will also provide you with a "teachable moment" to open their eyes to the world around them.

Thank you
Fara, Eric, Grace and especially Jackson Lippincott