August 2009 with the Girlies - Aunt Pam and New and Improved Gary at the Jersey Shore

So after my sister and Uncle Garf left, we headed down to Bay Head, New Jersey to stay at Julian's vacation house, as the girls call it. Kim's sister Pam and her husband, New and Improved Gary, came to spend about 5 days with the girlies and enjoy the beach.

Pam is delightful and she and Gary are very happy together - I was actually only there for a couple of days because I had to go back and work for the Germans, but Kim stayed down the girlies for the entire week and they had a great time.

Now please enjoy some photographs:

Aunt Pam with the girlies at Julian's vacation house

Pam gave the girlies their first pedicure - she wanted to charge an extra $10 for a 10-minute foot massage but the girlies had a coupon

Painted feet and the New York Post

Playing with umbrellas - a regular occurrence

Aunt Pam squeezed between the girlies car seats - Kim is getting a new car next month that has almost 3 more cubic inches of space, so we are very excited. Plus, it's a hybrid, which ought to shut the dirty hippies up for a while.

Pam and Uncle New and Improved Gary at the Point Pleasant Boardwalk

Pam and Amelia on the Carousel

The Bay Head Beach

Me with Sally in the Ocean

At the Lakeville Blue Claws Game - Pam has a very nice smile



Amelia singing very cutely - this is a song called 'Taxi' from their music class this summer. It is a very New York-y song about city kids hailing a taxi - hence the name (one of my father's later wives, the vile and wretched Sandy, used to use the word 'hence' a lot, although she usually used it incorrectly. She would say "That's germs on the shower curtain. Hence, you should clean it." Or "The salt shaker should be placed exactly in the center of the table and never moved, even if you need to use the salt. It is not to be moved and it must stay exactly where it is at all times, even in the event of a cataclysmic natural disaster. Hence, I am a despicable moron." Well, she probably didn't say that last bit, but that's how it sounded to me). The girlies sing this song all the time and usually come up with alternative lyrics, as is the case here when Amelia decides to sing about Mac and Cheese halfway through.



Now Sally's turn



Kim having a chat about pizza and counting with the girlies on the deck at Gene and Stacie's house in Bay Head. One of my favorite things in the world is that when Sally counts she says "One, Two, Pree, Pour, Pive!" I don't want her to ever grow out of that because it is so delightful.

August 2009 with the Girlies - Sarah and Uncle 'Garf' in Town

August was a big month for us - my darling younger sister Sarah came in town with her husband, whose name starts with a 'G' but I can never remember exactly what it is. I think it is Glen or Gregory (my other sister D;laslkjd thinks his name might be Geronimo, but I don't think that is right), but because it is so hard to remember we all just decided to call him Garth. Sarah and Garth went to some dances together in high school but then he graduated and went off to seek his fortune as a horseman, while Sarah stayed in high school, starred in all of the high school dramatic and musical productions, and befriended a weird looking red-headed kid.

Years later Sarah and Garth reconnected while bumping into each other at the 'Things Remembered' kiosk at the mall - Sarah, as she often did in the afternoons, was browsing the engraved heart necklaces with the keepsake box, and Garth was wandering by on his way to the Hickory Farms store to enjoy some of their delicious summer sausage. They struck up a conversation, compared their various tattoos, and decided to get married.

My other siblings and I were very skeptical because we still weren't certain that we could remember his actual name, but more importantly because Sarah was our beloved younger sister and we had to be convinced that he was truly the right one for her. We subjected him to various tests and trials, including one where he had to throw a kettle over a pub, and he scored well, making it clear that Sarah was the love of his life. Once we were certain, we let the word go forth from this time and place that Sarah and Garth were to be married.

Then, they decided to come to New York to see us and the girlies. The girlies immediately liked Garth and, because they are three years old and cute, they decided that he would henceforth and forever more be known as 'Uncle Garf'. My heart was warmed by this development.

It turns out that other than the walk across the bridge, we didn't get too many photos of Sarah and Garth in NY. They were here for a week but for some reason we didn't take too many photos. I blame the Germans. Below are some photos of their visit and some other things too probably. You will also notice that there are more photos of Amelia than Sally - I don't know why.

Sarah and Uncle Garf reading a book to the girlies - Amelia liked Garth right away

At Grimaldi's Pizza in Brooklyn, before walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and stuff

What a lovely couple

Sarah and Uncle Garf with the girlies under the bridge

Garth loves skulls, which scares me

Amelia on the Brooklyn Bridge

Amelia's First Haircut!



Amelia's First Haircut

What's cuter than that?



A video of Amelia dancing to Chinese songs - we have a tutor that comes over to teach Mandarin and we put some music on. Amelia felt the uncontrollable urge to dance.



Crazy Swinging!

July 2009 with the Girlies

In July we did a bunch of stuff. It was fun. Below are pictures and videos.

Me with the girlies at the new High Line park in New York.

Amelia in her panda shirt and University of Missouri hat (from Natalie, who goes to college!) Helping with the laundry

Sally at soccer - her favorite part was 'observing'. She is wearing her cool Barcelona soccer shirt.

Amelia also wearing a cool Barcelona soccer shirt.

Soccer Class



Amelia at soccer class



The girlies watching other kids play soccer.

Amelia wearing #14 - Kim's number. And as far as you know, the 'Henry' on her shirt is a tribute to my grandpa, Henry 'Bud' Koelling. Sally's shirt says 'Dot'.

Mimi with the girlies in the park