Playing in The Rain

One of my goals this summer is to really spend quality time with my kids and make sure that we make lots of memories together. I have really been hit with the realization that they are growing up WAY too fast. I also have realized that with everything else that I need to do in a day, I sometimes forget to really stop and live in the moment of what we are doing together.

Today, my friend and I decided to start a summer tradition of "field trip fridays". We are doing this for two reasons...1. we both want to do fun things with our kids this summer and 2.We are trying to encourage others to do it as well as part of our website WNYKids.com. So, we headed downtown to a great event on the waterfront. The kids were able to make things with clay and play in water tables and sand boxes. They also got to see the waterfront that they love to visit. Of course, up until today, it has been sunny and hotter than hot here in WNY. However, today the rains came down...in buckets! The timing could not have been better...it started pouring as we were making the trek back to our cars. Yes, there we were...2 adults and a total of 6 kids (and only 3 umbrellas!!). Needless to say, we got soaked.

The greatest part of this was that we did not care at all! We actually walked a little bit slower to our cars laughing the entire way. By the time we got to the cars, we could have rung out our clothes and yet all we did was laugh and continue to stay in the rain. On the way home, the kids told me that this was "the best day ever!!" I asked them why and they said, "because playing in the rain is AWESOME!"

Now, I am not that uptight that I have never played in the rain before. However, I can say that I have not taken the time to do that lately and truthfully, probably was worried (for some crazy reason) that I did not have time to get wet nor did I have the patience to deal with wet kids in my car. But today, we did it..we survived...and we loved every second of it!!!

So, today I am thankful for rainy days and the time to enjoy them! I am so glad that I "let my hair down" and played and danced in the rain. I know, it sounds terrible that this is such a big deal for me, but it really was. I am also thankful for fun with great friends and a GREAT new camera! I am finally able to really get back to photography and making memories of these great days!!!

Nominated for Nickelodeon Parent's Picks Award

Blogging has become my new obsession.  I have really enjoyed learning about all of the aspects of writing and building a blog.  A number of months ago, some dear friends of mine and I put together a local website for local families to find what to do and where to go in WNY.  As moms, we were always looking for great things in our area.  We tired of looking all over the internet and searching.  Stacey and Melissa had also put together an amazing Baby Expo here in WNY and had met a number of great people with family friendly businesses.  We decided to combine all of our resources and create the site and blog for our community.

Our blog at WNY Kids was recently nominated by Nickelodeon for a Parent's Picks Award.  Along with our blog, there are other great businesses that have been nominated.  In order to win the award, we need your help!  Please click here to vote for us.  Others I ask you to vote for are:

Best Family Photographer - SH Portraits

Best Pizza - My Tomato Pie

This nomination is really exciting!  Check out the site and check out our blog!