August in a nutshell

I have really been slacking on this blogging thing this month. I thought I was getting better at it. In my defence alot has been going on this month and blogging just wasn't at the top of my mind. I suppose it should be quality of posts not quantity, huh.? Here's August in a nutshell.

We started the month off celebrating Riley's 3rd birthday. The theme was Scooby Doo, of course. Her party was so much fun, my favorite party so far. I loved the way everything turned out from the setup of the party to the decorations to the cake to it not raining. She had 3 friends from school come and I loved seeing her play with them outside of school. I also remember the look on her face when everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her. I wish I could have captured her joy on film. I've never seen a kid blow through presents as quickly as she did. I couldn't keep up. I really need to get the thank you cards in the mail.



Entire set Here.

Then we had some very sad news a few days later that basically turned our lives upside down. My father in law passed away. It was not sudden and something we all knew was going to happen, but still none of us were ready for. I miss him very much. I'm not going to go into details because I don't think Doug would want me to.



This photo was taken on Thanksgiving and I think is one of the last photos I have. I wish I had taken more. I'll never forget the last things I remember him saying to Doug. "You just out in the neighborhood driving around and decided to stop in?", "I told you I wouldn't make it to Riley's next birthday, but I did." Doug helping him with water, "That hit the spot."

We had several vacation plans for August that we continued on with because Doug's Dad told him, "Go out and live your life, have fun. Don't worry about me." So we did and those words will be with me forever.

We went to Alexandria Bay with my parents. We took a boat tour, Riley got to drive the boat, saw two castles; Boldt Castle and Singer Castle, and Riley had Smoore's for the first time. I found a really expensive dark chocolate to use in hers since she can't have milk.






Entire set Here.

The next weekend we went to Camp Mead in the Adirondacks with our friends the Gotobeds. We went to Great Escape, did some hiking, canoeing, and swimming, played some games, watched Michael Phelps kick ass!, and then stopped in Lake George on the way home for another boat ride. Some of my favorite photos from the trip:





Entire sets Here, Here, and Here

The fun didn't stop there. I also attended a wedding, bridal shower, and wedding poker night for our friends Kai and Hannah. Riley ate chicken feet which I don't have a photo of. I'm so happy for Kai and Hannah. They are such nice people. Hannah is incredibly greatful for everything and she makes me realize just how much I take for granted in my life.



This is by far one of my all time favorite photos. To me the exposure and composure are great and I really captured the emotion. I think this is probably one of the best photos I've ever taken. I love it.



Rest of the sets, Here, Here, and Here.

And guess what there's more. We managed to find time to go blueberry picking, goto the zoo twice, have dinner at Chris and Deb's new house twice, play some Rock Band, goto the Drive-in a couple times, and if you can believe it even relax and do nothing a couple days. I think the rest of August will be more of the relax and do nothing. Now that I've put it all out there, that's ALOT in one month.

Dad Heckman, We are having fun, we are living our lives. We love you so much and miss you terribly.