Well its been a very busy month for us here in Central NY, but we 've had lots of fun! At the beginning of August, Teddy went to Vegas for his Walgreens conference. Bella and I were left to man the fort and birthday shop. He had a great time seeing all his DM classmates and catching up with all his friends from St. Louis. When he got home we celebrated his 31st birthday with dinner out and some drinks on the deck with our neighbors. Isabella was very distraught that her Daddy did not want a cake for his birthday, so Wegman's (our grocery store) provided her and her friends, cupcakes to celebrate with. We also set out on lots of little adventures each weeekend to check out all the fun things to see and do around us. New York has tons of lakes and State parks with beautiful scenery and hiking. As you can see by our little bathing beauty, one weekend we went to Jamesville Beach which is just down the road. It was Isabella's first trip to a beach of any kind and she could not understand why there weren't any waves. She had a great time and so did we. Teddy had the sunburn of all sunburns to prove it (MEN! haven't they ever heard of sunblock?!)
Another weekend we went to Chittenago FallsState Park. It is in the town of Chittenango where Frank L. Baum was from (The author of The Wizard of OZ). It's a really cute town about 25 minutes from us. The restaurants and shops had the cutest names, Like Aunt Em's Diner, The
Ruby Slippers and Emerald city Antiques. The park has a beautiful waterfall and great hiking trails.
Isabella's favorite adventure was our trip to Fort Rickey. It is a family owned petting zoo that is all about learning about and appreciating animals. They had a lot of farm animals, of course, but they also had deer you could feed, buffalo, a raccoon, bunnies, wolves, peacocks and even a cabybara. Each hour a different talk was given about an animal at the park and in most cases the children were then invited to touch and see the animal up close. Bella got to feed cows, goats, deer and chickens. She got to ride a pony and pet a snake and we heard the most interesting talk on wolves (you can't pet them but you get to see them up close and watch someone interact with them).
The best part of our summer was by far our Labor day weekend trip to Lake Placid which is in Adirondack State Park. Wow!! I have always loved the mountains. Whether in Colorado, Ireland, Bulgaria or Tennesee they never cease to awe and amaze me. The Adirondacks definately lived up to all my expectations and then some! Over half of our three and a half hour drive was through Adirondack State Park andaround every curve were examples of some of nature's best work. The small rivers and lakes were crystal clear and the Mountains are very thickly forested. Some of the trees had even begun to change color and I have NEVER seen such bright brillant color.
Some looked like they had been set a blaze.The oranges and reds were so crisp and intense,
they were like flames.
The temperature didn't get above 70 and the days already felt and smelled of Autumn. At night it got down to about 32 degrees. We stayed at a "Green" hotel on Mirror Lake right in the center of Lake Placid which was where the Olympic village was located. There were great little shops and restaurants and we heard all different languages. There were tourists from everywhere. We saw several Olympic sites. We saw the ski jumps and we even got to watch freestyle skiers practice in a pool. We also saw the Luge and bobsled tracks and well as the Olympic torch.
On Saturday we went to Santa's Village, an amusement park for kids Isabella's age and a little older. Bella got to ride on lots of rides and meet some of Santa's elves as well as his reindeer and even the big man himself. For the first time she sat on his lap and talked to him and even had her picture taken (previously she would only wave as we walked by in the mall). She had a great time and we really enjoyed sharing it with her.
We drove around the area quite a bit, just to take in the scenery and admire the little cabins hidden back in the forest. We went to the summit of White Face Mt. and saw High Falls Gorge where Teddy and Isabella had a good time minig for gemstones.All in all it was one of the best vacations we've had and for the first time I didn't want to go home. As much as I love to travel, I am always ready to get home at the end of a trip, but not this time. I truly did not want to leave and we are seriously thinking of getting property there someday and building a little log cabin.
I could live there right now!
So as you can see we've had a very exciting 
month, not to mention all the normal day to
day stuff. Isabella has really been enjoying her
new friends. She loves to play with
Luke and Amelia and Tracy and Thomas. We
went to another Bulgarian gathering and met even more really nice families and we all had a great time. This past weekend we met with Gabriella, Nick, Stephen and Nadine and went to
the Syracuse Irish Festival. It was huge compared to the St. Louis Irish Festival with great music, food and drink. We've been working around the house and working on becoming a better "Green" family.
Today Isabella started her new Preschool and tonight she starts swim lessons. She finished up Lil' kickers on Saturday. Teddy's been working hard setting up new stores a putting lots of miles on the car visiting all his stores. I have been trying to keep track of everything and reading and running a lot. I really miss my book club, I think of you girls often! I've looked for a new book club but the only one at our library is for mystery lovers and I need more variety. I'll have to start working on getting some of my neighbors to start one with me. Right now, I'm reading a very interesting book that I just gave Mandi for her birthday, Pope Joan by Syracuse author, Donna Woolfolk Cross. I finally got out on those hills for a run and my shins hurt for two days, but I'm not gonna let that stop me. I ran 7 miles this past Sunday (67:40!). I am so close to that eight mile mark I can taste it! On Wednesday, Mom and Dad Avramov arrive and we are very excited. We are planning on taking them to Niagara Falls, the Canadian side, next weekend. Mom and Dad Morris will be arriving 4 days before the they leave so that they can all see each other and overdose Isabella on Grandparents. Mom and Dad Morris will then vacation around the Northeast and use us as hub. So I will let you know all about our upcoming adventures in a few weeks! In the mean time please keep in touch. Despite the fact that we are having a great time here, we miss you all very much. I am really enjoying seeing the pictures from Leslie and on Mandi's blog! The little ones are growing so fast! Keep the pictures coming. And to everyone who has sent us cards, notes and email Thank you, Thank You, Thank you! They are very much appreciated! Have a great September! Come up and see us!
Since I don't have his email address, Congrats to my cousin John on his engagement!! (Pass it on for me Aunt Helen) And also to Jana, Reiner and the Crew, Welcome to America! We hope you love it here and We can't wait to see you!!
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