buffalo vacation - part two.

If you missed it, part one of our family vacation can be found here.

Wednesday was the fourth of July. The boys, dad, uncles, and grandpa set out to go fishing. The best part is that everyone caught at least one fish.

While the boys were fishing, all the ladies headed out to lunch and to walk around main street. Later that evening, we went to Brookfield for a fourth of July BBQ and fireworks. It was so much fun.

The boys had never been to Brookfield in their life and they made themselves right at home in the DJ booth. At one point, I think a kid asked Gavin about picking a song for Karaoke, and Gavin showed him the song list. SO funny!

So here is our Mini Matt and Cameron Diaz look alikes. Seriously, look at that picture again...

And now look at this one...

I think there's a bit of a resemblance, no?

Moving on to Thursday. Thankfully, Thursday was a bit of a chill day. Matt, Ryan, and Caden worked on the farm clearing a path from the house to the barn. The rest of us relaxed and did laundry then we all ventured out to Vidler's which everyone adored! We hurried back home because Kate and Neil were expecting a house full for Kate's retirement party.

It was a great night. Family from Kate's side and Neil's side were there and it was pretty awesome to see that even though we they all have different personalities, different beliefs, and different faiths that there was a bond of family and love. Good stuff.

 On Friday, we went to Darien Lake. It's a Six Flags amusement park and it was fun.

  We have different levels of amusement park "riders" in this family. There's the "no thanks, I think I will go to the zoo with Amy and Kate" rider like Jeb, then there's the "I like rides but nothing too crazy" like Matt and the twins, and then there's the raging lunatics like Caden, Griffin and Madi that will ride anything and everything no matter how scary. The only thing holding Caden back is his height. So we all split up. Jeb went to the zoo, Matt took Ry and Gav in his group, and I took the maniacs.

And for the record...my group had the most fun. There were fake tattoos, hair tinsel, and the winning of stuff at the midway games, plus riding every crazy roller coaster in the park. Matt's group did get to go to the water park side of Darien, which made Griffin rethink his group choice,  but all in all I think everyone had a great time

The week was sprinkled with late night eating...

Random silliness...

And  a week long all boys' sleepover complete with late night talking and laughing.

I couldn't get over how green the landscape was and how beautiful the undeveloped spaces are.

I could have snapped pictures for days and not feel like I had my fill of green landscape. It was amazing.


On our last night in NY, we had a family campfire.

We told stories, played charades, capture the flag, and ghost in the cemetery. The fireflies were out and the air was thick with love and laughter. It went by just too fast.

 Madi rode Bella and Amy finally got to "ride" her too. These girls are too sweet and Amy adores her cousin, Madi. Can't you just see the admiration in her little face?

 This was our "Jeep commercial" shot.

But soon enough we were awake very early and headed out to catch a plane to the desert.

Some of us are morning people...

 And some of us don't do mornings too well.

Then some of us are too cool to care either way.

After a plane change in Chicago, we finally landed in Salt Lake and drove the Munro kids home. Silliness ensued.

After we said our goodbyes, Matt and the boys and I made the long drive home to Vegas. The week was amazing and the time together was priceless. We are grateful for family and anxious to do it all over again.