The Maceras

Mermaids

Posted on September 9, 2009 by felice

Well, the end of the summer has come, and the girls are back in school. The pool is now closed, but we had some fun times there this summer. Here are some shots from one pool outing with our friend, Caroline.

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White Water Rafting & Crystal Cave

Posted on August 26, 2009 by felice

We had a short but ACTION PACKED camping trip last weekend in the Lehigh Valley.Â We camped for two nights in Hickory Run State Park but did not get much time to explore it, other than the famous Boulder Field.Â We had some heavy rains just after setting up the tents and canopies, but had good weather for the rest of the stay. On Saturday, our second day, we went wite water rafting on the Lehigh River, with Pocono Whitewater Rafting. We had a great time, and team Fabian/Macera worked well together navigating the Class III rapids (due to a dam release), until one of the last rapids, where we got stuck on a rock, had our boat fill with water, thenÂ had to get out of the boat to push us off.Â We survived until the next rapid, when three of us were thrown from the boat. After bouncing off some rocks, we managed to get to shore to bail out our boat, and continue on to our destination.

On our third day, we packed up camp, had lunch on theÂ Boulder Field and then headed home, with a side trip to Crystal Cave. I had not been there since I was a kid, and the girls had a great time asking our guide a lot of questions, and learning a lot about geology.

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Beach Trip

Posted on August 16, 2009 by felice

The family took a ride to Belmar, NJ … less than an hour drive from home, to bake our bodies on the beach today.Â It was HOT and crowded, but the water was GREAT. Gabriella & Elisa really got comfortable riding and dodging the waves, though Elisa had to tread water a little more than her dad 🙂 We all had a little too much sun, and Elisa swallowed a little too much water, but you can never have too much of the beach!

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Zia Turns 4X? Who Can Remember – it was the 60’s!

Posted on August 16, 2009 by felice

Zia had a “60’s” Birthday Party at Nonna’s to celebrate being 2 years older than her brothers – that’s OLD 🙂 There was fondue, ‘cool’ music (so cool that Nonna asked us to turn it down), CoolWhip & Tab, lots of tie-dye and lots of “Peace & LOVE” … man.Â And of course, there was the tie-dye, peace sign, cake made by Elisa & Gabriella.

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Tea Party with Zia

Posted on August 11, 2009 by felice

While Mama and Papa were hiking through the mountains of the Delaware Water Gap, Gabriella & Elisa were sipping tea with Zia in Delaware. Other activities during their time with Zia and Nonno & Nonna, included:

Outdoor Puppet show – little too ‘juvenile’ 🙂
Birthday Breakfast @ Nonnis
Trip to Fort Delaware

including forging nails!

“G-Force” Movie

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Joke & Felice’s Anniversary

Posted on August 2, 2009 by felice

Joke and I celebrated our 11th Wedding Anniversary with a 3 day trip to the Delaware Water Gap … all thanks to Zia for entertaining (REALLY!) the girls while we were away.Â The B&B we stayed in was peaceful, especially the hot tub, but the owner was a little “weird.”Â We hiked all 3 days, and the PA humidity was rough, as were some of the hikes, but all were beautiful and scenic.Â Who would have thought something so close to home would offer so many scenic hikes.

I, of course, lugged my camera & gear on every hike and below are some of the many shots I took.Â We hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed seeing it live, in all it’s splendor!

Look for more in October, when we plan to return with the girls to experiences these beautiful views painted in Fall Colors.

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Joke: New Jersey State Triathlon

Posted on July 27, 2009 by felice

This year, Joke decided to move up from a sprint triathlon, which she did last year, to an Olympic triathlon at Mercer Lake, NJ.Â She trained for several months, often waking at 6am, to train before the girls, and her husband, woke. This year she had a sweet set of wheels to help her along. She ended with a total time of 2:49 for a 1) 1,500 meter swim, 2) 25 mile bike and 3) 10k run … all on a warm, sticky day.Â She still managed big smiles for her faithful supporters along the way even if she blew them away at the finish 🙂

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Gabriella’s Musical Theater Camp

Posted on July 27, 2009 by felice

For the 3rd year in a row, Gabriella participated in a “Musical Theater” camp. This years theme was Broadway Music. Our little Diva was fabulous, and this was definitely the best performance to-date. Even the “media” was there to document the event, and Gabriella and I were interviewed by a local paper – we’ll post that later, after it comes out. They were on the evening news too, but only for a brief segment.

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The Garden

Posted on July 15, 2009 by felice

The garden is doing well this year, though the veggies are coming in late. We’ve got zucchini, and string beans coming in now, but soon it will be cucumbers, peppers, and of course, TOMATOES! New this year, we’ve forgone the pumpkins for brussel sprouts! We’ll see how that goes 🙂

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Gabriella’s B-day & 4th of July Weekend

Posted on July 7, 2009 by felice

July 3rd started with a “bang” … breakfast in bed for our new tienager!

We then set out for an early day starting with bowling (actually, a belated event for Elisa’s birthday). After a rough start, everyone improved on their second game, with Papa reliving his glory days 🙂 and the girls doing their best to humor his ego.