Dana Daily

Sal and I have been living with two, three cushion sofas in our living room for five years now. It's great when we have a house full of people for birthdays and holidays, but for day-to-day living, it was making us crazy. On Saturday, Sal said he was really over this arrangement, and I agreed. Without another thought we hauled our least favorite of the two out of the house and onto the curb. The living room was immediately improved, but then he decided to take it another step, and suggested we put the remaining couch in the basement. We can also move the tv and computer down there as well. That leaves us no furniture in the living room. So, we went shopping. We browsed and tried out dozens of couches at Levin's in Wexford. We also chose a table that will serve as a computer workstation. I'd also like two reading chairs to place on either side of the fireplace as well. After a butt-numbing two hours, we left without purchasing anything. We needed some time to thi...

Today was the Popsicles on the Playground event at Seth's new school. He's enrolled at Blessed Seelos Early Childhood Center in Wexford for this upcoming year. We met a lot of new families, and were reunited with one from St. Ursula's. With temperatures in the 80s, and plenty of sun we had the perfect afternoon. For two hours the kids played and got to know each other. Before we left, Seth needed to use the restroom so we were able to peek inside his classrooms. He agreed that it looks like fun. I'm excited about the new school, and I'm sure he'll love it.

For the second year in a row we traveled The Poconos for a Storch/Crano Family reunion. Last year we stayed near Swiftwater, but this year we rented a house in Bushkill. This trip was from July 19 - 22, and one night longer than last year. Three nights was better than two, but I'd like to try four. What I don't want to have happen is us spend too many days together. You want to feel disappointed it's over, not relieved to be going home. I preferred last year's house for the number of bedrooms and having a pool right out our backyard. This year's house was slightly smaller, but had an open layout. It was also better maintained (ie no leaking toilets). It was in a gated community which had six pools and other amenities, but all required packing everyone up and driving. We arrived on Wednesday an hour or so before the Storch clan. The girls chose a bedroom with double bunk beds, and I think the kids are all young enough to stay in the same room. Aunt Doreen took ...

This event popped up on my Facebook newsfeed and it sounded cute. Sponsored by LL Bean it's free and geared to children Seth's age. It's a short hike on a trail in North Park with story time in a field, and a short hike back. When I signed us up there were three spots left, but the day of we were the only family to arrive. It was a scorcher, but since we were hiking through the woods, it really wasn't that bad. We followed the blue trail out and the red trail back. They run parallel to one another. Seth got to look for creepy crawlies hiding in the woods, play in a small stream, and learned how to follow the markers designating the trail. I think he had a great time.

In fourth grade, I decided I was going to see all 50 states, and here I am with just 12 to go. I am well on my way to 50 by 50.

I am so sad to leave. While we hit everything on our itinerary, there's more I want to see. I know how silly this sounds, but before this trip Colorado to me was Denver. Now that we're here in Colorado Springs, I know it's so much more, and I can see why people love it out here. The scenery is beyond gorgeous, and everyone is so friendly. We enjoyed the complimentary waffle bar in the common area of the Buffalo Lodge , and then packed up the car and headed for the Garden of the Gods . In no way was this what I was expecting. Everything is bigger out west so I should have known. I pictured a small-ish city park with a few rocks spread throughout, which is laughable now that I think about it. Garden of the Gods is pretty, just like everything else out here. The red rocks reminded us of Sedona, and against the blue sky, they're just stunning. There's a paved road through the park with pull-offs to access trails and rocks for climbing. Fortunately it's Monday...

The last full day of our western adventure. We woke up early for 9am Mass, only to arrive at the church and find out that the website and sign in their lawn were not updated. The church was dark and empty at 8:55. We scrambled to find another, and ended up at St. Matthew's Cathedral. The priest spoke with a heavy accent, and we were given copies of the homily as we entered. I kind of liked that. Following Mass we drove the 1.5 hours or so to Denver for a Colorado Rockies game. The radar didn't look promising and sure enough, the announcer came on about 30 minutes before the first pitch and asked that people move from the seats to shelter as hail was threatening. We rode out the hail and torrential downpour for nearly 2 hours wondering if we should just pack it up and head to Colorado Springs. Finally the skies cleared, and it ended up being beautifully sunny. At that point though, nobody was really feeling the game and we made it through 6 innings, I guess and decided to ...