The end of summer

We head home tomorrow. It seems like we've been here so long, yet it's gone by so fast! The kids amazed me with all they were able to learn and do in such unfamiliar surroundings. Kenzie fearlessly learned to make her way around the city by herself, helping me make sure everyone made it to their auditions. Brandt took every opportunity he had to show compassion to the homeless, finding creative ways to meet their needs for food or just a cup of cold water. Halle just showed us how very strong she is, matching us step for step as we hiked all over the city day in and day out! I could not be more proud of the people they are becoming. Thanks to everyone for your support this summer. We have missed you all!
While some of the jobs the kids did were local to NY, there are a few places you can look for them in our area. Halle will be in Goody's in mid-August, Wal-Mart in mid- November, and J Crew(catalog and website) in October. Brandt will be in the current Bloomingdale's circular and Target in September( in stores in boy's outerwear). Keep an eye out!

Brandt's first movie

the 4th of July

We celebrated Brandt's 12 th birthday and the 4th of July last week here in the city. Where would you imagine Brandt would pick to spend his birthday? Out of the entire city and all it has to offer, Brandt wanted to spend the majority of his day at the dog park! Brandt knows all the dog walkers as well as the dogs and the days and times they come to the park. We also found out there is a dacshshund festival in October that the kids insist we have to come back for.
The 4th was pretty laid back. We had a good view of the fireworks from our apartment so we didn't have to fight the crowds in the city. Uncle Keith flew in to spend the weekend with us. He spent today fulfilling everyone's "wish" list- he took Halle to play putt-putt, Brandt to see Hancock, and Kenzie out for sushi. He should be thoroughly exhausted by the time he leaves tomorrow!

The last 2 days have been crazy busy with Halle's Wal-Mart job. She had a great time shooting Christmas in June! She even got to have a "fake" mom one day. She said having a fake mom was fun but she doesn't want a fake dad- that would be weird. Not exactly sure what that says about me, but I'm trying not to overthink it! She bonded with the photographer over their shared love for dachshunds. They exchanged pics of our little boys and his litle girls.(Any opportunity to talk about Charlie!) He gave us a lot of positive feedback at the end of the shoot- I don't know if that's a credit to Halle or the dachshunds! We also met with J Crew's tailor today to fit the clothes for the shoot on Friday. And guess what Halle gets to wear? Dachshund pants! I'm telling you, we are just dachshund people- they follow us everywhere! I will post pics from the shoots Friday night.

We did some more sight seeing this past week. My parents came to visit and I think we took the kids on about 10 hours of bus tours- they now know everything there is to know about NYC! We took a trip to the MET and realized it would take forever to see everyting there. Brandt did a shoot for a local sporting goods store and Kenzie did a FIT for Roxy and Calvin Klein. Everyone's having a good time even though they miss the dogs a lot! I've seen the kids show such a tender heart and compassion for the people they see on the streets who are homeless. It is definitely a different world up here and they are seeing the good and the bad. This coming week will be busy with more auditions and a Wal-Mart shoot for Halle. I will post some pics of Halle's shoot towards the end of the week. I put a new slide show below with shots from the past week or so.

The kids have had a crazy busy week! The Bowles are visiting so we've been all over the city sight-seeing and having a great time. We've walked the Brooklyn bridge and seen the Statue of Liberty and today we accidentally participated in the parade for Puerto Rico Day! Halle did a fashion show for J Crew on Friday which was super fun. Brandt has a photo shoot for Bloomingdale's on Tuesday and Kenzie has a shoot on Friday. I'll try to post another slideshow when I have the time to get it put together!

This is our first weekend alone here in the city. After two weeks here, everyone needs a litle taste of home so we're hiking out to a mall in Paramus to eat at, where else, Chick-fil-a! The kids have been busy with auditions so the weekend will be a nice break to just hang out and relax.

Well we've been in the city for 3 whole days now. If the rest of the summer is anything like the last couple of days, we should be very busy! On Tuesday, the kids had a casting call for Bloomingdale's. Brandt had to try on 10 different outfits- you all know how he loves trying on clothes! But he survived it and tomorrow they head out to a casting call for Sears. They were specifically requested for this one, so we hope that's a good sign!

Who knew back in January when the kids went to AMTC, we would be spending the summer in the city? We are packed up and ready to head out on Saturday. We'll spend a couple of nights in D.C. then head to New Jersey on Monday. We don't know what to expect this summer but will try to keep everyone updated with what's happening through the blog. Thanks to everyone for their support and excitement for the kids!