Fun-filled Weekend

Another whirlwind weekend full of family and fun! We had beautiful weather, perhaps the nicest Saturday of the summer so far.

On Friday, the kids completed a week of an all day VBS at a local church. They enjoyed it, although they thought the days were long (9-4). It was a great opportunity for me to point out that most of their friends do that 9 months out of the year!

There was a short closing program with songs and a slideshow and afterwards the church put on a BBQ for all of the families with moonbounces and snowcones...very nicely done and a great outreach. Following the program, we went to the O'Connors for a swim and dinner.

L to R: Nathanael, Sean O'C, Cameron O'C, Madison

Cameron O'Connor

On Saturday, I dropped the kids off at Ninny's house so they could go on the boat with some family that was visiting from Maine. The kids LOVE their great aunts MaryJo and Brenda and their cousins-once-removed, Brandon and Ashley.

-

Colombo and I stayed behind with TJ and Rocco to get some work done around the house and prepare for our upcoming camping trip. It's a lot of work to get ready and un-do, but it's so worth the effort!

-

In the evening, we went to church.

Lisa and Bethany with their boys

After, we went to Colombo and Karen's to meet up with everyone for dinner.

-

Sunday started bright and early at 6:00. I prepared an appetizer and a dessert for Gabriella's birthday party and cleaned up the house. Then I had a brief meeting at church. Then we went to Colombo and Karen's again for Gabriella's big day...her 1st birthday! The house looked great decked out in pink and purple. Sweet Gabby had a dress that said "Birthday Princess" on it. There were a ton of people there, a mountain of gifts, and more food than necessary. Andrea did a beautiful job.

Andrea and Gabby

Me with Royalty

The kids stayed busy on the slip 'n' slide that TJ got for his birthday.

Later at home, we finished packing up for camping, got the kids to bed, and then Colombo and I enjoyed a pizza by the pool and a dip in the water to cool off.

Cape Cod

We just got back from our 3rd annual trip to the Cape with our friends and now neighbors, Bob and Jules! We had a great time. We had 3 days of perfect weather. We usually go without kids, but this year we had Rocco with us.

He cooperated perfectly. He did a lot of sleeping.

We spent some time on the beach, ate out a couple times, I went for a run, talked on the deck, went to church, relaxed...all the things a weekend on the Cape should be!

We're so grateful to have treasured friends to do life with! And Jules' mom, Yia Yia as we call her, loves to spoil us while we're there and could write a book on hospitality.

And thanks to Karen who had the kids with a little help from Laurie and my mom who took the dumb dog, we were able to go and not worry about a thing. You can tell how the kids 'suffered' without us on Ninny and Papa's boat for the day.

Just For Fun

Just for fun, here's a bunch of randomness!

TJ got my camera again.

Speaking of TJ, why is it that if there is a 50% chance of putting clothes on backwards or 50% chance of putting shoes on the wrong feet, that he seems to be particularly lucky and scores more like 90%? What gives?

-

The kids got a good game of baseball going in the front yard.

I told the kids I had a 'job' for them to do, so they all reported for duty.
Cousin Gabriella came for a swim. Is that not the most hysterical suit?!

Oh, and there's the back!
Uncle Jon made a great wave pool!

TJ took his nap here in Colombo's office one afternoon.

A cute story... We were all having ice cream on a park bench near a fountain. A 4 year old boy and man walked up. I said, "He's pretty old to be that kid's dad." My husband said, "That's not his dad, that's his grandfather."

We watched as the man reached into his pocket and the little boy began throwing coins into the fountain. C4 piped up and said, "That's gotta be his grandpa. He's giving him money. Dads don't do that."

Trevor's First Dentist Visit

Two months ago while the other kids were getting their routine cleanings, they offered to do Trevor while I was there and save me the trip back. He made it as far as getting into the chair, but when the Dr. started to lay it back, that was the end of that.

I scheduled a 'try again' for after his 3rd birthday. This time, no problem. He was so somber through the whole thing. Very cooperative, but never moved a muscle.

A good report...no cavities!

Newest Nephew

Aiden Samuel

My sister Lisa welcomed their 3rd child on July 13th. He is a healthy boy weighing 8 lbs, 10 oz and 20.5 inches.

This is the 14th grandchild on my side. Until this year, I had the only boys, however, my three siblings and I have all had boys in the last 5 months to even the scales at 7 boys and 7 girls.

The '09 Boys Club (missing Trey)

Levi-2 months, Rocco-6 weeks, Aiden-brand spankin'

While this video was shot, we narrated for Rocco: "Dude, you smell good. What does your Mom use in your bath?"

Six Weeks Old

We celebrated 6 weeks by welcoming C4 and Madison home from camp.
Baby Rocco is not so baby anymore. Well he's a baby, but the newborn-ness of him is almost completely non-existent. He gets bigger by the day, holds his head up well, is very social with coos and smiles, and is on a much more predictable schedule.

I finally left him. It took me 6 weeks, but I finally did leave him at home for an hour while I made a run to the grocery store with NO kids. Amazing!

He also got to take in fireworks. We went to my Mom's. She put out a huge spread and then we all sat down at the dock to see the fireworks over the lake.

Gramma and Trevor

Shaun and Amanda

And he got his first stroller ride. Up until now I've either carried him or used the Moby. I think he liked it.

He is just the sweetest!

Nicky's Place

We took a last minute trip to the Boston area to visit Nick and Katie and check out their new place. What should have taken 2 hours took 4 because of the evening commuters. So, we ended up taking 2 pit stops.

They have a sweet apartment in an old, 4-family house. It was just completely renovated. They have beautiful hardwood floors, stainless appliances, and tons of character. Katie has it decorated so tastefully. She has many antique pieces that are throughout the place making it very shabby-chic. And Nicky's mood lighting (which the kids call moon lighting) makes it very warm and cozy.

We walked down to the town common and ate dinner at a nice sports bar and grill-type place.

But Nathanael was too tired to make it through the meal.

Summer...finally!

Well after approximately 40ish days of rain and numerous rainbows, we finally got a taste of summer for the Fourth of July weekend.

On Thursday, VBS wrapped up at church and then my Mom came over with Russ's 2 grandkids who are the same age as C4 and Madison. The kids swam and swam and didn't want to leave.

On Friday, we had good friends come over for a cookout and pool party. They swam despite more rain. Trevor enjoyed dancing to the rhythm of whatever song our friend, Kevin, could make up. He kept us all very entertained.

On Saturday, the 4th, we got up and had a big breakfast with our overnight guests. Then the kids wanted to swim some more. The weather said 'plenty of sun' but even at noon we still had our doubts. We saw our guests off after lunch and then I snuck off with TJ and Rocco for a nap.

Later when I got up, we started to see some real breaks in the clouds. Lisa and Shaun and their girls and my Dad and Christina came over for swim and cookout. It was a relaxing, quiet afternoon, except for Amanda taking a pretty serious digger in the driveway. BUT we did see [insert Hallelujah Chorus] THE SUN!

We played Catch Phrase. Unfortunately the boys beat the girls.On Sunday our church held their annual picnic. The kids had a blast in the bounce house and giant slip n slide. Madison got a pony ride, C4 got to play football with the big boys, Nathanael consumed approximately 14 snow cones, and TJ got in a game of horseshoes.

Bright and early Monday morning we were back at the church to wave goodbye to C4 and Madison who are off to camp for the week. This is C4's 3rd time and Madison's 1st. They were both way too excited and busy to be nervous or sad.

Ahhh, yes! Summer is here!

More pictures from the 4th:

What are the odds that gun is pointed directly at his sister?