Play Time in Fishkill

It had been a while since we were in Fishkill so we definitely made the most of our stay. The next day we headed out to the playground to take advantage of the nice weather and it was so nice that everyone was having fun. Come on Uncle Kevin - you can go higher than that on the swing.

During our visit, Connor was still in t-ball season so Daddy and Connor took some time out to hit the field and practice. See them - they are the tiny dots in the middle of the field. I wasn't allowed to go too close because I am known to be a distraction.

In the meantime, Garrett and I climbed every jungle gym, rock wall and even played some hoops. When Connor was back, he was working on his Michael Jordan impersonation - with Uncle Kevin's help he looked like he was running in the air with full extension of the arm and even the tongue sticking out.

All the spectators were cheering them on.

Thanks to Nana and Aunt Ellen for putting up with us all weekend - we had a blast!

School & Fishkill Fun

As the school year was coming to a close, the school put on a parent-child lunch. So May 20th, I was honored to be able to go to Connor's school where they had prepared snacks for us. They did all the table settings and even made place mats. I was a little early so I took a quick picture of the room before kids exploded through the door and there were people everywhere. Unfortunately, we were so busy talking and eating our snacks that I didn't get a chance to take a picture of all the children together. However, it was a great event and thank you Connor for all your hard work.
The weekend of May 23rd we headed off to Fishkill to visit with everyone. All the kids got together and had a phenomenal time. Here are all the cool boys hanging out on the Jeep.

Connor and Garrett were having a great time on the playground.

They loved making a ton of new friends.

Checking out the bee hive.

Thank you to Rob and Kelly for having us all over. As you can see my boys had an incredible time including riding all the motorized toys.

I am pretty sure they road all the motorized cars/atvs until their batteries started to run out.

After running around for six hours with all the kids, we had some pretty tired boys on our hands. That is how you know they had a great time.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

With the arrival of spring also came the next sport Connor wanted to try. It is t-ball time and he loves it. As you can see, Connor was put on the blue team and he was so excited because his coach was one of the basketball coaches.
Here is his team waiting patiently on the bench for their turn to bat.

Connor's turn - he wasted no time in showing off his power hitting. This hit was actually a home run and he was thrilled to round the bases.

And here he is coming home...

Time for working on their fielding - Connor scooped up the ball and was throwing it to the bucket like coach requested.

High Five from Coach!

Connor is very serious about t-ball and really loves playing. As a parent, the hardest part about t-ball is that it happens on Mondays at 3:30 which is obviously during business hours. So I don't get to see him play every week but Grandma has done a great job documenting each game and the improvement week over week is incredible. Congratulation to my little All-Star who completed a full season and had so much fun. I am just so happy that I got to see him play at least once.

After this particular game, it was bubble time and the kids chased bubbles all over the field for a really long time. Apparently, they weren't tired at all - my little Energizer bunnies.

Garrett was actually better at blowing the bubbles then I was, so I let him take charge.

Traffic Congestion - A good thing!

In May, the traffic to get in and out of Boston seemed to increase 10 fold. In case you are not aware of our schedule, on Friday afternoon's Grandma drives in with the boys, picks me up and then I drop Grandma off at the airport. Then, we head home. On good days this takes an hour and on bad days you just never know. I am lucky enough to have two boys who are fantastic in the car and are very patient with their mother. Back to May - we decided to try to break up the boys long car ride by going to Brian's office after dropping off Grandma. The boys were so excited for the change of pace. We walked along the new Greenway. There is even a carousel in the middle of the Greenway and the boys couldn't wait to ride.

We then ventured into old territory, Faniuel Hall, to try to jog Connor's memory of when he lived in Boston. First stop, the balloon lady who made us a dog and an airplane. The kids ran around with their balloons and had a blast.

We stopped and had a bite to eat. Then, we headed back to the car to finish off our trip. Since this change of pace was such a huge hit, I think we will keep it up for a few weeks until it is summer traffic time.

Garrett's Computer

For over two months now, my little man and his imagination make me laugh everyday. As most of us do these days, Brian and I have a blackberry or iphone for work. Obviously, the kids don't miss a move and know what we are looking at. So about two months ago, Garrett surprised me with his very own handheld computer. Let me explain.

Example: I tell the boys we are going to go upstairs to take a bath. Garrett opens his left hand with his palm up - proceeds to take his right pointer finger and pretends to press buttons on the palm of his left hand while making -beep beep bup noises. He then turns the palm of his left hand so I could see it and tells me that his computer says it was dessert time not bath time.

How can you argue with his personal computer? These are the moments you wish you could replay or freeze forever.

How many LI kids are there?

During our trip to Long Island, Jen and Chris hosted an evening for all of us to get together. I think I say this every time we all get together but our group has grown exponentially. The boys headed right to the swing set where Connor pushed Garrett on the swings while Julia watched.
The boys have always wanted a motorized Jeep to ride in and when they saw it - they just had to try it. They both took turns driving and the smiles on their faces was priceless.

I didn't think I would ever get them out of the Jeep.

After an amazing dinner prepared by Chris and Jen, the kids were off to play. Garrett got right in there with the girls and loved playing at the play kitchen.

Connor took a few minutes out to play with Nicholas who could be one of the most relaxed babies I have ever met. Future little girl - please take note!

Alexandra and Garrett are only two months apart and really played well together.

Trying to get all the kids to sit for a picture was quite a trick. I think we got almost all the kids in this picture - although two might have been running away.

After all this playing, my boys were the first to the table at the mention of ice cream. Look at Garrett and Alexandra actually sharing a chair. Connor sat next to me because he strategically planned on being close to the cupcakes too. I think this might be Mia's first appearance on this blog - isn't she such a little peanut. She was born in January and is so cute.

Madi is just like her mommy - she found the doctor's kit and immediately knew what to do. Garrett actually stood still while Madi listened to his heart and checked his ears. Not to mention, Garrett gave pretend shots to Madi. So adorable!

With so many kids in a house, it is absolutely amazing how well they all got along. Time is passing so quickly and to get to seem them all together is phenomenal.

LV here we come!

After the art show, we jumped in the car and took off for Long Island because we had some special visitors waiting for us. It didn't take them long to tackle Papa and make a lot of noise in the house. Thank goodness Isobel is a sound sleeper.
Of course, both boys got into the action when they just had to keep Papa down.

Then, Garrett thought it was an appropriate time to stretch and exercise. Of course it was at least 10pm but as usual the boys had plenty of energy to spare and Papa would not admit defeat.

The next morning they were so excited because Isobel was there. They gave her so many hugs and kisses and loved watching her smile. We had warned the boys to be very gentle with Isobel so it took them a little while to figure out how to deal with a little girl - I call this good practice.

Connor is so gentle and loving - he adored having Isobel nearby and showered her with kisses.

The boys even would lay with Isobel and play. They showed her the mirror and the cell phone - I think they managed to entertain themselves as well.

As the weekend went on, they were more and more comfortable with little Isobel. They needed to know where she was at all times and were such good little cousins. Obviously, pictures of Aunt Laura and Uncle Scott were limited considering we were all focused on the cutest girl in the room. It was fantastic to see everyone and to have a weekend reunion - it doesn't happen often enough.We are all so excited to reunite again in August which will be here before we know it.