Canobie Lake Park

So there is only one thing I will complain about writing this blog and it is technology. Every once in a while I will write an entire blog and then all of a sudden an error occurs and I lose the whole story. Well, somehow today is my lucky day because it happened to me twice. Obviously, my frustration is at an all time high but here is my third attempt - fingers crossed.

On Friday mornings, Brian and I drive into work together. The first weekend in May I drew the short straw and drove into work while Brian slept in the passenger seat. This gave me the opportunity to listen to the radio which was advertising the opening weekend of Canobie Lake Park located just over the NH border. On Saturday I made the suggestion and everyone seemed excited to go. When we arrived, the weather got a little chilly but that didn't stop us from having a good time. First stop race cars...
There were several rides that the boys repeatedly went on and I thought we would never get them off. The first was the spaceships with shooters - they thought this was the best thing ever. They created their own little story and were yelling to each other about enemies attacking.

We couldn't get Garrett off the boats because he thought it was awesome to put his hand in the water and splash around.

Next stop antique cars - the boys can now reach the petals and Connor is a pretty great driver when he is looking at the road. It shouldn't be a surprise that they get busy looking around and suddenly the car veers into the guard rail.

Emily and I snuggled together and even enjoyed a few rides ourselves. Connor went on the bumper cars all by himself - someone is starting to get independent.
There is a dragon roller coaster which the boys might have rode around 50 times - this is not an exaggeration. Because it was opening weekend, the park was not crowded so it enabled us to get off and right back onto the ride. I know I was feeling dizzy so Brian and I had to switch a couple of times. We had so much fun, I know we will definitely have to go back.

Emily Is On the Move!!!

We came home last night and Grandma had a big grin on her face. She told us to put Emily down by the jungle gym and roll the ball away. Of course, we immediately knew that Emily had started crawling. The night before, Sunday, Emily was trying so hard to get going but was just getting caught by her right knee. After a good nights sleep, she was off and crawling.

Last night, the boys set up some board games for me to play with them. We set up shop on the other end of the family room for Emily. Before we knew what happened, Emily was grabbing cards out of the middle of our slap jack game. Then, within about a minute, Emily was attacking Garrett's game of Trouble - Garrett used his knee as a defensive wall and turned to Emily and said "No sweetie this is my game."

She then followed Garrett into his Star Wars tent and they both were laughing as she followed him in and out the door. Let the adventures begin.

Easter in Fishkill

For Easter weekend, we headed off to Fishkill because there isn't a better place to dye Easter eggs. Grandpa and Nana had set up the deck exclusively for dying eggs, the eggs had been boiled the night before and everyone was excited to get busy. Emily had so much fun watching and can't wait for next year so she can help.Ellen and the boys quickly got to work. They were all very busy - the colors were being passed around and then they decided some of the eggs had to go in each color. Garrett in particular had to make sure he made an egg in each color.

Connor did not want any help and wanted to be in charge of putting the egg in and out of the cup all by himself. He quickly decided the egg holder and spoon were no use and decided his fingers would work perfectly. Look at his hand - kind of looks like the Incredible Hulk.

As you can imagine, they all went to bed with the excitement that the Easter Bunny was coming in the morning. When they awoke, baskets were waiting for them to rip open.

Before they opened their baskets, they had to search for their eggs. It didn't take them long and they were so happy everytime they found one. Garrett was mainly concerned with what kind of chocolate was in his basket and opened each plastic egg to find out what he had received. Of course, he also had to have a taste test.

Emily did so well opening her basket. She loved pulling out all the presents and gave Thumper a huge hug. One of her favorite games is putting things in and out of her Easter basket.

The family ready for church.

Everyone is looking good.

Thought I should include some candid moments before we left - look at our beautiful girl. Happy as always!

Our little monkey!
And our little trouble maker.
I would love to say that the kids were angels in Church but unfortunately we were not that lucky. I don't know if it was the sugar high or just being in a crowded place - the boys didn't take to well to sitting through the service. They did pretty good but Brian took them outside and really talked to them about Easter instead. It was a very Happy Easter!

Nana just reminded me of a great quote: During the church service, the phrase "Christ has Risen" was spoken. Garrett asked "Whose in Prison?" Priceless.

Emily: 9 Months Old

April 24, 2011: Emily turns 9 months old.

Let's do a little recap of all your developments and milestones you have already reached.

6 teeth: You have the cutest little teeth - four on top and two on the bottom. Your toothy grin makes everyone smile.
Crawling: You are trying desperately to crawl - you are still moving backwards but you are trying to chase a ball across the family room. You are so close.

Rolling: Obviously you are rolling over in both directions and between rolling and crawling backwards you are managing to scoot everywhere.
Doctors Appointment only confirmed what we know - you are a happy, thriving little girl.
Length: 27 3/4 inches
Weight: 20 lbs. 1 ounce
Head circumference: 18.5 inches
Every time we reach a milestone for any of the kids, we thank our lucky stars for being so fortunate to have such beautiful, happy and healthy children.

Random April Moments

The first couple weeks of April were a blur but there were a few moments that stick out vividly.

Connor had his Art Show at the First Baptist Church and his art work was unbelievable. He built a building out of blocks, Lincoln logs and other random items - he then painted it. We are so impressed that it still sits on our kitchen island and I am writing this in June. His other pieces of art work are so impressive that I have saved them all in his portfolio. You can actually see the time and effort he spends thinking things out. Great Job! (I am sorry I don't have pictures but they are on the video camera and I have to figure out how to download them.)

Exciting News - Emily has started to move. Emily has mastered moving backwards. Emily has powerful little arms that she uses to push off and she slides backwards. It is so cute and boy can you move fast. One evening you were sitting in the family room and the next minute you had slid all the way over past the television and got yourself caught up in the cabinets. You can see how happy Emily is to be able to get close to her brothers...not too long and you will be chasing them around the house. Every year Elmo Live advertises on the Boston University billboard and the kids get so excited when they see it on our drive home from dropping off Grandma. So in the effort of being the best parents ever, we got Elmo tickets in the third row and we came face to face with all the characters. Grover came around to shake all of our hands.
The boys had such a great time and loved the garden theme of the show. The music was great dance music for little kids and we were all very entertained. To our surprise, Emily absolutely loved the show. She sat on my lap, clapped along to all the songs and even danced to the music. Emily's dancing is a little tushie shimmy which makes her bounce up and down. All the kids sat with big smiles on their faces and really enjoyed the entertainment. Thanks Elmo and Friends!

April Happenings

The first weekend of April Daddy was off to a bachelor party which left us all alone to get up to some mischief. Needless to say it didn't take us long. Saturday morning, we headed out to Legacy place to see what we wanted to do. First stop, the book store where we took in some quiet time to read books and then went over to pick out a movie to watch that night. After a quick stop at Whole Foods because Mommy forgot to bring Emily's food, we went over to B-Good for lunch. It was so busy in the restaurant but the kids were perfect. Finally, it was bowling time. The boys had a blast. Garrett posing! Connor very excited over a strike!!
I have to thank the kids for being so good all weekend. We had a fun movie night and the next day we ran errands around town. Before we knew it, Daddy had returned.

The second week in April I was lucky enough to take a day off work and go on Connor's field trip to the Easton Children's Museum. What a fun place. The kids were captains of ships, learned about dinosaurs, pretended to be doctors and drove the big fire engine to the club house.

Connor made it his personal mission to climb this fire pole and ring the bell. On his second attempt, he did it. He proceeded to do it a couple of times and was very proud because he was the only child to do it without help.
All the kids were great listeners and lined up to take the school bus home. I loved the school bus ride because Connor wanted to sit next to his mom. He is truly such a thoughtful and caring young man.

LI Soccer & Friends

We didn't sit still for long - Daddy had two baseball drafts in NYC and mommy wanted to get together with her friends. So, the next weekend (last weekend of March) we headed off to Long Island for a visit. Jen D had us over for Sunday brunch and it was perfect. Everyone was there and it had been a long time since we were all able to get together.


After a little bit of food, you couldn't hold the boys back from going outside. Connor organized a soccer game with all the big boys (meaning Adrian, Petro, Tibbs, Tom, Joe and Chris). I was wondering which one was going to get hurt first since there were headers, bodies flying and splits on the grass. Then, there was fence hopping and Connor getting carried by Petro on his shoulders.
Olivia even joined in on the fun. I have to admit it was really fun to watch and I had to spend a lot of time protecting Emily from the mayhem.
A group picture - one day we are going to get everyone to sit still together - maybe in the distant future.
It was a great get together but unfortunately we had to leave to drive back home...at least they got their energy out before the 4 hour car ride.