Land of Cousins...

...well except for the glaring exception of Cousin Mike, Cousin Davis, Cousin Kenneth, and Cousin Belle. Next time we will have to make a better effort to coordinate these events! But we sure do love playing with the cousins that are here!!!

We love these wild and crazy boys! Ashie and Coach are endless energy!

Then there is Cousin Lizzy, who is kind of like Abz long lost twin, separated by 11 months and different parents. Okay, I really want these girls to look the same. It seems like an easy enough trick, all Lizzy has to do is look like her daddy (Pop's twin brother) and we are there. I think they could at least pass for sisters.

Lizzy, who is currently suffering from Daddy deprivation while her dad is in Iraq, is a big fan of our Pops who she calls, "Uncle Brian" (which is her dad's name).

And there is nothing like older cousins who dote over you! Ally and Missy are super fun stuff. They are good for a game of tag, hide and seek, tickle wrestling, and general body slamming. We can't get enough of these girls!

We just run run run with our cousins until we pass out in our tracks.

We are super excited for Cousin Nick to come on the scene tomorrow!

To Utah or BUST!

For the little Toads it seemed like the day would NEVER come! But finally, we packed our bags and hit the road... or actually the great blue skies for the mother land. I'd like to note that this was the first (and probably last for a while) trip STROLLER FREE!!! Yeah toads!

In other big news, EVERYBODY got their own seat! ...another first, and last for at least 2 years.

The trip was smooth and exciting for our expert travelers.

Now bring on the FUN!

The Wonder Years

Pops and I moved to Boston more than 8 years ago. We often reflect on that first weekend that we were settled here. We went to the book store, grabbed our beach chairs and headed down to Wollaston Beach (before we knew any better). I remember sitting on the beach, basking in the sweltering heat completely content and saying, "Do you realize NO ONE in the world knows where we are right now." The only obligation we had was for Pops to start school in a few days. Nobody expected us at work, church, Sunday dinner, or anywhere. It was liberating. Of course those things eventually fell back in line, which is good. But it was good for us to have a fresh start and only have each other.

No matter what, that time of our lives just can't compare to anything else. We were young (and still are), childless, lived and worked in a fabulous city, explored, and made some of the best friends of our lives. It was great to be independent, and still have a cradle of friends who cared for us. We stayed up late night after night playing games, chatting, eating cookies, and answering to no one. We celebrated holidays, birthdays, and everyday together. Good times.

But eventually the kiddos started to come into the scene. Our first was born before Pops was finished with school, and I was still working full time. The good times still rolled; our close friends Tim and Lisa had a baby within weeks of ours. Without them and Derek and Sandy I have no idea how we could have kept it all together. Lisa and Tim ALWAYS picked up the slack when both Pops and I had to be at work at the same time and Sandy (who lived in the apartment upstairs from us) took on the night shift, babysitting me that is. Superkid and I would wait anxiously at the window for her to get home from work and swing open the door the minute we saw her. She would come in and play with us all night.

I cannot express how much these friendships mean to me. All I can say is that when they all moved away, Boston, well... I will love Bean Town forever, but the best part of it left with them.

So then one day last summer I got a call from Lisa and she was master-minding a girl's trip for her, Sandy and me to San Francisco with air fair and room provided by Tim's frequent flier miles. Are you kidding me?! This is like winning the jack-pot. I haven't been so excited for anything in as long as I can remember. The trip was amazing. 5 full days of eating exotic ethnic foods my family would never consider, roaming the streets, mastering the busing system (at least Sandy did), watching chic flix, shopping, reading, soaking in California sun, and the best part...reconnecting with some of my favorite people ever. Oh! And did I mention we saw Wicked!!!

We pretty much ate our way through the city...

And scoffed at the idea of constraining bodies in car seats and seat belts...
We showed this town that no matter how wacky and wild their streets were, they were no match for these wacky and wild girls...


We took in all of the major sites...
And gained a little perspective for the toilets in our stewardship's...

We challenged our satiation level for chocolate...

And found some cheap thrills...


We took some glamour shots...
And enhanced our glamorous figures...


And even when times got tough, and Sandy proved her loyalty by scraping 2 hour old bird poop out of my hair with a baby wipe...
...it was nice to leave some aspects of motherhood on the back burner for a few days.

Now for my photo-genius finish...

Thanks for the BEST GIRL'S TRIP EVER!!! ...so what are we doing next?!!!

In 1492 Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue...

In 2009 the Toads went to Mystic Connecticut for CHOWDER FEST to celebrate Columbus Day! It was really Grandma and Grandpa's idea, but we are ALWAYS up for an adventure, especially when it involves CHOWDER. We have quite the group of enthusiasts around here, that is when it isn't homemade chowder. And we finally teased out the intricacies of all the different NE chowders. We still haven't sampled all of the different chowders, but that gives us reason to visit some clam shacks up and down the coast.

The adventure began on Sunday night for Andie when she volunteered to take Abz for a sleepover. Crazy. She had three wild and crazy girls without any back up from HH. I'm not so sure how soon this will be repeated after the girls tripped the alarm system early Monday morning and they got a visit from the police department. I don't know what was more hair raising, the alarm at 6:00 a.m. or the policeman lurking on the back porch peering through the window.

We all met up at Mystic the next morning. This place is a MUST if you are in the area. We only scratched the surface (mostly because we were more into chowder gorging), so we will be back for sure.

The children's museum was a big hit with the kiddos. Boo picked right up on having another "Grandma" in town. Even though Grandma Sandi may not be Boo's actual grandma, Boo is wise for adopting her. This grandma is sweet stuff. Somehow the adoption of grandparents ended there. Grandpa Bob just remained "Bob" for Boo, which is pretty funny if you are in on the chemistry between Andie and Bob.

This place was heaven for Superkid. There was never a shortage of steering wheels to man. It was really fun to eaves drop on his imaginative play as he became captain of a whaling ship and kept barking orders and yelling, "Ahoy! Thars the whale!"

Abizella and Tadpole were in on the boat fun too!

Everything is more fun with Andie around.

Join us for Chowder fest 2010!

In the Halloween Spirit...

Tadpole is brimming with the Halloween spirit. He has been playing dress-up all month. Here are some of the costume finalists...

"Piderman"

Indian War Paint Kid

The Big Bad Wolf

A Wolf Skin Rug

"I'm Just Going To Have a Little Snack Of Sugar."

...just a little quote from Abizella, which turns out to be the understatement of the year.

Happy Birthday 6yr. Old Superkid!

It has been a weekend of partying around here, kicked off by Superkid's party at school, closely followed by the arrival of Grandparents, adventures and more parties. But for now I will concentrate on the Superkid himself. This kid really is the best. Pops and I know how blessed we are to get this one. Simply put, Superkid is the sweetest, most loving child ever. He popped out of bed on birthday morning and gave me his promised morning squeeze, pointing out how much stronger he was from the day before.

There were plenty of squeezes for Grandma and Grandpa too.

This year I had a hankering to make a pinata... turns out to be a few days of work. I was happy to get some reinforcements to help finish the project.

In the end, Superkid dubbed it the "Beehive Enterprise". I am not sure that was my original intent, but a satisfactory ending point.

After my smashing success with the pinata, Pops took over the creative development of the cake. I think Pops is a natural.

Superkid really enjoyed admiring himself flying away in his very own rocket ship. Go Pops!

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.... Lift Off!

We're hoping by the time Tadpole and Abz are 6 they will appreciate the merits of utensils.

We love you Superkid! You make us the BEST family EVER!