Noah & the campfire

One night James was so tired he couldn't possibly handle himself past 6:30 so he had a regular bed time and Noah had taken a good nap... SO, we let him stay up and have a campfire with us (we did also tell him we were out of marshmallows, which to this day he has not let us forget).  He was an absolute RIOT!  It was on this day we realized that his speech had come a long way... he just wouldn't stop talking.  We knew this day would come and here it is.  Mostly he was talking non-sense, but it was entertaining none the less... he kept telling us to stop talking while he would go on and on about nothing.  He was also in a great mood for posing for pictures, video and just seeing what he could get into.  Or, maybe he was just super excited to have a campfire and have mommy & daddy all to himself.... Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to Nanny!

My mom was visiting recently (and helping to get some chores done:)) and it just happened to be her birthday.  Noah is pretty excited about birthdays these days so here he is with his cake (note his continued fascination with American flags) and my new sunglasses singing "Happy Birthday" to Nanny.  The bottom picture is a rare shot of me playing with the boys... no other story... just that such a picture does exist;)

Storyland 2010

Last weekend was Gabe's last one off until September, so we decided to take full advantage and spend Sunday at Storyland with the Yukica family (minus Jack).  We had a perfect day!  Not too hot, not too crowded, all the kids were well behaved:)  It was difficult to take too many pictures with only 3 adults and 4 boys, but the ones we did get capture the day well.  Noah had a blast with his two friends Oliver and Isaac.  It is so fun to see him interacting with his friends... and for the first time ever he jumped with both feet off the ground at the same time!  Yay Noah!  Noah was surprisingly fearless, he insisted on going on the roller coaster, the crazy barn, and other things I thought for sure he would be afraid of.  James really wished he were older to run with the big boys, but he was surprisingly patient all day.  Noah is already planning for next year- Yukica/Civiello annual family vacation:)  

Family Vacation 2010: Final Stop- Northern Maine

On Wednesday we headed back north with intention to make the entire trip in one day. We made our first stop at the Bronx Zoo.  Gabe really had wanted to go to a zoo on this trip, but it was so hot we opted not to, until this day.  Apparently on Wednesdays the Bronx Zoo is a "suggested donation" day aka. free day.  Great idea and it was free so why wouldn't it be fun to spend the afternoon there and head north at bed time?  Well, it was 96 degrees, Noah hadn't napped in 7 days, and the entire city of NY and every summer camp in the area were at the zoo... this is the only picture I got.  What parts we did get to see were nice and I think I would go back, but never again on a "suggested donation day" in the summer... oh, and did I mention that they ran out of bottled water for sale and there were no water fountains! As luck would have it though an early departure from there allowed us to be stuck in "minimal" CT traffic, be able to eat at the Cracker Barrel for supper AND, most importantly- SHOP AT IKEA.  Lucky for our bank account we got there only an hour before closing so our time was limited, but once again we negated the kids bedtimes, deemed shopping more important, and everyone had had enough vacation by the time we arrived in Portland at 12:30 am.

We spent Thursday in Portland doing absolutely nothing, but unpacking and then packing again. We succeeded in not putting either kid in the car that day and got everyone their naps.  On Friday morning, Gabe left for the Civiello Invitational (the annual Civiello family golf tournament).  The kids and I headed to my parents house for a long weekend... and the above 2 pictures were all I took all weekend.  Our first stop on Friday was to the Pelkey's house for the afternoon to "help" with the yard sale. Although I have really given up on being any help to anyone in that situation with 2 kids;)  Noah got to go fishing and do whatever Jacob was doing so he was more than happy.  Saturday I climbed Mt. Katahdin with Hillary, Jacob, Jordan and 3 of Hillary's college friends.  I hadn't done it in 6 years, everyone was at least 10 years younger than I, and I wasn't sure I would make it, but apparently chasing and carrying the kids around keeps me more in shape that I had thought.  Sunday we spent at my sister's baby shower which was a great time!  She is having a little boy at the beginning of September- so excited!   So ends our vacation... back to reality... 

Family Vacation 2010: Next Stop- Maryland

Air & Space Museum- Washington, DC

We left Phily on Sunday, to Gabe's dismay without a cheese steak, and drove to Bel Air, MD to stay with one of my best friend's from college, Jacqueline and her husband Ross.  Thank you  to both of you for allowing our brood to invade your house for the week.  You were VERY patient and accommodating:):)  Sunday night we had a wonderful BBQ and were able to chat, relax and watch an actual "adult" movie (in this context adult means anything not rated "G").  Monday morning we had the wonderful idea to check our a few of the Smithsonian museums given that is was 90 degrees out and they would be air conditioned.  We, however did not take into consideration that we would have to walk from a parking garage to the museums... oh well!  Jacqueline was a good sport and obliged our crazy plans. Don't worry we did buy the Bertucci's for dinner as a peace offering;)  Here are the pics from the air and space museum.

Strasburg Railroad, PA

On Tuesday drove up to Stasburg, PA in Lancaster County to visit the Strasburg Railroad.  This was by far the highlight of the trip for Noah! We got to ride a big steam train AND have lunch during the ride.  We ate lunch a bit early, but as a result, we had the entire dining car to ourselves. Again, Noah would have stayed here all day long watching the trains if it were up to him.  We had considered some other activities in the area, but it started to rain and we wanted to get the kids back in time for naps... per usual, we found some other things to do on the way home and, once again, our children remained sleep deprived and we had no one to blame, but ourselves.  Unplanned stop #1- Dansko factory outlet.  That's right, the only one in the country.  I have never paid full price for Danskos thanks to Jacqueline's knack for outlet shopping.  Gabe and I both purchased our new clogs (orig- $130, on sale- $67)- this may have been the highlight of the trip for us:)  Unplanned stop #2- a tour of the Herr's chip factory- free tour and free, just off the belt chips, how could we resist? No pics of either stop, but trust me WELL WORTH IT:)

Bel Air, MD

Still on Tuesday, we greatfully ate leftovers, then let the kids play in the sprinkler.  I thought it was a fine idea to let James play with only a diaper on; then the diaper got wet and water logged, and I thought it was a good idea to let him play naked, he is just a baby after all... two days later (when we arrived home and I actually had a chance to look at him) I wondered "what could be causing this weird rash, it looks like he got bug bites everywhere?"... oh well, just his luck for being number 2, no complaints from him!  He had a great time playing in the water with Noah- in the 4th picture you will see he is trying to get Noah to save him from the water that was spraying him... he eventually knocked Noah over trying to save himself.  The bottom two pictures are of Noah's first experience with "Maryland S'mores" ... he thinks they tasted perfect! 

Family Vacation 2010: First Stop- Philadelphia

Phew!  We had a wonderful family vacation this year- very relaxing and rejuvenating, but many miles traveled, just over 2,000 to be exact.  I am forever indebted to the creator of the portable DVD player.  The overall highlight of this trip by far though was getting to spend time catching up with friends.  We left on a Friday night after work and drove to Milford, CT to spend the night.  We drove in some pretty intense rain/thunder storms that night.  It really felt like we were watching the lightning from a planetarium.  Saturday morning woke up, realized I had left Noah's hat and sandals home... grrrrr, and drove to Philadelphia.  In Philadelphia we stayed with our friends from Dartmouth Gerry, Emily & their (almost) 2yo son Matthew.  They were kind enough to host a BBQ for dinner with other Darmouth & Bowdoin friends living in Phily.  It is far more pleasant to have a backyard BBQ than to drag the kids out to eat and expect to catch-up:)  On Sunday morning Gerry, Emily & Matthew took us to the "Please Touch Museum" which was thrilling for Noah and James.  I am quite sure that Noah would have stayed all day if time had allowed. He got to "drive" a city bus, work on building a car, "drive" in a real car while James danced to the music in the passenger's seat, see a puppet show, and shop in the grocery store, just to name a few highlights. I was really bad about remembering to take pictures this whole trip!  Here are some from the museum with Gabe's iphone.  Thank you Gerry & Emily, we had a great visit!!

Summer Gardening Experiment 2010