Graduation Day

Amidst all of the ridiculous prep for the First Day of School, which is tomorrow, I came across these incredibly awesome photos of James from his ASH Fin graduation last May.  I love these pictures so much and sometimes I look at them just because I am in the mood to smile and want my heart to feel warm and full.  They are also a reminder of the incredible care he had at ASH Fin over the past 3 years.  There is no doubt in my mind that he was loved very much every single day.

Yep, got my diploma:

Oh yeah, I am a graduate:

How adorable!

Growing Up, As Usual

This absolutely kills me, seriously...

2009

2010

2011

2012

This is the kind of thing about me that annoys me to no end...why could I not take the time to figure out what direction he is facing and keep it consistent. I mean, if I am going to bother to chronicle how fast he is growth like this I should give a little extra effort and get the mise en scene right already...better luck in 2013.

Luz really loves the idea of taking the same picture in the same place every year.  I wish I would have thought to do it with her.

Beach Weekend 2012

The incredible high of a long weekend at the beach came to an end as we sat in traffic for an hour outside of the Mobile tunnel earlier tonight.  The drive home was a total buzz kill, no doubt.  But, there is nothing better than 3 days marinating in salt water, exfoliating with gulf coast sand, and enjoying a cold beer under a big blue umbrella.  It is something we have enjoyed every summer many thanks to the Rentons!

It was the last hurrah of the summer for us as Christian starts back to work on Monday and school starts for the kiddos on Thursday.  I have to figure out a way to be in Second Grade with Luz and Nursery with James (yes, Nursery, can you believe this?  real school for this lil' guy already - it is breaking my heart into a million pieces) at the same time.  How on earth do people with more than 2 kids do it?  I am in awe - or maybe it is much like how I keep it together - smoke and mirrors - but on a much grander scale.

Here are a few sweet pics from the weekend of fun, which included a nice visit with Nana and Papa-T, Peg Leg Pete's, Pensacola 360, and many hours on the beach (somehow we avoided Alvin's Island entirely, much to Luz's dismay - and now I sort of regret it because one of my biggest childhood memories is shopping at Alvin's Island for junk - I know, ridiculous):

These guys fixate on the weirdest things...they were super-psyched to pack their own suitcases and be in charge of them - cheap thrills, I guess:

Boardwalk to the beach:

Jamesy, beach chair:

Dinner at Peg Leg Pete's:

Watching a beach wedding from the balcony:

Balcony sunset:

On her way to search for shells:

The haul, I love all of these:

Throwing sand, why do kids (actually, just James, Lucy never did that) think this is fun...he can do it for hours:

James and Papa-T playing whatever game it was the kept James on the beach for hours and hours (thank you, Papa):

It was a lovely, memorable weekend and, as usual, it flew by.

MA Vacation 2012 - Part 2

On the second morning the kids and I noticed that Christian's very strange vacation habit of waking up at 6:00 a.m. had fully kicked-in.  We had completely reversed roles.  I don't know if it was the open windows, early sunrise, excitement of what the day would bring, or a combination of all of those things that made him do it, but the kids and I were in disbelief.  This is a guy who likes to sleep.  He is also a guy who does not like to waste any time or opportunities and his goal was to get the most out of each day of vacation.  He did.

We spent the day at Plymouth/Plimouth Plantation, touring the Mayflower, and checking out Plymouth Rock (talk about anti-climatic).  The kids LOVED it, particularly the faux Wampanoag Indian demonstration.  I thought it was authentic, but occasionally it bordered on that Ren Fest type of feel which gave me the heebie jeebies.  At one point I asked one of the employees/actors/role players a question about the operation generally and he gave a round about answer, careful not to break character.  Ugh.  The Wampanoag were not actors, they were actual Indians (Wampanoag or otherwise) - the real deal.

There were live animals, houses that looked like they were left precisely as the pilgrims had them set up, cannons, old-timey tools, and every type of eager historian imaginable roaming around the grounds waiting to offer tid-bits of information about their day to day life.  The "actors" were very kind and patient with kids' often strange questions and concerns.  At one point Pete remarked that it was "so sad" when he noticed cow hide laying atop a rudimentary bench, and the historian handled his comment with grace while the rest of us cracked up.

Me, with the kiddos in the settlement fort:

View of the settlement from the fort:

Christian and the kiddos in the Wampanoag cooking demonstration:

The visit to Plymouth Plantation was followed by a quick lunch in Plymouth and a tour of the Mayflower II.  There was not too much to see on the Mayflower, but the kids seemed to enjoy it.  We walked over to check out Plymouth Rock after touring the Mayflower and the kids were a little surprised to see how small it is (1/3 of the original size because for years people chipped away at it for keepsakes).  It is also behind bars and below a gallery so that you cannot touch it, or get anywhere close to it for that matter.

Luz, James, Pete and Liam, waiting to climb aboard the Mayflower II:

Touring the Mayflower II:

Operating the pulley system - they loved this:

The rock.  Yep, that's it.  Really:

The trip to Plymouth was capped off with a stop at Ye Olde Candy Store (or some such place).  The main strip of Pymouth is to the town what Bourbon Street is to NOLA - tacky t-shirts, taffy, expensive mementos, postcards - in other words, a kids' paradise.  $20 later we emerged with enough saltwater taffy to last all week and couple of boxes of something called Bog Frog, something I wish I had never discovered (chocolate, cranberry, cashew, and caramel deliciousness).

Back at the beach we enjoyed a late afternoon swim, a few cold beers, and one of many incredible sunsets.

MA Vacation 2012 Part 1

Despite still being completely addicted to the Olympics and busying myself with every type of  'end of summer-start of school year' task, I managed to sift through roughly 400 photographs from our incredible vacation in Humarock.  It is going to take a few days to post enough pics to give you an idea of the crazy fun we had over the course of a week, so bear with me.

We arrived in Boston on Saturday evening after a mid-day Jet Blue flight.  The cost of the Jet Blue flight was comparable to the other commercial flights from NOLA to Boston, which is incredible considering it was one of the only direct flights we could find and a layover with kiddos is a nightmare.  I travel enough to know how terrible air travel can be, particularly with kids, but somehow Jet Blue manages to  pull it all together with such ease.  Maybe it is that the planes seem somewhat newer.  Maybe it is that the seats feel roomier (the leather certainly helps and the seat back is by far the most comfortable of all of the commercial carriers - with the exception of a few Delta planes).  Maybe it is the great snack selection.  I think that all of those small details combine to make for a  more comfortable flight.   But the most important detail, at least for us this time, were the t.v. sets built into each seat back.  I watched the Tour de France and part of the Ironman Triathalon while the kiddos vegged out to 3 HOURS of Scooby Doo episodes.  Christian read a book and could have done without the t.v. altogether, but for me (and the kids) it was the best of a good thing.  I highly recommend Jet Blue air travel when possible.

Logan airport navigation was super easy and getting from the airport to Hertz to pick up the car (on a shuttle) was a snap and (sadly) happens to be one of James and Lucy's favorite memories.  The drive from Boston to Humarock was only about 40 minutes and we were totally entertained listening to Christian point out all of the things he remembered from childhood.  It was sweet and the kids loved seeing all of the places where he lived/played/went to school when he was their age.  

We arrived at the house and were instantly in love.  You would have been too, take a look:

Luz, outside of 98 Central Avenue

By the time we got to the house, unloaded the suitcases, and took a few long, deep breaths of fresh ocean air, it was late and getting dark and (yes, believe it) cold.  We headed to THE local restaurant, Bridgeway Inn for a delicious dinner, including my first lobster roll of the week.  If you find yourself in the tiny little town of Humarock, do not miss a chance to check this place out.  They serve all of the typical dishes you expect to find in a seaside NE town and they also happen to have some of the best pizza I have ever tasted.  Plus, it looks exactly like you want the main inn/tavern/restaurant in a small coastal town to look:

On Sunday morning we woke up early with the bright beachy sun, headed to a quick mass (and enjoyed an incredible cross wind thanks to the huge open windows in this lovely, simple church up on a hill) and then headed home to check out the beach.  Luz and James have been lucky enough to spend time at the beach every summer of their lives so far, but Gulf beaches are nothing like Atlantic beaches so it was entertaining watching them take their first steps out on to the rocks and dip their feet in the freezing water.  Despite the much cooler water, the kids loved being at the beach, building sandcastles and (most importantly) collecting rocks.  It was tough to break it to Luz that she could not carry the 10 lbs of precious pet rocks she picked out back to NOLA.

Luz, first day of rock collecting

Christian and James headed into Boston for a Red Sox game with Christian's Uncle and some of his cousins.  While the boys were off watching baseball and James was enjoying a very important Vaicius right of passage, Luz and I spent the day on the beach enjoying some much needed girl time with her precious cousins Delaney and Natalie.  Although the girls know quite a bit about one another thanks to the incredible internet, Facebook, blogs, etc, it was incredible to me that they were instant best friends, talking and playing like they have known each other for ever. 

Luz, Delaney (the blond) and Natalie, first cousins once removed (I think) and friends forever (for sure).

After a relaxing afternoon at the beach (truly, a totally rejuvenating experience - the girls played and I visited with cousin Stacey and Aunt Linda and just enjoyed the cool breeze and the warm sun on my face, oh, and maybe had a beer or two) we ended the day with the arrival of Nana, Papa-T and the Martin family (to say that their travel experience was not quite as smooth as ours is  an understatement and a post in and of itself) and a delicious pasta dinner prepared by Uncle Geddy.  It was a magical day for Luz finally getting to meet the girls and spending the day with them and for James seeing the green monster and experiencing Fenway.  We fell asleep with smiles on our faces and I do not think that changed for the entire week.

All of the second generation cousins - Delaney, Lucy, James, Pete, Samantha ("Sam"), Natalie (on the ledge), Liam and Brendan - Nana is in there too, right behind Luz.

And yeah, picture-taking proved rather challenging at times.

Boston Girl

I am too distracted by the Olympics to find the time to download, review, and post all of my pictures from our vacation.  For the past 3 nights I have done nothing but watch t.v.  I feel incredibly unproductive but I cannot take my eyes off of the screen and I am an equal opportunity watcher - diving, swimming, gymnastics, beach volleyball...I love them all and if I didn't have to work I would probably watch the Olympics 24/7.

The result is that I can only manage a few quick posts here and there during brief commercial breaks until the Olympics are over.  Is that totally lame or totally awesome?  I cannot decide.

Here is one of a few pics I came across on the camera of Luz - ever the incredible traveler, always the open-minded one, up for an adventure, and ready to be blown away by the awesomeness of something new (or something new to her).  I will happily take her anywhere and have never had a better travel companion (other than Christian, of course).

Lucy standing in the middle of Quincy Market, Red Sox cap, Newbury comic in hand:

Post Vacation Blues

Mondays are tough generally.  Mondays are really tough when they start off a week of employee reviews.  Mondays are the worst when they are the first day after an incredible vacation and a week-long escape from reality.  So, while my head was busy focusing on goals on looking at outcomes and putting out fires and trying to think, my heart was back at the ocean, feeling full of stuff like this:

Sunglasses? Check.

It's vacation time and, although you might have thought I was already on vacation judging by the rather 'light' summertime blogging, this is now the real deal...see you later and I hope that you all enjoy a few days of sandy toes and salt water.

Luz and James are bursting with excitement...requisite sunglasses, Am Girl Doll, and Superhero T are packed...ready, set, go:

H O T

I don't know about you but it has been H-O-T here in NOLA.  By the looks of things on the USA weather map this morning while I was watching Al, it appears that it is much the same everywhere across the country.

It rained all weekend long and yet it was still sweltering.  I am tired of sweating and remember exactly what if felt like to be a kid and going to camp and riding on steamy buses in wet swimming suits and just day dreaming about a/c and Johnny Quest or Tom & Jerry. 

Here are a few pics I took of the kids during a recent trip to Audubon Zoo when we were experiencing a "cooler" morning:

Needless to say, we are all ready for a New England heat wave which means highs are in the low 80's. Bring. It. On.

Camera Shy

He his 3 and 1/2 years old now and starting to have many opinions about the way things should be and, most recently, he has decided that he will not longer tolerate having my camera in his face.  On the rare occasion that he is feeling generous, I can capture that sweet smile:

Summer Travels

I finally had a chance to download the pictures from the past few weeks and will post a few.  The kids spent two weeks in Atlanta in June and had a great time. The highlight of the trip was spending time with Nana and Papa-T and with their cousins, Liam and Pete.  They are ready for another trip to Atlanta.  Unfortunately, that will not likely happen again until Christmas.  We are, however, looking forward to a week together in Hummarock, MA.  Have you ever been there?  It is roughly right about here (dark reddish area):

and is a lovely, seaside town, complete with everything you would expect to find in a lovely, seaside town. It is one town over from Marshfield, MA where Christian was born and it is a place that I quickly fell in love with.  I was captivated the first time I visited years and years ago (maybe even before Christian and I were married; I am a terrible historian) and cannot wait for the kids to experience it.  I am looking forward to morning runs along the rock beach, lobster rolls and friend clams, cool nights, and days that turn into night while I am sitting comfortably in a lawn chair listening to the sounds of the shore and visiting with friends and family.

We are all looking forward to the trip.  I am particularly excited because it will be the first true vacation for me since our 2008 trip to Portland.  I am sure you will hear more about it than you care to hear soon enough.

And now, a few Atlanta pics...

The Birthday girl, turning 7:

Pete, warming up after a chilly swim:

James, finally found his sea legs this year:

Liam, not loving having his picture taken...looking for a split second like a teenager:

Singing Happy Birthday to Lucy: