Misquamicut Beach, RI

Let me just finish up with what we did over the summer so I can move on to things that actually happened this month!

In mid July our friend Kathryn and I packed the kids up in the car, and drove down to Rhode Island to spend the day at Misquamicut Beach.  Mike's sister and mother were vacationing there so we met up with them.  After driving down there that day, there's a few things I will now never forget to do in order to prep for a long drive (anything over 10 minutes according to the kids).  #1-always keep water near each kid so they can have it if they want it. #2-keep a few snacks within arms reach of each kid so they don't have to whine about being hungry while in the car. #3-invent some sort of catching net for when they drop stuff that they want, that they would then be able to retrieve the dropped object.

I never realized how much I actually play airline stewardess in the car when we are going on longer trips.  Usually it's Mike driving, so I end up crawling into the back seat a few million times to get this or that, pick up this cup, get that toy that fell on the ground.  It's insane!  Well, on this trip to Rhode Island, I was driving... and Kathryn was co-pilot, neither of us would be able to get back there.  I didn't prep any water or food ahead of time, and as a result we heard lots of whining on the way down.  Well, Zoë actually whines whenever we get into the car, so that didn't change much of anything.  The rewards of the drive were great however, as the kids had a total blast at the beach that day.  It was great fun running and jumping around in the waves, and letting the kids dig in the sand to their hearts content.

Within minutes of us getting there, everyone was dipping their toes

 Vince loved the waves!  This is a huge improvement over last summer, when he screamed as soon as we saw the beach and waves

 Noelle and Zoë had fun running in the waves

  Luca had fun hanging out in the shade chatting with Nonna

 building some sort of sand sculpture

 relaxing by the pool after a long day of sun and play

Nonna even managed to get a picture with all her grandchildren! You gotta love sweet Andrew, so excited on the left (Andrew,Vince, Luca, Zoë, and Noelle)

And then there was the sad goodbye, which actually makes me giggle with fond memories.  It began with a short dose of bickering between Lisa and her mom on who would get to carry Luca to the car (Lisa won on grounds that Nonna gets to see Luca more often), and eventually ended with Aunt Lisa having to pull a kicking and crying Andrew out of our van so we could drive home.  He was so very sad that we were leaving, and had planted himself in the van next to Vince, ready to come spend the rest of the week with us (which we would have loved!).  It was sad goodbyes all around, but heartwarming to know that  the kids relationships with their cousins are getting to the point where they can look forward to seeing them again.

Too Busy to Write About It

Yeah yeah, I know my last post was like 2 months ago... I even had to look it up to see what the heck it was that I posted on!  Oh yes, Zoë's birthday!  Wow, that was like forever ago now.  Well, it turns out we've had a great summer here in Boston.  It was super warm and sunny for a lot of the summer, and we spent lots of time out by the pool, and exploring around.  That is, of course, when we weren't working on weekends!  Mike and I have both been signing up for extra hours over weekends this summer, so it's been very busy.
Some highlights of our summer include multiple opportunities for the kids to hang out with their New York cousins Amelia and Melina!  They came to visit for a few days so we could all play in the pool, and then we were able to see them a few weekends ago when we drove to New York for Michelle's graduation party, congrats Michelle!  Here's some of the highlights from what I can remember of the last two months.....

everyone getting some story time, cuddling in Vince's bed (with Amelia, Melina, Zoë, and Vince)

 Everyone scream for Ice Cream!

 Zoë plays elephant with the pool noodle (with Aunt Hilde and Amelia)

 We were able to celebrate Melina's birthday when we visited New York!

 This is a typical site when Melina gets around her baby cousin Luca (or any babies for that matter).  She takes good care of him, she'll make a good mommy!

Zoë got all dolled up for Michelle's graduation party

Early this summer Zoë also had her first dental visit, you can tell how thrilled she is....

 Luca gave his first 'thumbs up' pose

And sometime in the last few days Luca figured out how to sit up on his own!