Big Foot

A tiny foot or a GIANT quarter? hhmmm.....

Zoë is growing quickly! She already outweighs what her brother was at her age (well, she did that at birth too). We are having a FABULOUS time visiting family and friends in California now, and my brother is getting to know his new niece.... by pasting quarters on her feet. More pics to come whenever I get a minute (ha ha yeah right)

Zoë's Baptism

After our fun Labor Day weekend, we headed back to Mike's parents where we spent the rest of the week. Vince had fun with his Pop-Pop and Nonna, and especially with their dog Maxie. She loves it too when kids come to visit because that means food will eventually be dropped on the floor (but she'll take it right out of their hands too!) Zoë had time to meet her Aunts, Uncles, and cousins.

It was a packed full week, with Mike's sister's birthday, cousin Andrew's second birthday, and Zoë's baptism all rolled into a few days. We had a great time visiting with everyone, and were so happy that everyone could be together

No one puts Zoë in a corner! Well... it's the only place she can sit up by herself right now

Aunt Lisa, Noelle, and Andrew meeting and greeting Zoë

We had the baptism on Saturday, at the same Lutheran church where Vince was baptized. Thinking back to Vince's baptism makes the whole family (and friends of the family) feel a little queasy, as he was sick with some stomach bug that day.... and managed to spread it to probably half the guests that came to the party (and there were LOTS of guests)!! I'm sure it didn't help that he spread his little grubby hands all over the cake that we served everyone, oops. Anyway, the day before Zoë's baptism we had a scare because Vince vomited! Did this kid know there was going to be a baptism or something! He got sick again after the baptism when we made a trip to the Bronx Zoo. Needless to say that trip was cut short. He seems to be doing fine now.

Front Row: Lisa and Andrew, Amelia, Noelle, Melina, and Vince
Behind the front row we have Nonna, Pop-Pop, Neal, and in the way back my Peace Corps comrades Dave and Jason

Zoë's new Godparents Donna and Charlie, she's a lucky baby!

Our attempt at a family picture, Vince is trying to kiss Zoë on the head, so cute! The whole day he kept saying "This is Zoë's special day!!"

Lisa and her family

Playing with Vince and Andrew at the park

Holiday in PA

Labor Day weekend we headed out to Pennsylvania for the 2nd annual Peace Corps reunion, something I've been looking forward to since last year! Friday we packed up our licorice van (as Vince calls it) and spent one night with Nonna and Pop-Pop, before heading out to my friend Laura's house in PA. I love being able to meet up with these amazing people every year; and the weekend was spent laughing, eating, and playing with their amazingly cute dog Maybelle. Vince fell in love with Maybelle of course-they became best friends within minutes of our arrival. Mike decided to camp out in their yard with Vince, so Zoë and I got the whole FROG (finished room over the garage) to ourselves. None of the other Peace Corps attendees have kids yet, so Vince and Zoë were the mascots of the weekend-with Vince stealing attention as much as he could-I'm sure you can imagine.

Vince and Maybelle

Some amazing and beautiful friends!

Here's a shot where Vince is demanding all our attention, notice everyone looking down... it's at Vince

We got a group together on Sunday to explore the animals at Reptiland, what a great little zoo trip that was! Vince got to pet a Burmese Python as well as a baby alligator! He loved it, pics below:



Zoë couldn't bare to watch her brother touching the snake and alligator.. so she buried her face in my friend Nancy


For some reason Reptiland also has Emu's, Vince didn't mind though-he had them eating out of his hand... literally. There was a dispenser of bird seed type pellets of which they would go after. I had no idea Emu's made the most bizarre sound!! They have a pouch in their throat that they use for communication. To hear this sound, click here and then click on #7: Emu sounds


This turtle was the most bizarre looking animal in the whole park! It's a snapping turtle from Florida, the thing looked so ancient! It's very lazy too, it just sits there with its mouth open and waits for fish/food to come into its mouth, and then snap! Its tongue moves around like a worm to attract fish to come into the mouth area. It gave me a few nightmares....


Then there was the highlight of the day, watching the park keepers feed the alligators. Who knew you could train an alligator!! Here's a picture of 'Rocky' getting some gator pellets... watch your hand lady! As we were watching the feeding, Vince proclaimed that he wanted to get in there and swim with the alligators.... I don't think so little man!