Oops, made a small typo

Can I take this moment to fix the typo on the last post... I meant to say that Mike buried Vince from the waist down.. not up. (it was late last night and I was tired) Thanks Joc for the great comment!

Brino Reunion/Cape Cod 2009

Last week was full of road travel and hanging out with family, as we started out at Mike's mother's family reunion on Lake Sacandaga in New York; and ended with a few days on Cape Cod (wrapping it all up with our first family camping trip as well.... but that's another blog post)! It was super fun to see everyone, and Vince had fun hanging out and playing with his cousins, and his Nonna and Pop-Pop!

Vince, Noelle, and Andrew..... patiently waiting for the Merry-Go-Round

Our trip started out pretty much like National Lampoon's Vacation, as we headed on the road out from Cambridge, we had to stop twice within the first 15 minutes because the beach chairs on top of our car were about to take flight! After a few odd looks from people driving by us on the freeway, we stopped a second time to find the string holding the chairs down was literally about 3 car lengths behind us, trailing along like a streamer! Then of course Vince got car sick and vomited right before we got to the hotel, poor little guy. We put the fear into the whole family (including ourselves), that Vince was sick with another stomach bug.... thinking back on the baptism weekend where he brought down most of the entire family and then some after spreading his little germs (don't forget who let him dig his grubby little hands into the cake!)

Second stop, fixing the chairs again

First, I'll attempt to describe the Brino Family Reunions. Mike's mother is the youngest of eleven children, and once a year all the siblings and their families reunite at their brother's house (Uncle Al's) in New York, bringing together family that is scattered throughout the US. The day is filled with loads of great food, various bottles of home made wine brought by different family members, and there's usually boccie ball being played somewhere on the grounds. My favorite feature at Uncle Al's place is the golf cart painted like the Italian flag, complete with 'Wop Mobile' labeled on the front. No Brino Reunion is complete without a ride in it.

Noelle and Zak decide to drive so Mike could drink..... that lush!

Vince fell in love with Aunt Perina's dog Cocoa, he pretty much falls in love with any dog he sees! The kid laughs hysterically, it's the cutest thing to hear... total music to my ears

Nonna had her work cut out for her during our trip trying to help take care of both Andrew and Vince, here she is trying to get Vince to sleep (thanks Nonna!)

Here she is with both Andrew and Vince, trying to get a picture but both boys were fussing

After the reunion we headed back towards Boston to spend a few nights on Cape Cod. Lot's of time in the car, lots of trying to keep Vince entertained, happy, and car sick free.... we finally made it to our hotel.... and immediately went to the pool.

Noelle, Vince and Andrew cruising around in their floaties

Vince was able to finally use his awesome Baptism gift!! He was the Big Time Operator of the Bulldozer floatie.... it was a hit

Snack Time at the Beach! The boys stuff their faces with pineapple.... definitely a scene worth remembering. Andrew has a *super* appetite, that boy can put it away. Mike really wanted to get him a t-shirt saying "I AM the Brut squad" but Neal and Lisa beat him to it, too cute!!


Vince loved waiting for the waves to tickle his toes!! He didn't mind that the water was totally and completely frigid!



Mike thought it was brilliant for him to bury Vince from the waste up!! That way he couldn't crawl around and get into trouble!


Ok, how do I get outta here!!?


We ended our time on Cape Cod with some fun bike riding along the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Vince loves his bike seat, here's a pic I was able to get while riding along next to my boys.... shouldn't have attempted to do it, almost crashed.

Family Shot along the Trail, we ended up doing about 10 miles.. boy I'm out of shape!!

Click here to see all the photos of our fun trip!!

July 4th and Neil Diamond!

This year for the July 4th fireworks show, Neil Diamond was the special guest singer coming to play with the Boston Pops. Really, could any combination be more perfect?!! I mean, when he started singing America.... I wasn't the only one that got choked up, the crowds went nuts. In addition, if you know anything at all about Boston Red Sox fans then you'll know that they sing Sweet Caroline at EVERY Red Sox Game, during the 8th inning. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this entire city will scream out the words to Sweet Caroline whenever they feel there's reason to.

Celebrating America's Independence Day with some homemade pancakes, Vince's favorite!


Some of our friends had the greatest idea in the world!..... to go to the Esplanade the day before the show and watch the dress rehearsal, which was pretty much what you'd think... a complete run down of the show including commentaries, singing, and even shooting the cannons off during the 1812 overture. We also got an extra dose of Neil when he had to sing America twice due to some sort of technical glitch that went on during the first song. Awesome! The crowds were pretty huge, but not as bad as the actual day. Sorry to those that don't share the same enthusiasm as I do for Neil Diamond!! I have to blame it on my mom for her years of playing her Neil Diamond records.

My mom made Vince this special July 4th vest to wear at the celebrations, complete with American Flag buttons

Thanks to Karen, Cesar, and Lauren to getting there early to claim a good spot! We had a clear view of the stage

playing Uno before the show

A clear and quiet sky the night before the fireworks

Day Two: setting up on the Cambridge side to hang out and wait for the fireworks. I wasn't very organized about any of our outings this weekend. I didn't grab any blankets or anything to sit on.... luckily we ran into Mike's coworker friend Kevin, who goes early and claims a big spot on the grass. Beth-Ann and Jason met up with us too! Here we are at around 7pm, counting down to fireworks at 10:30.

Vince held his own for a good amount of time, finally falling asleep around 9:30... right before a small display of fireworks went off just to wet our palate. He had fallen asleep in my arms, and when they went off he woke up wide eyed and looked up at the sky and stared curiously. We were wondering if he'd be afraid, but he did so well! When the main display started we held him and he just watched in wonder, even starting to bop along with the music at one point. No crying for him! He's our brave little man. He's never been scared of loud noises in general, and always comes crawling full steam ahead towards the vacuum when I run it, or when dogs bark loudly

Vince and Dad look up at the show

That's Vince's furry little head glowing in the right hand side of the picture, guess I was too close

I'm not sure how many more July 4th shows we'll be able to make in Boston, but we'll see. We're still moving forward with a house south of Boston.... but after the first house fall through I don't hold my breath anymore.

Ok, only one week of work and then we have vacation for a week! Happy July 4th everyone!

Vince and His Buddy Adam

I wanted to share the pictures I put together of Vince and his buddy Adam, it's amazing to see how they already have so much history together!! I suppose it shouldn't be surprising. After all, they have both known each other since before they were born! Kathryn and I met in a hypnobirthing class, both determined to stay drug, epidural, and induction free. Vince came into the world last June, and Adam followed in August..... here's a shot of their first meeting. Vince is dressed to the nines to meet his buddy for the first time... and makes sure to give him the heads up of what the first 2 months of life are all about. Adam is listening intently as you can see:


Getting together outside on a nice sunny day! We did this a lot while the weather was nice last year!

Together at the hypnobirthing class reunion in December 2008

Though they've been friends for quite some time now, they never really actually acknowledged each other's presence very much until quite recently.... here's one of the first few shots of them shaking hands:

And then of course there was their first Halloween:

Our first visit to a pumpkin patch.... and here they are completely exhausted, we found them tucked away in a little corner, sleeping.

Here's when they decided to wait up for Santa, just to see if he was real! They figured they wouldn't miss him if they just pulled up their chairs and sat by the tree until Christmas

Practicing how it will be with two kids in tow!

Another fun day out in the sun!

Old pals, sharing everything including each other binkies. Vince, don't look so surprised!

Playing together at the Children's Museum this month:

This place was great! It's a life saver more for parents I think! There is a whole room dedicated to kids under 3, and also a separate part for "crawlers only".... where we could just let them go.

Adam even got in on Vince's first birthday cake! Vince wouldn't have had it any other way of course

Dad's Little Helper, and the Other not so "Little Helper"

Vince has become quite interested in what Mike is doing around the house these days. I think he's going to take after his Dad and learn to be handy with tools, and fixing things. Mike couldn't be happier about this either!! When I took this photo I think Mike was in his utmost fatherhood glory as Vince was grabbing his screwdriver and wanting to help tighten some screws! He's going to be a great helper around the house one day!!


It's not so long ago that I remember Mike having a different "helper" around the house when ever he'd be managing projects. This helper has whiskers however, and meows, and would usually "help" Mike in such a way that he'd end up blowing up at his "little helper" and chasing the furry pest out of his sight!! It's true, our cat Animal used to always get right up in Mike's mix when he was trying to do something around the house. This was evident with various projects, one in particular is the time Mike was painting all the window sills. Animal would be right on the window sill Mike wanted to paint, he'd shew her away to paint, but she'd be RIGHT there under his feet trying to get in on the action. I remember this one the best, because I was downstairs and all of the sudden I heard Mike flip out upstairs and curse at Animal! Next thing I know she comes flying down stairs... and while she was running there were little white painted paw prints left on our hard wood floors from where she ran! Mike came running downstairs to chase her and practically split in half with anger, his eyes popping out of his head as he sat there shaking his finger at Animal like she was a little kid, disciplining her about what she did... it had to be one of the funniest of the helping stories I remember!!

Here's to you Animal!

Did I mention that we gave away our second cat Pootie?! She's featured in the above picture being pinned down by Animal. Yes, it's true, we gave her away.... she needed more attention than we could (or wanted) to give to her; especially since Vince arrived. The cat provoked in us the desire to sometimes want to choke her. She would rarely sit on our laps to enjoy our company.. rather she'd meow constantly until we fed her... this would start at about 4am every morning when we didn't feed her until 6am! Anyway, one night when we went out and our babysitter came to watch Vince.... we got home to see Pootie laying on her lap like she was being fanned and fed grapes! We figured it was a good match... she's been at our neighbor's house for over a month now, and I'm sure loving all the attention!