Snowmageddon: Part 2

We made it through the night, and managed to keep power, thank goodness.  I woke up a few times here and there, weather it was from little people crawling into my bed, or the whistling of the wind whipping around snow outside. 

Waking up in the morning, it was snowing sideways.... and didn't look to be slowing down any time soon!  The kids wanted to go outside immediately.  Dressing each kid in their snow gettup takes longer than the time they want to be outside, and by the time I get through all three of them I already want to collapse just from that!  

Zoë had more fun with her snowshoes, excited she was taller than the mailbox!

 Vince enjoyed scaling the snow drifts as well

time to tackle the driveway....thank God for snow blowers, although they are NOT EASY to push around

 

 And.... after literally 9 hours of shoveling and snow blowing, my driveway was functional again

And now I'm physically and mentally exhausted.  And seeing that it's still snowing, and that the driveway is covered again... I'm sobbing!

We did manage to get some warm snuggles while inside the house today. 

Getting Ready for Snowmageddon

Yes, we are expecting the blizzard of the century up here in New England.  I think it's been named Juno.  State of Emergency has been called, school cancelled for tomorrow, and likely Wednesday too.  The news keeps reporting the driving curfew, advising to stay off the roads, or you could get fined or even put in jail.  They remind us that blizzard conditions really means you ACTUALLY CAN'T SEE much further than 4 feet ahead of you.   
Mike just flew out to Albuquerque on business.  His plane left at 3pm.  He gave me the quick brush up training on how to use the snow-blower.  Hopefully I can dig us out of the house at some point.  All I can say is..... payback's a bitch.  And boy will he pay for ditching us during this storm of predicted 'historical proportions'.

So what do I do when I'm stressed, needing to deflect my frustration?... why, I go shopping of course.  I've been wanting a pair of snowshoes for a while now, so what better timing!?  Found a pair for myself, and some for Vince and Zoë too.  We'll be able to scale any mountain of snow that comes our way! (I hope).

 Zoë and Vince 'hiked' around our front yard trying out their new shoes.  This has got to be my favorite picture of Zoë right now, little cutie!

 She decided to run a circle around the tree...

 And who knew there were such a thing as light up snowshoes?  Vince loves his new bling snowshoes

 Now, if the power will just please STAY ON, and will the snow blower just please NOT blow up or catch fire while I'm digging us out (thanks Jon Manto for that lovely story, feeding my angst!), we may just have ourselves an ok time.  So far it's been ok.  The kids are bathed and asleep, my mom and I are watching Golden Girls, while sipping wine and thinking about purchasing the personal pedi callus remover we just saw on TV.  I'll try and update tomorrow!     

MLK (non)weekend

Vince was fine at 10am Saturday, then at noon falls onto the couch like a rag doll, saying he doesn't feel well.  Ugh... Fever of 102.7, turned out the poor kid got the flu.  It's Sunday evening now, and he's doing much better however... Able to bug his siblings successfully again.  I attribute that shortened course of flu to the fact he got the flu shot.  It didn't protect him completely, but that's a pretty quick bounce back!  

Lost Photos

               Hiking with the Navigators Club

                             Say cheese!

             Our Day at Huma Rock

             Getting some grandma snuggles

Family Reunions: Brino Style

Well I've failed again to keep the blog updated, as I'd hoped.  So it's actually October right now, but it's been a tough month so far, so I'd rather get back to where I left off in July...and fill myself with pleasant memories of friends, our pool, and the sunshine and lazy days of warm weather.  Zoë had just turned 4, we're in the midst of summer time... cooling off as much as possible.  Love this pic of me and Zoë

Next stop, as with every July, (the second Saturday of every July-to be exact), is my mother-in-law's yearly family reunion party.  Mike's Uncle Al hosts the party on his property at the Great Lake Sacandaga in New York.  It's great fun, with a nice little sandy beach for the kids to play on... lots of green grass for bocci ball, the Cornhole game, piñata smashing, and room for bonfires and fireworks at night.  The best part, however, is all the homemade Italian pasta dishes, meats, and vegetable dishes that everyone brings and Here's a picture of their lakefront at sunset.  I stole the pic from Aunt Beverly's Facebook page! sorry :), it was just too beautiful!

Rose is the youngest of 11 children, and came to the U.S. from Italy when she was only about 10 years old.  I can hardly imagine moving to a new country and culture at 10 years old!  I like hearing the stories about it, and often hear her siblings tell her that her Italian is still the dialect and vocabulary level of that which a little kid would have.  Well of course!  When she got to the U.S. she had to start learning a whole new language, wow that must have been hard. 

Every year the siblings take a group photo, and sadly there seems to be a few less siblings each year.  

We miss Uncle Cici, Uncle Tony, and Aunt Josefine.

top row L to R: Aunt Perina, Aunt Teresa, and Rose

bottom row L to R: Aunt Elvira, Uncle Paul and uncle Al

This year Nonna came along with us, as Mike's dad was not up for the trip.  She took the train to Boston and spent a night with us, the kids were happy to have her here!

Next morning, we all packed in the van to drive to NY!

me, bored in the car....

 We stopped at Aunt Perina and Uncle Tony's house, where we took a quick rest, unloaded our stuff... and Uncle Tony filled up Luca's sippy cup for me!  No spilling wine while the van is in motion...

 Luca's favorite buddy, Julie

Zoë picking up the remains of the piñata

 

having fun on the float

 Mike making sure everyone's got their drinks

 Luca had fun floating his boat

 Can't forget the 'WOP MOBILE'!  This is actually from last year's reunion....

Time for the fireworks finale!

 Sparklers are always a hit

 

Time to sit and relax in Aunt Perina's kitchen