Heard around...

"Can you rub my butt? Because it's sad."

"Who keeps tooting all day?"

"Why do I have to close my mouth when I chew? The food won't fall out, Silly!"

Blueberry Fest

We recently went to a small-town Blueberry Festival with Grace and her family.



It was hot.



And someone had "the crankies".




But the breakfast was really good...





The kids enjoyed the activities...





And we left with five pounds of fresh blueberries (not shown here) to start the season off right.

Dress Up

Scenes from The Wizard of Oz...

The Pier on a Windy Day

He's holding a 50 cent admission ticket in his hand in each of these pictures. We walked over to the pier after a morning at the splash park and - not knowing there was an admission fee - I didn't bring any money with me. When I found out we had to pay, I started to explain to Luca that we would have to come back another time - but a very old man came to our rescue and paid our way. Luca was pretty taken by this and held onto the ticket for the rest of the afternoon.

Too Sexy for his Stroller

Holding on to a nap

Matteo Last Month-o

These pics were taken at the park by my friend Emily. I love her photos - the framing, the color and the way she captures a moment.

The Zoo

We went to the zoo.



With a happy baby.



And a lovely, yet theatrical pre-schooler.



We saw jaguars.



Rode an alligator.



Brushed goats.



And then my camera ran out of battery.

Carny-vale

We went to a very dusty carnival recently. Even though Matteo was asleep and motionless most of the time, in the shelter of the jog stroller, the dust found him. Look closely and you can see it stuck to his little, sweaty baby face.



Luca started the evening off in a relatively cranky mood but - once he had his fill of death defying heights and greasy carny food - he got over it.







Until next year...

The Bambino/a Within

I am very happy to announce that Max is going to be a big brother. My little sister is preggars once again and due around Thanksgiving.

One month

Lots has happened in the last month.

My grandmother passed away unexpectedly - as unexpectedly as a ninety-four year old could pass away, that is. We had visited just one week before and she was better than she had been in months. Alert and pleasant, happy and joking around. When we said goodbye to her, I was sure that we would be hanging out with her again very soon. But, it was her time and she knew it - telling the nursing home staff and my mother and uncle that she was dying. That she had to say goodbye that day. No one believed it, but - good, old Connie had the last word in the end. I went back to Philadelphia alone. Debbie and I decided that it was best - that closure would be easier without the kids there to worry about. They had a nice weekend with friends and I got to process the start of life without my grandmother without any distractions. That was one month ago today.

The last month has also been filled with birthday and bon-voyage parties, visits from friends, mother's day, outdoor events, a trip to the zoo, play dates, park dates and lots and lots of rain.

And, once again - we are back from another weekend in Philly - the third weekend visit for me in under two months. Now that we are home and not going anywhere for awhile, I'm going to try to get back to things.



Concetta DeAngelis
Jan. 5th, 1915 - May 4th, 2009

Scenes from a birthday party...