Walk for Brady...Luc's twin

Saturday morning, we took part in the "Walk for Brady" which his Mom started last year to help raise awareness for William's Syndrome. Cioci and the girls walked with us and we had a great time. We were able to meet some more kids with WS and their families as well a Luc's twin, Truman, from New Bedford. Everyone thought it was Luc when they first saw him and I had to check to make sure a couple times who I was holding.

We took a three mile walk around the lake at DW Field Park in Brockton. It is a really pretty park and a nice walk. After, we went back to Kerry's friend's house for lunch and music and conversation. Kerry did a great job organizing the event and we can't wait to help her out next year. It was great to see some of the families we met before and to meet new friends. Luc had a great time watching the musicians and flirting with all the Moms. We look forward to walking again next year and adding more people.

Narragansett Beach

We went to Wickford Village, RI and then to Narragansett Beach last Thursday with Jill and the girls. It was a beautiful day and we walked around the village and shops in the morning. Wickford is a picturesque town south of Warwick that sits on Narragansett Bay. John Updike is from there and based his book "The Witches of Eastwick" on the town. We freaked out a shop owner with the babies all grabbing different toys at the same time.

Kateri tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and cut her knee, but of course she wanted to keep walking. We fed the swan and the ducks in the marina and then left to find somewhere to eat. We drove across the bridge towards Newport and then decided to head down towards Narragansett Beach. We ate lunch at the Coast Guard House, which had a lovely view of the Bay, but the service was so-so. The babies loved the Calamari and of course liked the chicken fingers and fries!

After lunch, we went down to the back and collected shells and Cioci Jill had Kateri digging a hole with the girls. Sydney was loving the beach until she got hit by a wave walking near the water, She wanted to be held until Jill coaxed her into digging. Needless to say, the girls were covered in mud in no time and I told Cioci it was her problem to get them cleaned up. Can someone say "Cold Water"! No one wanted to leave until after the rinsed off in the water and then they were more than willing to get in the warm car! It was a fun day and I am glad we discovered the beach. We will have to go down when it gets warmer.

Southwick Zoo and Aunt Jackie Too!

So, picture this, 11 kids, 4 adults at the zoo during school break...enough said! (Kateri, Lucien, Sydney, Mackenzie, Jordan, Elizabeth, Veronica, Olivia, Rachel, Matthew, Ericka, Aunt Jackie, Tina, Julie and me) The girls wore their monkey backpack/restraints so they were able to walk around without getting lost, although the managed to fall down quite a bit (with a little help). Luc was alert and looking around although he did manage to take a couple of naps in between. The kids were all great and we didn't lose anyone. Of course the babies loved all the monkeys, especially the new babies. Kateri and Sydney were getting knocked over by goats in the petting zoo. Sydney liked to grab their tails (wrong end kid) while Kateri was trying to pet every one she could catch. Luc was content to have Auntie Tina hold him and look around.

The zoo was packed and only one concession stand was open so we ended up going down the street to a burger stand. It actually worked out better because Julie and the kids were on their way back to Rt.146, it was less crowded and the kids were able to run around a little more freely.

We went back to the house after and put the babies to bed and were able to talk a little before Tina and kids checked into their hotel and Aunt Jackie went home. We had a great day!

New York, New York

Sorry I haven't posted for so long a time, but we have been trying to get outside to work as much as possible. This past Saturday, we went to New York with Jill's college kids. The babies did really well. Kateri and Luc took naps and Sydney was looking out the window and flirting with everyone. We lucked out because the Pope was in town. I have never seen so many priests and nuns walking around. Needless to say, we felt VERY safe! We just missed seeing the Pope because we had lunch reservations for noon and he wasn't coming through until 1pm and we didn't get out of the Mexican restaurant until after 2pm!

The food was awesome. Kateri and Luc couldn't get enough of the guacamole! I made sure I bought some at the grocery store yesterday. We walked around the city a little. It was also Earth Day so we picked up some freebies. We went to Central Park Zoo, which was kind of lame, but we saw triplet boys in a cute wagon-train. We walked around the park and watched some roller skaters dancing. The babies had their first New York hot dog which they REALLY enjoyed.

We went out to a burger joint for dinner where Luc proceeded to spill half a glass of red wine all over my shirt and pants. Thank God we were leaving by then. Sydney passed out before we were out of the city. Kateri fell asleep soon after and Luc passed out a hour before we got home! The Pope delayed us getting out of the city because they shut the bridge out of Harlem down so he could go through. We would have been home a hour earlier, but oh well! It was a great time and I would definitely do it again. The kids traveled really well. The only problem we really had was with restaurants not allowing carriages in. Next time we go, we'll wait until Luc is walking.

Mama saves the bird...and other important tasks

This morning, as I was gazing out on the yard, trying to figure out what to clean up today, I noticed something not right in the tree next to the deck. Upon further inspection, I saw that is was indeed a bird and it was...gasp...still alive! What is a Mama to do???

So, I went into the garage, got out my trusty pruning thingy-ma-jig and cut the branch down. The Grackle was caught in a string by the neck and wound around the branch. I broke the string off to get the bird unattached from the branch and was able to untie part of the string before the ungrateful creature flew off!

Talk about gratitude! I then proceeded to cut off a few branches, in my nightgown, mind you. I figured I might as well do it while I was in the mood.

I took the kids outside to play on the swing. Luc likes to go really high in the swing, Sydney, not so high and Kateri goes up AND down the slide by herself! She falls on her bum on the bottom and rubs it and says "Oh, Bum-bum. Ouch" and then climbs right back up!

The twins brought over all their dress up clothes last weekend, so the kids had fun trying on different outfits and pretending. The one I liked best was Kateri in the Tu-Tu. She can't take off her diaper and run around nude in it!!!