Christmas in Texas

We flew to Dallas on December 23rd.  We had originally planned to stay in Dallas overnight but sadly, our hosts had come down with the flu so we grabbed dinner and continued on to Austin.  We wound up staying in Austin the entire trip and only returning to Dallas to catch our flight out on the 28th due to a little stomach virus that Keith and Jacob caught.  Nothing says Christmas like a stomach virus!

Despite our change in plans we had a wonderful visit and enjoyed spending time with the rest of the family, though we missed the Hornes.

On Christmas day we headed over to Great Grandma Brunone’s (GGB) place and caroled for her and all of her neighbors.  This may have been my favorite part of the trip, seeing the joy on all of the residents faces, not to mention all of their caretakers that were spending Christmas working instead of with their families.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »

Visiting the Aquarium

I’ve had this post written for a couple of weeks, but due to technical difficulties with some of the pictures, was unable to post before now.

Last Friday we took a day trip to Mystic.  Since Keith didn’t get home until 1am on Friday and Lilian slept til after 9, we got a bit of a late start and arrived right before lunch time.  We decided to have lunch before we started exploring the aquarium, so we made our way over to Abbott’s for some lobster with a view.

Not a bad view…

We arrived a few minutes before they opened so we soaked in the gorgeous weather and lovely scenery.

Posing by the sea

Where is my lobster roll?!?!

Once we ordered and sat down, certain members of our family got rather impatient to eat!

After we all enjoyed a warm lobster roll (all except Jacob who opted for a PB&J – weird kid 🙂 ), we headed over to the aquarium.

Watching the beluga whales

Our first stop was to watch the whales.  Both of the kids loved them and we wound up going back to visit them several times!

Frogs!

We stopped to see some of the other large, outdoor animals eating lunch before heading inside to visit some of the smaller guys.

Checking out some little fish.

Look Mama, a giant fish!

So many fish!

Jacob holding a starfish

Jacob also picked up a starfish and held it.  We were really surprised he wanted to touch it, but he held it fearlessly and even gave Lilian the opportunity to pet it!

Lilian touching the starfish – brave girl!

Lilian hamming it up for the camera!

Jacob enjoyed the aquarium but Lilian LOVED it!  I think she could have sat and watched (and talked to, and tickled) the fish all day long.

We topped the day off with a trip to a local bakery (no pictures, I was too busy eating!) and the four of us split a few desserts before getting in the car and heading home.  What a fun way for our family to spend a gorgeous day together!

Read Full Post »

A Day at the Beach

On Wednesday while we were in Florida we all packed up and headed to the beach.  Naples was experiencing Red Tide conditions so we weren’t able to swim but we couldn’t visit Florida without at least setting eyes on the sand and ocean!

Jacob and Auntie Kendra built sandcastles (more accurately, Auntie Kendra built them and Jacob knocked them over!).

Grandma and Grandad showed Jacob how to collect and clean seashells so he could bring them home as souvenirs.

Even Lilian got in on the action!

And they held still long enough to pose for a picture!

Speaking of Lilian, I think she very much enjoyed her first views of the ocean!

It’s hard to believe that we were at the beach two weeks ago as I look out on our backyard which is still covered in snow and we await another storm today…I wish we could go back!

Read Full Post »

Our Family Christmas

I bet you thought the Christmas posts were over, right?  Wrong.  [I think] This will be the last one.

We had a wonderful time in Richmond – especially seeing all of the cousins together – but on the 27th we packed up the car and drove back to Connecticut.  We arrived in town just in time to unload the car to make room to pick up Bailey.  When we woke up on Friday morning, we had our immediate family Christmas celebration.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »

Christmas Morning

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

With 5 kids under age three in the house, Christmas morning was lots of fun!  We opened presents in shifts throughout the day and when cuties in the candy cane striped pajamas weren’t opening gifts, there were lots of new toys to keep them busy.

Read Full Post »

Apple Picking!

We went apple and pear picking on Saturday.  It was a chilly day and it drizzled on and off while we were there so we didn’t stay as long as we might have liked. Like last year, Jacob enjoyed picking the fruit, but he really enjoyed EATING the fruit! Despite the dreary weather, we all enjoyed ourselves and look forward to doing it again soon!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »

Anniversary Wishes…

Happy 4th Anniversary to the most beautiful, loving, caring woman I have ever met.  There is no one else I’d rather have spent the last four years with, and there is no one else I can imagine spending the rest of my life with.  

Thank you for making me laugh every day, and thank you for all you do for me and our family.

Read Full Post »

Sunday on the Deck

We’ve been experiencing some gorgeous weather and when Lilian decided she didn’t want to nap on Sunday, we decided to spend some time outside instead!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »

Happy 4th of July!

This year was a little quieter than last year. Since moving to Connecticut we definitely miss having so much family close, especially when it comes to celebrating holidays. Despite the lack of extended family with which to celebrate, we still managed to have a great day with just our little family of four.

We kicked off the morning by making pancakes.

We decided to step outside of the box and make our pancake batter a bit more patriotic.

Jacob was pretty excited when we topped his red and blue pancakes with whipped cream and red, white and blue sprinkles!

After breakfast we got dressed and decided to take a few pictures before venturing out of the house.

We walked around Collinsville for a bit before grabbing lunch.

We then headed to Tulmeadow Farm for some special 4th of July deliciousness.

Lilian slept through dessert while the rest of us enjoyed our ice cream.

Believe it or not, this is the neatest Jacob has ever left Tulmeadow. I finally got smart and remembered to bring his bib with us. 🙂

After dessert, we headed home and put Jacob down for his nap.

While he slept, Keith filled up the froggy pool so the water could warm up.  Sadly, Jacob slept so long that when he woke up it was time to start cooking dinner and swimming was postponed for another day.

We enjoyed an all-American dinner of hamburgers and grilled corn on the cob to round out our day.  Next year we may even try to take the kids to watch some fireworks!

We hope you all enjoyed a happy Independence Day!  May God continue to bless America.

Read Full Post »

Trip to the Farm

While Tricia and Abigail were here, we took the opportunity to check out a local farm we have been wanting to visit for several months.

We were greeted by a flock of guinea fowl (I think?) upon our arrival.

Abigail and Jacob enjoyed feeding goats,

and donkeys (don’t worry – that isn’t Waffles)

We saw horses, peacocks, chickens, roosters, and pigs (and possibly a few more that I forgot about!).

We even made friends with the barn cats!

And we (of course) took lots of pictures!

Jacob has not stopped talking about the farm and the animals (and the eggs we saw some of the employees collecting) so we will definitely be going back for more farm fun very soon!

Read Full Post »