Independence Day

Day: Three Hundred and Thirty Seven

Photo taken on Monday, July 4, 2011 in my backyard at 809pm.

Yay for Price Club or else we wouldn't have been able to feed all the people who have swung by this evening to help celebrate the Fourth of July. This is the first time Steve and I have been able to have an outdoor party and it also works because all of our neighbors are super chill and don't mind us running back and forth in front of their decks. When our guests aren't engaging in food intake, they find themselves on the lawn playing with the bocce ball set Caitlin happens to have in her car. I am very thankful for the bocce ball set because the game of wiffle ball ends quickly when the only ball lands on our neighbor's balcony. I really thought the ball would end up in the canal though so I didn't offer up my Spiderman Frisbee when people seem interested in playing some sort of outdoor game. Once the sun completely set, we all looked to the skies to catch several different fireworks displays going on around the houses on the water.

I take some pics throughout the evening and it looks like everyone is enjoying themselves. Thanks for coming out this Fourth and making it a really fun time!

Caitlin, Brian, Michelle, Jon, and Heather have a really intense game of online Mad Gab going on here. I actually own the game but it is packed up in the attic at the moment or else I would have totally broken it out for them.

Angelo and Jen enjoying some drinkies. This is the second attempt at taking this photo since Angelo's hands keep traveling south without Jen knowing ;P

Tee hee, Paul and Mike are being inappropriate while Steve and Angelo are actually being good for a change. I'm not sure who wins this battle of bocce ball but I know us girls try it out next. I don't have pictures of us playing it but Jenn and Heather are kicking mine and Maeve's butt right now. Maeve is doing great; I'm definitely the weakest link on our team but we're having fun tossing these balls all over the place anyway.

Cristina and Brad get in on the bocce action as well. Cristina is a pro since she has the Italian blood running through her veins.

Of course there are crabs...and Angelo totally grabs one bare handed! That's skill!

So my camera "claims" there is a fireworks setting which by the time I snap the picture, they have already fizzled out. Maeve steps up to try and she has better luck than I do. The only light I am able to capture on film is standing over one of the lit Off! candles and even that picture comes out dim. Maybe we should have taken video because the pictures we have do not even come close to the beauty of the real thing or the experience of the explosion or getting eaten alive by gnats and mosquitoes while watching the fireworks.

Happy Moma's Day!

Day: Two Hundred and Eighty

Photo taken on Sunday, May 8, 2011 in the lobby of the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, VA at 3pm. (Pictured: Daddio, Moma, Preston, Kimberly, and I. Back Row: Thomas Jefferson)

Very much like my parents' birthdays, it is still very hard to come up with a great gift idea for their respective Sundays. Luckily for me but not so much for my mom, she misplaced her set of keys recently therefore I am able to purchase her a new Coach key chain for Moma's Day as a little extra gift. (*Note: Kim had been the one previously to buy her a Coach keychain. It was a cute flip-flop. The one I buy her, has two cute flip-flops. Just saying.) So besides that and her very nice plants from Kim and Pres, we take her out for an amazing brunch at this lavish hotel. It was Kim's idea two years ago and it was a fabulous way to spend a morning: gorgeous surroundings and unlimited trips to the dessert station. But last year, we forgot to call the day after Mother's Day so we were then #150 on the waiting list. Yeah, 150. It's really that good.

But this year we are #15 and Kim and her lawyering ways gets us a spot for the Champagne Brunch two days in advance. I think all of us enjoy the delicious spread and I know for a fact Preston loves the jazz musicians set up in the corner. One lady even comes over to remark on how interested he is because she too watches him grab a chair, pull it across the room, station it in front of their instruments, and literally sits back with his hands behind his head and watches them intently. Preston never ceases to amaze us.

So Moma, I hope you enjoyed the brunch and the rest of the day spent hanging out with your daughters! We love you very much!

^_\

For Kimberly's take on the weekend and some really great shots of everyone please click here! (My fave is of Preston with the alligator...you'll know which one.)

We Gather Together

Day: Two Hundred and Sixty Six

Photo taken on Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011 in the dining room of the TDM right before dessert at 801pm. (Pictured from left: Kelly, Grandma Z., Daddio, John, Steve, Preston, Kimberly and her deisel arm, Moma, me, and Alec)

I find holidays are best when it is "the more the merrier". Back when we lived in Greenlawn, once the main course was cleared away our parents opened up their home to all of our friends for dessert. Moma has a habit of making two dishes per person so we have always needed the extra bodies to help us consume all of the delicious treats. Today we are blessed to have Kelly, John, and Alec join us for the whole day of food and great laughs. It has been a fantastic Easter and I look forward to more holidays spent like this with family and friends because it is important to celebrate with the ones you love. Plus they are the ones that will not judge you no matter how many desserts you put on your plate.

Also, when I help clean up at the end of the night I insist upon Sharking the floor only to end up breaking the Shark into two pieces. Luckily, I have made it Preston-sized and he loves his new vacuum very much.

The Egg and I

Day: Two Hundred and Sixty Five

Photo taken on Saturday, April 23, 2011 in the kitchen of the TDM at 235pm. (The dyers: Steve, Moma, Kimberly, Preston, Grandma Z., and I)

What is Easter without eggs? Or Jesus? Or a Jesus egg?

Pretty much Preston runs the show; we just make sure the eggs find their way back into the container so they don't drop dye all over the table or crack open. It's just interesting how when the task is all complete, he has to arrange them in color order. There are six colors-two eggs of each-and he lines them up in Roy G. Biv fashion, then decides to line them up in pairs after scrutinizing them for awhile. I observe Preston doing this and I proudly nod my head at his compulsive ordering.

He's definitely my nephew.