A Fall Trip to Connecticut!

Fall is in the air and it is so pretty...a little too cold for my liking, but pretty nonetheless! We loved getting out of the city this weekend and taking in the change of season.

Happy 60th Anniversary to Ganny and Pop Pop! 60 years! Zack is so lucky to have such wonderful great grandparents in his life! This weekend we went up to Windsor Connecticut to celebrate their 60 years in marriage. What a great tome! Don't they look cute after 60 years together ;-)

Together Ganny and Pop Pop had 7 children (2 boys and 5 girls). Below are Denise, Brian, Mary, Annie, Kathy, Susie, and Tommy in spirit.....Uncle Tommy is missed everyday, but this weekend was especially tough without him.

Family photo by the CT River

On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to Northwest Park to play in the leaves and see the animals in the petting zoo. Here is Zack playing in the leaves for the very first time!

Here's Mommy and Zack with the goats. Zack thinks they are really funny, and kind of look like "dogs"

And here we are making friends with the donkey...Nonni the papparazzi in the background

It was a beautiful fall weekend, filled with lots of laughter and fun times with family. Life is just too good! We are so lucky!

Daddy Day Care Is Closed

Daddy Day Care officially closed on Monday when I went back to work. I miss hanging out with Zack. Gone are the days of taking our time getting ready in the morning and taking up to a half hour to walk to the next building. Jess scored this week and got to stay home and play with Zack twice (Monday was one of the 20 annual holidays at our day care and we kept him home Wednesday, because of a scare about some virus with an "R"...he didn't have it).

This upcoming week is my reintroduction to consulting. Up at 4am for the 6:00 flight to Chicago. I know I've been away from Zack for longer, but this trip seems harder. Maybe because he's older and cooler now. He's not talking back to us too much, but he understands what we are saying to him (even if he deliberately disobeys at times). Maybe it's the thought that this may be the reality of my job every week, saying good night to Zack on Sunday and not seeing him again until Friday morning. It's probably also not being able to help Jess with Zack and the dogs. I know it will be tough on her, tough on me, but at least the dogs and Zack roll with the punches and probably won't miss a beat. Regardless, putting him to bed tonight was very sad and I can't wait to get back from Chicago.

Time to take a nap before I have to wake up. Here are some more pics of the little guy.


Zack out for a walk with his classmates. Note that he is hysterical...because he realized that the dogs and I were going for a run and not going to be walking with him."

Zack taking his Foster dog for a walk.


"Here Hot Dog. Want a Goldfish?"


"Dad, why are you making me sit here next to the Barry Bonds pumpkins?"


Trying to decide which pumpkin to throw next...

"Cheese!"


Here are some pics of the city from our apartment complex.

Babysitting Hot Dog

This weekend Zack had the pleasure of babysitting his class pet, Hot Dog the Guinea Pig. Every weekend one of the students gets to take Hot Dog home and take care of him and this weekend we were the lucky ones! Zack LOVES him. Here are a few pics:

Cousin Chris was our resident rodent expert...He has a chinchilla, so we had him hold Hot Dog for Zack to play with.

Breakfast time-4carrots and a piece of lettuce. The thing can eat-we were impressed!

Here you go Hot Dog!

We were cleaning out Zack's drawers this weekend, king of getting ready for fall and Zack decided he wanted to wear his ill fitting winter hat from last year! Next he put on his new shoes and started jumping around the house...it was too cute even if the outfit is quite unfortunate! :-)

Gainesville Fun!

We just got back from Gainesville for the Florida - Tennessee game. While the Gators were underwhelming at best, we had a great time taking Zack to his 1st football game and spending some time with the family at the lake and of course tailgating. Zack was great with his baby cousin, except that he really didn't want to share toys. He shared food with him, gave him hugs, crawled with him (since Spencer isn't walking yet), stole Spencer's sippy cup 999 times, and only swatted him once (Spencer hit back many more times though...he has just learned to hit/slap and is trying it out on everyone).

As we were getting ready to leave, we realized that a few bug bites Zack had were swelling and blistering. Yummy! At least we had a doctor at the lake to diagnose him, although Zack was not a fan of getting bandaged up to prevent him from scratching. Oh well, yet another reason we can't move to Florida...Sorry Jess.

Here are some pics from this weekend.

Hangin' with Cousin Spencer at the Lake House...This is when Mommy realized her baby isn't really a baby any more...He is soooo big when compared to Spencer (10 months). Also realized we should probably have another one sooner rather then later so Z-Man doesn't grow up to be a spoiled brat!

First time on skis...Dad, Gramma and Grandpa were very proud of Z-Man, but a lil bummed out that he wouldn't hold on with 2 hands...and of course his unwillingness to wear a life vest is really the only thing that is keeping him from getting pulled by the boat. Maybe he will ski for real at Thanksgiving?

Bath Time for the babies! (AKA - blackmail!)

Faux Hawks for the boys! The ladies just love it!

Tailgating is tough work...a little nap before kickoff.

Running to catch kickoff...just a standard 50 yard return.

First time in the SWAMP!!! This was a very monumental day for the fam!

"No really Mom & Dad, I'm sweating my ass off."

"Don't mind me, I found a better place to watch the game in the F Club. A/C, snacks, leather couch full of chicks. I'm good."

"I can even play with Mom and Nonni in the F Club."

Summer Pics

Alright, here are the pics from this summer that we promised.


Look, I found a fun place to play.
Hanging out with distant relatives at the Cousins Weekend.

I got the stick.

Alright, I got up here, but not sure about getting down.

Just helping Noni clean up.

Corn is good.

Couch commander.


Even in this outfit, I'll smile!

Grumpy introduced me to my new favorite food...milkshakes.

Hanging with the big kids at the zoo.

Hey turtle, you look thirsty, have some juice.

Much better.

I want to drive Dad.


Hold on, what the heck is going on here.
I'm flying!

Being silly with Daddy at the lake.

Everybody look at me cause I'm sailin on a boat

Yeah, never thought I'd be on a boat
It's a big blue watery road

I got my swim trunks, and my flippie-floppies
I'm flippin burgers, you at Kinko's straight flippin copies