Sisters...

Some photos of sisters from our spring 2009 trip back east...

Aunt Susie & Grandma R...

Jamie, Sharon, Michele...
...along with Noah and Ana...

Grandma M...

This past June Michele's grandmother passed away. Michele and Sammy flew back to New York state for the funeral (we had family in town at the time so Paul could not go). It was sad to see Grandma go, but comforting to know she is now with Grandpa.

Sammy with his Great Grandma M and Grandma R...

A drawing of Sammy's great-grandparents by Michele's very talented cousin Mary...

Sometimes getting a group to cooperate in a group photo is a herculean task...

Sammy's godfather...Uncle Andy with Aunt Diane...

Sammy with his cousins Noah and Ana in the pool...

Sammy is a big Yankee's fan...
...and he certainly enjoyed being in New York state...

After posting this on the blog...
...we doubt Michele's sister Sharon will pose like this again for our camera...

Michele resists Justin's peer pressure...

Sammy and his cousin Ana sharing brunch...
...and a chair...

Noah is all smiles...

Sammy and Ana navigate a tunnel...

From front to rear...
...most of them in big floppy hats...
Ana, Grandma R, Michele, Jaime, Stephanie, Sharon, and Sammy...

From Left to Right:
Grandpa R, Stephanie, Sharon, Anna, Jason, Jaime, Gradma R

Three cousins sleeping in a car...
...hmmm...
...sounds like it should be in a nursery rhyme...

Sammy and Grandpa R...

Sammy with his Uncle Andy...
...the gusty wind in their faces...
...across the green grass field...
...their trusty tractor races...

Paulie's Wedding: Visiting Aunt Sharon...

While back east for Sammy's Uncle Paulie's wedding, we drove out to Rochester, NY (that's right) to see Sammy's Aunt Sharon, Uncle Antoine, Noah and Ana. Sammy was really excited to see his cousins, go in the water, help his Uncle Andy, and ride a horse (kind of)....

Aunt Sharon takes Sammy for laps around the hot tub...

Noah, Uncle Andy, Ana, and Aunt Diane at the hot tub...

Sammy directs Uncle Andy as he works on Aunt Sharon's refrigerator...

Aunt Sharon, Suzie, Noah, and Sean...

Sammy finds a steed and rides like the wind..

Sammy is all smiles at his Aunt Sharon's house...

Sunday in the Park

Panoramic photo of the playground...

...this picture was sticthed together from several photos

One of the nice things about living in Rochester is the city park system. It has over 60 miles of trails...and perhaps more importantly now with the addition of Sammy...some excellent children's playgrounds. Over by Silver Lake there is a very large playground. So this past Sunday Michele, Sammy, Sharon, Ana, Noah, and Paul went to the park. To describe it as large is a bit of an understatement. Now that Sammy is with us, we're more than happy to have our taxes go to these types of things. We didn't expect it to be as hot as it was, so after about 45 minutes the kids had had enough. But we took a few pics. Enjoy.

Sharon, Ana, & Noah on the bench swing

Michele, Ana, and Ana's hat

Michele & Ana

With the price of gas, we'll all be driving something like this soon.

No top notch playground is complete without a pirate ship!

Sharon loading the kids up on the choo choo.

Where in the world...are Michele & Ana? (see hint)

Mr. Excitement at the park.

Sammy catching some Z's

Sammy and Red Dog at the park

Babies "R" Us Comes to Rochester!

Rochester Minnesota is now home to more than just the Mayo Clinic and a water tower shaped and painted like a corn-cob (really!). The local Toys "R" Us in town just put on an addition and opened a Babies "R" Us. How convenient for us since we rely on bottled Similac to get us through Sammy's night feedings now.

They had a "grand opening" where they had coupons, cookies, and cartoon characters for the kids, so we took Ana, Noah, and little Sammy. Here are some pics.

Some cartoon character "Dora" with Sharon & Ana

Noah is usually all smiles, but sometimes when photographed projects melancholy.

Sammy was up to this point not impressed at all...

...until he met Winnie the Pooh (what is a Pooh anyways?)

Ana may be small in stature but mighty in heart.

Ana and Noah's first snow!

Today we had a few inches of snow to prove that, although we are approaching the middle of March, winter is by no means over. Of significance, this was Ana's and Noah's first snow. So it was bundling up the kids and bringing them out. Little Sammy was too little to go out, plus he had a really bad tummy ache all day...but he cheered on his cousins from the window.

Ana's face shows winter might be an acquired taste.

Sharon throws snowballs to Einstein...
...notice my neighbor Dan's peeling paint on his garage....
...Paul bets if he painted it, Dan would never know.

Noah catching a snowball with his body.

Noah, Sharon, Ana...
...March "Snowstorm" of 2006

Beat that Mike Brady!

Mike Brady and his brood...
...before he introduced the "Brady boy hair perm".

Paul was musing last night as he battled a virus he contracted (not software...fever, chills, that kind of stuff) about how in the period of one month his household had grown from 2 adults and 2 cats to 3 adults, 2 cats, 1 dog, and 3 children under the age of two. Now numerically, Mike Brady from the "Brady Bunch" did more, adding 1 adult, 3 girls, and a cat to his household when he married the lovely lady...but...percentage wise, Paul has him beat. Mr Brady went from 5 (including Alice) to 9 people which is an 80% increase (if Paul's math in the midst of an intemperate fever is correct) while Paul increased the number of people from 2 to 6 making a 200% increase.

Beat that Mike Brady.

This leaves us to wonder if Paul will give all the males in his house a perm like Mike Brady did in later seasons on the show.

We have no Alice, but Michele's sister (see here for info) is a whiz when it comes to raising small children. She is an accomplished special education teacher and she's very tuned into the needs of the children. Already she's helped us dramatically such as bringing a vibrating "Oceans Wonders Aquarium Bouncer Baby" her children used which has really been a home run with our little Sammy.

Note: We did receive an "Oceans Wonders Aquarium Swing" a gift which (for which we are very grateful) we do use with Sammy as well.

From Raleigh to Rochester

How our trip went...
...except we took 65 from Indy to the Windy City!

Michele's sister Sharon's husband Antoine is a US Marine. He's returning to Iraq for yet another tour. So while he's there for the next 9 or so months, Sharon and her two children (Noah and Ana) will be staying with us. So Paul flew out to Raleigh, N.C. this past Friday where Sharon drove to pick him up and they all drove together to Rochester, MN. As usual, Paul was awfully concerned...driving a vehicle pulling a massive U-Haul trailer while it's still winter across most of the country. He was expecting it to be something like the book "As I Lay Dying" but it turned out to be an easy trip. The weather was dry and clear for almost 90% of the trip. With the trailer they averaged a little over 15 mpg.

Sharon pulls up with the trailer to pick up Paul
at the Raleigh Airport on Friday.

They spent Friday night at Parkersburg, W.V. in the Econo Lodge. The guy there was extremely friendly to Paul and told him he was giving them a room with jacuzzi...for no charge. Paul was kind of puzzled by it all, but was polite and said thank you. It made no sense, why would it be such a big deal about a jacuzzi. Then, when Paul took Sharon's dog Einstein out for a walk, he figured it out. He saw next door "Playmates Exotic Showbar." Apparently there must be quite the demand for the "Jacuzzi Room" a the Parkersburg Econo Lodge. Needless to say, they didn't use the extremely large jacuzzi, although Noah and Ana liked playing with it's fawcet.

The Parkersburg Econo Lodge...
...in West Virginia...
...did Senator Byrd ever sleep here?

Noah and Ana playing with the jacuzzi...
...notice the size of the fawcet!

Playmates Exotic Showbar...
...next door to the Parkersburg Econo Lodge.

The trip was long, but it went well. The kids, the dog, even Paul behaved well. Sharon did most of the driving due to Paul's worrying about towing a trailer...and she did an excellent job. They encountered a little bit of snow in Western Wisconsin and Minnesota, but it was easy going in Sharon's Buick. The cat's didn't seem to be so thrilled about the dog in the house, but they are adjusting.

Einstein the dog travelling in the back of Sharon's Buick Rendevous

Sharon changing one of many diapers along the way...

Finally arriving in Rochester...
...notice all the snow!

The Boo Boo Kitty and Veto the Cat....
...apprehensive about the dog Einstein in the house.

Sharon and Michele and their children.

Aunt Sharon holding little Sammy for the first time!