Playtime with Granny, Papaw and Gloria

Because my parents, sister and brother-in-law live in the Atlanta area we get to enjoy their company pretty often. Sometimes we just hang out in the playroom.

Or play with the camera (this photo by Esther)

CC has found her favorite book. We read 'Things that Go' 100x a day.

She also knows her way around the kitchen.

Introducing "Iona The Edge Burlington"

During my pregnancy with CC I travelled to Iona, Scotland on a pilgrimmage with the All Saints' youth. While there, I chatted with them about what to name the baby. One very popular choice was Iona (due to our magical location) The Edge (because I love the band U2 and it's just a cool name for an amazing musician) Burlington (well, of course). Much to the relief of all of my extended family, we went with Cecilia Cate (CC) instead. But I never knew that she would one day begin to impersonate him. Pretty Edgy huh?(pun fully intended.) Here's to you David!

Snow and Snowmen

Yep, it snowed and grew frigid last weekend in Atlanta. We even had a snow day on Friday.
So we went outside. But it was too cold for us.So we spent a lot of time snuggled up inside. Playing with blocks.

Robert even played his first Monopoly game: Thanks Tante Jen and Uncle Hank!

Snowmen were the theme of our crafty playdate on Monday. We made these creations with old lids!

Here's mine:
Robert's:

Esther's:

and CC's:

This is how I got them to stay together. Use a glue gun if you wanna try it yourself. School glue wasn't quite strong enough to hold everything together.

Erin, Baikal and Rybolt joined us and made their own snowpeople. I didn't get a photo of theirs, but here's a great video of a game Erin played with everybody. :)

Delray Beach- Part Four (the lost photos)

One morning we took the kids to "downtown" Delray Beach. It is a beautiful and elegant area teeming with people, shops and decorations! Love this juxtaposition!!

100' Christmas tree on the town square.Inside, looking up.

Christmas displays are inside!

A mini train station inside the tree!

Here is the entrance to GG Tina's condo building. Look at the sun on that Florida flora!GG Tina took us to dinner on two different evening. Robert took great pride in walking down to "pick her up" and escorting her to dinner. Poppy Paul would be proud!!At Duffy's, a local sports bar, they had a balloon artist!
wow.
Thank you GG Tina for a fun time eating, playing, talking and loving. We love you!

Trip to Delray Beach: Part 3 (final)

On the last day of 2009 we departed from Delray Beach and said farewell to GG Tina. I am very very glad we got to visit her this year! The kids made great memories with her. They are quite blessed to really know their great-grandmother! Thank you to my parents for lending us their van for the trip and very special thanks to GG Tina's friend and neighbor, Martha Corso, who let our entire family stay in her beautiful apartment. Most importantly, thanks to GG Tina for welcoming us to Florida for the trip. We love you! We cut the trip home in half by stopping in Amelia Island to spend the night. The whole family feasted on fried fish and french fries for New Year's Eve.

CC liked the sink.

The view outside our room. . .

Happy New Year everyone!

Delray Beach- Part Two: Eating with GG Tina and the Morikami Gardens

Introducing. . . the lovely GG Tina, grandmother of Rob and great-grandmother to Robert, Esther and CC. Why a picture in the kitchen? Because she cooked for us the whole visit. Thank you for the yummy meals GG Tina! (I miss the artichoke patties already.) Three kids at GG Tina's dining room table.

We took the kids one morning to the magnificent Morikami Gardens. They are authentically Japanese and expansive. This is the kind of place I would love to lose myself in. Unfortunately, with all the kids in tow and the girls in an especially needy "carry me!" mood I just wanted to lose the kids. There it is. I said it. I love them but this excursion drove both of us parents to our breaking point.I still snapped some good photos. I remember reading about this zen garden feeling ANYTHING but zen.

Love em.

Esther took a turn with the camera. Nice flip-flops!

Rob was feeling especially pent up. The Elton John sunglasses didn't help.

Trip to Delray Beach: Part One

Just after Christmas we took a road trip to Delray Beach, FL to see Rob's grandmother, Santina Fortunato Novello. After 12 hours of videos and sleeping we arrived at our destination.Paradise.