Robin Hood, Where are you?

This weekend we attended the wedding we have all been waiting for. My cousin Jason married his longtime girlfriend Quinn in what was the biggest wedding I have ever been to. Not only was it wonderful but it was held at the Sands Point Castle overlooking the water and for anyone who knows me and knows that my favorite movie is Robin Hood knows that I was truly in my glory.

While at the wedding H&J were having their own little pary next door at the Galvez's. I know that they had a great time because the next morning Hailey woke up asking me if she could go back next door to play with Aidan some more. From what I am hearing Aidan had a great time too as he woke up very upset that H&J were still not at his house. Thanks to Tito Florante & Tita Cheryl for watching the kiddies so mom and dad could go and have a good night out. Gotta Love great friends and neighbors!

H&J meet J&S

While attending Church for the fairy tale wedding that was Jason & Quinn Bencivenga's (see next post) Hailey and Joey were able to see their twin cousins Jacob & Sophia for the first time since the twins were baptized. All the kids are getting so big that it was nice to get them together even if it was just for a short period of time.

A Road Trip Surprise!

Today I decided to take a trip with my dad to pick up my sister Danielle at her college. As i previously posted Danielle was coming home for a family wedding so the kids and I hopped in the car for the trip. The drive up was gorgeous as was the campus of Franklin Pierce University. Wish I could say that Danielle's room was the same. I'd like to think that she forgot that my dad was coming because i'm sure if she had remembered her room wouldn't have looked the way it did. Danielle was very pleasantly surprised to see us and all her friends got the biggest kick out of Hailey and Joey. We took an hour tour of the campus before getting in the cars and heading home. The kids did great hanging in there for the long haul.

First Set of Wheels!!!

Sometimes its more of a chore to bring the kids food shopping which is why most of the time I plan my food shopping excursion for when they are home napping. However, on this day we decided to take them with us. It was Joey's first time sitting in the "car section" of the shopping cart and let me tell you he loved it. Sorry to all the other shoppers who had to listen to Joey scream whenever the shopping cart would stop moving. Guess we should start saving for his car now!

Teething, No Sleep and a Special Visit

This week has been a little tiring for us. Hailey wasn't a bad teether so I had a feeling that Joey would make up for it. Needless to say over the last few weeks I have been talking to his teeth saying, "please come in already" cause at least then I would know what was wrong with him. This week it happened, Joey has entered the full swing of teething. Most children get their bottom teeth first, Welllllll, not my son. Joey's two top teeth have decided to come in first and at the same time. One of them is more through than the other but the other just popped through his gums. Needless to say my little man has not been a happy one. Hopefully it will be over soon. At least that is until his bottom teeth decide to make their arrival.
The end of the week proved to be better when I got a phone call from Courtny on Friday saying that she was on her way to NY from Mass. I was all excited and immediately we put plans in motion to get together that night for pizza so she could see the kids. Of course we were joined by Lalaena and Brayden so that Aunt Courtney could get her full baby fix.

Courtney was in her glory and it was so nice to see her in person and catch up. Joey and Brayden are finally at the point where they can play together on the floor. It was fun to see them crawling all over each other. You may have noticed there are no pictures of Hailey, well thats because she was in one of her "girl moods", and wouldn't take a picture for Mom. Anyways, it was nice to see Aunt Courtney and hopefully we can do it again sooner than later.

From Cow Harbor to Soifer Avenue

I believe they call it "The Great Cow Harbor". What's so great about it, I don't know. Cow Harbor is a 10k run/race that took place on Saturday and of course Team JSR was there in full affect. Well let me tell you, there was nothing "great" about this race. It was awful! There were little hills, there were downhills, and then there it was, the worst MONSTER hill ever and when you thought it was over, IT WASN'T! Needless to say, 2 days later I am still hurting. But its over and next year I will tackle this "Great Cow Harbor" run/race with a vengence. For now, it truly kicked my butt!

After the race, some breakfast, and a much needed 2 hour nap we ventured on over to Soifer Avenue for their annual blockparty. I remember last years being so fun so I knew that Hailey and Joey would have another great time. I can't figure out which Hailey liked more, playing with her friends and family or being able to play in the street!?!?!?! Once again this year proved to be a blast. A little chilly, but we hung in there. The DJ was good. Hailey learned the macarana for the 1st time and enjoyed dancing with me to the Cotton Eye Joe. They even had a dragon on roller skates come to the party, and Joey would not take his eyes off of him. The day proved to be a good one with Joey passing out on his grandmother's lap and Hailey hanging strong till the very end. Thank god for that nap!!!!!!!!

2 Baccaray's, 1 Hubbard, and 2 Ellis' = 3 Mom's Who Need a Vacation!

From Left to Right: Nicholas, Andrew, Joey, Hailey and Olivia

The nice thing about working for someone Jewish is that you get all the Jewish Holidays off. And it's on these days that I try and get together with "my girls" from Wagner and all the kids so that they can play and we can catch up. This was the case on Thursday! We gathered at the Ellis residence where we had lunch. The kids took a little time to warm up to one another, but once they did they had a lot of fun. They played very nicely with the toys, ate their food, and even had a little dance party going on there for a while. All in all it was a good day. Can't wait till we can do it again!

"It's Uncle Abel's Turn"

Hailey has entered the dreaded "why" phase. Everything we tell her we get, "but why!". So, yesturday was Abel's birthday and when I told Hailey she said, "no it's my birthday". Which I replied, "no, its Uncle Abel's birthday". And then it came, "but why?" Finally I looked at her and said "it's Uncle Abel's turn" and she looked at me and smiled and said "oh okay!". I guess I handled that one. Happy Birthday Uncle Abel.

"Go Grandpa Go" from Ocean to Sound!

Sunday was the Ocean to Sound relay/run and we were there to help support the team. The Ocean to Sound is a relay race that starts at Jones Beach and ends in Oyster Bay. The team consisted of 8 runners, all who ran over 5.5 miles each. Some runners even ran 6.8 and 7 miles. Grandpa was one of these runners along with Karen, Aunt Kathy, Dan, Eric, Patrick, Gail and then bringing it home for the team was Uncle David. This race is fun because we get to follow the runners all throughout the race in our cars cheering them on, blasting our car radios, and giving them much needed water. Hailey enjoyed yelling out the window to all the runners especially Grandpa where she would yell "Go Grandpa, Go". The kids held up very well being in the car for what is a very long day. The race is a total of 50 miles. I'm sure we'll be back to cheer the team on next year.

A Day In New Jersey!

This weekend was another crazy one for the Baccaray's, as are most of our weekends! Saturday we spent the entire day in New Jersey. First we headed to Patterson for Ron's cousin Maan's baby shower. We got to spend time with her and her husband Paul and wish them luck as they prepare for the arrival of their baby girl. After we left Patterson we headed to Jersey City to spend sometime with Lola and celebrate her birthday. First we stayed at the house for a while where the kids got to play and stretch their legs. Hailey kept herself busy playing the piano with Lolo and playing with the massage chair. "Trouble" Joe did his best to get into everything. He even discovered a new ride where he would sit on Lolo's desk chair and Lolo would spend the next 1/2 hour spinning him round and round. Nate has even begun to crawl and the kids are starting to actually play together on the floor with toys. Look out world cause the Baccaray boys, take II, plus Hailey is about to enter full swing. The evening ended with a great dinner in Edgewater, NJ at the Crab House. The food was awesome and the company was even better. Happy Birthday Lola, We hope it was a good one!

Joey is 11 Months Old!

Joey turned 11 months old on Tuesday, the 4th. He has been walking for the last month and is "trouble on wheels". He never sits still and hardly wants to be held. He loves to go all around to explore and touch everything that he is not suppose to. I remind him on a daily basis that he is very lucky that he is cute otherwise he would be thrown out the window. Joking of course! He definitly keeps us on our toes. Next month is the BIG 1st Birthday, and I can't believe its been a year already.

1st Day of School

Well, the day has come our little girl started her first day of pre-school. She went to bed last night all excited. We had her backpack all packed and ready (with diapers and extra clothes, but all the same she was happy). Unfortunatley, she woke up this morning with a swollen eye. It seems that Mr. Masto (as we are now referring to it) has reared his ugly head and Hailey has a blister on her eye lid which was causing her eye to swell. All in all, Hailey is a CHAMP. She woke up still excited and would not let Mr. Masto ruin her day. She went off to school with Andrew and John and when I left her there she was running around playing. I told her I had to go and would pick her up in a little bit...Did she get sad, NO! Did she cry, NO! She said "okay, bye"! and that was that....I left, and yes I'm sad, but no I did not cry! Good Job Hailey!

Labor Day Weekend/Blockparty on Coolidge Street, Party II

After taking a break from all the inflatable toys, the kids had fun riding their bikes. We had great food too. Then it was off to do the limbo (picture #1). Joey had fun just sitting in his car watching Hailey and Andrew and now that he does "hooray" enjoyed cheering them on (picture #2). Dana even got in on the fun (picture #3), wow she can bend!. Next it was the electric slide with Aunt Annemarie (picture #4) and than finally some musical chairs (picture #5). We didn't win but it was fun! All in all a good and busy weekend!

Labor Day Weekend/Blockparty on Coolidge Street

Day 2 of this long Labor Day weekend had us at the Woolfson house on Coolidge Street for an annual block party. The kids had a great time as you can see. The first thing they did was to jump around in the inflatable castle, which Hailey called "the crayons" (pictures #1 & #2). Even Joey and Adelina were able to get in on the fun! Next the kids tackled the inflatable obstacle course (pictures #3 & #4) which had them climbing through holes and over walls. Than they had to climb up this long wall and slide down the slide. Hailey loved it and repeated this several times over and over again until we dragged her off. Joey had fun playing with his cousin Dana on the lawn (picture #5).

Labor Day Weekend/Lolo and Lola Wedding, Take Two!

This Labor Day Weekend began with the renewal of vows exchanged between Lolo and Lola celebrating their 12 years of marriage! The kids including Nathaniel were great and as well behaved as any 2 1/2 year old, 10 month old and 8 month old can be. Joey stayed calm, mostly, while we were in church. Hailey got to be a flower girl again and did great in her job of brining the rings to the priest. The ceremony was followed by a great lunch at Porte Liberty and then back to the Jersey house for some more family fun.