Fantastic Fourth

By K.J. Cardinal

I don't think I could script a better Fourth of July weekend for us if I tried. We packed as much stuff as we could into the long weekend and ran the kids (and ourselves) ragged, but it was such a blast.

[WARNING: You are about to embark on an epically long blog post now.]

Friday night we kicked off the festivities by hitting up a Worcester Tornadoes game. Leo was actually into the game for a few innings, which was kind of surprising. His fascination for balls and people watching skills were on display and everyone in our section clearly loved the little guy.

Anna's infatuation with Twister, the Tornadoes mascot, continued. She brought her Twister doll that we got her last year and couldn't wait to see him in real life when we got there. Once again, she spent nearly the entire game worrying/wondering about Twister's whereabouts.

Unlike last year though, she wasn't afraid to go up to him and say hello. She actually wanted to give him some of her popcorn, then milk, then cotton candy... we eventually convinced Anna he wasn't hungry, so she settled for a high-five and a hug from the furry "dog".

I got it all on video and her (and Angie) are so cute after... as Anna says, Twister was so "comfully".



While Leo didn't go in for any action with Twister, he was perfectly content just hanging out in the stands and playing with Mommy...



On Saturday, we headed down to Jamie and Maura's house in Stoughton for a Fourth of July cookout, but first we decided to brave the Atlantic Ocean on the kayaks with the kids down at Plymouth Harbor. Don't worry, I had done a significant amount of research to find a good spot that would be safe for us and Plymouth Harbor was exactly that.

We headed down to Stephens Field, right on the water in Plymouth, to put the kayaks in there. Plymouth Harbor was absolutely mobbed with boats, but it was great to navigate through them all to get to the Mayflower (replica) that is docked in the harbor, along with the Plymouth Rock.

The Mayflower replica was pretty cool, but other than the historical significance of the Plymouth Rock, I could not have been less impressed. I mean, there are larger boulders in my parents front yard... seriously.

After kayaking, we had a picnic lunch back at Stephens Field, let Anna explore the playground for a little bit, and then we were off to Jamie's for the cookout.

It was an absolutely perfect day for some burgers and beers with good friends. We ended up pitching our tent outback of Jamie's house and stayed the night.

We headed home on Sunday morning to unpack and repack and then we were off to Boston. Scott and his roommate were out of town for the weekend, so they graciously offered up their apartment to us for the weekend so we could enjoy the Fourth in the city with the kids... and we did just that.

Sunday afternoon we got settled at Scott's and ventured into the city. The weather didn't cooperate that much, so we had dinner, checked out a few things and then headed back for a relatively quiet night at the apartment.

Monday, however, wasn't so quiet.

We started off the day just walking around the city and checking out all the huge boats in the Boston Harbor. It was hot early, so we let the kids cool off at the Rings Fountain that's part of the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

Leo was slightly intimidated by the big jets of water at first, but a little help from Ang and he was in full attack mode.

Shockingly, we pretty much had the fountains to ourselves, which was great because Anna was a maniac in the thing. Running, jumping, sliding, sitting. You name it, she was doing it.

After the fountains, we headed over to the Old State House to watch the reading of the Declaration of Independence from the site where it was originally read in 1776...

This wasn't high on the priority list for Angie and the kids, but it's something I always wanted to do and it was cool... if you're somewhat of an American history fan, like myself. I know I'm biased, but Boston is the best city and the history around every corner is what helps make the place so special, without a doubt.

After the reading, we headed to meet up with Tiffany, Pete and the kids where we caught the parade rolling by in front of Faneuil Hall...



Next up, the New England Aquarium. Tiff and Pete recently purchased a big family pass and were happy to treat us to a day with the fish.

On our way over to the aquarium though, we got sidetracked again by the Rings Fountain as we let the kids cool off. Anna and Andrew have become rather inseparable lately, so to no one's surprise, they were even attached at the hip in the fountain. Leo didn't get to venture in this time as it was super crowded, but he was perfectly content hanging out with the adults... most notably Uncle Pete.

Finally on our way to the aquarium and the three big cousins couldn't be any happier as they walked hand-in-hand with Aunt Tiff...

The aquarium was a blast and probably my favorite part of the day. With Andrew as the tour guide, he basically took Anna through the aquarium, showing and telling her everything he had learned the day before when he was there too. Andrew is freakishly smart with an unreal memory... he's one apple that fell way off the tree.

Anyway, when we stopped in a little nook of the Giant Ocean Tank, the kids were priceless... screaming at the top of their lungs when they'd see sharks, Natalie joking with Pete to "throw her in", me getting Andrew to believe that a fish was whistling. I could go on and on. We were only at that spot for about 15 minutes, but it really summed up the day with Tiff and Pete and the kids... tons of fun!

After the Aquarium, we hit up Tia's on the Waterfront for lunch and then ice cream in Faneuil Hall before saying goodbye to the George's as they headed home.

We once again regrouped back at the apartment before making a late-night run out to catch the fireworks. Both kids were fast asleep, but we just had to get them out to see some of the fireworks.

Leo was an absolute trooper. He woke up the second we put him in the stroller at 9:15 p.m. and stayed awake until about 11:30 when we got back. And, we were so glad that we took them out for the fireworks because Leo was in sheer awe at the spectacle.

It was so dark on the Longfellow Bridge, that the videos I tried to take didn't come out, but he was oohing, ahhing and pointing the entire time.

Anna, however, was not interested in being woken up to catch the fireworks... at least we tried.

Well, I hope you're exhausted from reading this uber-long blog post... imagine how we feel after just living it. Excuse me while I try to sneak a nap in this afternoon.

PS: Special thanks again to Scott and "The Grizz" for letting us stay at their awesome Beacon Hill apartment. We had a blast!

Play pals

By K.J. Cardinal

Anna and Leo have turned out to be great play pals. Basically, Anna puts on a show and Leo sits back, watches and laughs. It's really a win-win for everyone because Anna loves to make people laugh and Leo loves to giggle.

I'm sure there will come a day when Anna and Leo at each other's throats (right, Tiff?), but at least I'll have this video to remind me how cute they used to play together.


[WATCH VIDEO]

A Cardinal Fourth

By K.J. Cardinal

The Fourth of July turned into a nice little Cardinal shindig at our house down in Hudson.

The day started off with us thinking that Aunt Kate and Uncle Matt were going to come down for a quiet afternoon to hang out and see little Leo, but a quick phone call to Meme and Aunt Tiff had the entire family down.

Aunt Kate was probably the MVP of the day if you asked Anna and Leo.

After having Anna help her with her make-up the other day, Aunt Kate brought Anna down a present that consisted of different nail polishes and types of make-up. Anna was in her glory.

She immediately had to have her finger nails and toe nails painted and then proceeded to give everyone in the house a little eye shadow and blush. When I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE. Anna is such a girly girl at times.

As for Leo, he continued his string of unbelievably perfect behavior by just hanging out all day, sleeping and eating. He got to take a real solid nap on Aunt Kate and I think she fell even more in love with the little guy... if that's humanly possible.

Uncle Matt came down to finally take a gander at Leo and was kind enough to bring Bauer too... which was another big hit for Anna.

Anna was spoiled by cool Mater gifts from Uncle Matt too, but Leo was the one that really lucked out. Uncle Matt pulled out his bag of tricks and gave Leo a four-DVD set of the complete He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series. Such an awesome gift, given the fact that I was obsessed with He-Man while growing up. I can't wait to knock the dust off all the He-Men that are still up in my parents attic when Leo's old enough and watch the entire series with him. Such a great gift, Matt. Thanks!

After present time from Matt, we had lunch with leftovers from a catering gig that my parents brought down... shrimp, steak and tons of salads. What a great score for all of us!

While we all ate, Anna did a disappearing act under the dining room table with her new best friend, Bauer. She just wanted to lay next to him, patting him and rubbing his feet and tail. It was priceless.

We hung out for a few more hours with Meme and Papa and then the real party started once Andrew and Natalie showed up around 4 o'clock.

The kids are all at such a great age and get along so well. They went on the swing set, played in the kiddie pool and the sand box, but the most fun came when I broke out the hose.

Andrew proceeded to be a "fireman"... basically just spraying everything in site... most notably Natalie and Anna. It was hilarious, as the girls were loving it, almost as much as Andrew.

As if we weren't all already psyched up for the Cardinal vacation at the end of the month, the Fourth was just a nice little preview of the fun to come and we can't wait!

I think we'll keep him

By K.J. Cardinal

After just over 24 hours of Leo, we've decided that we'll keep the little guy. I mean, he's just too damn cute and I have too much footage of him at this point to just give him up. See Exhibit A...

Anyway, day two of Leo's life was filled with lots of introductions to new family members, which was fabulous, but the highlight of the day for me was being able to see Andrew and Natalie meet their new cousin Leo.

I just can't begin to express the overwhelming joy that Andrew and Natalie were filled with when they met Leo. It was impossible not to get wrapped up in the moment.

Here's a video that has a few clips from the exchange, but I was really just living in the moment and not capturing it all because it was just too meaningful to miss behind the lens of a camera for me. So, while this clip is absolutely beautiful, trust me when I say that it doesn't even begin to do the whole scenario justice.


[WATCH VIDEO]

I think Angie put the whole scene into perspective best at the end of it all when she said, "my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so much." It was so great... I wish Meme and Papa were still here to witness their grandkids in action, but I know that they'll get a full week of the Leo Lovefest when we go on our family vacation at the end of July.

---

A few house-cleaning things to note. We will be in the hospital until Thursday. We originally thought we'd be leaving on Wednesday, but where Leo was born after 8 p.m. on Monday night, they'll keep us that extra night.

We plan to be around all weekend in Hudson just enjoying our new bundle of joy. So, if you're dying to see the little guy and aren't able to make it to the hospital this week, then shoot me an email and let me know when you plan on coming by. If you want to come by the hospital tomorrow, visiting hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Lastly, they just took Leo to get circumcised and I have this knot in my stomach. I know it's a rite of passage of sorts, but it's gotta make every man cringe just a little.

February Vacation

By Tiffany George

The highlight of Andrew's February vacation was when Meme and Papa came over for the day. They arrived bright and early to cook breakfast, complete with sausage, muffins, munchkins and strawberries. After breakfast we spent the morning playing. First the kids built a huge train track all around the living room, then they let our cute bunny Comet hop all around it. They honestly spent most of the morning working in this. That was until the costumes came out. My mom had bought Andrew and Natalie a bunch of leftover costumes after Halloween, and they had a blast modeling them for my parents. Whether it was GI Joe, a Transformer, or a Clown, the smiles on my parents' faces when the kids turned around was priceless. Here is some photographic proof:

Thanks so much for breakfast and lunch Meme and Papa. And for the endless supply of coins AND dollars! We love you!

Take a chance, make it happen

By Tiffany George

Pop the cork, finger snapping...For those who enjoy going to Foxwoods, you may know this catchy tune that they once (and may still use) in their advertisements. Any time Pete and I go to Foxwoods we sing this song on our approach to the casino. Our singing on our last trip to Foxwoods was filled with anticipation for a different reason, however.

For Pete's 30th Birthday he and I went to Foxwoods for the night for a little grown-up fun. We had a great time, came home winners, and joined the new "Dream Points" club, formerly known as the Wampum club. About a week after our little getaway, we each got a mailer from the Dream Club with an offer. I got a voucher for 10 free points, which I thought was pretty good. Well, my high roller husband got an offer for two free nights in a hotel for every week in the month of January. We decided that a free hotel was too good to pass up, so we took the road trip with the kids.

I must be honest and admit that in the past when I would see people walking around with their children at Foxwoods, I thought they were pathetic. I mean, come on, they needed to gamble so much that they brought their kids????? Now I understand that for some maybe it is just a free minivacation.


We invited Grammy along on our trip as a way of thanking her for all of the time that she devotes to our cuties. I'm not sure who was more excited, Grammy or Andrew and Natalie. We embarked from our house during a snowstorm to make the trek to CT. We decided to break up our trip by stopping at Imajine That on the way down. We had gone there last year with KJ and Anna, and the kids loved the pretend kitchen, climbing structure, and other activities just as much this time around.

Once at Foxwoods, the kids were amazed. The large open spaces and eye catching stores were terrific and made for lot of fun walks. We were not sure what we would do while in Ct, but once we got there we decided to just stay put at Foxwoods for some free fun. The kids LOVED the escalators. We would just ride up, then down, up, then down, repeatedly. They also had the horizontal "escalator" people movers that were a hit too. To Andrew and Natalie riding these escalators was as fun as any amusement park ride, and it was free!

Aside from riding the escalators, we had two other major hot spot destinations: the pool and the Tree House Arcade. Both kids loved the pool, and both were much more comfortable in the water than they were last summer. Andrew, who previously rarely let go of the side to venture out in the water, plunged right in and swam all over the pool, confident that his life jacket would keep him safe. By the last day he was repeatedly sitting on the edge of the pool and "jumping in" so that his entire head went under water! Andrew even "swam" around in the shallow end without his life jacket on at all.

Natalie loved to swim and splash around the pool too. She loved to climb up the steps, then back into the pool, over and over again, and she was Grammy's girl all the way for this. I don't think Grammy minded one bit either!

We also went to the Tree House Arcade every day so that Andrew could play games to win tickets. On one of the first games he played on our first visit, he somehow won 140 tickets! You would have thought Santa was there! He was jumping up and down with excitement as the tickets were fed out of the machine. Natalie, on the other hand, was primarily concerned with putting coins into the slots. She didn't care about the game, she just liked getting the money to go in! Could be pricey :o)

Each night Grammy would retire with the cuties while Pete and I went out to try our luck at the tables. I ended up coming home up a bit which was an added bonus! Thanks for letting us do that Grammy!!!!

My favorite part of the trip, hands down, was on Wednesday morning, our last morning at Foxwoods. Our hotel room was set up so that Grammy had the first bed, Andrew was on the floor in his cool Cars sleeping bag in teh middle, then Pete and I slept in our bed, and finally Natalie was on the other side of our bed in her pack n play. On Wednesday morning I could tell Andrew was waking from his slumber, but I stayed put. He stood up in the dark room and instantly Natalie, who we thought was sleeping, started saying "Hi Bud, Hi Bud". Andrew went right over and proceeded to play with Natalie for another 20 minutes while he thought we were sleeping. They were just so sweet and nice to each other. Any time Natalie would try to call out to us (sleeping in the bed one foot away) Andrew would say "let's not wake up Mommy and Daddy, let's make sure they get all the sleep they need". This probably could and would have gone on all morning if we didn't get up and out of bed!

This was a great chance for us to get away from the grind of daily life and we loved it!

The Cardinal Vault XX: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

By K.J. Cardinal

Well, it's Super Sunday and all the roman numerals have reminded me that I haven't made an entry into The Cardinal Vault in quite some time. So, what better way to commemorate a Sunday, Sunday, Sunday than with a good old monster truck photo.

The 20th edition of The Cardinal Vault takes us back to June of 1985.

Here, Tiffany and I both easily fit inside the rim of a monster truck tire at the Rochester Fairgrounds.

It's a great photo and classic photo op, but my favorite part is absolutely my hat. I remember that it was a free giveaway at a C's game back in the day and I cherished that thing. I used to wear it religiously... that is until I got Bill Walton and Greg Kite to autograph it during the 1985-86 season. That's right... Greg Kite. I know, I'm a big timer.

Enjoy the Super Bowl tonight everyone. Think of me as I'll be spending all day at the Northeast-10 Swimming & Diving Championships at Southern Connecticut State University. What a way to enjoy this glorious Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.

Christmas extravaganza

By K.J. Cardinal

On Saturday, Tiffany and Pete graciously opened up their awesome home to both the Cardinal and Denton sides of our family in one Christmas extravaganza in Northwood. As you can imagine, we had a blast.

First off, I just want to thank Tiff and Pete for doing this. Having one day where both families got together definitely helped us out the most as we didn't have to make two trips to two different destinations on two separate days like we've done in the past. I know it's a lot of work to host a party like that, but we definitely appreciate it. Thanks a ton.

Anyway, once again it was confirmed that Christmas time is my favorite time of year. Sure, I love the summers and being able to have work slow down and enjoy myself a little more, but there's nothing like spending time with our entire family during the holidays... especially now that there are so many little ones running around.

There were many highlights to the day... watching the kids open their presents, Yankee Swaps, FOOD, a big family photo with the Cardinal side of the family (see below) and many more. Throughout the day I was continually snapping photos and ended up with about 150 from the course of the days events. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that about half of them were of Natalie.

For those of you who have not met Natalie, you're really missing out. She's obviously as cute as a button, but there's this sweet innocence with Natalie that lights up a room and makes everyone around her happy. She just has a carefree attitude that is so infectious. I'm looking forward to Christmas day at Tiff and Pete's house again so I can see her in action.

While the little kids really stole the show at the party, I was also happy to not only see my grandfather, but to also see that he was doing so well. His Parkinsons has really taken its toll on his body, but his mind is still as sharp as a tack and he still laughs at my jokes, so he's clearly got his wits about him.

He's the only living grandparent that I have, but thanks to my Aunt Carol, I was also able to take some time to look back at my Mema and Papa. Aunt Carol very thoughtfully put together a scrap book of sorts for me, which features photos of my great grandparents and their lineage on my dad's side. I know I've stated it here many times, but my Aunt Carol values family and family history more than anyone I've ever met and her gift means so much to me. Definitely the biggest highlight of the day for me personally... thanks Auntie.

Christmas isn't here yet, but it's already been one of the best holiday seasons ever.

Monster Mash: Cardinal Edition

By Katie Cardinal

I thought this would get us into the Halloween Spirit!!!

Andrew unplugged

By K.J. Cardinal

During our 2009 Cardinal family vacation back in July, Andrew tore the roof off the place with this unplugged set. I love how he takes requests...



[WATCH MOVIE]

Natalie...15 months (and a day)

By Tiffany George

First of all, I need to thank KJ for putting up pictures of my cuties along with the photos of Anna, because I have been seriously delinquent in that department. We got a new computer and need to get a device to put our camera card into, so for now, this post will be photo-free. Sorry!

Oh, I just wish you all could see Natalie Jane in action. She is such a little blessing. She is the happiest, friendliest baby you could ever see. No matter where we go, she waves to everyone and won't stop until they wave back. She also says "hi" which is just priceless. We went away this past weekend to Lincoln, NH, and after breakfast one morning, she walked along the entire restaurant, waving good-bye to every person at every table. This is just typical Natalie in action. She also LOVES to run around in a mall, grocery store, or anywhere with open spaces and lots of people. Aside from babies, she also adores dogs. Go figure!

Her hair is really growing in now, and it is CURLY. It so so sweet! The curls are mainly in the back, but the hair growing in on top is curly as well. We have appropriately started calling her Curly Sue, and Andrew has picked right up on this. If he's not calling her Curly Sue, he calls her NaTaLEE (which he can now pronounce correctly in its entirety), baby, or beautiful.

Andrew and Natalie still absolutely adore each other. Andrew is so nice to her almost all of the time. He doesn't mind if she lays on him, pulls his hair, or steals his food. I can't imagine him being a nicer, more kind boy. Last night before bed, Natalie kept grabbing onto Andrew's jammie shirt while she dragged him all over the place. He just giggled and giggled, making her giggle all the more.

And while Natalie loves to blow kisses to anyone departing, she is quite stingy with giving out actual kisses, though Andrew gets them all the time. She has started this new thing, where very rarely, she'll just look up at me with her beautiful little face and put her lips out just a tiny bit...melts my heart every time.

Natalie also loves reading books now, or should I say flipping pages. Key ingredients to a good book in her perspective are: pages to flip, babies, doggies, or fuzzy things that she can touch. She insists that she be in your lap if you are going to read her a book. She comes right up and steps one foot inside of my crossed legs, then turns around and parks her cute little bum.

She is also really starting to understand what we are saying, and it is so cute. If I say "go get a snack cup out of the drawer" off she marches! She also thoroughly understands when it's time for bed. I will be holding her, and when I hollar to Pete to come get her for bed, she instantly starts to snuggle me. Lucky me! We do this a few times just so I can get additional love!

Her vocabulary is also expanding by the day. She can say many words, ranging from Momma and Dadda to cheese, please, and nose. Her new favorite word is duck, which she quickly picked up this past weekend when she admired the ducks in the pond at our hotel. She's got a few animal sounds down (sheep, doggie, horsey, and dinosaur, of course) and knows most of the parts of her body. She loves to go up to people and say "nose, nose" while she points a finger at their nose...most people are afraid she's going for the eyes, but it's honestly only their nose. While she does avoid other people's eyes, she has a penchant for touching her own eyes. She's given herself bloodshot eyes on 3 occasions already. What a crazy noodlehead!

She also just recently discovered her shadow. This morning as I was getting breakfast ready, she went over by the door to the deck and just sat down, then kept waving and saying hi. The little cutie was waving and saying hi to her own shadow. It doesn't get any cuter than this folks!

Natalie is also Miss Adventurous. She has absolutely no fear. I need to be right by her side every minute of hte day or she will end up with a battle wound. Her most recent injury came the other day when she was running around Andrew's room, tripped, and took a header directly into the edge of Andrew's open bifold closet door. It left a nice straight bruise and a little blood...but have no fear, Andrew instantly ran downstairs to get her a boo boo bunny.

Natalie has also learned to yell. As one person once told me, she does have a good set of lungs. We are in the process of teaching her to ask or sign rather than yell, and thankfully that appears to be working out! She's happy when she's getting what she wants, but when she doesn't, she's not too happy...but who is??? :o)

These two cuties certainly keep me with my hands full...but my heart is so full of joy and love too!

Andrew turns three

By K.J. Cardinal

Most people associate Memorial Day or the end of the school year with the start of summer, but not me. I know that the summer is upon us once we have celebrated Andrew's birthday... which we did on Saturday.

Perfect weather and party planning of the century by Tiffany yielded an amazing party for the most amazing little boy in the world.

Andrew was the luckiest kid on the planet as the bus-themed party was top notch all around.

I had such a hard time choosing a few photos of the kiddos at the party, that I had to put together a little movie. Enjoy... and Happy Birthday Andrew!



[WATCH MOVIE]

Another baby, another blog

By K.J. Cardinal

As if welcoming a beautiful baby boy, Owen Daniel, into the world two weeks ago wasn't enough for Jenny & Rob, now they have welcomed a beautiful new blog into the world wide web, www.HutchisonBlog.com.

I'm so happy for Jenny & Rob. For those of you who don't know them, they have to be two of the most genuine people I've ever met in my entire life. Despite being a Delaware Blue Hen, Rob's actually a great guy and as Tiff's best friend, Jenny is like family. I actually lived with the two back in 2003 out near Coolidge Corner.

For the record, this is the sixth blog that I've set up now... I'm single-handedly keeping this Internet thing afloat.

Imajine That

By K.J. Cardinal

Tiffany, Pete, Andrew and Natalie kicked off their vacation today by meeting Anna and I at this place in Lawrence called Imajine That. It's pretty much a kid's dream.

For $8.95 a child, you can spend all day on the second floor of this old mill turned kid's playland. They have everything from an elaborate jungle gym to a kid's grocery store and everything in between. Needless to say it was a blast.

I feel like it's been FOREVER since I've seen Andrew and Natalie, so it was such a treat to get to spend time with the kiddos... and Tiff and Pete too, of course.

I must say that Andrew is absolutely the nicest, most considerate little kid that I have ever seen. The entire day he was looking out for Anna by helping her up and down parts of the jungle gym, trying to encourage her to go down the big slide by herself and being gentle with the girls in the boucy house. Of all the amazing things about Andrew, I think that his caring and considerate nature (for Anna, in particular) is my favorite thing about him... followed closely by his love affair with Papa... that's just awesome.

Anyway, Natalie keeps her streak alive of getting exponentially cuter every time I see her. She was taking steps while pushing a grocery cart and lawn mower today, so it will only be a matter of time until that cutie really turns Tiffany's world upside-down when she starts walking :)

When we first got there, "Nat Nat" was acting shy with me and almost seemed to be frightened by the sight of me (insert joke here). But after about 15 minutes, she was her normal self smiling right away and flirting with me. She's so good natured it's scarry.

After spending a few hours in Imajine That, we ventured downstairs to Sal's for lunch. We had a great time, highlighted by Andrew eating his multi-color, fish-shaped, cheese raviolis with bright blue cheese inside.

We parted our ways after lunch. We headed home and the George's continued out to East Hampton to visit the prego Jenny and Rob. So many of our friends now are pregnant... it's unbelievable.

Anna's great day continued when we got home as we played with her Easter gifts from Andrew (sidewalk chalk and a bubble gun) before heading out for a long bike ride. We stopped off at the playground down the street first so she could hit the swings and go down the slide and then we were off for downtown.

We rode all the way down to Dairy Joy, but no, we didn't stop to get an ice cream. Then, we headed home.

On the way back, Anna was tapping me on the back saying and we had this conversation:

Anna: Daddy, Daddy, Daddy
KJ: Yes Anna
Anna: Night, night
KJ: Are you tired?
Anna: Sleep, sleep
KJ: Do you want to sleep?
Anna: No

It was a cute exchange the first time, but I got a real kick out of it by about the third time she pulled the routine. I was expecting her to just fall asleep in the bike seat, but she didn't.

I can't express how much Anna loves the outdoors. We were gone on our bike ride for about two hours and sure enough when we got back home and went into the house, she ran over to the front door and started crying and saying "Out, out". I've never seen a kid that likes the outdoors so much.

It was a gorgeous day, so I kind of felt her pain about heading inside... but I had a blog post to write... give a Dad a break.

Andrew is my Valentine...he looks just like Frankenstein

By Tiffany George

That title is written in typical Kim fashion.

It’s impossible to believe that over a month has gone by since I posted about Natalie turning 9 months. Though life does pass by very quickly here, we try to take time to appreciate what we have every day. The other night as Pete and I were going to bed we were talking about our cuties as we often do, and I was saying that Andrew started saying “right now”, and that I felt bad for teaching him that. Then I was struck by a fit of laughter, as I said that I wonder what he thinks “right now” means. He gets about the same response out of me when he says it as I do out of him when I say it! I also figure that I probably have him quite baffled as to what “two more minutes” means as well.

That being said, life with a 2 ½ year old can certainly be trying at times. Andrew has learned that he doesn’t have to do what I say…what a bummer! :o) And he likes to test his limits just to be sure that he still can’t spill his milk all over the floor today like he did yesterday. But having a toddler is also so much more than that. It’s him being content to just use his new scissors to cut paper into scraps or “sprinkles” for a good hour; it's being so proud to count to 10 without skipping 5,6, & 7; it’s him using the play kitchen to serve Pete and I a pretend dinner (usually pizza), day in and day out; it’s going in at night to admire that sweet angelic sleeping face that just hours earlier said “I love you undernee the moon”; it’s him getting excited over the chance to give Natalie a piece of his banana, or a piece of cheese folded just right; it’s trying to keep a straight face when he tells us that his penis has a circle and that it is “so long”; it’s discovering that this is only the beginning of difficult questions, such as asking me what I meant when I said a friend’s water broke; it’s being patient when I am asked for the umpteenth time “Momma what you do-tin?”; it's getting excited about putting the sticker from the fruit on the globe from its country of origin every time; it’s cherishing hugs and kisses, especially the chocolately ones; it’s savoring this time when he asks me if he can help me clean, knowing these days will be gone before I know it; it’s being careful what I say because little ears are always looking for ideas of new things to do; it’s taking a deep breath when I’m woken up by him yelling that his entire bureau drawer fell to the floor, and being relieved that his precious little body was unharmed; it’s being patient while he fits that one puzzle piece in just right; it’s seeing the world through the eyes of someone who gets excited over cleaning knobs to make them shiny; it's being proud that he can put his own pants and underpants on, even if they are often backwards; it’s seeing him as a brother who honestly does not want Natalie to get hurt by playing with a toy too small for her; it’s thanking him for the plastic flowers that he repeatedly puts in a cup of water for me to put on the window sill; but most of all, it’s just about a love that I never thought could be possible. Having children is the best gift anyone could ever ask for.

12 Days of Christmas

By K.J. Cardinal

Those of you that have been around my family over the holidays have probably witnessed and maybe even partaken in the Cardinal version of "The 12 Days of Christmas."

Sometimes my dad is playing it on his guitar, while others sing and dance along. Often times, people pick a partner and draw a specific number out of a hat.

For instance, one year my dad and his buddy Freeman were "Two Turtle Doves". Every time that portion of the song comes up, they'd step into the circle and sing their part with alternate lyrics, while acting it out. I don't remember all of them, but I know they did "Two Neckers Necking". Just imagine two 50+ men with large beards necking...very sexy, especially when one of them is your father.

Anyway, in the video below, the Cardinal women put on quite the show with their traditional song and dance rendition. Keep in mind that this is the final verse... they did this for the first 11 verses as well. Enjoy!

Gorgeous

By K.J. Cardinal

I am on a two-hour layover in the San Francisco Airport, on my way to Hawaii, and I decided to take the Christmas photos off my camera. I found this one and just couldn't wait to post it as it is just so great.

Even though Tiffany's my sister and all, I have no problems saying that both of these girls are absolutely gorgeous. Enjoy!

The Cardinal Vault XIX: Smile Santa, please!?

By K.J. Cardinal

The 19th installment into The Cardinal Vault takes us back to December of 1982 (I think) and fittingly it somewhat celebrates the holiday season that is upon us.

I believe (and maybe my mother can confirm) that this was taken a few weeks prior to Tiffany's fourth birthday and a few months before my third. Regardless, Tiffany and I seem rather content to be sitting on the lap of this angry Santa.
Seriously sir, can't you muster a smile?!?! I mean, you should have known that someday the little boy on your right knee would post this on his blog and rip you to shreds for looking pretty creepy. I give you props for the quality effort put into your hair and beard, but if you don't smile like Saint Nick, then you can't sell it.

If you were the real Santa, then you'd be celebrating the joyous occasion of having such a cute girl sitting on your lap with a vintage Strawberry Shortcake shirt on...not to mention the preppy little fella on your other leg, rocking a collared shirt under a V-neck sweater. If those two don't put a smile on your face, then I don't know what could.

Northwood!

By Tiffany George
Andrew (2 1/2 years) and Natalie (8 months). Notice Andrew's hand around his sister. Too cute!

Moving in December?!? Yes, that's right, Pete and I made the plunge to move to Northwood just over a week ago. We did a lot of research into school systems, and a lot of soul searching to decide what we felt was best for our family, and Northwood came out on top. We decided that we only wanted to move once, and we like the school system the best here, so here we are in Northwood, NH. We were not intending to move at this time of year, but this house just came along and took us by storm! Our house is just what we were looking for and the kiddos seem to be adjusting just fine too. We are probably most excited about things like a big silverware drawer, a dishwasher that works well, having a basement, a garage...and did I mention a basement and garage?! Not having to scrape ice off from the van in the freezing cold the other made me incredibly grateful already!

One very cool thing about our house is that through our backwoods there is a farm with horses. Andrew thinks this is unbelievable, and riding his horse Butterscotch has really taken on a new meaning!

Andrew was fine with leaving Dodge Street. I spent a lot of time prepping him for the move and it seemed to go as well as we could have hoped. That first day he kept saying "no go home, no go home" as nightfall approached, and he was saying it in a hopeful way, like please let us stay here. It was priceless. Since then he has asked to go back to Dodge several times, mainly if we are in the car and we are headed home, but he seems to be okay with living at the new house now.

Here he is carrying our flag as we left Dodge Street. You can see him waving good bye with his cute little hand.

Not surprisingly, Natalie was her little cute happy self about the move, as usual.

He seemed a bit perplexed by the new house at first, but both he and Natalie certainly like their new playroom. Katie and I worked very hard to get the playroom together on Thursday before the kids got to see it on Friday, so I'm glad that they love it so much.

This pretty much sums up the kids' reaction to new playroom that first day:

I don't have a picture of it yet, but you can see these little square mirrors on the wall behind Natalie. She loves to smile and giggle at the cute baby in the mirror. Sometimes she seems to be looking behind the wall to see where that baby is. She is so adorable.

Aside from 2 1/2 days of having no power, life is pretty much carrying on as usual here in Northwood. Thanks to Mom, Dad, Pete, Gail, and Katie, we were able to get most of our stuff unpacked over the first few days. Most everything is put away where it belongs aside from the office, craft room, and a few boxes in our bedroom. We have realized that hiring a moving company was probably some of the best money we could have ever spent! I'm sure our relatives agree :o)

Though we didn't need help in moving all of our boxes and furniture, it still took A LOT of help to get our house to its current state! From babysitting and box moving to our own meals on wheels, our families really came through in the clutch! Also, thanks to our good friend Todd who helped Pete haul a ton of boxes the day before the moving company came!

To keep some normalcy to our lives, we of course had to get our Christmas tree. Despite the rain, Andrew picked out a perfect tree, and he had an absolute blast decorating it, as the photos show. Natalie wants to attack the tree, but she is learning.Do you like this ornament Mommy? How about I put it right here? (D here, as he likes to say for some weird reason)

Wow! I did it!In our attempts to keep Natalie away from the Christmas tree, she loves to play with the play table. Since crawling is now old-hat for her, she is now mastering pulling up to standing!Here are a few other Christmas shots that I took in an attempt to get the perfect shot. I feel that they are all just perfect, so I am sharing lots. Enjoy!Gotta run! Please let us know if you want to come check out our new pad. Andrew loves to show it off!