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!

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!

Mic check

By K.J. Cardinal

The new Pack Network microphone flags came in this week and Anna and Papa had to test them out last night.

Christmas Tree 2009

By K.J. Cardinal

Once again we kept the Cardinal family tradition alive that my parents began many years ago as Anna, Sammy, Angie and I went and got our Christmas tree on Papa's birthday.

This was the first year that we've cut down our own tree as a family and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to cut one down each year. Definitely felt like more of a tribute to Papa in that regard because he would cut one down each year for us.

Anna wasn't into the cutting down process too much and when we brought the tree in she was rather unresponsive as well. But, once I plugged the lights in she opened her eyes real wide and shouted "Christmas!"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

After decorating the tree, all Anna wanted to do was sit in the empty box that we took the decorations and lights out of and cover-up like it was her little bed or something. Priceless as always.

Anna recycles

By K.J. Cardinal

Today Anna took her first step...toward being an environmentally conscious person.

With a 30-gallon garbage bag full of empty beer cans and bottles, Anna and I ventured to the "recycle center" (read: liquor store) today to do our civic duty and recycle.

I was a little concerned how Anna would handle the weird smell and loud noises that come from the machines that crush the cans and smash the bottles, but as always she seemed to be rather unphased. Actually, I would go as far to say that she rather enjoyed it.

She appeared to be amazed by the fact that the cans would just disappear. When I'd put one in the machine she'd stare at it for a second and then look at me, to ask "What happened to the can?"

I'm pretty sure that Anna had this reaction for all 132 cans and bottles that I recycled. It was pretty funny.

As I left the store, I couldn't help but think how much my Papa would get a kick out of seeing Anna's reaction to the recycling. Afterall, Papa was the king of recycling.

He really used his Yankee ingenuity to come up with quite a few innovative ways to recycle cans. Throughout my childhood I can recall him crushing cans with sledge hammers, presses and even a contraption he made to go with his wood splitter. He was really a pioneer.

Anna has a long way to go to reach Papa's level. And, in order for her to do that, I better keep on drinking. So, I'm up for the challenge...consider it my way of giving back to the environment.

The Cardinal Vault VII: Papa's Grandkids

By K.J. Cardinal

The seventh entry into The Cardinal Vaults comes courtesy of cousin Vicky. In this photo, Papa is pictured with all six of his grandchildren.

For those of you who don't know everyone in this photo, I'll start with myself in the bottom left and identify my cousins/siblings going clockwise: cousin Billy, cousin Vicky, my sister Tiffany, cousin Missy and my sister Katie. When I say "cousin Billy" or "cousin Vicky" I can't but help thing of Balki Bartokomous saying "Cousin Larry" back in the day on Perfect Strangers...but I digress.

Anyway, there are three particular things I love about this photo:


1) Vicky's "D.A.R.E. to keep kids off drugs" t-shirt. An instant classic. I can remember taking the D.A.R.E. classes in elementary school and that D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Officer Roberge would be proud.

2) My Reggie Lewis t-shirt and Celtics shorts. You can tell that my love affair with the Celtics started at a young age and it's probably no coincidence that I ended up attending the college that Reggie put on the map, Northeastern. Man, I wish I kept that shirt.

3) Papa holding Katie. As you can tell from previous entries in The Cardinal Blog, my entire family adored Papa to no end. But I have to admit that no matter how much me, Tiffany, Billy, Missy and Vicky loved Papa, Katie was without a doubt his favorite grandchild. I, however, hold the unique distinction of being the only child or grandchild that Papa ever "spanked." I did deserve it though because I whipped a rock at Tiffany and hit her in the head after she was gloating about catching more fish than me. Give me a break though, I was probably only 6 years old...but you can see my competitive spirit started way back then...d*mn you Tiffany.

I have another good photo of Papa with his grandkids (before the "chosen one" Katie was born) that will appear in The Cardinal Vault at a later date. Check back soon for the latest entries and thanks again cousin Vicky for scanning in some classic pix.

The Cardinal Vault debuts

By K.J. Cardinal

Today marks a day that will go down in Cardinal Blog history as The Cardinal Vault debuts. Every week or so, The Cardinal Vault will feature a vintage photo, document or (eventually) video of a Cardinal family member.

It's only fitting that the inaugural entry into The Cardinal Vault is of the Cardinal that started it all, Leo "Papa" Cardinal.

Papa is pictured below with the most impressive catch of his fishing career. Papa was awarded Sports Afield's Distinguished Angler Award in 1981 for this fish. Using a fly that Mema tied, Papa reeled in an 8 pound, 12.5 ounce brown trout on a fly rod out of a river up in Pittsburgh, N.H.

Sports Afield sent along a certificate recognizing Papa's achievement as well. That certificate read "Distinguished Angler is presented to Leo Cardinal for outstanding angling achievement by catching a trophy fish while conforming to the highest principles of sportsmanship."


Papa and this fish will make another appearance in The Cardinal Vault at some point, so be sure to check back frequently for the latest additions.