Tripp

New Blog

2009-10-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

We've Overloaded our picture quota!!

So we moved:

http://adventuresincopleyland.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there! :-)

Rock 'n Roll

2009-10-02T18:07:00.001-07:00

***Warning! This post is Video & YouTube - erific!

Be sure to check out the links and Vids!****

Last weekend was all about the music! Friday night there was an impromptu jam session at our friends Jen & Bobby's before their wedding on Sunday. Jen & Bobby have a band - Jennifer Hill & Co - and Jen was recently voted best new female artist in Connecticut!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ3ttAyQokQ

So, musician friends have musician friends....and next thing ya know, the amps and mics are outside and we're rockin out!

Loud music = ear protection for the Trippster!

He's so good - never tried to tear the headphones off and danced until he passed out
Tripp couldn't resist, he HAD to jam too!
When he wasn't jamming, he was sharing high fives with everyone between musical rants

When Bob got a turn, Tripp was quick to sit on Dada's lap and beat on the drums - looks like we have a future musician on our hands!

On Saturday we went to the Woodstock Art & Country Fair to see our friend Kristin and her acapalla group, Red No. 5, perform

Tripp listening intently

Red No. 5

They sang Tripp's favorite - "Crayola" - and dedicated it to him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTWG7doW3Xk

Kristin is a fellow teacher at GHS

An autographed CD!

The Ladies gave Tripp a private serenade of "If your Happy and ya know it...."

To wrap it up, on Sunday, we went to Jen & Bobby's wedding at Rocky Neck State Park.

He's such a ladies man

Right about now is when Tripp yelled "WOW! Pretty!"

Jen's daughter, Scarlet (8), was included in the ceremony too.

Bobby also pledged his love to her - so sweet!

Mr & Mrs. Schwecherl

Tripp made time for ALL the ladies - here he is chatting it up with baby Sarah

Cha Cha Slide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCEu_dFfw6I

Let's go crazy!

The smooth jazz band time was over and the DJ started playing some tunes

Nascar

2009-09-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

The Big E!

2009-09-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Grands Capano came to visit and we all went to the Big E!
Yummy - Fair food!

Future NASCAR lover?
"I just wanna go fast!"

Arkansas Bob is rubbing off on the New Yorkers - we all got cowboy hats! Yee-Haw!

The Big E is an agricultural fair

Llama, Llama Red Pajama

The guys plot our course

Guys & Gars

Tripp loves caramel apples - w/ sprinkles!

Pa-Ray!

Showing off his Mardi-Gra Parade loot

Even the police get into the spirit of things.

Love those Mickey Mouse gloves!

It was a long, fun filled day.

My tuckered out men

Don't worry about the eye patch - he's okay. Tripp has a weak eye, we were lovingly calling it his "stink eye". It ends up he has a common childhood ailment called Strabismus ( a weak tendent in his eye that allows it to wander when he becomes tired - and gives him double vision.)

He is going to wear an eye patch for 2 - 4 hours a day for the next 2 months to strengthen his eye. He is doing great and doesn't seem to mind the patch at all - we call it "Pirate Time!"

Tripp sporting his pirate patch & booty. The guys went golfing and Mom & I went shopping.

At the mall we hung out at the playscape - a popular kiddie hang out.

And then we treated ourselves to some Friendly's for lunch.

No highchair for Tripp, he gets a booster seat!

Pirate CaCa and Pirate Tripp

Jam packed weekend!

2009-09-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since our last post....camera broke and a replacement had to be researched and purchased. I'm glad to announce that we decided on a beautiful, orange, Olympus Tough 6000. It's waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof; Tripp-proof!

To break in our new camera, we had a full weekend of fun & friends!

1st stop - Matteo's 2 year birthday party!

Lots of kids, Lots of bikes.

Who needs a big wheels? Tripp goes straight for the big boy bike!

It was a Curious Creatures party!

Curious Creatures is a company that brings critters to your house for a touch and feel show.

The kids and big kids loved it!

He was such a good boy!

He waited patiently for each animal to come his way for a gentle touch.

SNAKE!

watching the show with friends Becky and Thomas

getting ready to hold the Big Boa!

WOW!

SNAKE!

Matteo gets a souvenir shirt

Yummy! Ice Age cake

friends Oliver (top) & Thomas (bottom)

Matteo's grandpa made him a special donut hole & cool whip cake

Hugs for friends

The next day started with a trip to Brownstone park.

I took my Outdoors Club kids there in the morning....no Tripp was not with me, but I did get to test out the waterproof feature of my new camera - too cool!!

Zip Lining

Some Outdoors Club Kids

This is me getting "launched" by my fellow club advisor, Doug

Later that day, I met Bob & Tripp at our friends

Bobby & Jen's Jack & Jill backyard bash!

Lots of kids and fun.....but, not too many pics. :-(

My battery died, guess water fun and videos = battery drainage

Bonny & Jen are musicians (Jennifer Hill & Company)

so of course we HAD to Jam!

But first Tripp got to try his hand at the drums & vocals

Beach!

2009-08-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

I grew up with the Long Island Sound practically in my backyard.....and I took it for granted. I was never a sun bather, so unlike my sun worshipper friends I did not feel the need to lay out on the beach....and unfortunately, the Long Island beach (Sunken Meadow) has many, many rocks - lots of them being sharp! Combined with murky-ish water and my fear of not being able to see my feet and what I'm swimming with - like sharks!....my love affair with the beach was limited to evening bonfire parties, senior skip days and people watching.

My Landlocked Southern Husband has no pressing passion for the beach - he thinks the water is too cold......unless we're in the Caribbean, then we both LOVE the beach! So after living away from the ocean for so long (3+ years), when I returned to the East Coast my closest desire to returning to the beach was in the form of attending concerts at Jones Beach....until my Colorado based gal pal Aubrey said, "hey! let's take the kids to the beach!"

So I caved, we packed up and drove down to the shoreline to explore the CT side of the Long Island Sound. (Some people might question why we didn't go to the OCEAN. The answer in simple, we didn't want the kids to have any reason to fear the water due to large waves, the Sound is closer and a middle point from our homes.

......we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the beach! The sand is smooth, the water is refreshing, the people are nice and I can see my toes! Tripp can't get enough - he loves the sand and surf!

Thanks Aubrey & Penelope!

I also rediscovered the activity of sandcastle building. Tripp of course demanded sand Snake! One day it was a snake, then a snake eating a fish, then many many small castles so Tripp could play Godzilla and smash them all.

Sand Fish decorated with rocks, seaweed and matchbox cars :) And of course they needed to be car friendly - Vroom, Vroom!

Look Mama, Boat!

Tripp, king of all wild things, said "I'll eat you up!"

Tripp & Penny model their "Mermaid Seaweed"

We dug a hole and the kids took turns standing in it and pouring water onto their feet

Ella & Tripp buried in the sand

little piggies

Napping on the beach

You can see the quality of picture has been slowly declining throughout these pictures....sadly, my camera died this day. RIP my little Cannon Power Shot. You did me right for 3 jam packed years.

Unfortunately this means that there are no more good beach pictures to accompany our many, many glorious days of beach lovin :(

Not to worry! I have done my research and will be buying a new camera very, very soon!

But, as you know...I HAVE to take pictures! We went to the beach several more times before I knew I had to find a quick temporary fix. So I went to Walgreen's and bought a $10 kid's digi camera - terrible quality. I guess that's why it was $10!

While we waited for our friends Beth, Evan & Nora to join us, Tripp made quick friends with a near by toddler. He yelled "hey, kid!" as he ran down to the water to introduce himself

Friends Beth, Nora & Evan join us

Evan (5)

Evan (5), Nora (2)

The beach was crowded that day. Tripp loved it, a bigger audience, more kids to play with and more big kids! (Tripp loves big kids)

Us swimming.

Tripp wears a life vest and loves his independence, he swims along side of me.

We're pretty far out, I'm treading water!

Nudie beach booty!

Tripp was cold, cold. So I stripped him of his wet clothes and swimmie diaper and wrapped him in a towel for snack time. When he was dry and re-fueled he jumped off my lap and started playing in the sand before I could get a diaper on him! In this pic, I've told him that I'm coming to get him and diaper him - he's up and running! Yup, I had to chase that little nudie booty baby around the beach! Good thing everyone taught it was wildly entertaining :)

I finally got that diaper on him!

Aquarium

2009-08-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a visit with Grands Capano & Uncle Brian.

While we were there we went to Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead.

This is cool:

they have a seal habitat in front of the entrance. This way the kids can check out some marine life while the parents wait in line. During this visit, we were treated to some newborn seals!

As soon as we walked in there was a sting ray petting tank. They had food, so you could feed the string ray and they practically jumped out of the tank!

Bob & Tripp in their Dinosaur shirts!

Piranhas.

The sign says they are misunderstood....I'm not biting

People tank diving with the sharks

Tripp & Uncle Brian, getting a closer look at the Penguins!

Tripp checks out the map

Silly Uncle Brian!

They had a touch & feel Salt Marsh

Grands Capano

(about to celebrate 35 years together!)

AAARRRR, there were pirates at the aquarium

Kisses from Gamma

That's just cool

They also had a archeology site for the kids to discover.......

Dinosaur bones

Gems

and an underwater view of the snorkel pond

Capano Clan w/ Happy Feet

SNAKE!

What a great day! Our tired munchkin slept the whole way home

Time to play with the pups!

Swimming!

2009-08-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Great - Granny!

2009-08-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

Summer Adventures!

2009-07-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

The other day, with rain in the forecast,
Tripp, Lukas, Erin & I decided to go on an adventure to KidCity!

KidCity is an interactive kid's museum or lots of cool, indoor, theme room playgrounds!

So, we piled into one car and ventured into Middletown. The boys loved having car company and giggled & talked the whole way there

a rare low in conversation

Bubbles!

There were lots of tunnels and caves to explore!

Lukas taking his Mama for a ride

Tripp & Lukas whip up some tasty treats for the mamas!

Tripp did a really good job when it came to taking turns & sharing

Tripp worked the crank while Luke put the fish on the conveyor belt

Chillin with his buds in a VW Bug

working at the bakery

Best Buds

We spent a good amount of time with the carrots. Both boys really enjoyed this area

The Dinosaur Room was an instant favorite!

ROAR!

Our sleepy monkeys

That weekend, inspired by his love of dinosaurs,

we took Tripp to The Dinosaur Place.

A large section o the park is a nature walk full of life size replica dinosaurs!

DI-NO-SAUR!!!!

I think I might have to strap my running shoes back on - Tripp loves to run

Run, Mama, Run!

Slide!

Another area of the park is the largest Splash Pad in CT!

Hanging at the water table.

Time for some beach blanket lunch!

What a mug

Yummy Plum!

Time for some playground fun!

a dinosaur bone balance beam to get to the slide

He's a monkey!

He loves to climb!

Okay GaGa, we need your engineering genius to
help us re-create this awesome rope jungle gym in our backyard!

Water Rat

2009-07-24T20:31:00.001-07:00

Yeah! It is finally starting to feel like summer! We had a couple of really hot days and Tripp loves cooling off with some cool, cool water.

At first I was afraid that Tripp's love of the water had not returned this year. When we arrived at the Splashpad at Lauter Park, he was so excited. Wiggling and squealing with delight at the sights and sounds of kids playing in the water.....but when we entered the splashpad, it was a whole different scenario.

This was the closest he got to the water.

So, we ventured over to the river side and Tripp's love of water re-appeared! He was jumping in like a froggie, hunting for submerged sticks, splashing himself & mommy, exploring how deep he could go and practiced his swimmie arms!

He was so high energy in the river that I could not stop, get out, grab the camera, take pictures and still be there to pick him up if he went under. Finally, he started to tire so I quick grabbed the camera and took these couple of pics.

Water in the face from a splash session

hunting for sticks

Then it was off to friend Lukas's house or some fun in the sun while we celebrated Jeff 's birthday. (Luke's daddy)

They started in the kiddie pool

Then they discovered the hose.....

..let the fun begin!

They took turns spraying each other

Pool Time!

Tripp jumped in off the steps and later he jumped in off the side of the pool!

he showed off his swimmie arms and kickie legs to Lian

Best Buds

Tripp demands water, so while I work on the landscaping he enjoys running threw the sprinkler.

This summer promises to be full of water filled good times :-)

So much has happened!

2009-07-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile, but we're back! Home from our latest adventure.

WARNING! This is a HUGE post! Tons - O - Pics!

One night Bob & I were sitting around, listening to music, surfing the net and chatting about the possibility of a summer festival. We checked out some of the local festivals...okay, but the line ups were not knocking our socks off. Then Bob brought up Rothbury.

An art, music & eco-friendly festival in Rothbury, Michigan. Then we saw that String Cheese Incident was headlining! Cheese is one of our favorite bands and they have been on hiatus for four years and we missed them - SOLD! We called Grands Capano who were more than happy to hang with Tripp & Cedar while we were gone and Viola! instant vacation!

Tripp showing off our Rothbury tickets

......but first we had a couple of things to take care. The mini van, who we had named Magilla Gorilla, started leaking power steering fluid and the mechanic said he had to remove the entire drive shaft because it was falling off the van!! The mechanic said finding a new veichle was a good idea! We decided to do just that

Magilla Gorilla

....but 1st, one last night at the drive in with Gorilla.
The drive in is AWESOME! We love it! We arrive early, get a good spot, blow up the air mattress and make our "nest", eat pizza, drink beer, play, socialize with our community and see 2 movies for the price of one! But the best part is, Tripp can go to sleep. So Bob & I get to continue seeing new release movies - it's a date night - beer, pizza, movie :-)

For our last drive in with Magilla we watched UP! Tripp loved it! He stayed up for the whole movie and laughed out loud! His favorite part was definitely the talking dogs...and the squirrels!
The 2nd movie was The Hangover. Perfect. 1st movie for the kids, 2nd for the grown ups......and yes, Tripp drifted off to lullaby land as soon as he realized the cartoon movie was over.

in our drive in "nest"

Back to the car hunt:
We did our research. Checked Consumer Reports, Edmonds.com, CarFax, etc... and we decided to check out several cross over/wagons - Dodge Cavalier, Pontiac Vibe, Ford Focus, etc...but we fell for the Kia Rondo. They call it a micro van. Smaller than the mini van but still lots of trunk/wagon space. Most importantly, the back seats fold down and create a level trunk / wagon, perfect for the blow-up mattress for the drive in! We haven't tried it out at the drive in yet...but soon, very soon.

Red Rover & Stella

Spacious!

We test drove a couple of different Rondos in the area. The big deciding factor - cruise control. Un-negotiable! With a 30 hour round trip cross country drive quickly approaching we decided to go back to the dealer and make an offer the next day. We had a wedding to go to so we walked in the door told them our out-the-door price and told them if they could make it happen in 2 hours, they had a sell; otherwise we would shop elsewhere. We made a deal. Got the car for our price, dropped Tripp off at a friends and headed out to Woodstock, CT for the wedding of our friends Sarah & Karen.

These ladies are awesome. Karen works in the drama dept with Bob and Sarah is a writer, musician, songwriter, handy-lady, etc....

Sarah & Karen have been together for 27 years! They both work tirelessly for "Love make a Family" and were very much a part of legalizing same sex marriage in CT. In fact they were so involved that a Republican State Official came to the wedding to present them with a signed statement of support and recognition by our State Reps!

The wedding was at their home. A lovely house in the country with a view of the land and the sunset.

The UCONN Crew

It was a beautiful ceremony and party. Live music, toasts in Navajo, Hebrew, and an Irish blessing too!

We were glad to be there but, could not stay as they celebrated into the wee hours of the night, we had a little man to go pick up!

Tripp had spent the day with buddy Dominic.

The next day neighbor Derick came over to show off his new 4 wheeler. That quickly turned into a plan for the parents to gather for a fire after the wee ones were safely tucked into bed.

I love it when a plan comes together!

...but we did postpone packing for our trip because of it - fire & friends are always worth it!

We woke up early, packed up the car and headed off to Long Island!

Before we hit the road I mentioned that I needed a good pic of my babies to take with us to Michigan. This was the first time we have ever left Tripp for more than 3 days! I needed a good pic! As if on cue, Tripp got up, walked over to Cedar and smiled. I said, "don't move!" and ran upstairs to get the camera.....when I returned....they were both still sitting there! Waiting patiently for me to take their picture.

What Cuties!

We spent a couple of days in NY to help Tripp with the transition. While in NY we made sure to get some PIZZA! They also had homemade Italian Ice - Tripp's favorite! So many flavors!! Tripp chose Canolli Cream. He gobbled it up!

Notice Tripp's necklace? It's mine.

Tripp liked my necklace and asked to wear it..

..then he didn't want to give it back! So during his nap and I made it Tripp size.

The cheesy Mom in me likes to believe he knew we were leaving and wanted a piece of us to keep with him. :-)

During our stay in NY, I turned 33.

Yummy Carvel Cake!

Then we packed up and hit the road for Rothbury!

We decided to hit the road a little early so we could make a quick trip to Chicago. To visit our good friends Tony & Jayme and meet their son Van.

It was great seeing old friends. This was one of the times we really missed Tripp. A music festival the size of Rothbury, is not the right place for a 2 year old...but he would love Van! He is just under 2 and a ham! Bob & I agree that the boys would definitely be instant friends - just like their Dadas.

and he loves the drum!

We were there during the work week so Bob & I showed ourselves around Chicago.

Great Public Art! They also had plans up on display of future art installations!

The Bean

Millinium Field - designed by Frank Gehry

We were ther during The Taste of Chicago.

Here's Bob having a "taste"

Lake Michigan

The "fresh water ocean"

While we were gone on our adventure, Tripp was having one of his own with Grands Capano & Uncle Brian.

As soon as we were off the property the spoiling began.

Gamma and Uncle Brian took him to Johnny Rockets for lunch.....

Then they all went to the Petting Farm.

Gamma getting licked by a calf.

She really will do anything for Tripp.

not so sure about the Camel

Bunny with GaGa

Piggies! Oink! Oink!

In Rothbury....

We were celebrating with music and friends

Night 1 with Keller Williams

There was installation art everywhere!

In the trees, in the woods, infront of the porta potty, etc...

This is the center of an installation maze. The Heart.

Stinky Hunts

My folks made sure Tripp earned his keep. One of his tasks was the Stinky Hunt. Cedar is getting old and is not so good at going to "the spot" so daily hunts were necissary. Tripp loved it! He knew exactly where the shovel was kept, locate the poopie and step on the shovel with GaGa.

He also had the task of stepping on ants in the driveway.

Tripp likes to make sure he got'em!

Chillin with Grands.

Tripp is a cuddler. If you put on a movie or an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, he will snuggle up on the couch or in a chair with you. Pressed up against you and he usually likes to hold a finger.

In Rothbury....

Hanging with camp friends

On the 4th of July,

Tripp chilled out in the screen porch

and blew bubbles with Uncle Brian

In Rothbury...

We rocked out to The Dead

When we returned to Long Island,

We went to the Christening of Alyssa Marie Alvarez

They had a bounce house. Tripp loved it!

While at Grands Capano's I cleaned up thier pool side flower beds as a way to say Thank you for watching our babies. Full of perineals and 2 little statues. A boy cherub for Tripp and a girl fairy for Faith.

Vacations over. Time to go home!

Going on Hiatus

2009-06-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

Taking some time to go on vacation.

We'll tell you all it about it when we return!

1 year of missing Faith

2009-06-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the last

time we saw our niece Faith Marie Capano.

On June 22, 2008 we gathered in Maryland for Faith's baptism. We had no idea it would be our last visit. We thought that my brother's family was joining us for a family vacation in Mexico where we'd get to have some fun in the sun family bonding (compliments of the Grands!!! You'd be a fool not to go!), but my bother Christopher's family did not join us. By the time we returned to the USA my brother's baby momma had left for PA with Faith....and that's where she's been ever since.

My brother and his Baby Momma's situation is a mystery to me - I honestly know little to nothing about it - but what I do know is; we have not seen Faith since June 22 2008 and my brother was last able to see her on Sept 14 2008 for her 1 year birthday.

Please do not think that we want it this way. We have requested to see her several times but unfortunately, it never works out.

Luckily, we do get pictures! Not as many as we would like, but we'll take it and as promised - when I get, I will post it!

This little lady's personality shines through in her pictures. I can't wait to get to know my niece and watch as Tripp & Faith communicate and play! When will this happen?

I am hopeful we will see Faith soon.

I am hopeful that Faith will be able to visit with her Capano Family for a summer reunion.

I am hopeful that if her mommy reads this, she will agree that it is time for Faith to spend some time with us

Please.

Lunchtime Hike

2009-06-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

We are ready for summer! Ready to spend as much time as possible enjoying the outdoors! We plan on taking Tripp up to the White Mountains this summer for some base camping and a splash of backpacking. We need to get in shape! Our couch potato butts have been indoors all winter and now it's time to get back on the trail.

So, we decided to hit Wolf Rock for a short hike and cliff view lunch.

Tripp LOVES being outside!

Tripp also LOVES to run.

We let him run / hike for a bit here and there, but he spends a good portion of the hike Mounted on his perch....a Cadillac of baby backpacks. He has recently started pointing out objects and shouting out their names. Now our hikes are filled with the sweet sounds of "Rock!" "Tree!" "Swirl!" "Bee!" "Budderfy!" "Bir - Twee Twee!" " Snake!" "Fower!"

Cedar can't resist that water!

Lunch on top of Wolf Rock

Mommy's turn!

Let's Go!

Cedar is excited for some summer swimming!

BFF

Happy Hiking Family

Pa-Ray!

2009-05-30T07:52:00.001-07:00

After a busy weekend of kid parties, Tripp & I finished off the weekend by attending our towns Memorial Day Parade. I loaded Tripp up in his stroller and we headed downtown (about 2 miles). It was a typical walk until wee ended up on Main Street. Once we arrived and got to see all of the flags, banners and spectators - the Ohhh and Ahhhs began.

"Waz dat?" "Momma look!" "Pa-Ray!"

Tripp is allot like his mommy - a bit of a social butterfly. Happy to meet everyone and greet them with a smile and a wave. As we walked down main street, towards our parade post, Tripp greeted anyone who would glance his way with a "Hi!" "Ipp!" "Pa-Ray!" "Truck!" "Woof! Woof!"

but mostly he chanted "Pa-Ray!" "Pa-Ray!"

We meet up with friends Michelle and Aidan

Here comes the Parade!

Aidan's brother, Robby, was playing his Sax while marching with the
Windham Middle School Marching Band!

The Parade stopped at Memorial Park for some speeches and dedications

Robby

The parade was simply making a stop over at the park and luckily it is also the location of one of our favorite parks in town. So, while the speeches took place I took Tripp & Aidan to the playscape while Michelle supported Robby and his band.

The playground was full of kids. It was perfect, the parents could still hear the ceremony and the kids got to play.

The boys had a blast! They chased each other, climbed, played "store" (this is when you use sticks, leaves, mulch, etc as $ and get a similar item in return that represent Ice-cream, candy, etc...usually a make-believe food item)

We live in the town of Windham, ....... and we LOVE frogs!

Due to the legendary "Battle of the Frogs" in 1754, they are held near and dear to our hearts.

The story goes like this:

In 1754, During the French / Indian War, local Windham-ites were awakened by a horrible flood of noises, a sort of bellowing and shrieking that seemed to come directly from above. The townspeople were terrified. This was during the French and Indian War, and many of the able-bodied men were up north engaged in battles. Many of those who remained in town thought the hideous noises were the war-whoops of local Indian tribes preparing to overrun the village, raping and killing everyone in sight. Others took a more spiritual tack, convincing themselves the horrible noises were from heaven and judgement day was at hand.

They armed themselves and went outside to defend their town.....they saw nothing.

The next morning they discovered the horrific noise was caused by hundreds upon hundreds of Bullfrogs who were battling over water in a nearby dried up pond. The survivors of this Battle of Frog Pond as it came to be known, hipity-hopped down to the Willimantic River, where the happily relocated, repopulated and still live today.

As a testament to our good humor, Windham adopted the frogs as a town mascot and it even adorns our town seal

Needless to say, our town is full of frogs!

They are on our bridge...

Appear as scultpures through out the town.....

Are part of the logos of several businesses.....

(Brew Pub)

and community groups.....

(Windham Cyclers)

Appear in Event Logos and advertisements....

March in our parades....

...and decorate the playgrounds

Once the speeches were over, it was time for the parade to re-group and continue on it's way, down Main Street to it's final stop - the VFW

Here come the Boy Scouts!

After a full morning of parade watching and playground, it was time to relax in the backyard and eat some lunch before nap time.

While we were waiting for our burgers to cook on the BBQ,

we decided to peek at our bird friends.

There are many nooks and crannies in and around our home where birds tend to build their nests.....in the space between the air conditioner and the window sill, in our many trees, gutters, bird houses and most recently the space created by the 2nd chimney where it overlaps a basement window. This is truly an ideal nest spot. It is off the ground, protected from the elements and temperature controlled by the cool foundation in the summer and the warmth from the wood stove in the winter.

Now that we have re-located our family room to the basement (it is cooler in the summer and we have the stove for the winter = lower bills!, Bob's drums and my studio are down there and the extra distance from the noise of the TV helps Tripp sleep) we are constantly treated to the sounds of baby birds chirping! We love it! Tripp "tweet, tweets" back at them and due to their location next to the window, we not only witnessed them building the nest, we can see mommy and daddy bird as they hop in to feed the little ones or out to gather the food.

Close up of the baby birds

Dominic's Pirate Party

2009-05-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a kid party weekend. On Sat, we had Penny's 1st birthday party and on Sun, Dominic's 3years old party. After Dom's party, the grown ups had their own party - a Memorial Day BBQ!

Birthday day boy Dominic,

in his pirate hat, with his pirate ship pinata

Aidan entertained Tripp by blowing GIANT bubbles with his bubble sword.

PINATA!!

Birthday Boy's Turn!

Brother Derek's turn!

Tripp's Turn!

The scramble for goodies!! Yummy!

Tripp enjoying his dunkaroo sticks - a prize from the belly of the pinata

2 brothers and a boat

Time for Cake!!

Terri went all out! She made this awesome pirate ship cake and it was super yummy! Adorned with gummy sharks, Yoodles, gum drops, cookie rods, etc....

Cannon ball candles! (very cool but, hard to lite)

The boys help Dominic open his gifts.

Gift opening is very different at this age. All of the boys helped open the gifts and when they stumbled across one they liked they opened it and started playing! Needless to say,

Present time was long and a bit chaotic, but

boy oh boy, did those boys have fun!

Tripp loves hanging with the big kids.

Since our son is part monkey, he had no trouble keeping up with the big boys.

He would climb, run, jump, slide, and have secret meeting in the "fort"

The Memorial BBQ was a pot-luck

and since we have been stove-less since Easter....I got creative with fruit.

My Fruit-Kabob Fiesta

The ball pit was a big hit! Fun for all ages!

They would take turns running and jumping into the pit

Dom & Tripp = buddies

Unfortunately, the weather was not our friend that day. The clouds rolled in and rained on our BBQ. We retreated inside to wait out the rain.....but it was a long wait, and the party started to break up :-( In the end, Bob, Myself, Ron, Terri and Ron's sister, Michelle, hubby Sean and our litter of kids, were all that were left.

This 3some of couples is nice. We enjoy hanging out and our boys (no girls in this batch) love playing together. We started hanging out together last summer and I have a feeling we will spend tons of time together this summer!

Hosts, neighbors & friends - Ron & Terri

Later that night....

we let the boys watch Nemo while chillin on Ron & Terri's bed until they drifted off to sleep

........so the grown ups could enjoy some drinks around the fire!

Penny's Birthday!

2009-05-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

3 years ago..... Bob was messing around on MySpace and left a message on a band's site (Widespread Panic)- something about how excited he was for the Chevrolet Theatre show. Aubrey was also messing around on MySpace and noticed Bob's comment. She then took a leap of faith and sent Bob a message introducing herself and hubby Sean. They were a couple our age, who liked the same music as us, have the same interests as us and just moved here from Colorado. Aubrey's message also told us that they were going to the same concert! She invited us to meet for dinner before the show.......Bob & I took a leap of faith and said - yes! What a great decision! We hit it off and with some sneaky ticket sharing, were able to spend the concert together. We had a booty shakin good time!
Since then we have seen many concerts together (both as couples and boy's / girl's night out). They have quickly become good friends.

When we first met Sean & Aubrey, I was 4 months pregnant. Shortly after Tripp was born, they became pregnant with a little girl. Today we celebrated the 1 year birthday of Penelope Orenstein.

What a cleaver, crafty and great invitation! Not only is it full of adorable pics of Penny, it also has a verse from a favorite Widespread Panic song!

"A little wrangler was born,

Saw her squirming in the saddle all wet and warm.

Such a change of form in her very first year"

We loved her invitation so much, it inspired our card. Adorned with pics of Tripp & Penny's 1st year of friendship.

The birthday girl

We arrived at the party early to install some Marisa Copley original paintings in their home. That's right! The Orenstein Family are the proud owners of Persephone & Artemis from my series of paintings - Mythological Women. Lucky for me, they are more than happy to let me borrow the paintings so I can show them as a series ... as long as some tasteful signs noting that the paintings are on loan from the Orenstein collection are displayed next to them!

Of course, the artist is happy to oblige :-)

These yummy treats were made in honor of Aubrey's sister, Robin... it's her signature dish. Pretzel rods dipped in chocolate and rolled in fruity pebbles - Yummy!

Tripp couldn't wait - he dove right in!

Tripp modeling his Keller William's onesie (another music favorite) - a gift from Sean & Aubrey

Bob gave Penny her lunch. Ahh, it feels like just yesterday he was doing this with Tripp....

Time for presents!

This rider was a huge hit! It's a bouncy toy that is good for kids of all ages!

Time to open your gift from Tripp

Wow! A cool wooden pull along toy!

From one of our favorite kid companies - Melissa & Doug

Tripp picked it out. He immediately was drawn to the smiling frog and started hopping and doing his best to "ribbet", as soon as he saw it in the store - sold! A present she will grow into as she learns to walk and then run!

Time for cake!

The cake was yummy!

Goodie Bags

Tripp, showing off his cool dude rub on tattoo from his goodie bag

More presents! A beautiful quilt made by mommy.

Shortly after Aubrey became pregnant she began plans to make a quilt for her baby. Inspired by Tripp's quilt - made by friend Amber Williams - she had a plan and was on a mission to finish this quilt by Penny's 1st birthday - Mission Accomplished!

Good job momma! It's beautiful!!!!

Opening presents with Grandma

A cool vintage toy from Grandma.

This is a toy from our youth. Sean's mom save a couple of spares to give to her grandchild one day - talk about thinking ahead!

It's a cool toy and Penelope instantly enjoyed playing with it.

Outside time!

Let's put that quilt to good use!

Back inside to clean up and say our good-byes

Penelope grew very fond of Bob during this visit.

She wanted to be held by him and when it was time to go,

she gave him a great big bear hug!

Bob is holding both Tripp & Penny because, Tripp is jealous.

Every time either of us held Penny he would whine to be picked up too!

It was a good day, full of good times and good friends

Bronx Zoo

2009-05-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

We had no plans for Mother's Day. We were probably going to spend this Mother's Day just like last, fixing up the front yard and getting summertime / funtime ready. Then our friend Dawn came to town and I decided to shake things up. What could we do to tour Dawn around (she lives in LA) and stay Tripp friendly?......HHmmmm....I know! The Zoo! The Bronx Zoo! This was Tripp, Dawn & Bob's 1st trip to the zoo. It was a beautiful day and we all had a blast!

To build excitement for our adventure, we started listening to and singing "Going to the Zoo" by Raffi between practicing our animals and sounds. Tripp became so excited that it was easy to convince Grands Capano to abandon their Mom's Day plans to join us. All I had to do was let Tripp gleefully yell "ZOO!" into the phone, followed up by his various animal sounds - they were goners!

As we traveled to, through and from the zoo, we sang our song. By the end of the day everyone knew the toddler tune and Tripp loved singing along and dancing every time!

So here is a slide show of our adventures at the zoo to the theme song of the day.

Mom's Day prequel

2009-05-10T18:47:00.001-07:00

During the days leading up to Mother's Day......

...we tried to get a good 2 year old picture of Tripp in front of some of the blooming flowers. Unfortunately, Tripp has been "over" the picture thing for quite some time. :-(

He use to be a ham, now he turns away, so we had to try tickling him so the pics are awkward.

Then we decided to get to work on our Mom's Day gifts. We wanted to make something for the women in our lives, but I wanted the majority of the work to be done by Tripp & mail-able. So, we decided to make bookmarks with pressed flowers.

Instead of waiting weeks with our flowers pressed between book pages - we implored a different technique and used the microwave!

Place fresh flowers in coffee filters
Place flower filled coffee filter in between 2 paper towels
Now sandwich it between 2 ceramic tiles
Rubber band them together
Microwave for 30 second blasts
Between "blasts" take the tiles out, stand on them and check your flowers
Remove the filters from between the tiles
Let air dry
Flowers will peel up
Finished!!

Here are the flowers (from our front yard) ready to go, snuggled in their coffee filters.

While we waited, Tripp enjoyed a Popsicle

Flowers drying

Tripp modge podged the flowers onto the bookmarks

The bookmarks drying.

They have pictures of Tripp with : Grandma, Grandma Amy & Great Granny

Unfortunately the daisies didn't peel up quite right way and the lilacs were too thick for the modge podge. So we stuck with the pretty little yellow flowers.
After that we had them laminated and cut out a slot for the pretty yellow ribbon with orange butterflies that Tripp picked out.

Sorry! I forgot to take a picture of the finale product

We also made the cards with scraps of paper that Tripp picked out.

The next day we bought a new stove. (Ours broke during Easter)
OOOOooooo AAAAAhhhhhh...pretty, isn't she

We went to Best Buy to buy the stove - gotta love that 18 months of no interest!

That's what I call a recession buster!

And of course...Bob took the opportunity to once again try to talk me into buying Tripp a Wii, or X-Box, or Play Station

Tripp playing "Rock Star"

Yes, I know - very cute....

I promise he'll (or should I say They'll) get a game station when Tripp's older.

...until then, coloring books & other imagination stimulating toys will have to do

For Mother's Day, Tripp made me this beautiful small

tote bag complete with outlines of his tiny hands.

I Love it!

Our good friend Dawn came to visit for the weekend! We see Dawn about once every 2 years. She lives in LA with her hubby, 2 boys, horses, dogs, etc..... Why is she in CT? Well, she's not. She's in NYC prepping for the Survivor Finale. Yeah, we've got show business friends :-)

On Mother's Day we met up with Grands Capano & went to the Bronx Zoo.

Don't worry, a big Bronx Zoo post is coming soon!

Artsy Weekend

2009-05-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

UCONN Theatre's final show of the season this year was HAIR.

The final show of the season is always the biggest and the best, so Bob did some wheeling and dealing to make sure we could go. Opening night use to be a tradition; dress up, dinner, show and then the after party.

My play outings have been limited since Tripp was born. If I do go, it is on a Wed night, and Bob stays home with Tripp. Or on a field trip. - Every year that I have been at GHS, I have taken my classes to see the final show at UCONN. Thank goodness Bob made sure we could go to opening, because my class field trip was cancelled due to Swine Flu precautions. So without Bob's deal, I wouldn't have seen the show - and it was a great show!

.......why not get a babysitter and go out more often? They're expensive!! I remember getting anywhere between $2 - 5 dollars, depending on the family and they always set the price. Now the kids want $8 -10! So needless to say, we don't go out much.

So, what was this deal? Alice (our daycare lady) and her family, would watch Tripp while we went out and the following Friday we would watch her daughter (Lian), while she and Boyd enjoyed a night out with Bob's extra compt - tickets. It worked out great and we all were able to go some long deserved dates!

This past Friday, May 1st, it was our turn - I mean, my turn, to babysit Lian. Why my turn? Because Bob went to the Dead Show in Philadelphia with his buddy Mason. He left early Friday morning and went straight to Mason's home. Since he left so early (4am), he was able to spend the day with Mason, Kim and their new daughter, Rhys.

Then it was time to head to the show for some tailgating relaxation!

This concert was Mason's groom's gift to Bob - What a great gift!

Back home.......

We made our mini golf course, with books as ramps and Legos as bridges!

Then we decided to settle down and watch a video. Lian picked Caillou. We had never seen it before so both Tripp & I were curious to see what the show was like - we like it! In one of the episodes we watched Caillou paints a picture for his grandma and experiments with Abstract painting.

We were inspired, so out came the paints!

We experimented with straws, toothbrushes, salt.....

...even baby powder!

Later that night at the concert....

Later that night at the home front....

after a short "explore the house" break, we changed into PJs and continued painting! They were loving it! We went through almost 1/2 of a watercolor pad!!!

The next day, we joined our friend Kelly for an art fair in Northampton, Mass.

After we picked up Kelly we decided to stop at a bakery

and grab some cookies for the road - Yummy!

It was an awesome art fair!

Sooooo many ideas - new projects on the horizon!

All of the vendor's were awesome and I was relieved to see many of them are on Etsy!

(So I can shop again later)

Etsy http://www.etsy.com/index.php

is a site were people can buy and sell homemade / handmade items. Love it!

It was also PRIDE Day in Northampton

Northampton, Mass is a college town. It is also a very Green town. Lots of bikes, Natty Food stores, Hemp products, Art Galleries, Music venues, etc....a pretty cool place.

It is a big event and there are vendors, clowns, drag queens, kids, performers, etc...tons of people come out to celebrate diversity & family!

Here we are in front of the giant balloon rainbow.

I have no idea why we are crouching down?!?! We defiantly wanted the balloons in the picture...and I know we started standing up....hhmmm.....curious.

There was even an interpreter for the deaf on stage!

Kelly enjoys her corn dog while Tripp entertains her with a dance

SNAKE!

As you know; Tripp loves Snakes. While at the art fair we ran into a booth full of weird little alien creature and one looks like a snake. Tripp kept yelling Snake! Snake! Snake! and reaching for the plush toy....so Kelly bought it for him as a late birthday gift.

Yup, just another fine lady who's a sucker for the Trippster!

When we got home, Mary & RJ were playing outside and

Tripp greeted them with an enthusiastic Hi!

They played with a big floppy frisbee, ran,

rode bikes and smelled the flowers until it was time to go inside and make dinner.

Bob arrived home later that day, grabbed a nap and headed out to strike. (Strike is when they tear down the play set) Strike went from 10:30pm - 5am. Bob slept until 1pm the next day and was there to get Tripp up from his nap. :-)

Spring Break

2009-04-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

This past week was my Spring Break.

Ahhh, glorious Spring Break!

We did many things...amongst them -

going to NY to visit the Grands!

Bob was in tech for the final show of the year, so Tripp, Cedar & I packed up the car and headed on down the road. We were lucky and had a beautiful, sunshiny afternoon drive. We hit some traffic, but the sun was shiny and we were sporting our shades with the windows down!

Cedar was happy to see traffic -

that means more time for her to hang her head out the window!

Tripp was my cool little dude, chillin in the back.

Thank goodness for snacks, kid music and nap time!

When we got to NY, it was still a beautiful day and we decided to soak it all up -

so we headed to Downtown Northport and hung out around the water.

Boats! Boats!

And, of course we had to have some Ice-Cream!

After walking the docks, looking at boats, and eating Ice-Cream, it was time to hit the playground! It was packed! Tripp had a great time, running, sliding and making friends.

Besides visiting with the Grands & Uncle Bri,

we also went down to met our new friend Alyssa Marie Alverez.

Alyson and I have been friends for years and our families are friends,

so they were all happy to join us and goo and ga over the new baby girl.

The Grandma's

Brian, Tripp, Me, Alyssa & Aly

While I spent some time with new Momma Alverez, Tripp was treated to a walk with the end destination of another playground! Yeah!

Back home, Tripp went to daycare and I worked random "pick up" jobs (painting, video, etc..) But when the weekend came....we enjoyed every moment of the beautiful sunshine weather. Tripp loves it! He loves being outside!

We enjoyed an afternoon BBQ with friends

Rob & Christina

and
Aubrey & Penelope

Penny has no pet at home...yet, so friendly puppies were an interesting treat. She's still a bit unsure, but I can tell - she's a puppy lover!

Hula Hooping!

Tripp was Daddy's little helper during a game of Horseshoes. He would hold one shoe while Bob threw the other. He was also very quick to run down to the other side and check his daddy's shoes after the throwing was over and clap at the results!

Tripp toke Penny for a spin on his Sit 'n' Spin - future roller coaster riders?!

The next day was just as beautiful! Yeah Sunshine!

I noticed that the flowers were starting to bloom and decided to try to get a cute pic of Tripp....

it didn't work. :-(

Tripp use to be a camera ham - but lately he doth protest!

No worries, I'll get him. I have a couple of tricks to get kids to smile from my old traveling photographer days.

After I abandoned the idea of getting a good picture of Tripp, we ventured back into the backyard and played. We played "Don't step on the grass" as we jumped on the stones surrounding the flower beds. And we made a fort / home for "Mr. Snake" - don't worry, he's a stick

Of course I helped him, I showed him how. But, he gathered all of the twigs, laid most of them, gathered all of the flower and decided on numbers, gathered all of the stones and laid most of them as well. I was just the Foreman.

Then in an impulse my neighbor Terri & her boys Derek & Domonic, stopped over. We got to chatting and then it was off to the UCONN Barns!

The boys were very excited and Tripp practically leaped into the car when I told him we'd be visiting the animals.

The baby cows were a great way to introduce the boys to Cows - not too big, just their size!

Moo! Moo!

The big cows were a bit intimidating. Not only are they HUGE! but they have some serious Moos! The base in an adult cow's Moo will make a toddler jump from startlement!

Tripp & Domonic loved the horses - Nay!

Unfortunately our fun was cut short. Hidden by the grass, there was an open piece of PVC pipe sticking out of the ground. Poor Derek - his little leg went straight down into it! Luckily he wasn't hurt - just a scraped up shin and a missing shoe.

This is a pic of Derek throwing his other shoe down the pipe - stupid pipe!

I gave Derek a piggy back ride for the rest of the trip, but only on the blacktop - it hurts feet.

Time for some Ice-Cream from the UCONN Dairy Barn!

Eggs!

2009-04-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

Egg! Egg!

That has been Tripp's new word and love. He loves colored Easter eggs. Loves to point at them, find them, open them, color them, paint them, smash them!

It all started with the hanging egg decorations, egg painting and an innocent egg hunt at daycare....now we have an egg lovin toddler.

Egg! Egg!

(Tripp's first eggs)

Grands Capano and Uncle Brian joined us in CT for Easter weekend. They arrived Saturday afternoon towards the end of Tripp's naptime....Grandpa couldn't wait. He immediately went upstairs and started messing with him until he woke up and then declared - "Oh! Look whose up - I didn't touch him, he was awake when I got here!"....good thing I think Grandparents are adorable - something about that giddy glimmer they get in their eyes :-)

Then it was time to decorate the eggs. Tripp climbed on Grandma's lap and let the creative juices flow!

The Decorated Eggs

Egg-cellent

While we were busy decorating eggs, I had a cake in the oven. Little did I know that that cake would be the last item to make it out of the oven alive......that's right, it was an event filled weekend at the Copley abode!

Grandma & Tripp put on the finishing touches

Yummy Cake!

The Next Day...

Playing Tug Of War with Cedar & Brandy

Time for breakfast!

and a fork sword match with Uncle Bri - he's so silly!

A yummy breakfast of fruit

Next it was time to introduce Tripp to the egg fight - he's a natural!

I don't know the origins of the egg fight, but it is a tradition in my family.

You hold your hard boiled egg by the fat side and smash it into your opponent's egg.

If your shell cracks, you lose.

Then you eat it.

The hardest part of the egg fight is making contact - and Tripp was right on with his aim

Spring presents for the Grands and Uncle Bri

Tripp gave them starter planters and seeds.

He also sent some seeds long distance to Arkansas for Great Granny & Grandma Amy

We also got Uncle Brian a bunny that poops jelly beans as he walks - too funny!

I noticed that I'm not in any of Tripp's birthday party pics...probably because I'm always the one with the camera. So, I made sure to get one of me with the little man!

Egg Hunt!

Tripp is a fantastic egg hunter! At first we just scattered the colorful plastic eggs around the living room; on the floor, couch cushions,etc.... but Tripp was not impressed and demanded a greater challenge. So we started hiding the eggs in shoes, planters, on the stairs, in the drink holder of a camping chair, Grandpa's shirt pocket, etc...

nothing got past him - Egg Hunter Egg-strodinaire!

After he found all of the eggs and returned them to his basket he would say Egg! Egg! and he would leave the room so we could hide them again. We probably played about a doz times!

The eggs were filled with tiny dinosaurs and jungle animals

Getting some love from Grandma

Remember the cake I mentioned earlier?....and something about how it was the last thing to leave the oven "alive"? Well, our oven broke! That's right on Easter Day our oven broke. In the morning I decided to make cupcakes for our potluck dessert with the neighbors. The oven locked and went into self clean. Next thing we knew the cupcakes caught fire! We had to pull the oven away from the wall and unplugged it. We plugged it back in and tried different configurations - timer, no timer, stove top only - no matter, it locked every time!

My poor cupcakes!

Good thing we planned on deep frying a turkey!

Inside, we improvised. Brian & Tripp made a salad.

Bob ran out to KFC and bought some last minute side dishes.

(Food stores were closed)

Yummy! Turkey!

Woo! Hoo! We pulled it off!

Before we knew it, it was 4 O'Clock! Time for the Big Egg Hunt!

I took the initiative to organize a neighbor's egg hunt. I made invitations and Tripp & I delivered them to our next door and backyard neighbors. We all have kids and touching backyards, so I figure - any excuse to get everyone together was a good excuse!

We hid about 50 eggs around the yard

Our Egg Hunters

RJ, Mary, Tripp, Dominic, Aidan & Derek

Here's a vid of the start of The Great Egg Hunt!

After the egg hunt it was time for the egg smash!

We filled blown out eggs with birdseed and the kids got to throw the ggs at a tree while making a wish for spring. Even the big kids got in on the action! Next year, we're gonna need more eggs!

Time to get in out of the wind and cold and go inside for our potluck dessert.

Those chalkboard kitchen cabinets are a huge hit!

After the sugar rush subsided, it was time for bed and the end of a big Egg Day.

Trains!

2009-04-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

2009-04-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

Tie - Dye Twins

2009-03-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

"Hi Drip, Hi Lu!"

Ahh, the sweet sound of our boys greeting each other.

Tripp & Lukas have been growing up together - first friends, best buds - so we decided to make them these awesome matching tie-dye shirts.

Don't they look handsome!?!

Chill'in with their Alice / Grandma
(Lukas is Alice's Grandson)

Now that he's 2...no more pack n' play! Time for a big boy cot!

He loves it .....but we're still keeping him in the crib as long as possible

....or until he figures out how to climb out!

"The Gang"

Tripp, Hunter & Lukas

Ring around the rosey!

"Bye Lu", "Bye Drip"

Party!!

2009-03-22T11:28:00.001-07:00

On Sat, March 21 at 2pm, we celebrated Tripp's birthday with a toddler-ific party!

Tripp woke up from his nap ready to go!

He was curious about the streamers, excited about the mickey mouse tablecloth and delighted when a surprise balloon delivery came from cousin Faith!

Balloons!

That was a very cool surprise - thanks Faith! We miss you!

Waiting for his guests to arrive.
Chillin in his new Yo Gabba Gabba Chair - Brobee style

First things first, a couple of gifts for Tripp to give.

He was sick and missed Lukas's birthday party :-(

But now, they having matching Tie - Dye T-shirts! Stay posted for pics - the boys are wearing their matching T's to Daycare tomorrow - it's gonna be Too Cute!!

He also missed hanging with Penny during the holidays and had her Festivas gift to give.

...they also have matching Tie Dye Shirts / Onesies! We tried to get them to pose together...but, you know how it goes. Penelope's onesie matches the sun burst pattern on Tripp's birthday tie dye.

The Traditional "Kid shot"

Mary

Dom & Terri

Beth & Nora

Aubrey & Penelope

Matteo & Jenna

"Guys Corner"

Sean, Jimmy, John & Pops

Tripp's cool new camping chair - complete with drink holder!

We can't wait to go camping this summer! Thanks Grands!

Playing with his Mets Mr. Potato Head. Thanks Uncle Chris!

Bubbles!!

I guess bubbles are big this year - or with Toddlers in general. When ever someone asked me what to get Tripp for his birthday I'd say, whatever, or offer a couple of off the top of my head suggestions or categories (bath, outside, beach) and sometimes I'd say " I usually pick one of Tripp's favorite toys as my method of gift selection." Tripp loves bubbles and much to his delight he got quite the variety of bubble devices - so many in fact, that we have decided to have a Bubble BBQ this summer. Plenty of Bubble-rific fun for the wee ones and some fun in the sun & horse shoes for the grown ups!

Sean, Terri & Erin

Tripp, the little Casanova - he's already negotiating Penelope's curfew.

"So, like I said... I'm a good guy. I'll have her home by nap time"

Pinata!!

I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I wanted to make the Mickey Mouse pinata for Tripp's party. Instead I had to make a last minute phone call to ask Grands Capano house for help. Luckily, Uncle Brian was on the case! He has a talent for shopping and found us the perfect Pinata! It was the last one and a lady at the store actually tried to buy it off of him - but Brian stayed strong and got the Pinata for Tripp!!

A Pinata movie.

The kids did a great job taking turns. I will admit there were a couple of close calls with the bat swinging - but everyone came out of it okay and with yummy Animal Cracker and Teddy Graham snack packs!

High 5!

Happy Birthday Tripp!

He is such a ham - he definitely LOVED it when we sang Happy Birthday to him!

Yummy Cup Cakes!

Tripp's birthday is March 19th, St. Joseph's Day (click on link for more info)

"Saint Joseph was a just man, a tireless worker, the upright guardian of those entrusted to his care. May he always guard, protect and enlighten families." - Pope John Paul II

We're not religious people - but does Tripp having the same birthday as St. Joseph means he will have his traits..... that wouldn't be a bad thing, not at all....

St. Joseph's Day may be a holiday you've never heard of but it even has it's own special dessert. St. Joseph Pastry

Grands Capano brought us a special treat of fresh St. Joe's pastries for the party! They were a big hit!

He got lots of birthday kisses from Penny

MUAH!

Opening gifts with Uncle Brian

Tripp got a ton of great gifts - he loves them all - even the clothes!

Thank you everyone!

Nora helps Tripp open his gifts

Grandpa and Tripp were both excited to see this golf set from friends Mary & Jimmy

Tripp loves Snakes. Snake! Snake! So this Rattlesnake book form buddy Lukas was an instant hit!

Uncle Brian - the bargain shopper - hit the jackpot on deals when it came to finding pop-up and blow-up tents, forts and ball pits. Tripp is spoiled!

Tripp & Penny, chillin in the Fort

Goodie Bags

Each one personaly decorated by our little artist, Tripp

Inside: Play-Do; bouncy ball; pirate rubber duckie; homemade ribbon wand & a mix CD -Tripp's Toe Tapp'in Two's!!

It was a great day!

2!

2009-03-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, on March 19th, Tripp turned 2!

I still can't believe 2 years have already come and gone - time really does fly!

So yesterday morning when Tripp woke up as a 2 year old....

he looked different.....his Southern side came out!

I would love to sit here and create a wonderful post about how much Tripp has grown over the past year - both in personality and physical traits...but I can't. No time to blog! I have a house to clean and last minute party favors to make. Tripp's birthday party is tomorrow at 2 and I'm gonna have a houseful of toddlers! 8 toddlers and their parents!! Where will I put them all?!?

We're gonna have a blast! Lots of music, fun, games and a pinata!!

...as for the bucktooth,

it's a nuni! I don't know where it came from or when we got it, but when I found it (in it's packaging) and felt it's weight, a light bulb went off!- this will do the trick!

I thought if he used this nuni he would get annoyed and toss it to the side forever.

But of course, he loves it! Foiled again!

Resourceful

2009-03-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

Resourceful.....not a word I would typically use to describe our son. In fact, most of the time I am reminding him to speak and be a big boy! He has taken to the habit of grunting when he wants something. He will hold your finger and guide you to the area that houses his desire and grunt & point until he gets his way - this is usually referring to the refrigerator....my bottomless pit! So, I have started making him say what he wants.

After he leads me to the fridge:

"Are you looking for a drink?"

Nods yes and points.

"Can you say drink?"

"dink!"

"Drink, what?"

"ease!"

"Okay, mommy will get you a drink. Can you say thank you?"

He signs thank you.

"Good Job! High 5!"

We are getting pretty use to the routine and Tripp has started to say things when he needs / wants them...in his own, I'm learning to talk way. The only problem is now he says it over and over again and with increasing intensity and volume! Dink! Dink! Dink! Dink!

So the other day when Tripp was drawing in the kitchen while I was cooking I truly did not expect the following event to happen.

I had moved Tripp to a tall cabinet behind the side door so that I could prep food and load the dishwasher without my usual dance around him. Well, Tripp had filled up the cabinet with beautiful chalk drawings as high as he could reach - but he wanted more! He started whining. "What is it baby?"

grunt

"you have to tell mommy"

"up! Up!"

"Sorry baby, mommy is busy I can't stop and pick you up"

with tears, "Up!"

"Sorry, why don't you color on a different door?"

"Up!"

"Nope, why don't you get your stool?"

I didn't really expect him to get his stool. I figured I would find a good stopping point and go get it for him, but to my surprise I could hear his over-exaggerated grunts and knew he was doing it on his own! Around the corner he came with his potty stool, grunting and panting - what a drama queen! he then placed it at the foot of the cabinet and sat down for a rest. He then patted the stool and said "Up!"

"Good Job!"

Ahhhh!

2009-03-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

Long road to recovery

2009-02-24T14:47:00.000-08:00

Poor Tripp! Our little man is just now getting over his cold. He had a virus that turned into a sinus infection. It's been 2 weeks of sneezes, coughing, puffy eyes, fevers & diarrhea...the only perk was his need to snuggle when he's ill.

Unfortunately he's not always the best cuddler. Sometimes he whines until it becomes a scream or grunts and refuses to speak - as though he's so sick he can barely make a sound - so pathetic! But, cuddling and snoozing are definitely the majority of the time so, when he got a little pissy...he almost always got his way! Spoiled! What can we say? We're suckers for our sick little man, anything to make him feel better!

...so, we did a lot of cuddling

......and while Bob was under the weather and home from work with him,

They played video games.

and yes, Tripp knows how to use a mouse!

...spent lots of time with his girl Cedar.

He can't say Cedar yet, he says Cea!

He keeps trying to mount and ride Cea! Luckily she is such a good dog and never nips, growls or whirls around. She will, however, give him a grunt and a butt check!

...we ate a lot of pastina.
Pastina has always been a comfort food for me and I am happy to see that my son follows suit!

During this illness, our bottomless pit lost his appetite! He stuck mostly to a liquid diet of yogurt smoothies, but he also has a couple of comfort foods.

The great thing about his love of pastina is, that it's easy to mix puree veggies in!

He gets covered in tiny stars!

......we watched a bunch of movies (probably too many), and Tripp loved lounging in his chair.

It's amazing how kids mimic our actions. Bob almost always has a blanket on him while he lounges on the recliner and now Tripp has his own lap blanket.

...and he continued to draw on the chalkboard cabinets - with colored chalk!

As a special treat for Valentine's Day, a caramel apple - yummy!

No cold is gonna stop him from devouring his apple!

Caramel Face!

.....we played with Play Doh

The duration of Tripp's cold lasted through my winter break. It was lucky, because I did not have to use up all of my sick days...although it did throw a descent size monkey wrench into my plans.
I had a grand plan to do some re-arranging, painting and organizing over my vacation - I'll post pics of the finished projects on my other blog page (DIY Copley) as soon as I'm done.
..but always the helper, Tripp wouldn't allow Mickey Mouse to distract him while there was paint out. He abandoned his comfy throne and was immediately by my side looking to help.

Nice Form!

He even knows how to dip his brush & scrap the excess paint off!

....we traded in our paints for crayons

..played with trains

..he played GODZILLA!!

....but I knew he was feeling better when he had fun eating some Oreos!

I know, Oreos probably weren't the best snack I could've given him.....

But check out that grin! How could I resist?!

All better! Tripp is back at daycare with his friends and I'm back at work :-)

Sit 'N Spin

2009-02-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

We love hand-me-downs!...and sometimes admits the clothes, books and mish mosh of mix matched toys, we find a real gem - like this Sit 'n Spin! It's in perfect condition, in fact it looks barely used!

It says for ages 3 and up but Tripp was quick to explore and master his new toy.

Daycare Valentines

2009-02-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

Some of Tripp's daycare gang

Lilly, Hunter, Tripp & Lukas

Tripp made us this Sign Language "I Love You" magnet

Alice & Lian

Lilly & Lian

Alice gave Tripp a Valentine Puppy Dog

Daycare Valentine's Day Keepsakes

He also got a new book (I forgot to put it in the picture)

A Glimpse of Faith - part 2

2009-02-05T17:42:00.001-08:00

Yeah!! We got new pics of Faith!!!

Brian had a late night chat with Chris's baby momma online

and she finally sent us some new pics!

Pictures of Faith are rare these days. So, whenever these little gems do appear,

I promise to post them for everyone to see.

Hopefully we will continue to get pics.

Faith will be 17 months old on Valentine's Day

Looks like Tripp & Faith both love the snow!

SNOW!

2009-02-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

Tripp loves, loves, loves the snow! Recently, we have had quite a bit of snow - 2 snow days, a couple of late starts and 1 early dismissal.....I'm going to be in school until the middle of June!

We had an early dismissal today and it was snowing when I picked Tripp up from daycare. He immediately started saying "Sna!" - that's Snow in Tripp tongue....and he meant now! I bundled him up and started for the car. When Tripp realized we were not going to play he started to throw a fit! (It was very difficult to strap him into his car seat.) To calm him I started to sign the ABC's and he calmed down. When we got home and I started to unlock the door, he threw another fit! Sna! Sna! Sna! Luckily when he realized we were inside to get his snow pants and boots on, he calmed down.

Tears and Screaming instantly replaced with Smiles and Laughter.

Getting some love from Biscuit

Always the little helper.

Tripp helps clean off the cars.

A new trick?

While I was shoveling, I would chase Tripp around with the snow. Then he got brave and instead of running, he charged! He climbed onto the shovel and rode it. When I got to the end, I dumped him off of the shovel with the rest of the snow. He immediately got up, ran back around and jumped back on!

Tripp's attempt at catching snowflakes on his tongue.

Road Trip!

2009-01-25T15:34:00.000-08:00

Over the past weekend Tripp & I went on a road trip! We left Thursday night and headed down to Long Island to spend the night at Grands Capano's. I visited with some friends and Tripp had a blast playing with Brandy (the dog) and the Grands. My parents still have their Christmas tree up. The ornaments are off and stored away, the actual tree just needs to be put into storage......it's a good thing it wasn't! Tripp loved seeing the tree again. He continuously ran into the den and would stop short infront of the tree and say Whoa! He even made Grandma plug in the lights! He obviously remembers Christmas and the tree. It is so fun to watch Tripp's mind grow and learn.

Mom thinks Tripp's facination with ceilings is a sign that he is a future engineer.
Funny thing is that Bob & I have had that discussion many times. They say that certain skills skip a generation and both of Tripp's Grandpa's are engineers.
Grandpa Bob : Flight Engineer
Grandpa: Civil Engineer
In any case, sounds good to us! Engineering is a good career, both challenging and creative......and the money doesn't hurt. Someday someone is going to have to take care of these artist parents!

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the battery charger to the camera before I left and the battery was almost dead - ofcourse! These pics from Best Buy are the last bit of camera juice I ha before it died. Good thing I was at Best Buy purchasing a new battery and charger.
Due to my lack of battery, I have only these 2 pics from our visit with Grands Capano.

Then it was off to Dickson City, PA for a visit with our friends Tom, Amber and comming soon, Nora.

Tripp instantly bonded with Uncle Tom. We had some errands to run when we got their and Tripp stuck to Tom like glue, holding his hand and playing in the isles of the stores.

One of the errands we were running was to get plaster gauze for a body cast. Besides being one of my best friends, Amber & I went to art school together. So she asked me to come early for the baby shower so I could make a casting of her pregnant belly.

We all gathered to celebrate Amber's pregnancy.

Elenore "Nora" Williams is

due in Feb ...in 3 weeks!

The 3 Musketeers

Amber & Jessi are my best friends from college.

They are my sisters.

(No we weren't in a sority)

Tripp & Aunt Jessi

Amber choose Cafe Serano for the shower. It's a hip, artsy fartsy place right in town. A hodge podge of fabrics, fringe,mixed media, beads, paintings, etc....It is one of Amber & Tom's favorite places to eat. It's also in walking distance from their house and locally owned.

A "Green" Baby Shower!

A packed house

Tripp made a new friend - Rowan 2.5 years

Toddlers are so wonderful. No inhabitions, no awkward shyness. The boys saw eachother and instantly started playing! Running around, laughing, jumping, chatting - they were playing "Follow the Leader"

Slapping 5 before Rowan's daddy came to pick him up.

Kate, Natalie & Jessi

Kate and Nat went to Alfred with us and were bridesmaids in Amber's wedding.

Amber & her Preggo Cuz

Little pass out. After his buddy left, Tripp gave in to his impending pass out. He refused to nap, his obsession with the cats would not allow it. I was surprised he stayed awake as long as he did. I guess the opportunity to play trumps tired eyes any day! :-)

Time to open the presents!

Jessi & I chipped in and got them the pack n' play

We also gave her a Basket-O-Stuff

Bob shields, cloth diapers, teething tabs, gripe water, wet wipes, tide stick, cool onesies with awesome iron ons, baby legs, headbands, etc....and wiskey

A handmade gift from Ma Capano

Bundled up and ready to hit the road! Unfortunately we were unable to stay for the entire shower. It started at 4:30 and with a 4 hour ride home, I had to hit the road by 7pm.

This is how we spent Sunday.

Lounging and cuddling all day long. Well deserved after a weekend of long drives!