Vermont

Last weekend we went on a little road trip with Mimi and Grandpa to visit Uncle Timmy who was in Vermont for the weekend. It was amazing! What a beautiful state. We had a wonderful time walking the main streets of Burlington, eating good food and just enjoying time together. Then we visited some of my favorite things... a cheese outlet with tons of samples, an apple cidar factory (Grandpa's favorite, not mine), and then the Ben & Jerry's factory! That's right - BEN & JERRY'S!!!!!!! Who wouldn't love that road trip?! Below are some pics of the awesome farmers market in Burlington. We took more pics on the trip, but they are on Mimi's camera and I haven't gotten them yet.



Unfortunately when we got home we learned that Gigi, Angela's mom, had fallen and broken her hip. She had surgery a couple of days ago and seems to be doing well considering. There is a long recovery for this however, and her life will never be the same. Please pray for her and for Angela too as we deal with this.

Blue Berry Pickin' at Great Grammy Helen's

Last weekend we went to the Willard's to relax. We had a very nice time playing, grilling, and visiting with family. We went over to Great Grammy Helen's and went swimming and blue berry picking. It was hard to tell who enjoyed it most as we all ate our way along the bushes. There were also a couple of bushes of raspberries and black berries. Yum!!!! Aunt Joyce, Uncle Larry, and cousin Jessica were there too, which was so nice to see them. I guess I was too busy having fun too because I didn't take any pictures, oops.

Sound Session '08

Every summer Providence has a music festival called Sound Session. It is mostly R&B and jazz. At the end of the week long festival they have a parade at night that ends in a huge block party. This year I was in the parade to raise awareness for V-Day, (which you might remember I hosted the Red Tent event for in March), and proudly walked along the other members of the Providence Pussy Posse. It was so much fun and I think we handed out fliers to at least 1,000 people. {If you don't remember, V-Day is a festival to end violence against women and girls both locally and globally started by Eve Ensler the author of the Vagina Monologues. They have asked me to be on the board this year and this was our first event.} The parade didn't start until 9 pm, so Owen and Mike had to go home but before they did we ate dinner while listening to some of the music at Waterplace Park. This is such a nice spot in the city. There are restaurants, condos, and shops that go around the circle. This is also where they have the famous Waterfire. Below are some pics of Sound Session and Waterplace Park. Unfortunately I left the camera in the diaper bag that Mike took with him when they left so I don't have any pics of me in my Providence Pussy Posse T-Shirt, feather boa, and flashing light tiara. What a crazy night! It was professionally photographed though and I should be able to get some pics later.




These empty cauldrens that you see are where they put the logs for Waterfire. If you are ever in Providence in the summer you have to see it. We haven't been able to make it yet this year, but went at the end of last season and it was amazing.

Prayers for Little Mirielle

Little Mirielle is still in the hospital understandably, but now she has developed an infection in her intestine. She is being treated with antibiotics and doing a pretty good job of fighting it off so far, but might have to have surgery to remove part of her intestine. She also has an intestinal disease that is common in preemies due to the inner layer of the intestine not being fully developed. She is stable though and in good spirits. Please pray for her to find the strength to continue fighting it making surgery unnecessary. Please also pray for my cousin Nicole and her fiance Jonathan, who can't wait for her to come home. Here are some pics of the adorable little peanut. The last one is from when she was first born and still a little jaundice.

Mirielle Jazlynn Martinez

My cousin Nicole, who is living in CA, just had an adorable little baby girl. We are very excited to welcome Mirielle Jazlynn Martinez into our big family!!!! She was born July 10th, at 2:44 pm after an emergency C-Section due to pre-eclampsia. She was six weeks early and therefore just a little peanut at 4 lbs 5 oz. and 17 inches long. All are healthy and happy considering the circumstances!
We can't wait to meet her!

POTTY TRAINING?!?!

For a couple of months now we have put Owen on the toilet encouraging him to use the "potty". This has by no means been something consistent, nor would I consider us to the stage of potty training. However, I think Owen is trying to tell us that he is ready and in a major way. While in the Hamptons, twice when I was getting a diaper ready to change him he told me he had to go "stinks" (as we call it) and wanted to go on the toilet. We were very excited and talked about how we really needed to start the potty training process. Well today Owen decided he would do it for himself. Mike was in another room and heard water running in the bathroom. He went in to find Owen, without a diaper on, washing his hands while standing on his little toilet we have for him. Mike asked him what he was doing and he said he had gone stinks. Sure enough, there it was in the little potty. I am very proud to say the least and think this is hysterical because it really shows how independent my little man is. I guess the time has come and potty training is upon us!
Any suggestions or stories of success you want to share are welcomed. Wish us luck!
{Sorry, no pictures for this post!}

Uncle Doug Comes to Visit!

Uncle Doug came to visit for an extended 4th of July weekend. We were so excited to see him, but wished that Aunt Jill and baby Izzy could have come too! He got in Wednesday night and early Thursday morning we headed off to stay with some of his friends in the Hamptons. It was so nice to get away on a mini vacation. We all had a wonderful time relaxing, eating good food, and going to the beach. Here are some pictures from the trip. {Sorry there are so many, but they are from my camera and Doug's.}
Here is Owen popping his head out of the window as we waited in line to load the cars onto the ferry you see behind him. He was so excited to go on the boat. The boat was so big though that even once we were on it he kept saying he wanted to go on the boat. It was really cute.

Owen looking at his first submarine.

He is going through a stage where he doesn't want you to take his picture, so he kept looking away. I put this one in anyway so you could kind of see my baby bump, which strangely looks much bigger in person.


I swear Owen makes friends wherever we are. We are very blessed that he is so good with other kids.

Heading back to the cars down below to get off the ferry. I love the silhouette of the three of them.

We were the first ones to arrive to the house, but there was a key left outside for us. We made lunch and unloaded most of our things into the house before we realized that we were locked out. {And the GrisWillard vacation truly begins!} Fortunately, they had the perfect backyard to play for a couple of hours! We had a cooler full of drinks, (beer most importantly for the boys), some snacks, and a little ball and bat that I keep in the car for improptu entertainment.

Giving Uncle Doug some love...



Click on the two pics above and below to enlarge and see Owen's expressions.


Everyone else finally arrived and we waisted no time in heading to the beach!

Owen loves playing in the sand, which was good because the red flag was up the first day meaning the water was too rough for swimming. That didn't stop everyone though of course...








Back at the house cleaned up and almost ready for bed.


The next day was 4th of July, so we walked through neighborhoods of incredible mansions to the cute little town for a parade down Main Street.

Owen stood at the curb watching everyone walk by. He would run to us to point things out and then go back. There were some civil war era soldiers that came by and shot a small canon and some muskets into the air. Owen was scared by the noise and started crying. Then he stopped crying and said he wanted to see them again. Every time a new group of people came through after that he wanted to know what kind of noise they were going to make.


Lots of bagpipes for Papa!


These are our hosts, Joey and Sabrina Kieffer. Thanks guys, we had such an amazing weekend!

I gave in and bought Owen a balloon at the parade. Of course he wanted nothing but to release it into the air so that he could watch it fly away. This killed me understandably, considering that I refilled his balloons from his first birthday for his second. {They really aren't good for the environment.}




Another day at the beach...





The nights were filled with too much good food and plenty of drinks for everyone, except me and Sabrina of course.



On the last day the weather was a little cloudy so we headed into town to walk around. Shortly after we were caught in a summer storm. Owen didn't mind though and had plenty of fun waiting for Mike to get the car.


The weekend was a blast! We all agreed that it should be a yearly tradition, as long as the Kieffers rent or buy a house again that is!

Back in RI for a couple more days until Uncle Doug left, we showed him the sights and took him to a couple of our favorite spots. Who doesn't love stuffing themselves with Rod's, The Clam Shack, an Awful Awful, and so much more. We had so much fun and miss Uncle Doug already!