Family-Palooza 2013

Now that my head is only slightly spinning and my body has regained some energy from the crazy, busy, family-filled weekend that we just had, I can post a few pics. We had lots of family in from out of town and got to spend lots of time catching up, eating, drinking (well....everyone else anyway - I ate cake instead). I will say there was a such an enormous amount of punch consumed (you know who you are) that the term "punch drunk" was used. Awesome!!! I know that it doesn't sound ideal to have all the days of an entire weekend (Friday to Monday) booked and planned. It leaves very little time to relax and do the stuff that the weekends are made for. But, if you got to hang out with my crazy Italian family, you might change your opinions about what your ideal weekend would look like.

It might look something like this...

A good old fashion game of "copy-cat"...

Decorating my entire path with sidewalk chalk...LOVE!!!!

Babies sharing (sort of)...

Adorable little boys wearing adorable little girl hats (and that's all)...

A 60th birthday milestone. Happy Birthday Zio Eugene!!!

A 1st birthday milestone. Happy Birthday sweet Monroe!!!

Trying to get 4 active babies to all look in the same direction (clearly we had no luck)...

Cousin bonding, lots of it...

Where ever you find Hazel, you find several hilarious facial expressions.

Playing until we couldn't play anymore...

A huge, momentous milestone...

Happy 60th Anniversary to Nonno and Nonna!!!

We are all so blessed that our beautiful family only started with 2. We have learned to cherish our family and rely on tradition in order to really embrace each other from your wonderful example. Your sacrifices over the years have been countless and have left us with a legacy to carry on. Congratualtions!!!

To conclude a great weekend, we also managed to get a visit in with the rest of the family as well.

Happy Birthday Auntie Paula!!!

Wishing you many more happy years of making memories and enjoying small moments with everyone that you love.

I told ya. It seems like a pretty ideal weekend after all, right?

Peace, Love & Gratitude

Oh...Nothin'...just some dreams coming true

Back in the NICU days, where we met some wonderful friends, we used to dream of a time that we could bring our kids to the park or for a picnic together. Some days we would sit and dream about what it would be like to have our little babes out in the open air, beyond the walls of the hospital. We wanted to make it happen last year but with Hazel's heart surgery, summer came and went. Picnics and days at the park were few and far between, if any at all. Well - it finally happened. A picnic and a whole afternoon spent at the park with our friends from the NICU. And we even got to see the nurses who played such a HUGE role in helping us all get on our feet!!!

I was in my glory the afternoon relishing in the moment. One of our dreams came true right before my very eyes. The kids all ate lunch together on blankets, chased after bubbles, got super messy faces, drank out of anyone's sippy cups but their own and splashed around in the water.

Adventures in the splash pad. We laughed, they cried (and by "they" I mean Hazel), we hugged, it was all good.

Here is how Hazel spent the entire ride home...

One of my all time favourite days, with some of my favourite families!