4th of July Weekend

As most of you know, we moved out to Long Island at the end of June. 4th of July weekend was our first full weekend being Long Islanders. We enjoyed the great weather and had the kids outside all weekend. We went to Port Jeff to walk around and go to the park. We checked out the park down in Patchogue by the docks. And we just relaxed in our own yard while the kids played and enjoyed the pool. It was the perfect weekend....




Michael on a slide at the park in Port Jeff.


Jenna smelling our flowers in the backyard.


Jenna and Michael on a slide at the Patchogue park.


Jenna enjoying the pool.


Michael relaxing on the front porch.

Pre-K Graduation

So with Jenna's birthday, it brought along her Pre-K graduation. It was a happy and sad celebration since Jenna would not be attending St Anselms in the fall. She had made many friends here and will miss them all. The graduation was a lot of fun with the kids showing off what they learned all year long. And the celebration afterwards was just as much fun with the kids running around getting in that last playtime with each other.

The march to their seats.


Pre-K 2 - St Anselms Class of 2009


Jenna and her teacher Mrs. Tormey


Jenna with her grandmas


Michael running around with the kids

Jenna's 5th Birthday

Can you believe Jenna is 5 already??? Where did the time go? She had 3 amazing birthday parties this year. First we celebrated with all her friends from school at the Little Gym. The kids got to run around, play and eat pizza and cake. What could be better than that? Party #2 was at Grandma Teresa's house with her cousins Brandon and Ethan. As always Jenna had a great time. And party #3 was at Grandma Gladys' house with all the usual Rivera family. Again she had a great time with everyone. It was a crazy couple of weeks, but it was worth it. Still can't believe my baby is 5....

Jenna with the amazing cake Grandma Gladys made for her.


On her actual birthday at Red Lobster - her choice :)


Getting some help blowing out the candles from Brandon and Ethan.


Next to her best friend Madison at the Little Gym.

LSU Crawfish Boil May 2009

What a beautiful day! We spent the afternoon at the LSU Crawfish Boil with the Van Alstyne Family and Kristina and Oscar. Unlimited drinks and crawfish - what more could you want? We had a lot of fun with everyone. We finished the day with the kids playing at the park and dinner.

Diva Jenna at the park.


Jen, Kristina and Me enjoying the sun.


Oscar, Madison and Jenna checking out the Hudson.


Michael walking around.


Mike and Michael

London May 2009

So some of you know that I was lucky enough to cross the pond and visit London. I've never been there before, so this was such a special trip for me. I absolutely loved London. The city and the people were amazing. This is a city I could definitely see myself living in. The city was just flowing with history. Of course I was there on work, so we were required to do hotel visit, but we still had so much free time to see many sights. We rode the "tube", minded the gap as they say over there and rode in their famous red double decker buses and black cabs. We went to Kensingto Palace where Diana lived and it's amazing that people actually lived there! We toured the Tower of London, saw the Crowne Jewels and where they tortured the prisoners. Went past Buckingham Palace, saw the guards, but not the changing of them. It was still amazing to see them in person. We visited Picadilly Circus, shopped at Harrods, took a ride up the Thames River. Finally saw Big Ben, Parliment which was neat since I saw that line from the movie Vacation all the time. Saw St Paul's Cathedral where Diana and Charles were married. And the most amazing site I saw was Westminster Abby. The history in the Abby is just amazing. All those kings and queens buried there. Below are a couple of pictures. Anyone that wants to see more, just email me for the link to my winkflash pictures.


St Pauls Cathedral


Big Ben/Parliment


Tower Bridge


Me enjoying lunch on our rooftop bar. Our 2nd hotel was right in Trafalgar Square. And yes there was not a cloud in the sky. Perfect weather!



Guard at Buckingham Palace


Famous double decker bus


View from our 1st hotel room on Park Lane.

BBQ at the Sere House

In May we went to a BBQ at the Sere House. The kids had a lot of fun and we were able to catch up with Meredith and Jimmy. They are expecting a bambina at the end of July.

Our big boy Michael!


Jenna giving Michael a ride.



Luke


Meredith and Jimmy and Michael.


Michele, Meredith and Me.

Mother's Day Weekend

I had the best Mother's Day weekend. I spent the entire weekend with my favorite people. First I was treated to a massage on Saturday, then we headed over to Floyd Bennet Field to check out the old airplanes. We had such a blast checking out the planes and helicopters they are restoring. We met some great guys that are doing the renovations. The volunteers doing the restorations are mainly Veterans that do this in their spare time. One of the gentlemen we met took the time to give us the history of the planes and how they are renovating them. On actual Mother's Day, we spent the afternoon in the city haning out at South Street Seaport. The kids got a kick out of checking out the boats and just seeing all the shops. It was the perfect weekend for me!

Michael's 1st Birthday - take 3!

And the celebrations keep on going!!! This party was at Grandma Gladys' house. The apartment was full of family and friends.

Grandma Gladys with Michael, Jenna and Katie


Rivera Family


Titi Iliana and Michael


Birthday Boy!


Me, Jenna and Michael

Michael's 1st Birthday - take 2!

The pictures below are from Michael's actual birthday. We enjoyed the nice weather out on the balcony and had some more cake which Michael loved!



Me and Jenna singing Happy Birthday to Michael!


Michael and some gifts.


Rivera Family

Michael's 1st Birthday - take 1!

Can you believe a year has gone by?? We can't. It's crazy that it was a year ago we brought home that tiny baby and now he is such a big boy! We celebrated a couple of times for Michael's birthday. Below are pictures from the first celebration at Grandma Teresa's house.




Michael waiting for his guests to arrive.


Jenna, Madison and Luke playing outside.


Mike and Michael getting ready to blow out the candles.


Michael eating his first taste of cake and yes he loved it!


Attempting to open his gifts.