Memorial Day Weekend 2009 aka The Longest Post Ever

The 3 of us had a busy and eventful weekend. We took Marino to New York (Hudson Valley) to visit my friends and family. Evan and I usually drive up there every few months but since we had Marino and he was quarantined through the end of RSV season, this was our first trip and the first chance for a lot of my family to meet Marino.

Can I just say that travelling with a 10 month old is a lot of work?! My mom had 85% of the things we needed for Marino at her house but I still feel like we had to pack up everything we own. The good news is I remembered all of Marino's things. The bad news is I forgot to pack myself underwear:(

We drove up on Friday night and Marino slept the entire time. Of course, when he woke up at Grandma's house, he thought it was morning/play time so we didn't get to bed until after 2am (Mama's brain stops functioning at 11pm, so this was a problem). Luckily, Grandma loves to hang out with Marino in the early morning so when he woke up at 6:30am, I brought him upstairs to her and Evan and I slept until 11:30am!

Saturday we went to lunch with my very best friends in the whole world: Sonia, Bernadette and Rachel. We've all been friends for over 15 years and we have been through everything together. These girls know me better than I know myself and I love them to death. It was wonderful to see them!

Here's Marino with Bernadette. He was being a big time ham for the camera at lunch.

Marino and Rachel getting some cuddle time
Sonia has a daughter, Catalina, who is just 5 months older than Marino! She is also expecting her second baby in October!! Doesn't Cat look just like her? They both have beautiful blue eyes.
Here's all the girls together: Sonia, Cat, Rachel, Sara L (Bernadette's wonderful sister who was visiting from Las Vegas), Bernadette, Sabrina and Marino and I. Notice Cat is pulling Sara L's hair in this picture, which makes it even more adorable!
After lunch, we went to visit my Dad and Stepmom (Pap and Grammy Barb).
The 3 of us stayed for dinner and got to see my brother, Brendan and my wonderful sister-in-law, Holly. Brendan and Holly live in Dallas so this was the first time Marino got to meet Uncle and Aunt Holly. Right now Brendan is Marino's only uncle (until my sister-in-laws Richelle and Rianne get married - NO RUSH girls!!).

On Sunday my mom and stepfather, Ray, had a bbq for us to welcome Marino to the family at Chadwick Lake. Marino got a chance to meet lots of new family members. I was a little worried about him getting overstimulated but he did great the whole day (we were there from 11:30 until 4:30pm so it was a long day for him).

Here are me and the girls again at the bbq: Bernadette, me, Sonia, Rachel and Sabrina.

Marino taking a nap in his favorite spot: Grandma's lap.

Marino with Sabrina. I haven't explained who Sabrina is yet, for those of you who don't know her. Sabrina is my friend Bernadette's daughter. She is 13 (and a half!)...I know, pick your jaw up off the floor - she looks like she's 19. Is she gorgeous or what? Bernadette had her when we were in our senior year of high school so if we ever want to pretend we are young its better she is no where nearby! Anyway, she is and has always been an amazing young lady. She is funny, smart and a talented athlete and dancer. Yup, she's pretty much perfect...her mom did an amazing job of raising her. I can't wait to see who she becomes and I feel lucky to have known her for her whole life.

Marino getting snuggle time with Sabrina and Rachel.

Cat and Marino!

Lots of family here, not a well organized picture.


Cat showing what every toddler wants: a playground and a sippy with juice!
Marino with his Great Uncle Dan
Marino with his Great Aunt Carol, who gave him his first piece of watermelon (he LOVED it)


Marino with his wonderful Great Aunt Eileen

Marino hanging with Uncle.

Marino got a chance to meet his other great grandfather (my mother's father) for the first time at the picnic. Here he is with my Papa.


Aunt Holly holding Marino.

Rare family photo.
I found out at the picnic that I actually have lots of blog readers. Who knew? Please feel free to comment or "follow" me in google reader. I sort of thought I was talking to myself most of the time until everyone told me they read the blog!

Back at Grandma's house, Marino discovered a wonderful new toy - the laundry basket (it doubles as a teether)!

On Sunday night my mom watched Marino for us (ie: he slept peacefully on her lap for 3 hours) while Evan and I went to go see Star Trek. I only went to humor Evan but I ended up really liking the movie. BUT, half way through the movie I started feeling like something was crawling on my leg. I kept scratching but nothing made it go away. Finally, I went into the bathroom and there were 2 TICKS ON MY LEG (well, one was in my jeans and one was on my leg). Ummm....this is sort of my worst nightmare! Luckily, they hadn't embedded themselves yet. I have no idea where they came from, since I changed clothes before we went to the movie...maybe they were in the theater? Ugh, all I wanted to do was shower after that and it sort of ruined the end of the movie for me.

Here's Marino with Grandma and Grandpa Ray

We drove home on Monday morning. Marino was great (sleeping) the first half of the trip. He then cried for about an hour. Nothing would make him stop. I even tried playing a DVD (I never let him watch tv, so I though this would be really effective) but nothing made him stop crying except Daddy singing "The Song That Never Ends" (seriously, that is his favorite song). Eventually he calmed down and we took a nap "together" (my head was in his carseat) until we arrived home.