Jimmy's confirmation....such a holy child

     James has been in religious classes for many years leading up to this day.  He was thrilled to go every time.  For him this was graduation from CCD.  Here is a very rare whole family picture

     He has gotten older and looked very handsome..Aunt Jo was very proud.

Nana was Jimmy's sponsor and was very proud.

     James made his confirmation name CHARLES in recognition of his friend CHARLIE.  I think thats awesome.  Those two have been buds for some time.  Here he is with Nana and Doe.  

Jimmy with his proud Mama...

Does this ever get old?

     The answer is NO.  We woke up Sunday, Laura was at a swim meet, Jimmy was a 16 year old boy who didnt want to hang with us and Cat and Jack wanted to go out to eat.  Well, the griddle made its way up north and it was easier to go out to breakfast.  So out to breakfast we went and as usual, we had fun at the Earl.  They definitely wanted to go see old friend Black Gordon and ride on the trolley if one came by, of course one did so off on the trolley we went.  So no, it dont get old because we are still having so much fun and they still ask to go.  ahhhhhh, I cannot do justice to the way it makes me feel after the day is done just to quickly look back on the day.  I love these days.  They don't know how happy they make me feel :)

Skool 2017

Here we are in the year 2017 and the kids have grown up so much.  Jimmy is now 16 years old and is driving on his permit.  He's a good driver, thankfully.  He is now a junior in high school and once again he posed with his blue baseball shirt.  I think he keeps that shirt around just in case they say he has to take a school picture. 

Laura is now a Freshman.  She went so smoothly into high school, probably because she already knew all the girls on the swim team.  She is tearing up the swim meets and is really impressive.

My little KittyKat is now 12 years old.  She is still the sweetest girl ever.  She's now in the 7th grade.  She loves gymnastics still and is doing very well in school. 

and then there's Jack.  Jack is newly 11 years old and in Fifth grade.  He's playing soccer every weekend and doing very well at it.  He seems to have adapted to Middle School and he tells me that the teachers havent told him he interrupts them at all so that's a win.  He's a very sweet kid and is a blast to be around.  He loves to get all dressed up in his business clothes....I especially like this shirt...good choice Jackie!!

11th Birthday for Jackie

     He was so cute leading up to today as they all are when they come to their big day.  The world must stop and all must automatically know about it.  Jack woke up and got to enjoy his morning gifts before school.  The morning gifts usuallly amount to gifts bought at Target at the  dollar aisle with an obnoxious card that sings.
For his birthday nights he got two cakes.  The first one had to be enjoyed by the cousins and we had to buy another one so Catherine could enjoy it too...she was at gymnastics.
     Jackie had a great birthday month and he was his usual self, laughing and enjoying life.  He had gotten the trip to Baltimore for his birthday earlier this month and he was happy about that.  There is a small party on the way this weekend where he will receive his real gifts.  He already got his gift from Aunt Jo....an office chair....yes, you read it right, he wanted an office chair.

Playoff time...Game with Ant Joe

     As the ump would call her...ANT Joe called and offered me to go with her to the Divisional playoff game.  Well...of course i would.  When Ant Joe came over to the house the rain it was coming down and we hadnt much hope.  As the day progressed we just saw some minor spit until it was time to leave and then it got a little harder.....Yes, they lost...but I am getting to that age where I really dont care about that.  We just had a good time being in the old yard and staring at that wall.  I dont know how many times during the game and rain that i mentioned the time that Jimmy and I sat in pouring rain along the third base side.  Jimmy and I were sitting in our seats with an umbrella and just talked and stared at the green wall across from us.  He was probably 9 or 10 years old.  He kept telling me how the clouds looked like they were clearing and that there was hope the game would be played.  The rain went on soaking us and  eventually they called that game but it still remains a great memory.  Of course, the next week or so Laura and I went to another game in similar conditions.  We took a ride from a bicyclist and then the rain hit on our way there.  I believe there is a blog on that one...i'm just too lazy to go back and search on it.  

     One part of this loss was that the season is now over.  The Astros were a really good team surprisingly, and I think they will go a long way this year....Now watch them get eliminated early but I've been wrong before.  It was really a fun time with the ANT and I'm very thankful she included me in her trek to Fenway Park.

It didnt look good at first...We had some rain but there was no delay at all....The rain didnt effect us under the roof in the grandstand.

     Dont we look cute.....Its apparent that I cant take selfies that well....

Fall

     The three gals in the family together on the alligator rock.  This was a fun weekend for everyone.  It was officially the end of Summer which was marked by Erin jumping in for a cool dip.  Everyone went in a little but Erin took a long swim, which made me cold just watching her.

Laura and Erin were splashing each other which led to Laura chasing Erin across the sand...which led to Erin getting more darling....

Yes, my contribution to the leaf peepers...

     and here we have another game of bingo being played.  They take their games quite seriously.  I played one game (which i won) and then I walked away a winner.  

Monkey trunks

     Better them than me.  Up into the sky they went to skip around the ropes and connectors from pole to pole and dangle dangerously up in the air.  It was touch going at first for Jackie but Emily came through in the end to help him navigate the ropes.  She too, was very afraid of heights.  I think that helped out a little with bring Jackie around.  Once he got going he was fine and was daring as ever...Well, maybe not so much but he did it just the same.  They ended with a trip down the zipline.  Laura was a beast, of course, going to the top row and pushing the limits.  There is no fear in that girl.

     Erin loved it too...She got around the ropes with no problem either.  Those rings are tougher than they look.

   Here Jackie is getting more daring as the day went on.

Sandwich fair

Oh such sweet memories with Catherine on these rides.  After going on the initial rides on these himalaya and other speed rides, Cat wanted to stay and ride on them again.  I stayed behind with her while the others went and got some food.  What a blast.  She loves the speed of the rides but didnt quite like the height of some of them.  It was a joy just to watch her with the smile on her face and we waved to each other every time she passed around.  I cant even touch about how sweet it is to have watched her and continued watching the smile on her face..  It was great!!

We all went into the Goat corn maze (a tribute to Tom Brady).  Its pretty cool to get lost inside.  Eventually we found our way back to the entrance.  There were a couple of shortcuts taken by one or two of us.  I'm not gonna say i'm proud of myself, but it did cut the time a little bit.  

     Jumbo Turkey legs.....I'm just not so sure thats how i'd market it....

Looks like we made it.....again

Barry decided to come to Boston one more time.  Of course we have gone to two goodbye concerts for the poor guy but i'm not complaining.  He is such an entertainer and Jackie knows alot of his songs....well, i sing alot of them and our shared iTunes account has several of the songs so when Barry sings the songs he knows them as well.  ...We had a blast !!!

   What would be a trip to the Garden if we didnt stop for a trolley first.  And then we headed over to Quincy Market to get some grub.  Jackie just wanted to get some pizza so thats what we got...after walking and looking at each booth.  The pizza was pretty good though.

This is where we sat down at Quincy Market and the area just caught my eye for some reason.

I must say...My selfie skills stink.  The picture never comes out good.  Jackie had to take my phone away from me and take this picture.  Yes, I've turned into one of those old guys who cant keep up with technology.

      The stage can be seen in the background.  It looks far away but we were actually at a great point to see the stage.  We were right behind the goalie net (if it were there) and the stage is on the other side of the floor, so it really was some good seats.  StubHub came through for me once again.ss