An accidental Sunday....and guess where we ended up

It was an accidental Sunday because none of this was supposed to happen.  I suppose its often the case, we don't set out with a particular plan in place but things just happen....On Sunday morning Laura and I went to drop off and pick up the two youngest at their swimming practice.  When I finally went in I talked to some of the swimming moms and Laura informed me that I am now a swimming mom.....Anyway, the practice ended and we took off for home....but first, on the way home we had to go see the new Dunkin Donuts that had moved in across from the library. We can make that a fun time any day!!.  Woo Hoo, it was actually fun to sit around inside and see people coming in and out and chomping away at our dunkin's grub.  So we left, but what about going into the city for the Food and Wine festival.  Hmmm, sounds great but no wine for the kiddies......We looked it up on the iphone but it was a scattered website with not good direction as to what was going on and where....soooo, we took off to where one of the locations were supposed to be....it was an old Mill Building that had been converted into quaint shops and most interestingly, a movie theater too. There was no Food Festival but it was a  happening place with people coming and going so we decided to go in.   So, we found a parking space and in we went, but not before jack informed me i was parking illegally....
As we were going inside there was a lady going in with her kids and we got to talking and she asked me if we were heading to the movies.....Not knowing if we were she told me that she thinks its great that they have these movies every Sunday for the kids...and its free....My kind of place indeed!!!  Its an old style movie theater with big comfortable chairs and tables.  They do have free movies for kids on Sundays but you dont know what movie it is until it starts....Today, it was "The Fox and the Hound".  A definite classic tale and the kids seemed to enjoy it very much.  Jack had a million questions about the killing of the mommy fox...I tried my best.  After plenty of popcorn and drinks we left quite pleased and walked the halls of the old mill building.  There was a band playing in the far end and we sat down and listened to it for a little bit.  Also, Old Man Jenkins owns a record store inside there so we spent some time just roaming around.  His son was manning the store...of course we call him Young Man Jenkins.....
Off we went and somehow, incredibly, ended up downtown right at Old Black Gordon.....This time we loaded up on an old streetcar that they had renovated from a boneyard in Louisiana.  I guess it used to be an active car from the streets of New Orleans, then it went abandoned for years only to be resurrected many years later.  It was a good ride and we love riding on it.  We did a round trip ride on it as it was raining and we didnt feel much like walking.   These guys are so much fun to hang out with!!!

Starting out our day at Dunkins

Goofing around at the Farmers market

Passing on by Ole Black Gordon

Rosie and Evelyn

Hi Rosie....Laura has made new friends this summer with two gals named Rosie and Evelyn.  This gal is just the cutest little gal in the world.  All I hear all the time is HI ROSIE, HI LAURA.  Laura met Rosie while she was helping to coach the 6 and under swim team at the Swim club.  Rosie just adores Laura and cries when she has to leave her. .Laura loves being around Rosie It was funny to watch them because Rosie would be in the pool and would say hi to Laura every time she would go by and Laura would return the hello....
The two of them now are Facetime buddies and they gab it up on the real time screen.  I think its called Facetime but its like skype and Laura loves getting calls from Rosie and Evelyn.  She's a kind heart that Laura.

Red Sox with Jackie

      Took the young stinker to the Old Home town teams game on his turn.  Ant Jo got us some tickets and we were very happy to oblige.  One thing to remember, if there is an option, you know we are taking the subway...Here we are at the Lechmere entrance and Jack is just hanging aroud the tracks

you KNOW this isnt where i parked

A little hop dog dinner plate at Jerry Remy's right before the game

I tried to come up with some story as to why this guy had such long legs but Jack would have none of it.  Here, he is playing catch with the giant.

Yes, this is your last place team's attendance on some random Wednesday in September....you gotta love it.
Jack had such a good time there.  He was talking all things Red Sox during the game and I was very surprised at how much he actually knew about them.  He must pay attention when he's watching the game.  There were two home runs during the game and luckily one of them was from the big poppie man and the other from Moookie Betts, who Jack went out on the field with all those years ago.....Anyway, Mookie hit a questionable home run on the top of the green monster...My pet peeve...if a ball is hit to the top area of the wall and it goes upward, its a home run...Why O Why cant they get the call right...thank goodness for instant replay...its happened wayyyy too much....ok, rant over...Jack got to listen to me when it happened.....Of course he was like, yeah Ok Dad.
He was fun to be with last night.  we brought some sweaters to the game just in case (it is New England after all) but they were never used....it was very hot...

 goofball selfie...

A Sunday afternoon with Laura

     Laura told me the other day how she has been so busy and wasnt able to relax at all.  i agreed with her and told her i'd bring her somewhere this weekend, just the two of us.  So Sunday 

we took off and went down to Subway...just the two of us.  I told her it wasnt going to be anything crazy but just somewhere for a couple of hours.  We ate and went for a little walk afterwards.  We ran into my god daughter Franny and of course our old friend Black Gordon was right down the street.

First Day of Skool......2015 School days

      Laura was so good to Catherine.  Catherine was very nervous about the first day of school.  This was around 6:30am that Cat was on Laura's bed looking at God Knows what, probably the school website.  Laura has such a kind heart....i think sh'e going to be okay in life....She had a tryout for a new swim team last night and said it went horrible....Kara says she aced it.....a little hard on herself i think....i know her goggles fell off....that could be it..but i'm sure she was great.
     I called the house last night before they went to bed so i could day goodnight.  I talked to Catherine and made sure not to mention school......She got a little upset and told me she was nervous.  All i could do was tell her it was okay to be nervous and if she gets nervous its okay.....i dont know if that helped at all but it seemed to......she went to sleep because she didnt call back.  She's the sweetest girl I know that Catherine girl.

                                                                   and here is Joe Cool

                Of course we got out early to play tennis ball....He's got nobody to tell he's first now....he's always first.  I'm thinking he enjoys having all the attention.

      saying goodbye as he jumps onto the bus....for the first time, solo!!

      and here is our First time High schooler.....I even think he was a bit nervous on the first day...he wont admit it, of course, but he was.

      My two little angels getting all ready to go......

     Another picture of Joe Cool,......because you just cant have one.....and speaking of being nervous for day one of school...my poor little buggah wouldnt leave my side this morning and was fumbling with everything.  I got up early to see Jimmy off to school and Jackie was right with me.  As soon as i sat on the couch, he was attached to my side hugging me the whole time.  I'm not complaining at all...He is a cute buggah.  Then came the clothing drama and the lunch money drama...but thats a daily occurrence....they are growing up for sure
                                                                                      This one is from 2008, first day of skool

Just looking at memories from 2007....I think I could just cry

S'mores night

     It was s'mores night in the ole back yard.  We havent really had much time this year to get a fire going or some gooey marchmallows mixed in between some chocolate.  We had a pretty good fire going on there for a little bit.
     The two buggahs (Cat and Jack) love to have the marshmallows golden brown but neither one of them has the patience to wait or to keep it just out of the fire, of course the marshmallow ultimately catches fire and turns black so Daddy has to eat that one.....some good comes from it.

CATHERINE EATING HER COOKING, WE MADE LARGE MARSHMALLOWS THIS TIME!!

Summerslam night gets so loud!!

     Its amazing the fuzz isn't called to the house after all the noise coming from the living room.  This is a hot ticket in town and the kids get all geared up for it.  The cousins come over and spend the night and they all bring their loudest voices.  Last night I went into the bedroom to try and get some sleep before it ended and that was definitely not going to happen.  I'm not really a crazed big fan of the whole wrestling thing but I find it so funny how these guys get so into it.  I had my favorite wrestler, AJ Lee, and she doesn't wrestle anymore.  Whenever she would go out and wrestle the kids would all yell for me because they knew how crazy she was for me....
     These belts are the ones they have accumulated over the past couple of years and they make an entrance all the time while they are watching the shows.....you just cant fathom the noise in the house though....
     I love it when Jackie tells me that, even though he knows that i dont think its real, the knows the undertaker was really injured and had a heart attack in his match...he tells me while being real animated and his head is moving the whole time...there is no rest for the weary

All the championship belts

Jump Hugs

     Its a tradition that is unique to us, i think.  In the morning before i leave for work I yell out JUMP HUGS and the kids come running and line up aside of the kitchen table.  From there they come swooshing at me and take a large jump, give a hug and get thrown on the couch with a kiss. All except jack!!  He gets to me and doesnt get the concept of JUMP hugs..he just barrels me over of course.  Even Fenway gets in the act and excitedly jumps up and wants a pet.  The whole concept though is for the kids to take a leap before they get to me so i can catch them in stride.......
     The real neat thing about this whole business of jump hugging is that the kids like it alot.  I know this because its the only thing that will wake them up in the morning. If they are not alraedy awake for my announcement,  I'll go into their room and will ask them if they want to stay in bed or do they want a jump hug and off they go into the kitchen for the groggy jump...or in jacks case barrel Daddy over.
     Right now we are usually just down to Catherine and Jack because the other kids have aged out...But every once in a while, like this morning, Laura will get in line and challenge Daddy's back strength.  Its a real awesome time and something that i'll be sad to see go....
Sometimes like the morning after the SummerSlam event, i had my kids(not Jimmy) and Emily and Erin also....These kids hurt

Around the horn.....2015 update

     Here we go with all four of them and their updates....This is the 700th post of this blog  Its amazing that I've  stuck with it this long...i'm glad I have..... its amazing how quickly they have grown up, got bigger and became little adults....almost!!
These days, James is 14 years old.  He is hovering right around the 6 foot mark and is going skyward I think.  Of course Lyn thinks he's done growing but I've heard that since the 3rd grade so we will just have to see.  Anyway, he is headed off to high school next year.  I think he really enjoyed 8th grade, with friends and having the run of the place.  Now he's the rookie again so to speak.  So scary for us old people to think our kids are that old.  He has been very excited about joining football and is going to all the camps.  He never played in Pop Warner (thankfully) but he played flag football every year with Jacob so we'll just have to see what happens with contact.  I don't think it will be a problem but its different for sure.  He asked me to go outside and do some football practicing.  Oh, to shake the rust of the shoulder and get some throws in.  He can really whip that ball though...I think he'll do okay!!
     He likes to play baseball still and his AAU team just finished last week in Jersey.    He's had a very good year and he's pounding the crap out of the ball.  Jimmy is enjoying his summer, spending some time with Charlie and sleeping late.  Most of the time he stays up late and sleeps very late... That's good for him, but I remember the days of my staying up that late in the moring when I was his age....but its rare for these kids, mostly because its a very loud house!!  Jack!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     Now Laura, what can we say about Laura.  She's growing up...yes she is.  Still a goofball though, thankfully!!  She and I have this thing we do during her swim meets.  When she gets up to the blocks to begin a race, she catches my eye and does this silly dance that looks like the hokey pokey.  I do the same thing and we both laugh and she does her thing, usually KATN (kick ass and take names)....well, usually I find myself on the other side of the pool, in the crowd and was of course watching her.  We will catch eyes and the next thing you know she does her silly dance and smiles.....She's still my little girl!! 
     She just finished sixth grade and her grades were once again wonderful.  She's almost like an adult with how mature she is.  She cooks most of the time for us and sometimes we forget that she is only in seventh grade (almost).  She went away with Lizzie and I was happy to have her call me every day, at least once.  I do miss them when they are away from me.  I saw something that said how happy a parent was to just get away from the kids but as soon as they are they beginning missing them so much.  I can relate to that.  I had this thing with Laura when she would sleep over the cousin's house, I would tell her how I went into her room and ended up kissing her pillow goodnight and I was all upset.  Of course I still say it to her but it doesn't have the same affect....they used to believe me.  I still say things like that to Catherine though and she believes me...or pretends to.  One big change for Laura is that she's got very tall.  I swear it just happened all at once.  One day I was sitting on a chair on the lawn and I saw her walking to the front door and I couldn't believe that was my baby girl...incredible....
     Oh my Catherine....she really is the sweetest girl I know that Catherine gal.  Its amazing what a sweet little girl she is.  I known at some point she'll grow up and get past all this but she really is the sweetest most lovable thing on the planet.  She is as sensitive as ever but she does show some signs of improvement.  When she gets on the carpet and competes in gymnastics while everyone is watching and also when she gets out there and pitches during her softball games...both are very stressful and i'm so impressed with how well she does holding up, especially when things don't go so well.  My little girl will be going into 5th grade this year, moving on up to middle school.  That move created so much stress last year but she's seemed to have eased up a bit.  One of her good friends is the principals daughter so knowing that he'll be there for her is very reassuring.  She had fun during the summer, going to the swim club and also doing gymnastics.  She's so sweet and is such a good sight to see at the end of the day.......
     And then there's Jackie....Oh my Jackie.....he's such a funny kid.  Keeps us all in stitches most of the time, and then at other times....oh my Jackie!!!  He's actually very sweet but oh my goodness is he a handful.  Friday is the day he comes to life.  I've never seen anything like it.  He will not stop, talking, moving, jumping running....I don't even think he stops to sleep...he must but I don't remember, until he crashes on Sunday night and the week starts all over.  He can be hard to wake up but then that's just a tease because he's off like a race horse from there. 
     Jack will be heading into third grade this year so he's getting up there with the big kids.  Its every exciting for him.  He'll be the only one on the bus so he'll have me all to himelf for the morning tennis ball games.  I'm going to cherish this last year of doing that because I know they wont be the only ones who will miss it........ He spent all summer playing baseball on his summer travel team and he did really well.  There was usually something missing from his bag every game but that's par for the course I suppose.  He played a lot of different positions but I really enjoyed watching him pitch.  In the beginning he was kind of wild and would hit a lot of batters.  Sometimes he just gave that look over like to say 'woops'....but he got a little more in control.  There was one time he beaned someone and he swore it didn't count because the ball skipped on the ground before it took the leg off of the hitter...ouch!!! 
     All said, they are doing quite well for themselves.  We are very proud of them because they are all good kids so i'm proud of them that way.  They are getting older so i'm hoping they behave themselves and don't prematurely age me!!!  They've already done a number on the hair....!!!!

Drive in movie night

We've certainly seen some award winning movies this week....There was ant man and fantastic four at the drive in tonight and Paul Blart -mall cop 2 (because one movie wasn't enough),  at the dive in movie....makes you long for the old time movies.....like Joe Dirt....what a great time though.  These kids get along so well and we really are lucky to have them so close in age.  Also, they really don't hate us yet so we still have them singing and dancing with us. 
We hauled it up to the Milford Drive-In in Kara and Jamie's vehicles so we all fit into two cars.  Bags of chocolate and popcorn and a cooler full of soda later we were there.  There really is a certain mix of people at the drive in.  Just keeping the kids at arms length that's all.  These kids really are pretty fun though.  They had plenty of smiles.  I think Jack fell asleep for most of the second movie but the others stayed with us. 

Guess where we went today

     Okay so here I am staring at this photo at the old Coffee shop with four of the kids.  How fun has it been over the years to come and visit Patricia and the gals.  A long time ago when the shop first opened, I would take Jimmy over with Grammy Frannie and we'd go into the back room that is long gone.  Mum would pull out some board games or a game of checkers and keep jimmy busy for the time while we drank our coffee's.  As the years went by we got to know the owner, Patricia, who would come over to the kids, especially jack, and pour them soda into a coffee cup and let them think they were drinking coffee like the adults.  With Jack, Patricia would usually tell us to sit down and she would take over with his drink and spoil the heck out of him.  It was so cute and he would call Patricia his girlfriend.....He had a couple of girlfriends but Patricia was his first....So much so that he was very slow to talk to her when we went inside...Now, that's love!!! 
So through the years, we have made this place a staple whenever we got over to Black Gordon or go on the Trolleys....or anywhere downtown for that matter.......Wherever we go its always a treat to make a stop there with old friends......

The kids love the Keep Off sign .....such law breakers!!!

Dive-In movie

Lemonade stand

Have you seen a more reasonably priced cup of lemonade recently??  It was a really hot day and the kids wanted to sell some lemonade so we went down the street and they made over ten bucks!!  I got to sit and supervise down the street and got two cups myself...

Just another day at the beach

ERIN SHOULD HAVE QUIT WHLE SHE WAS A-HEAD