Fall Family Photos

Getting out to take some family photos this fall was tough.  Michael has been extremely busy and then got pneumonia, and then Hurricane Sandy brought the beautiful fall leaves whirling down around us faster then I would've liked.  Needless say, we were able to squeeze some in one afternoon...here are my favs.  Which one(s) do you like best?

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(Trying to throw the leaves in the air)

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If you had to guess what Dominic was thinking, what would it be?

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Shooting family photos on self-timer proved to be more challenging then I anticipated. Turns out it's tough to predict what kind of face your 10-month old will be making at the end of the 10 seconds.  Not to mention, it's hard to keep his attention on the camera when there is nothing happening.  Needless to say, I thought this one turned out pretty good!  Note to self--invest in a wireless camera remote :)

Hope you have all had a lovely fall!

DIY project-Car Caddy

I found this cute idea for a car caddy online so I decided to make one for my friend's son for his birthday.  The project looked easy and fast at first glance, but somehow I ended taking much longer than anticipated to finish it.  I was so proud of myself for finding all the materials laying around my house.

Here is the original:

http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/12/cozy-car-caddy-tutorial.html

So, here are the supplies I wrestled up from the basement: 1 denim skirt.  1 snowman wall hanging.  1 black leather belt.  and 1 toddler button-up shirt.

And many days later...

TA-DAH!

  The green piece was originally the snowman wall hanging--I just painted it with acrylic paint.
And I opted to stencil his name instead of using numbers

When it's all folded up!

I have enough materials to make one for Dominic...however it may be a while before I can get to it! :)

The Thimble Islands

A few weekends ago we took a boat tour of the Thimble Islands with some friends.  It was a little chilly, but we enjoyed the boat ride.

The islands (made up of stony creek pink granite bedrock) were once the tops of hills (prior to the last ice age I am told).  As a result, the Thimble Islands are much more stable than other islands in the Long Island Sound.  Therefore, many of the islands contain residences.  I want my own Island.

(On second thought, I wonder how this place weathered Hurricane Sandy...maybe I don't want my own island)

We had a great time.  The boat driver was very pleasant and shared lots of interesting facts.  His assistant was less then enthused about all the children on board.  To the point that the other boat patrons were subtly suggesting she should seek out alternate occupations...one that doesn't involve human interaction. :)

Dominic enjoyed the ride and walking along the dock.

Growing up fast...

and getting cuter every day...

...even if I am partial.

Happy Birthday

Dominic turned 9 months old today.

Dominic and I celebrated by going rock climbing this morning with my friend, Tahria.  Then this evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner of Lobster rolls at a cute little seafood place.

Dominic mostly ate smashed beans while Michael and I enjoyed the Lobster rolls.  However Dominic did seem to enjoy his first ever bite of lobster.

Europe V: Rimini, Italy and San Marino

Friday May 25 - Day 12
We left Venice and took a train down south to the town of Rimini.  Today was Dominic's hardest day of the trip.  Usually he loved the train rides but today he had a hard day.  Teething?

When we arrived in Rimini, we were relieved that our hostel was nearby and that we had the directions printed off (a detail we hadn't arranged earlier in our trip).  We were grateful to have a short walk because tromping around with our heavy bags wasn't very fun.  We arrived at a somewhat deserted looking establishment and bumped into the owner as he was about to drive away.  Apparently, due to it being the off season and with the downed economy, this hostel was temporarily closed.  They had overlooked our reservation.  Luckily we had bumped into the owner.  Had we been a few minutes later, we would have been locked out of the hostel with no phone, no wifi, and no place to stay, with a cranky baby and very heavy backpacks.

A long story short: the owner made accommodations for us at a different hostel in town and even drove us over (gratefully since it was across town).

After checking in, we grabbed some lunch and headed to the beach.  The water was a little cold, but we still enjoyed laying on the sand in the sunshine.  That evening we enjoyed some great pasta at a nearby restaurant.  We walked around the town for a while enjoying some gelato.  We stopped in a little store and the store owner liked Dominic so much, he gave him a little stuffed animal.

Saturday May 26 - Day 13
We took a day trip up to San Marino today.  San Marino is a microstate enclaved in Italy.  We took a bus up up up until we felt like we were on top of whole country.

We spent all day walking around taking in the sights.

One of my favorite pictures of Dominic ever!

Pretty walkways

What you can't see is that I'm standing on a pillar 3 or 4 feet tall---it was a trip to get onto the pillar with Dominic on my chest!

Dominic sized car

Very pretty views

There were lots of cool castles in San Marino

A mini guitar for Dominic! (Look at his little fingers on the strings!)

Another castle

Another castle in the distance

An even smaller guitar!  Notice Dominic is singing!

And another Castle

Dominic and I were getting ready to crowd surf.

Beautiful root system and symbolism: these two trees are stronger together with their roots interwoven then they would be independently.  I'm so grateful for Michael.

In the evening, we took a bus back down to Rimini and headed to the city center to check out the sites in town.  

The Arch of Augustus (built 27 BC!)

Regular exposure so you can see the arch

My dad visited Rimini a few years back and was so amazed by the old architecture.  It was so cool to see it and share in his enthusiasm.

I love the warm streets

Tiberius Bridge (21 AD)

The bridge was the only river crossing not destroyed by the retreating German army during the Battle of Rimini (Sept. 1944) and is said to have resisted all attempts of destruction (including the ignition failure of explosive charges!).  The bridge is still open to pedestrian and vehicular traffic (excluding really heavy "goods" vehicles).  My dad also really liked this bridge so it was cool for me to see it.  

We headed across the bridge to the other side of town.

We walked through the streets following our noses and intuition in search of a place to eat dinner

The result: The BEST pasta we ate during our time in Italy.  (notice Dominic sleeping)

Waiting for our food...

After dinner we started back for the hostel...but not before taking some pictures.

Sunday May 27 - Day 14

Before checking out of the hostel we stopped by the beach for a walk.

After checking out, we caught the bus to the train station and were on our way to ROMA!

We ate such good food during our stay in Rimini/San Marino, but we were really looking forward to Rome, our final stop in Italy before going back to Spain.