Grace's First Swim Lesson

Bernadette Grace had her first swim lesson in the BIG pool today! She was a bit hesitant about getting into the water without Mommy or Daddy, but I was happy that she made it into the pool (even though it was a very brief "swim"). Hopefully, next week she'll feel a bit more comfortable and learn how to use the kickboard.
Grace and her swim instructor, Miss Andrea. Grace was a little too shy to show her teacher how well she can blow bubbles in the water.

PC Playdate

We had a fabulous day yesterday with some of my favorite college friends and their adorable children! It's amazing to think that 10 years have passed since our Providence College graduation! Here are a couple of pictures of our little sweethearts...
Grace had so much fun playing with Tyler, Morgan, and Ryan
Andrew and Thomas enjoyed cooling off in the pool
Watch out Kris... I think Andrew is making eyes at Chelsea:-)

Tea with the Queen

My mom was Queen for the Day at Castle on the Hudson! We had high tea to celebrate my mom's birthday. For special occasions, we always look forward to sharing a "Ladies Day." It was quite a relaxing afternoon.
Happy Birthday, Mommy Pajami! xoxo

Fancy Nancy Extravaganza!!!

Today was an extremely exciting day! Not only did we celebrate LuLu's birthday, but we also met Jane O'Connor... author of the Fancy Nancy series. We had an enjoyable afternoon at the Fancy Nancy Fashion Parade, and Bernadette Grace was dressed in her fanciest, frilliest, and most bedazzled attire! She was even referred to as a member of the "Glitteratzi." We had so much fun making memories with LuLu at the reading and signing of Grace's new favorite book... Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day!
Grace's Fancy Nancy ensemble
Jane O'Connor reading her latest book!
The signing...
Happy Birthday, LuLu! Thank you for making memories with us on your special day! We love you! xoxo

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the important men in our lives! We love you Daddy, Pop, Grandpa, Poppy, Uncle Denis (Grace's Godfather), and Uncle Ed (Andrew's Godfather). Danny, you are such an amazing father! I love to watch you with our little sweethearts. Thank you for all the hard work that you do to provide our kiddies with such "good things!" xoxo
Happy Father's Day, Daddy! You're the best! We love you to the moon and back!
Hooray for Uncle Denis! Thank you for hosting such a delicious Father's Day breakfast! Your pancakes rock!
Pop loved the picture that Grace and Andrew gave him! We love you, Pop! Thank you for all the LolliPOPs!
Even Grace received presents today... chocolate lollipops:)
Andrew was sure to show off his latest trick at the Colonna Father's Day BBQ... walking:-)
We love you, Grandpa!
Grace and Andrew are so blessed to celebrate Father's Day with their GREAT-grandfather. We love you, Poppy!
Flashback to Father's Day 2009 ~ Grace loves Daddy!
2009 ~ Grace and the Colonna Dads. This was her last Father's Day as an only child...

ConGRADulations, Laura!

It's hard to believe that Laura Lou (as we call her) is graduating from high school this week! It doesn't seem long ago that Danny and I would babysit for Laura and her brothers on good old DeGroff Place:-) The Klaciks are a part of our extended famly, and we are so fortunate to have them in our lives. We had such a fun afternoon celebrating Laura's accomplishments and admiring all of her artwork!
Do you think Grace enjoyed playing in the sprinkler?
Grace and her cousin, Shane
Andrew and Francesca
Laura, Grace, Cindy, and the Andrews

Bernadette's Book Signing...

One of the many benefits of Friday Family Date Night is our walk past Bookends. We've been looking forward to meeting the most famous Bernadette we know... Bernadette Peters. We were happy to have her sign her latest children's book, Stella Is a Star. We had a nice afternoon walking through Ridgewood, and we couldn't resist stopping at Crumbs before our drive home.

Andrew loves going to the bookstore, too:-)

Andrew's Big Day

This was certainly Andrew's Big Day! Andrew decided to play peekaboo for the first time at breakfast this morning. He has such an adorable smile, and it was so cute to watch him play peekaboo with his bib. I was so excited that I ran for his First Year Calendar to mark his accomplishment with a milestone sticker! Moments later, Andrew began clapping along to patty-cake. I got so excited to put another sticker in his calendar, and I had a hard time fitting them both on the same date. Danny and I were amazed, and we giggled about our little genius:-) While we were getting ready to attend Dan's 10 Year Reunion from Fordham, we reminisced about how Grace took her first steps for his mom when we went to a wedding. We got nervous that we were going to miss another accomplishment while we were out, but Andrew must have sensed my anxiety... he walked for the first time moments before we left!!! This was such a memorable day, and we are so proud of our Little Man!

This video was taken after the first two milestones of the day. We'll have to show some walking in upcoming videos.

Gardening with LuLu

Grace and LuLu planted beautiful pink and white impatiens in front of our house today. It was fun to watch them working together. Last year, they gardened when Andrew was born. I'll never forget the gorgeous flowers we were greeted with when we arrived home from the hospital. LuLu is a fabulous teacher, and Grace did a nice job following instructions. After all their hard work, LuLu and Pop joined us for dinner and ice cream:-) Grace and Andrew were happy to entertain their visitors... Grace sang lots of songs (including the ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star). She also did a couple of her cheers, and Andrew showed off his ability to cruise along the furniture.
Step 1 ~ Dig the hole
Step 2 ~ Sprinkle "flower food" into the hole
Step 3 ~ Plant the flower securely into the ground
Step 4 ~ Water
Step 5 ~ Enjoy
Grace had so much fun gardening with LuLu! She is now slightly obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and she wanted Mickey and Minnie to see all of her hard work:-)
After supper, Andrew and Grace entertained LuLu and Pop!

Polynose & Polytoes

Grace and Andrew love playing and exploring at the park. The last few weeks, Grace has been fascinated by all of the Spring flowers. Recently, she hasn't let a day go by without picking a bouquet of buttercups or dandelions. Today she had fun wearing a polynose throughout most of our visit at the park:-) She is such an entertainer!

Somehow Andrew's polynose became a "polytoes!" :-)
There's always a smile on Andrew's face whenever he's on a swing

Grace is such a great big sister! She loves helping me push Andrew on the swing.