Ends and New Beginnings

Once again, I have allowed far too much time to pass between updates on the 'blog. This has been a crazy year, with lots of ups and downs. We had a "double whammy" last month; great-grandma Aileen passed away, and we had to say goodbye to Apollo.

While we have mourned these losses, we are also reminded on a daily basis of how fortunate we are to be surrounded by family and friends. As such, we had Yaya (Josh's mom) visit for a weekend, and she got to help Lucas with baking cookies and riding his big-boy bike.

In addition, the world doles out new beginnings in tandem with its endings...while shopping at the pet store for cat food today, we were lovingly accosted, and subsequently adopted, by the newest member of our family. We brought Tucker home with us (and yes, if you were wondering, Lucas was thrilled), where he is currently making himself at home and negotiating an agreement with the cat. Pictures? Of course there are pictures!

We will continue to take life as it comes, and prepare for the holiday season (which crept up on us this year); however, I will make more of an effort to keep this little diary updated. Stay safe and warm, and I hope that you all enjoy your holidays as much as we intend to enjoy ours!

Hands On!

Lucas and Daddy took a trip through the morning deluge to visit the Great Explorations Children's Museum in St. Pete (AKA the "Hands On Museum," for you old fogies).

We had a great time playing in/on the treehouse, and - since we had the great fortune to run into Lesley, Edison, Ana Tobin and Eli - we got to build block cities! I took lots of pictures, but they aren't the best in the world. Enjoy!

A quiet little visit from up North...

This morning we saw Papa Jon, Nana Karen, and Lucas' cousin Nicole off to the airport. While we are sad to see them go, it was great to have them come for a visit. There's lots of pictures to look at, and everyone had a good time!

We love you guys, and hope to see you soon!

Happy Birthday Lucas!

We had a small birthday party (just a few local family members) for a big boy today, and Lucas had an absolutely smashing time. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that he is three YEARS old today!

As you can probably see from the videos and eleventy-billion pictures that we took, Lucas really enjoyed the day - I didn't get to take any pictures of us swimming in the pool, but a good time was had by all.

Happy birthday Lucas, and here's hoping that you never lose your sense of delight in Matchbox cars and Thomas the Tank Engine trains...

A visit from Nana-Nana and Papa-Papa

We just said goodbye to great-grampa Tim, great-gramma Vera, and great-aunt Renee (Papa-Papa, Nana-Nana, and Nee-nee, respectively) last night. It was a fabulous visit, with a trip to Clearwater Beach, a movie night at the house, a drive to Tarpon Springs, and lots of time on the deck and in the pool.

Since everyone had a camera, we have LOTS of pictures and a few short videos (here's one of Renee and Lucas on the porch) of the excitement. We had an absolute blast - thanks for coming, you guys!