Psst... Sam turned 16

Even though he almost never makes an appearance on the blog, Sam is around here (somewhere...) and he just turned 16. Wow. I remember turning 16 like it was yesterday. Only it was more like 32 years ago. Anyway.... a little update on Sam. He is most of the way through his sophomore year. He still loves to read, loves to play computer games (much to my dismay), likes school, especially history, Chinese and English. Doesn't like homework all that much. He worships Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart (as do Chris and I) and he has an increasing interest in Boston sports teams. (It really is impossible, even for someone like Sam who shuns popular culture, to not get sucked in by the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins.) For Sam's 16th birthday, we had dinner out on the Cape with his lifelong friend, Mack, and Mack's parents, Bill and Janet, and we also celebrated back here on the actual day. Edie and Gemma gave Sam a huge basket of his favorite foods - Virgil's root beer, salt and vinegar potato chips, beef jerky, wasabi peas from TJs, and much more. It was very sweet and I think he really appreciated the card they made him.

Here are a couple of photos of Sam on the Cape.





Just for kicks, this is photo of me when I was 16 - my brother, Rob, unearthed it somewhere. Maybe Sam and I are more alike than I would like to think?

Hangin' with Sara and family

During our Spring Break, we scheduled a visit with Sara and her wonderful brothers (and lovely mother, Ann, of course!). Sara and Gemma lived together in China and we love to get them together. We paid a visit to the Stone Zoo, just north of Boston. Sara is adorable and she and Gemma always seem to have fun together. Sara's older brothers are not only great with Sara, they are the most polite group of boys I think I have ever met.

Getting reacquainted


Gemma in deep thought


Edie and Sara's brothers take a train ride


Gemma and Sara wonder why they aren't on that train


The whole gang...

My Goofy Girls

This is Gemma's trademark face - the smoochie kiss. She does this all the time and it always makes me laugh. I cannot resist her when she looks like this.


And here is Edie, who never misses an opportunity to work it for the camera.

Easter on the North Fork

As we do many years, we spent Easter on the North Fork (of Long Island) with Chris' family. We stayed at the charming Chequit Inn on Shelter Island, which we did four years ago for Edie's first Easter with us. It was special to go back again with Gemma on her first Easter.

The girls had a blast with their cousins. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Just a little Gemma update....

Not on her eye (which is healing well), but yesterday Gemma took her first tiny steps!! She only took two steps each time, but I guess we all start somewhere. She is a stubborn thing and won't show us anything else, but I had a friend with me who saw the steps so I know I wasn't imagining it!

Gemma also went to the doctor for a well visit today. She is now 31" long and weighs 22 1/2 pounds which puts her in the 25th percentile for weight and the 10th percentile for height. This sounds gargantuan to me, since Edie has always been a strictly a 5/5 (or less) gal.

How was your Friday night?

Ours was not great, but it was eventful. See below please.



Cute smile, right? But you did notice the eye. Here is a closer look - you can count 'em.



That's right, four stiches. Poor little G - already a trip to the emergency room. And who was responsible for this?



She should look more sad, right? I know it was an accident, but just a little remorse? Edie decided to unstrap Gemma from her little child seat at the table because "Gemma wanted me to unstrap her." Unfortunately, Edie didn't tell us that Gemma was unstrapped and Gemma leaned forward to push herself back from the table and went straight to the floor. Hitting the edge of the table on the way, of course.