Category: Family

We kicked off summer with a trip to the Cape to visit Nana, Grampa and Auntie Liz this weekend. Pete loved exploring his new surroundings and playing with all sorts of new toys and tupperware – his current favorite toy!

On Sunday, we went to Aunt Pam and Uncle Steve’s house for a cookout.  All the Cundall clan was there which meant that Pete got to hang out with his cousin Gracie.  Grace is exactly two months older than Pete, so it was pretty cute watching them together!  The two of them have the bluest eyes and are just adorable.  We played for awhile and then went for a ride around Hyannis Harbor on Steve’s new boat.  It was a gorgeous day and we had so much fun watching Pete experience his first boat ride.  He was a bit skeptical at first, but was smiling and dancing by the end of the ride:

Pete was doted on all afternoon and it was such a treat getting to see him loved on by his family.  He and Gracie made us smile and laugh all day.  And despite being awake long past bedtime, they were happy and content to just play and be adored.

After a much needed good night’s sleep, Pete got to play on his new swing at Nana and Grampa’s house.  He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it at first, but very quickly figured out how fun it was!

We had such a great weekend, but it went by way too fast.  We didn’t even make it to the beach, so that’s on the agenda for next time.  We already can’t wait for our next visit!

We had a great day visting our mothers and grandmothers yesterday.  Pete was Mr. Charming (as usual) and made my day pretty close to perfect.

To Bana and Nana especially, thank you for your constant love and support.  We don’t know what we’d do without you in our lives and we love you both so much.  Seeing you with Pete over the last year and watching your love for him grow has been pretty amazing. He is lucky to be so adored and based on how excited he gets to see you both, I’d say the feeling is mutual!

My friend Jodie told me about a great park in North Attleboro: the World War I Memorial Park and Zoo.  Pete and I were looking for something to do yesterday afternoon so we decided to meet my parents at the park.  Jodie wasn’t kidding; this park was incredible.  It had a petting zoo to start, so Pete saw all kinds of new animals: goats, deer, llamas, donkeys and pigs to name a few.  He didn’t know quite what to make of the animals (especially the llamas!), but he liked watching Birdie feed carrots to them.

After spending some time with the animals, we walked around the park a little bit more.  There were several playgrounds, a butterfly garden, a gigantic sandbox and so many things to explore.  Pete is pretty skeptical of new things.  He wasn’t totally into the swings and slides at first, but after enough time, he warmed right up!

He loved the little horse and was so cute smiling as he bounced around.  He also loved crawling up the slide and then sliding down on his belly.  He would laugh and laugh and then do it all over again.  It was adorable.  It was so fun watching him enjoy himself and it was pretty cute watching his grandparents with him too!  I’m not sure who had more fun – him, them or me.

I can’t wait to explore more new things with Pete.  He makes everything that much more entertaining and enjoyable!  And we will definitely be back at that park again soon.

Pete the Bunny celebrated his first Easter this weekend!  I am quite sure he’s going to hate me for this picture some day but he truly didn’t seem to mind wearing bunny ears:

We spent Easter morning in Worcester with Nana, Grandpa and Auntie Liz:

Pete found his Easter basket:

And then we headed to Canton to spend the afternoon with the Conroy clan (where I apparently took no pictures!) … Pete was a tired boy.  He didn’t nap all day but was so sweet and cuddly.  He never sits still for long, so for him to sit in Kristen’s lap resting was very unusual!  It was pretty adorable and Kristen didn’t seem to mind either.

We spent last Easter anxiously awaiting the munchkin’s arrival, so it was very fun to have him around this year.  We had such a great day with our families and love seeing the joy that Pete brings to so many people.  He is a neat little guy and continues to make us happier than I ever thought possible!

As I’ve mentioned, Pete loves to give sloppy baby kisses.  They are borderline creepy, because he stares so intently at you with his mouth open and tongue out, but they make me laugh and I love that when I ask for a kiss, I get one.  He treated his auntie Kristen to a kiss this weekend, which I happened to catch on film.  Without further ado, may I present The Art of Kissing by Peter J. Marr:

Despite his questionable technique (and disheveled look – he was exhausted), I think the kiss was a success because Kris smiled the entire time (as did I).  I hope my sweet boy maintains his enthusiasm for kissing (his family only!) for a long, long time to come.

 

Pete and I headed to Nana Quinn’s this afternoon for lunch with some very important ladies:

His cousin Gracie was supposed to be there too, but ended up not being able to make it.  That didn’t stop Pete from having a blast though.  Per usual, he was a little ham and took great pleasure at being the center of attention.  He yelled, he talked and he flirted shamelessly with his adoring crowd.  He was spoiled with presents from Nana Quinn and loved playing with his new toys.

Nana Quinn has such a way with Pete.  He is never shy with her and she knows exactly how to make him smile and laugh.  They seem to understand each other perfectly and I just love watching them together:

We had such a great visit and are already looking forward to the next one 🙂

Pat and I went on a date tonight (our first true date in over nine months)! It is very hard to leave Pete, so we searched high and low for the perfect babysitter.  We learned pretty quickly that our first candidate wasn’t quite up to the task:

We had a backup (just in case) but he too wasn’t up for the Pete challenge:

Luckily, we finally found someone suitable to babysit, stay awake and take pictures:

Thanks Auntie Kris and Uncle Shay for treating us to a much needed night out.  Pete had a lot of fun and we really were very comforted to know he was in good hands!

Auntie Kristen fed Pete this weekend.  It wasn’t the neatest operation, but Pete certainly didn’t mind and it was very entertaining for the rest of us:

This year, we are very thankful for our little man.  He is just the best.

Pete went on his first plane trip this weekend!  My mom, sister, Pete and I flew to WI on Thursday to visit my brother and his family.  Here’s the little man waiting for takeoff with Kris:

Pete was so good on the flight.  He was his typical happy-go-lucky self and entertained everyone sitting behind us.  Several of the people on our flight Thursday were on our flight home Sunday and when one couple spotted him, they exclaimed “Peter!!  Oh my gosh, I think you grew since Thursday!”  He rewarded them with a big smile.  Pete was fascinated looking out the window of the plane; it was adorable.

We had a pretty busy weekend, but a lot of fun. We spent Friday at the house with the Reece and Lena while Quinn was at school and Tim and Jenny were at work:

We tortured poor Pete with Lena’s new headband … he was very skeptical at first, but warmed up to it rather quickly.  He made a pretty cute girl and will someday hate us (me) for this:

Saturday was a perfect fall day so we went downtown for lunch to State Street Brats (a top ten college sports bar, according to Playboy Magazine). There was a Badgers game, so the place was packed.  The people of WI really do love their football and we saw some pretty funny Brett Favre t-shirts.  My favorite is in the collage below!  After lunch, we walked around downtown before going to the UW student union.  It’s pretty amazing.  It overlooks Lake Mendota, so after treating ourselves to ice cream (made by the dairy science majors), we treated ourselves to a pitcher of beer outside on the patio by the water.

Kris and I were eager to check out Super Bike and weren’t disappointed. We even got Bana on it!  It’s not as easy as it looks to be towed but we had a lot of laughs and poor Tim was probably exhausted after towing us all over the neighborhood:

The most challenging part of the weekend was getting a picture of all the kids together … Pete was occasionally overwhelmed with all the commotion/chaos.

But we finally got a shot of Bana’s entire bunch:

We had a great visit and look forward to seeing the Wisconsinites again soon!