Family, glorious family! October 24th, 2010

On our last day in the NY area we had a much needed restful and fun day hanging with the fam.  As I mentioned earlier, we were staying with uncle D and aunt P.  Well, let me introduce you to their beautiful daughters, J and L:



J, in case you can't tell from this picture, is 7.5 months pregnant.  I know!  How dare she look so awesome at 7.5 months?!?  I don't like people like that.....OK, I guess I can forgive her cause she is my dear dear cousin, but still, how come I never got that 'look great in your third trimester' gene?!

Anyway, the excitement over this baby, first grandchild here, was palpable.  Of course it was!  Clearly shouldn't be any other way.

The new gramma to be (aunt P) is so so very in love with her offspring's offspring.  It was just so sweet to watch.  No, she's not napping on her daughter's belly but getting as close as she possibly can without yanking the child out herself!  :-)

And I just love this gaze.  A gaze that expresses amazement, pride and love.  Or just, WOW, a 'how'd my baby end up havin' a baby?!' kind of look.  I think just being in awe covers it all.



On the other side of very preggy J, with that silly grin on his face :-), is her awesome hubby J.  Yes, they are J&J.



Here are the wonderful newlyweds L&M, the reason for our trip to the area back in May.  We celebrated M's birthday with a half melted cake, courtesy of me.  The melted part anyway.  P placed it in the laundry room (on the dryer) for safe keeping, unbeknownst to me.  Needless to say, I was doing laundry and managed to melt the frosting and part of the cake away.  Sorry, again, M!!

A game of chess (or a version of it) was enjoyed,

Had us a game of soccer, courtesy of uncle D's friend and his son who came by to get a close look at the RV.  They apparently live, breath and eat the sport and therefore go everywhere ready for a game, equipment and all.  Cousin M is also quite the player so we had us some major skills out on the field.



The funny thing about this shot is that Inventor played the game for only about 15 minutes and then decided he'd had enough.  He's not much of a sports man, though he looks pretty into it here.  Analyzer on the the other hand was *way* into it and was pretty good too for someone who almost never plays.



Whirlwind had absolutely no interest in the game but he did spend quite a bit of time trying to build a geyser with L's help (yes, we're still doing it), but this time with very little luck.  Here, he's explaining to his audience why the experiment didn't quite work.....



We watched the all important Bill's game.  Well, most of us did.  I'm not one to sit and watch anything sports related, even if it is THE Buffalo Bills.  Neither is S for that matter, though here he is watching!  Not being interested in the Bills is considered blasphemy in my family, so here I am, asking for your forgiveness good fam!  It's just not in me....maybe I need an intervention.



We had some great laughs and giggles,



I think 'someone' just stunk up the joint in this photo, give you one guess who it was...

And just had a grand ol' time hanging out with a whole bunch o' cousins and an awesome aunt and uncle 'set' thrown in for good measure!

Late at night, once most departed for their own homes, Analyzer got cousin L to write out a bunch of math problems for her. Don't ask me, I just snap the pictures 'round here.

Oh, regarding that baby cousin J was 'cooking up' for us.  He finally joined the world and blessed us with his glorious presence ON his due date, Dec. 16th!

And here he is:

Welcome to the world little fella!!  We're sooooooo happy to have you!!!!

Happy birthday!!