April Vacation in Hilton Head

Aye, Captain!  Let's go on a Dolphin Cruise!

Note Matthew's right ring finger.  A mishap with the car door - on the way to the airport, of course - kept him out of the pool the first couple of days.

Sidelined from swimming, Matthew was a tough competitor in the ping-pong tournament.

Ahh ... peace and quiet ...

Splash!!!!

No visit to Hilton Head is complete without a visit to Lawton Stables.  Tommy reconnects with an old friend.  After that, it was off to charter fishing with Captain Blair.

Heading back to the dock, Tommy's got a need for speed.

Top Hat Magic

Tommy's performance at the East Farms School Spring Talent Show, video by Matthew.  Enjoy!

Pack 74

As usual, we're overdue for some updates to the blog. We've had some exciting times with the Cub Scouts lately, so I thought I'd share a few photos.

Tiger Cub Tommy takes aim with the big guns at Battleship Cove last weekend.

Not exactly luxury hotel accommodations, but Matthew looks comfortable enough on the top bunk.

Pack 74 visited the West Hartford Town Hall this week and led the Pledge of Allegiance to open the Town Council meeting.

Mayor Scott Slifka gave the boys a nice tour of the council chambers and his office. The boys were fascinated by the fact that the Town Hall was formerly a high school and they had some very interesting questions for the mayor on what it was like in those days.

Pack 74 is a great group of boys. As you can see, the membership is really small. We had a crisis earlier in the year, when one of the Bear Cubs switched schools and left the pack. His dad, who was the Cubmaster, left, too. All the parents have really pitched in, though, to keep things going and Chris has done an awesome job getting all of the paperwork in order with the Boy Scouts organization and organizing the Pinewood Derby and overnight trip to Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA.

The Magic

Yes, we really did it! Kelly World does Disney World!!! In spite of Chris' and my insistence that the boys would be lucky to see The Mouse by their 18th birthdays, we surprised them with a 5-day trip to Orlando.

Men on a mission, the guys are on their way in to the Magic Kingdom. My favorite part was the Electrical Parade at night. Although there was so much to see in the parks, the trip was clearly about the rides. The faster and scarier, the better!

A die-hard Beauty and the Beast fan, Tommy was thrilled to see the Live show at Disney's Hollywood Studios (MGM) on the first day.

Tommy actually became the Beast a number of times during the trip. A lot had to do with long days, endless walking and temperatures in the upper 90's. Nothing like a soda and hot dog to take the edge off, though.

Since it was Father's Day weekend, we indulged Chris with a trip to Gatorland, a local attraction he very much wanted to see. The boys enjoyed feeding some giant tortoises.

Here's Matthew wrestling a gator.

Thomas looking totally bored on safari in Animal Kingdom.

What is it with the noses? Matthew and Minnie are so embarassed!

We had an awesome trip and it really got the Summer off with a bang for us. Hope all of you will have a great one, too!

First Communion Day

Today was a very big day for Matthew, as he received his First Holy Communion at St. Brigid Church, with his classmates. It was a beautiful ceremony and Matthew did great. Afterwards we celebrated with a festive lunch for the family and friends who had come to be with Matthew for this important event in his life. And, yes, a baseball game broke out in the backyard. Matthew wouldn't have it any other way!

Homecoming Day

Today we celebrate 3 years since the longest non-stop airplane flight in the history of the world. It was a pretty ordinary Wednesday, but, in honor of the occasion, I prepared the boys' favorite meal for dinner -- chicken tenders with Macaroni & Cheese. Not exactly a traditional eastern European dish. Thomas hardly touched it. I think he was too excited to get to his Art Show this evening. In the photo above, you can see half of the donkey he made in school on the wall next to Matthew. In his usual rock-star fashion, he worked the crowd and had a blast.

Matthew had his big night on Monday. It was tryouts for AAA division of Little League baseball. This is the first time either of the boys has had to actually try out for a team, but Matthew seemed pretty well-prepared, so we wait for the decision and hope for the best.

Things are definitely less stressful than they were three years ago, but we still have our challenges. The boys activity level has not subsided. We endure the struggles of school, homework, the bus, lots of fighting, very little listening and a really messy house. That being said, I'll take it any day over being on a plane for 10 1/2 hours straight with two squirming kids who don't speak English, and wouldn't fall asleep. It's so good to be home!

Third Anniversary of Meeting

Three years ago today we met the boys. Back then they were non-English speaking little savages - now they've grown and practice English non stop...really...non-stop.

It was quite a day. Matthew had his first reconciliation (confession) with his class and a birthday party for our neighbor Tyler. Apparently, reconciliation is a much bigger event these days then when we were kids.

As for the three years, well it's a cross between "just yesterday" and "a lifetime ago." Everything has changed, much more laughter, many more tears, more band-aids, less sleep and on and on and on.

A post on this date would not be complete without mentioning it is the one year anniversary of the passing of Mel the Cat. For nearly 15 years he was a sweet companion and the brunt of many jokes. He is still missed

Anyhow, here are some pictures from today



Matthew (2nd from right) in a reconciliation re-enactment



The Kelly Family caught acting normally

Thomas casually practicing escaping