More Visiting Fun!!

The morning that Pete and Dimitri left our good friends Rosie and Nadia arrived. The driveway was still warm! Rosie and I did a little catching up and then the kids were given the job of waking Greg up so we could start our day. Poor unsuspecting fella...there's nothing like an alarm clock made up of one 2 year old and one 4 year old!

Still asleep...he doesn't know what's going to hit him!

We've let the hounds loose!

But they soon settle down and gently urge Greg to get up because we all want to go to Lakeview Orchards and pick our first bushell of apples since last fall! It was a perfect day for some picking with a slight chill in the air and a divine Berkshire sky...

Here everyone lines up to take a ride on the apple train as we weave our way through the trees.

Jorn and Nadia on the hunt for apples that are just right...except they get distracted and start a game of "let's run into eachother at mach speed and see what happens". They were acting likes Rams!



Amazingly and thankfully no one was hurt and they did this about a dozen times! In the meantime I put together this Owl feather and Clover arrangement...

Ah sweet Prince Willliams (that's the variety of apple) we love you so...there is nothing like apples picked right from the tree with good company...

on a day like this...

But we sure did work up an appetite so what better to do than meet the Lubrano Clan (Rosie's family) for our annual excursion to Elizabeth's Italian Eatery. By far the BEST Italian food I have ever had cooked by a husband and wife team. The secret is that they put all their love for eachother into the food and it really makes a difference.



With full bellies we tried to get a group shot but it was hard to keep the kidlets still. This was the best we could do. From left to right are John (Rosie's dad), Rodolpho (family friend), Mickey (Rosie's sister), Jude (Rosie's mom), Rosie and Nadia, Greg and Jorn. Then back home we went to bathe the babies and get some rest for the next day and more adventures!

Family Fun Weekend

This weekend was packed with family fun! Here is just a snipet of the good times had.

Day One: First we headed off to the Peach Festival to meet Pete and Dimitri only we had to find our way there first! Jorn was in charge of the map!

Once we got there it was rides galore!

Jorn went on the Car-Go-Round twice! He LOVED it!

Then FINALLY a healthy outlet for Gregorio steam! We should each have one of these in our houses...it would make life much easier (for those who have to live with us)!

Here come the men in black...

Who desperately tried to find their way back to their home planet on this ride mistaking it for their mothership!

Day Two: Savoy State Forest/North Pond

We all packed a picnic and went to the lake. It was beautiful but the water was warmer than the air temp so the guys didn't last long swimming. But that's ok there were other things to do...

Like play ball...
Have races...
Take a quick swimming lesson with dad...

And look for snakes...(the snake turned out to be a piece of zuchinni wedged in a hole. Oh well.)

Then we packed it up and headed home to BBQ and roast some marshmallows.

It was a perfect Berkshire summer weekend with many more memories than could ever be pictured here.

Big Day, Big Boy, Big Bed

For whatever reason Saturday just felt like a good day to switch Jorn from his "cribby" to the twin bed we have had waiting for him to be ready. Quite spontaneously I lugged the twin bed into Jorn's room at which point Greg realized that he would have to take over dismantling the crib and carrying the heavy bed frame from the garage. (Thanks Hun!)

Our quest for "cool sheets" and safety rails began shortly after and lead us 1 hour away to Holyoke mall because Greg and I do not shop at Wal-Mart. We do our very best to support local businesses but after trying *every* place we could think of we threw in the towel and headed off to the big mall. (Still better than Wal-Mart which is the reason there are so few choices in Pittsfield). And here are the results!


One happy sleeper, his "cool" jungle sheets, and his makes momma happy safety rails!

This picture was taken the night before our trip for the sheets and rails. Jorn's first night in his big bed. He went to bed without a hitch, slept soundly, and stayed in the bed all night. When he woke up he promptly declared, "Oh, I like sleep now!".

Jorn is just the greatest!

Everyone knows that Jorn *LOVES* Thomas the Train and all the other trains in the set. Well Toby (pictured below) is the first train we bought him way back when over a year ago. The other morning Greg and Jorn were together in the kitchen busy with typical morning activites and Jorn brought THIS picture over to Greg and asked him to draw Toby's number on it!





Now I know that Jorn is my son and that I am biased in my opinions but I think that this is absoultely astonishing for a child 2 1/2 years old. Mind you that he had no help at all. The shape is his, the colors, etc. Greg didn't want to draw the "7" on the picture so he draw it to the side. This picture is on its way to be framed!

The Adams Fair

This weekend the Connors Clan high tailed it to the Adams Fair! It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time. Here is a little photo album of our excursion. Enjoy!


Jorn with Smokey the Bear. He followed this guy around for quite some time before he realized there was a little one trying to get his attention. I was surprised that Jorn really wanted to be near him. He loved him, I know you can't tell from the photo but he really did!


Here's the obligatory photo of the country fair prize winning veggie basket. I LOVE country fairs. Yummy home grown veggies are a thing of wonder and beauty to me. Cudos to those who took home the prize!


Meanwhile Greg really bonded with this Chicken. Don't ask me why but they had a definate "connection".


While Greg was making nice with the chickens I was warming up to this guy...because all knitters know there's nothing like a man who keeps llamas. Llamas make this...



At $65 a skein this stuff is yummy like cashmere. But, unfortunately like cashmere, way out of my price range. (A really good wool is at most @ $11 a skein)


Though I had to walk away from the Llama yarn I did get to pet this Percheron. Percherons are one of my favorite breeds of horses and some day in the near future there will be one frolicking in my front yard...or a pasture which would probably make more sense. Wish I could have taken this guy home with me. He was a gentle giant. A real sweetie.



Greg and Jorn took a ride down the slide (thats them at the top, click on the picture to enlarge). One ticket bought you 3 runs down the slide but after the first time down I asked Jorn if I could go down with him and he said, "I did it once with daddy, that's enough."! Deep down it makes a mother happy when you know your child has a healthy fear of heights. He is a wise boy!

So there it is. A few snipets from our weekend at the fair.

Long Time No Post

Oh Boy. It has been a really long time since my last post. Things have been really busy over here in the beautiful Berkshires since my Celebrancy graduation. I owe a sincere apology to those of you out there (Papa Joe) who have become accustomed to regular updates. I'm back on track again and ready to blog! So here it goes. After graduating and coming back home we had just enough time to do some laundry before we high tailed it back to good 'ol Tom's River, NJ again for the not so annual but more like whenever we get around to it Gregorio Family Reunion. We did actually take a complete group shot but I didn't manage to get a copy so it will have to wait until one ends up my way. Until then here is a picture of my cousins Lisa (front) and Joanne (back) with their significant others and Joanne's son Larry. Don't worry, there were way more than 5 people there. We had a great time and I think it was the first year that I really remembered who everyone was!

While in NJ we decided to take a trip to Smithsville with Papa John, Papa Joe, and Nana. It was really fun. Greg has most of the pictures on his lap top but here's a cute one I took of Jorn's *first* caraousel ride! He did not want to go on any of the horses though he just wanted to sit. We had so much fun despite intense heat and 100% humidity. Smithsville is an interesting little place. It's a historic fishing village turned shopping center but it's filled with handmade wears and imports. It is not at all anything like the NJ most of us have pictured in our minds and well worth the trip if you find yourself in Atlantic City.


As soon as we got home we entered the final stages of the purchase of our second and most beautiful dwelling, this lovely cabin in Savoy, Ma. We are (almost) the proud owners of 1.85 acres located and grandfathered smack into the middle of Savoy state forest which means that around the cabin is 11,000 acres of preserved immaculate forest. While hiking around the other day Greg, Jorn, and I discovered a trail that runs from behind the cabin and brings you to an amazing waterfall. Yes, for the nature lovers out there, I said 11,000 acres and a waterfall. It needs some elbow grease and a bulldozer to remove the falling down old farmhouse still on the property but we're up to the challenge. So, grab your camping gear and a hammer and get up here people we have some work to do!



In the meantime while we were faxing and signing for the cabin my dearest friend in the world, Bruce, traveled out from Ohio to visit for a few days while on his way to officate a wedding for some friends of his in Northhampton, Ma. We had such a great visit which we always do. Unfortunately there were no pictures taken only memories made but that's just swell. While waiting for his train to come in (which it eventually did 2 1/2 hours late) I knit him up a hat which I have asked him to take a picture of and send back my way and once that gets here I'll be sure to post it for all to see.

The day after Bruce left (you getting all this) my friend, Aileen, from Simon's Rock College surprised us with a phone call and a visit. I hadn't seen Aileen since I was pregnant with Jorn so we had a lot of catching up to do and not quite enough time. (If you're reading this Aileen, I'll have to pay you a visit soon so we can continue the conversations we started.) It was *so great* to see her. She is a beauty and a sweetie and a knitter...what more could you ask for?



On top of all that I was asked by a local political/social organization (who shall remain nameless) to run for City Council representing Ward 1 in the grand 'ol city of Pittsfield, Ma. With some serious consideration I decided to declined the nomination as I don't feel now is quite the right time for me to run for public office. Perhaps sometime in the near future or maybe not. Who knows? One things for sure, things are always fun and unpredictable here, just the way I like it. So stay tuned...I'll be blogging regularly again.