Haver-Reunion 2011

The event: a Lloyd 31 reunion (Tony's buddies from Haverford). Location: Bondville, VT (Stratton Ski Area). Adults: 9. Children under the age of six: 7. Possibility for total chaos: 100%!!

The luxurious accommodations we got for a steal in the off season!

Heading out for a hike with the Ergos!
Olivia was very interested in Jonah, though he wasn't so sure
about this younger woman : )

Hikin' a breeze on Daddy's back!

Josephine had the best view of the hike
perched on Ben's shoulders.

Julia helps Jonah fuel up after our adventure
in the wilderness.

Nancy & Ben
 (yes, there are 2 Bens)

The Bens and their boys,
Alex (left) and William (right).

Jonah's glamour shot in the reservoir : )

Alex and William were fast friends.
(ie: inseparable!)

Jake gets toweled at the reservoir.

The Cutlers making s'mores (Ben, Jake, Nancy & Alex)

Emily shows Williams and Josephine the ropes!

Brian and Ben.

Josephine and Jake get silly!

Olivia and I cooling off at the reservoir.

Brian and Dan.

Brian started an impromptu drum circle with the kids.

The best group shot we could muster ; )

19 Gemignanis in one giant house = FUN!

It finally came to pass, our first official Gemignani annual family week! In its inaugural year, the reunion was held in Lackawaxen, PA in the Poconos, right on the border with New York. We rented a huge house that many of us had dubbed "The Fantasy House" while in the early stages of planning. Well, it definitely lived up to the name. The week's festivities included: splashing/relaxing in the hot tub, sauna and jacuzzi tubs; hours of Wii, pool and a poker night; several Princess parades, complete with multiple costume changes; movie nights on the giant movie screen; horse rides at the community stables; several trips to the playground; arts-n-crafts; an Easter hunt; a birthday celebration for Zachary's 7th birthday; and hours and hours of great family time together.

In addition, Mary and John stopped here in Providence a day early (on the way to Lackawaxen), to visit with a former student from their Peace Corps village of Kle, Liberia. Boima, "Bo", was a 10 year old boy in Mary's class while she and John were in the Peace Corps. After another villager tracked them down last year, Boima was able to find Mary and John through other Kle natives living in the United States.  Well, it was quite a reunion! Bo was sooooo grateful for his experiences with Mary and John, and continued to give them all the credit for his desire for learning. He moved to Georgia in 1995, where is sister was working for a wealthy Liberian family. He started his education down there and then transferred up to Rhode Island College to finish his Masters in Social Work. His excitement and genuine gratitude to Mary and John was truly endearing. Mary had found photos, drawings and even a story he had written in her Peace Corps belongings. He was amazed!! In addition, he enjoyed looking at all our African art and enjoyed hearing about Tony's experiences in Guinea. Even he recognized how difficult living in Guinea would have been. Liberia is much more developed in relation to it's northern neighbor. It was a great reunion to kick off a week of reunion.

John and Mary pose with an elated Boima.

Olivia meets her first West African : )

The girl cousins LOVED playing with the new additions.
(From left: Maya, Noa, Zoe, & Megan and Lila & Olivia in the saucers.)

The "Big" Gemignani children.
(Rebecca, Chris, Zach and Tony)

Dinner each night was cooked by a different group/couple.
Here, Zach poses with the grilled pizzas Tony, Rebecca, Scott and I made.

Jennie and Chris take Zachary, Zoe and Megan to the
playground in the "limo" golf cart.

Rebecca and Miles go for a slide!

The Gemignani clan.

Sisters.
(Andrea, Rebecca and I)

The matriarch and patriarch of this crazy family: Mary and John!

Megan, Noa and Maya were virtually inseparable all weekend.
Here they are post jacuzzi : )

Olivia loved cuddling with her Uncle Scott.

Zach shows off his super Daddy/Uncle strength.

Our little family.

Owen and Zachary were also inseparable and often glued to some
sort of screen - whether it be an iPAD, a computer or the Wii,
they always seemed to be having fun!

Olivia visits "The Greats"

April arrived and with that came the anticipation of Olivia's first plane trip and her first visit with the Atlanta "Greats" - that is, her Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Deerfield, her Great Aunt Nancy, and her Great Uncle Andy & Great Aunt Debbie. She also got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jon, who also made the trip down south. We were all greeted with wonderful weather (in the 80s the entire weekend!!) and wonderful southern hospitality : ) We had several great meals and lots of great visiting time at Andy & Debbie's, a nice stroll to the playground on Saturday and a lovely final brunch at Ruby Tuesdays before heading back north. It was so wonderful to see everyone and for Olivia to get to meet the rest of her doting family. Oh, and did I mention she got her wings?!

Debbie, Grandma, Mom and I make goo-goo faces at Olivia.

Olivia and her Great Aunt Nancy.

The center of attention
on her Great Grandma's lap.

Laughing with Great Grandpa.

"Oh no, Mom saw me watching TV!"

Playing with Grandma and Sofie the Giraffe
before heading out to the playground.

"Swings are fun when it's warm out too!"

Pooped after a nice stroll in the Georgia sunshine.

Snuggling with Great Grandma.

Sharing her coaster with Great Grandpa at Ruby Tuesdays.

Jon and Tony lamented the postponement of their trip to Tuckermans,
(due to Jon's new knee injury), much of the weekend.

Although an early incident involving a
scratchy beard and a bald head made for a rocky
reunion, Olivia and her Uncle Jon were best
buds by the end of the weekend.

Jon, Olivia, Me, Dad, Mom, Uncle Andy, Aunt Debbie,
Grandpa and Grandma.

Exit Jonathan - enter Tony : )

Water Baby

Since bath #1, Olivia has always seemed to feel at home in the water (I guess 10 months in a sack of fluid could do it!) - but she has really begun to enjoy bath time even more now that she can sit up and play with her new jungle squirt toys. The cats have even become interested in her water play and usually sit on the floor and watch her splash. Gutsy Mocha has even been known to sit in the tub next to Olivia's plastic tub - though she flees pretty quickly after the water starts to spray! Here are some pics of bath time fun:

I love my new big girl tub and jungle friends!

What!? I have to get out!?

Silly Daddy, giving me a soap horn again!

Just relaxing while my attendants lather me up.

Livvy loves to read

Olivia and I have started to go to a story time and sing-along at the public library on Tuesday mornings. It's a nice time for her to see and interact with other kids and for me to meet some other new moms in the area. We also got ourselves a library card and have been expanding our bedtime story options. It has been a welcome change for Tony and I. Here she is snuggling on the floor with her books and her Daddy.

Reading on their backs...

Reading on their bellies.

Livvy loves to read : )

A tooth, peas and a swing.

As Olivia continues her adventures in baby-hood, she is now armed with one fledgling tooth and another not far behind. While it is currently only about a millimeter above the gum line, this tooth promises a world of pizza, crackers and pretzels for Miss Livvy - not a bad future. While her occasional irritability may suggest otherwise, our little girl is very excited about her culinary future. However, we mustn't get ahead of ourselves, as we all know the land of cookies and treats is still quite a ways off. And so, we continue to have new experiences in the wide world of mush. While last week's introduction to carrots went quite well, this week's entry has not been received quite as enthusiastically: peas. While she hasn't closed the door entirely on this sweet, green-veggie option, she's not loving it. I hope patience will prove me wrong and she will grow to love these in time : ) Next week we may sweeten things up a bit and try some fruit - bananas seem like a likely choice.

In other news, during a nice stretch of warm days, Livvy and I made several trips to some of Providence's local playgrounds. Now that she has begun to master the art of sitting up, I decided to give the swings a shot. Those bucket swings are perfect for her, and with some obvious assistance and steadying from me - she was off!

Livvy and her new toothy grin!
(Follow the string of drool to the bottom left gum line)

Where are those carrots?

I'm swinging!

Miscellaneous Month 5 Update

Well, this month has proven to be quite eventful for little Miss Olivia. It started with her first taste of rice cereal - which she has grown to enjoy, and actually ingests, most of the time. Her ability to keep her tongue out of the way improves with each passing day. Next month: food with color - and taste! So stay tuned. She has also gotten much better at sitting upright in her highchair and her newly borrowed Exer-saucer. But nothing compares to her biggest accomplishment yet.... rolling! The little miss rolled from her back to her belly this week. Needless to say, it was very exciting for all three of us : ) And I have to give all the credit to her doting kitties whom she has become totally fascinated with. Trying to get a better look at them, or better, TOUCH them, has been the main motivation for her increased desire to M-O-V-E! Lula, isn't quite ready to get up close and personal with Livvy, but Mocha has proven to be quite amenable to her petting (assisted my mommy's more gentle hand, of course) and very tolerant - so far. We will see how this sisterhood blossoms : ) Her are some photos of the past few weeks.

I wish I looked this beautiful when I woke up from a nap!

Here comes Mochie! Her arm is covering
an open mouth smile and hysterical giggle!

"That kitty nose sure is cold and wet!"

Nudie glamour shot.

Bring it!