Happy Anniversary to My Parents!

Dear Mommy and Daddy,
Happy 4 year anniversary! September 18 marks your anniversary for your wedding of September 18, 2006!
Here are some pictures related to your wedding... bet you didn't think I'd find these - but I'm a baby, and I can do anything I want!

Here are Mommy and Daddy in Paris a day after they got engaged (November 2005)!

Here's Mommy looking at Daddy and thinking of how much more exciting their lives will be together!

Here they are on their wedding day in Italy (San Polo en Cianti, Toscana), on September 18, 2006. Their officiant is also there in the picture, since he had to make their wedding official!

Here they are in Paris before the Eiffel Tower in November 2005.

Here they are again in Paris, on April 12, 2010, in front of the Eiffel Tower... with me! Yay me!
Happy Anniversary Mommy and Daddy! I love you very much! As my anniversary gift to you, I'll let you spend the whole day with me, and we can do whatever you want. I won't leave you at all today. I may even try to sacrifice my nap so that you can spend more time with me.
Love,
Julien the Baby

September: New England trip!

Hi everybody,
I've just returned from a trip to New England. It was my first time out there. We stayed with Michael and Jason in their country house estate.
On Labor Day, we went to the Tri-County Fair, which is the OLDEST state fair in the country! It was such an honor to be part of this history.


If I ever develop a fear of clowns, please remind me of this picture - because I was pretty amused with these clowns!

Here I am in New Hampshire - my parents have started the college tour as they took me to Dartmouth on Tuesday September 7.

Here I sit on a bench in the Dartmouth Quad!

My favorite - my parents always refer to me as The King of the Babies, and now here's the proof - here's my throne and my knight in shining armor! Ha ha... so actually we visited King Arthur Flour in Vermont.
More to come...
Love,
Julien the Baby

More August adventures!

After the family reunion, my parents and I took a trip with Grams up to Boulder Junction, Northern Wisconsin, to visit her cousin Dick and Dick's wife Lynne. Incidentally this was my first time ever in Wisconsin! I think that DOJ never went to Wisconsin until he was 28, so my parents are definitely giving me some fantastic experiences.


It was so gorgeous...

Lynne and Dick are so sweet. They have 2 children and a few grandchildren.

After our little vacation, I had some fun swimming activity with Aunt Nancy, who was a champion swimmer in high school. Mommy was a synchronized swimmer. So both Mommy and her sister are very experienced swimmers.

Aunt Nancy is a great swimming instructor. There's the old adage of "Those who can do, and those who can't teach..." except she can both *do* and *teach* - that's my Aunt Nancy!

Since the swimming lesson, I've had a lot more water activity thanks to going to swimming pools and the beach with Mommy and our playgroup. Last week, my parents and I went to New England, where I got a lot of great water action in a lake in Massachusetts and the Atlantic Ocean at different beaches in Rhode Island!
Love,
Julien the Baby

And even more pictures from the reunion!

Hi again everyone!
Here are more pictures from the family reunion!
On Saturday August 7, there was a gathering at the club where Grandaddy X, his sisters, and his parents used to play. My grandparents are still members, but both my great aunts moved away to other states. Anyway their cousins Paul and Ken, and their parents, were also members of the club. Interestingly, Grandaddy X's cousin Paul and Grams were classmates and friends in school. Then again, Grams and Grandaddy X's sister were childhood friends before Grams and Grandaddy X got married. Lots of fun history there!

Here I am with Amelia and Carter.

Here's a fun picture - Thatcher, PJ, Amelia, Carter, and Noah - all striking a pose!

Here's a great shot of *everyone* - Grandaddy X and his sisters, plus their cousins Paul and Ken... and then many of their descendants. Not everyone in the family was able to attend.

Here I am with Aunt Nancy and my grandparents' long-time friends Ann & Ray. Ray is also known for having been a broadcaster with the Cardinals, as well as having been mayor in the town where my grandparents live! Some of my mommy's boy cousins (specifically Terry and Rob) were so excited to see Ray. That was really fun.

Here I am with Grandaddy X's cousin Paul, who went to school with Grams! We were very comfortable kicking back together.

Love,
Julien the Baby

More pictures from the family reunion!

Hi everyone!
I'm sorry it's been so long since I've been blogging. I'm so far behind.
I still want to share pictures from the August family reunion!

Here is a picture of a poster that Mommy made - she made posters for each of the siblings (Grandaddy X and his 2 sisters). Maya helped with the picture cuttings, and DOJ (Daddy) helped attach glue between the pictures and the posters. But it was really Mommy and Maya who did the best work.

Here's Aunt Nancy and Grandaddy X! Grandaddy X really loved the posters - he was spending a lot of time looking at them before the reunion dinner at his house.

As you can see, there were lots of family members - naturally they started to gather in the front entryway, looking at the posters and each other... Grandaddy X and his sister Ann had fun seats, watching everyone. Grams was having a fun conversation with Mommy's cousin Ellen (from Ireland) - you may remember that Ellen is the mommy to PJ, Jamie, and Amelia.

Family merged to other rooms in the house. In this picture, you can see Mommy with her cousin Dave, his wife Claudia, and their daughter Lindsey (their son Nicholas was in another room). Dave's mommy Jane (Grandaddy X's sister) is also here... and yes, I'm here with Amelia and Carter!

Here are some of my second cousins in the den - Lindsey, Adam, Noah, and Amelia.

I've really missed blogging! More reunion pictures to come... as well as my other adventures of the past month. Shouts out to Ruby!!!

love,
Julien the Baby