First "Real" Swim of the Season!

Despite what Jackie posts of me, I did spend a fair amount of time opening the pool on Saturday morning.  The water was about 48 degrees when we took the cover off but after a few days of running the heater we are now up to 77 (with the goal of 82), so the boys decided to take a swim tonight.  Since they are lunatics, they did jump in when the water was at 58 the other day but this was the first real swim of the season.  Tomorrow, the whole family will enjoy the pool since the temps should hit 90 and the water will finally be over 80.  Anyway, here are the pictures of tonight:

Jacob with his cool new swim goggles.

Part frog, part boy.

And the boys decide that it is time to call it a night.

Sunday Morning a la George

Here is George on Sunday morning.  He opened the pool yesterday so now he can enjoy some rest and relaxation pool side!  

Opening Day x 2

Today was Opening Day for Nottingham Little League.  We also opened the pool today and Jacob, Ben and their buddy Brendan went for a dip despite the 58 degree water.  George and I both decided the pool temp needs to warm up 20 degrees before we are going in.  We also decided it is nice to sit by the pool with a frozen drink!  Here are some pictures from the day:

Jacob on the pitcher's mound.  He pitched the first inning.

Smiling for the camera after the game.

Benny's T Ball team in the dug out.  I am the "Dug Out Mom" so it was good for me that they were behaving!

Benny and his game face.

Coach Snow providing some final advice for his little all-star!

Benny after a quick dip in the pool.

Getting ready to jump in!

In a little bit!

All the way in!

Thinking about another jump!

Sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's

The boys visited my parents for a couple of days earlier this week.  Thanks Mom and Dad for having them over.  They had a fun time - did paint your own pottery, lunch at Burger King, shopping at Wal-Mart, endless Nerf gun battles.  "Camp Sofarelli" as we like to call it.  Here are some pictures:

Ben at Firefly Pottery in Portsmouth.

Jacob working on a seahorse I believe.

Brothers.

Ben and his new Wal-Mart purchase - a Bionicle of sorts.

Cheese noodles for lunch - Yum!

Jackie's Birthday!

Yes, folks, today is the big day, the day we celebrate the birth of my lovely wife.  Sadly, being grown ups, we both had to work and the kids had to go to school, but we still had a little morning celebration:

This is the first thing Jackie saw when she came downstairs at 5:30.

The big gift, an Iphone (and, yes, I am jealous that Jackie now has a newer Iphone than I do!  But notice I had already installed the app. for her favorite site).

And of course, a delicious breakfast sandwich made by her wonderful husband (which led to Jacob having to have one too, and then Ben having scrambled eggs, I was almost late for work!).

And the birthday girl herself (a real trooper to let me take a picture so early in the morning).  She still doesn't look a day over 25.

So the big day got off to a great start and the finish should be even better as the family will head for the traditional birthday dinner at Newick's after Jacob's baseball practice.

Benny's Pizza

We had pizza for dinner tonight.  We buy the generic equivalent of the Boboli shells and then we make our own pizzas.  Benny choose bologna and shredded carrots for his toppings.  He did not like it.  

He thought he might want to eat two slices.

A close up so you can appreciate the creation!

Frogs on the Blog

Jacob has been working on a school project about "Frogs".  As Jacob writes in his report - "Frogs are one of the most unique animals."  Here is Jacob and his project:

That frog on the right is a picture of "Steve".  Faithful blog

readers will most likely remember and have fond memories 

of Steve, the pool visiting frog!

Baseball

Now that baseball season is in full swing (the Yankees finally won another game and the boys have practices for the next 4 days in a row) we thought we would take in an early season Fisher Cats game.  The stadium was empty but the boys all had a good time despite that fact that Ben got cold and forced us to leave a few innings early.

Jacob, Ben and cousin Danny enjoy a pre-game snack.

What could be better than a boy and his mom enjoying the ball game?

George and Uncle Colin enjoyed the game and a few adult beverages (but Jackie made us keep the heckling to a minimum, despite the choice front row seats).

Jacob created a "rally cap" in an effort to cheer the home team to victory (but, sadly, the game was deadlocked at zero when we left).

Easter Brunch - Our House!

We had my family over for Easter and had a nice brunch.  I cooked up my favorites - spiral ham, spinach quiche and french toast casserole.  We also tried some Bellinis - a cocktail made with peach nectar and champagne.  Mimosas worked for the folks who did not like the Bellinis.  

The table set for guests.

Me and my sisters.

Jacob tormenting Ben with some Easter eggs.

The Easter Egg hunt continues...

Find those eggs!

We also celebrated some April birthdays.

Jacob and Ben playing with Aunt Liz's new iPhone.

Ben showing off Grandma's birthday presents.

The admiring crowd looking on...

Easter Fun at Uncle Colin's

We went for a visit at Uncle Colin's yesterday to wish Uncle Colin, Grammy and Aunt Stacy a Happy Easter.  A fun time was had by all as we enjoyed the good company, the antics of the dogs (Phil and Bo), two Easter Egg hunts, and some great pizza.  

The Easter Egg hunt...

Benny's egg dance.

Happy with the results.

Uncle Colin - the gracious host.

Looking for eggs.

An egg in the ficus tree.

One of the dogs got excited and had an accident.  Colin happily cleans it up.

Sorting it all out.

Coloring Easter Eggs

The boys colored Easter eggs today.  They opted not to use the PAAS coloring kit and decided to paint the eggs with craft paint. 

No PAAS for us!  Now, will this stuff keep until next year and will I remember where I put it?

Benny and his eggs - notice the festive Easter colors - NOT!

Benny's hands in the same festive Easter colors!

Jacob working away.

George's contribution to the Easter eggs.

Painting eggs takes focus.