Chickens and parks and dogs, oh my!

Lil' Genghis had a fun-filled day, beginning with being a temporary mom to chickens, and going to a great park ... twice! In the last go-'round at the park, Lil' Genghis even got to play with two other girls and three dogs at the same time. Very cool stuff, we tell you, very cool stuff.

Here's some photos:

IMG_0050 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers

The one on the right looks so contemplative.


IMG_0051 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers

She loves the sound the chickens make.


IMG_0058 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers

Scenic backyard, eh?


IMG_0072 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers

We're not quite sure why she made this face, but it's certainly a face to remember!


IMG_0073 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers

Now she has most of a snack bar in her mouth ...

Of course, snacking only holds up so long. So we went to lunch. At a Greek place. With a skylight. A skylight that showed the sky. Up high. Did we mention a skylight? Because someone was kinda fixated on it.


IMG_0079 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers



IMG_0077 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers



IMG_0078 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers



IMG_0083 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers

It looked like one of those mean prickler bushes, but turned out to be beautiful on closer inspection.


IMG_0089 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers



IMG_0091 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers

Park! Dog! Running! FUN!


IMG_0101 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers

Cousin Ollie is a professional model ...


IMG_0109 from album 090425-Chickens parks dogs flowers

... and a good boy! =)

dad went on a nature walk with girldog yesterday, and we're meeting up with Uncle Eddie, Aunt Amanda, Aunt Cindy and maybe more people tomorrow. More to come!

It was like "Diego" but REAL!

Lil' Genghis met up with her intrepid and entirely platonic friend, Cousin J.D., for a trip to Capron Park Zoo! All four parents took turns carefully pointing out each animal, then turning around and running when they realized the young'uns had alreay moved on.


DSCF3778 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD

Coolest
Eyes
Ever



DSCF3783 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD
mom makes this face sometimes, though she doesn't want to realize or admit it ...


DSCF3790 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3807 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3799 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3810 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3813 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3827 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD

Gotta love it when the kitties clean themselves ...


DSCF3832 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD

I don't think he approves.


DSCF3841 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3850 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD

Aunt Rebecca wound up regretting the purchase of a Blue Raspberry ice drink thing. Her dentist, on the other hand, probably loved it -- No word on whether her teeth have changed color again! =)


DSCF3853 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3866 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD

We hope our distant cousins at Grandma Helena's place don't get jealous!


DSCF3870 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3875 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3889 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3892 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3905 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD



DSCF3912 from album 090418-Capron Park Zoo with JD

Another run for cancer

Running alongside, in front of, or behind Uncle Bruno in a similar quest, Uncle Chris is trying to help find cures for cancer, especially in children, by running the Boston Marathon.

Through his fundraising page, http://tinyurl.com/chrisruns, you can learn a bit more about Uncle Chris and why he's doing this. Bruno kinda beat him to the fundraising punch here, even netting a donations from girldog and Cousin Linus, but no doubt Chris is still open to any sources of support from two-legged, four-legged, feathery or gill-y friends.

Wikipedia throws some doubt at the actual history of the Marathon as run by Pheidippides, which is different from the story dad remembers. You can read it and find a reference that Pheidippides ran the 26.2 miles, then dropped dead. dad remembers reading somewhere that the poor guy hallucinated a couple days, then died anyway. Either way, a marathon is not an easy thing. Both Uncle Chris and Uncle Bruno have run these before, and they're doing it for the best of causes. Our best wishes!

Let it snow

The light shone orange through a cloud carrying some of the last, maybe, snowflakes of the season ... and Lil' Genghis was there to work her magic!

She's determined to catch one on her tongue, you see -- and about the time this picture was taken, she'd just gotten one on her forehead.


DSCF3665 from album 090322-Let It Snow



DSCF3669 from album 090322-Let It Snow

Some in the air around here ...

Here is, er, Gina Simmons:

DSCF3670 from album 090322-Let It Snow


And we even got a video of her running through the snow, but you can't really see the snow:

Yeah, baby!

via Aunt Sharon, we find out Lil Genghis' and Cousin Savannah's class is already one for the record books. =)

Running from cancer

Just a quick note -- Uncle Bruno is getting ready for the Boston Marathon, and could use a little help getting to the finish line.

As far as the cancer charities go, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is one of the better ones. As far as marathoners go, Uncle Bruno is a class act.

His story is inspirational to dad, who wound up in the emergency room during the last Boston Marathon ... for back pain. That's hopefully under the right treatment at last, and dad hopes to adopt a somewhat healthier lifestyle, much as Uncle Bruno did. And it's for a cause far more painful than back surgery, far more dangerous than a marathon.

So, short version: If you've got a few bucks you can spare, it could help.

In the third year already?!?

It's hard to believe that two years and two days ago we were given Lil' Genghis and trying to figure out how everything worked. Now she's seemingly self-sufficient, capable of getting into her own bed, sort of brushing her own teeth, eating and drinking, trying to climb out a window that never got a safety grate, all that. =)

So a whole bunch* of friends and family -- and friendly family -- stopped by today to spend some time with our little future world leader. She got some neat gifts, sure 'nuff -- but seemed to enjoy the people more than anyone. For the record, party participants included**: Grandpa John, Uncle James and Aunt Mary, Aunt Liana, Aunt Jan, Aunt Linda, Uncle Josh, Aunt Rebecca, Aunt Cathy, Cousin J.D., Aunt Sussen, Cousin Rafic, Aunt Marina, Uncle Eddie, Aunt Amanda, Aunt Sara, Aunt Ann, Aunt Leeanne, Uncle Bill, mom, dad, and Lil' Genghis. A heckuva party, we tell ya, a heckuva party!






DSCF3568 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several She looked so innocent, before the sugar ...


DSCF3573 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several



DSCF3591 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several



DSCF3595 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several



DSCF3616 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several



DSCF3622 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several Aunt Leeanne insists that isn't a typo of "BC" ... Dunno. But check this out:

On the thumbnail, doesn't it almost look like "MIT"? And BU and MIT are so close together ... HRM!


DSCF3628 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several Coolest. Eyes. Ever.


DSCF3634 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several Birthday with Dora *and* Diego. Doesn't get better than that!


DSCF3639 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several One last kiss from Grandpa John, who spent a week with his favoritist little granddaughter ...


DSCF3646 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several It's just -so- fun to hang out the window while Uncle Eddie clings to my feet!


P1050606 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several



P1050608 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several Uncle Josh donates art to the birthday bash.


P1050613 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several Boots is dropping in for a while ...


P1050618 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several Yeah, a heckvua bash -- and this is after Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary volunteered to schlep Grandpa John to the airport!


P1050626 from album 090315-Bel birthday via several Another advertisement for protective window grates, with Aunt Leeanne rushing behind the scenes to hold Cousin J.D.'s feet ....

And a good time was had by all! =)



* Scientific term. Means roughly twice a (half a bunch).
** God, I hope I don't miss anyone.

Halloween, 2005

Spooky times!


IMG_2693 from album 051031 Halloween



IMG_2683 from album 051031 Halloween



IMG_2705 from album 051031 Halloween

Of course, there are few things scarier than a priest around Boston these days ... Ugh.

Fixed!

Sorry, a new firewall package disabled seemingly all traffic to the photo site ... which would explain why it also detected no attacks. Hrm. Sorry. That stuff is gone. Please let us know if you have any problems, OK?

Someone from Spain who runs a PayPal phishing site who tried to break into dad's computer 160 times will no longer be able to see our photos. No loss. =)

June 2007: Genghis hits the beach

We blogged about this before, but never posted all the photos. When she was a few months old, Lil' Genghis headed up to Newburyport, Massachusetts, to check out nature:

DSCF1280 from album 070624-Bellinha in Newburyport



DSCF1282 from album 070624-Bellinha in Newburyport



DSCF1304 from album 070624-Bellinha in Newburyport



DSCF1313 from album 070624-Bellinha in Newburyport

For some reason, we felt nervous about carrying a baby up an outdoor staircase. Hrmph.


DSCF1321 from album 070624-Bellinha in Newburyport

When was the last time you smiled like that?


DSCF1339 from album 070624-Bellinha in Newburyport

Or smiled like that? =)

May '07: Some grandparents meet Genghis

Grandpa Rinaldo and Grandma Lucia visited Lil' Genghis in May 2007, about two months after the little lady made her appearance into the world. We just got the photos online:


DSCF1060 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella



DSCF1056 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella



DSCF1080 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella



DSCF1072 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella



DSCF1093 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella



DSCF1104 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella

It's never too early to start wearing patriotic "football" clothing, right? =)


IMG_4568 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella

If dad remembers right, even two months later we were too busy to go through the answering machine messages. Aieee!


IMG_4574 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella

Grandma Lucia meets Cousin Isabellah at the Boston airport. It truly is a small world!


IMG_4576 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella

Aunt Aline holds her daughter Isabellah


IMG_4593 from album 070512-Vo Mineiro, Lucia, Isabella

So many babies, and only one with Uncle Rodrigo for a godfather. Coincidence?

Big announcement

A moment many of us have been waiting for arrived this morning: or, rather, Cousin Julius arrived this morning. All 10 pounds 13 1/2 ounces of him. That's a big little guy! (For those of you stuck with the metric system, he weighs 48 Newtons. Quit whining. That's 4.92 kilograms of mass.)

Anyway, the little guy's doing alright, Aunt Sharon is doing all right, Uncle Pat is doing all right, and Cousin Savannah seems happier than anyone. What a big little baby brother!

We really didn't ask Sharon's permission, so let's just post two photos before she notices. =) We're also moving ahead with an idea to rename Aunt Sharon to S-Dawg -- anyone who can give birth to a baby as cute, cuddly and as ginormous as Cousin Julius deserves a good street name.

Learning and good clean fun

We processed some more older photo albums today.

Here's Lil' Genghis' first trip to the library. She didn't stay awake through many books, as you can see -- but we had fun cuddling her.


IMG_4490 from album 070414-Isabella first library, river



IMG_4505 from album 070414-Isabella first library, river



IMG_4501 from album 070414-Isabella first library, river

dad loves this picture ...


IMG_4506 from album 070414-Isabella first library, river



DSCF1256 from album 070618-GirlGoneClean

Such a happy girl.


DSCF1251 from album 070618-GirlGoneClean



DSCF1262 from album 070618-GirlGoneClean

Clearly, though, not everyone was happy with the choice of godfather.

New old photos

dad started randomly picking old sets of photos to process and get online -- and you can be the beneficiary of this cast-off stuff! =) I mean, you can relive with us earlier days in our family.

So the first two random picks feature Aunt Marselle with the dogs, pre-Genghis; and then a very young Lil' Genghis hanging out with Grandpa John, Aunt Ann and Aunt Beth. Good times! Anyway, here's some highlights -- click a photo to see the album. Note in the Memorial Day package, there are a few videos at the beginning, with Grandpa John -- good stuff!


IMG_3628 from album 060603 Marselle w dogs



IMG_3643 from album 060603 Marselle w dogs



IMG_3636 from album 060603 Marselle w dogs



DSCF1148 from album 070526-Memorial Day BBQ, Beth, Ann, Grandpa John



DSCF1158 from album 070526-Memorial Day BBQ, Beth, Ann, Grandpa John



DSCF1160 from album 070526-Memorial Day BBQ, Beth, Ann, Grandpa John



DSCF1174 from album 070526-Memorial Day BBQ, Beth, Ann, Grandpa John



IMG_4618 from album 070526-Memorial Day BBQ, Beth, Ann, Grandpa John

Blast from the past

It's hard to believe Lil' Genghis has been hanging out with us for a couple of years now. Well, hanging out out, but she's been with us for a bit longer than that.

Anyway, we had a request to post some old photos, from Christmas 2006, when Uncle Joao's family came to visit with a friend, Uncle John and Grandpa John were both at our place, and Uncle Rodrigo got caught playing with action figures. Yeah, some people don't grow up.

Anywho, you also get some looks at Lil' Genghis when she was around 6 1/2 months, or -2 1/2 months, depending on how you're counting. And you also get some idea of what parents are like before they're used to the various indignities and challenges of parenthood, and can still be embarrassed. So take this photo as a key into the rest of the photo gallery ...


DSCF0345 from album 061225-Christmas Joao JS cunhado mau

Boydog update

The vet today took out a 5cm/2-inch-wide hunk of skin off boydog, trying to remove all of a suspicious "growth" or "mass." Scary words ... they think he had cancer -- but it'll be another week before we know what's going on. So far, everything's looking pretty good. Turns out Chewie even had enough extra loose skin hanging around that he really doesn't miss it.

One bit of irony: His beloved mom-away-from-mom, Aunt Karen from the kennel, also works in the vet's office. And she was talking about boydog and how nice "she" did in surgery, she, she, she. And we thought, hrm. And then the vet, the guy who was poking and prodding and cutting our little lad, referred to him as her. Aieee! Poor little guy loses a bunch of skin, gets a ton of hair shaved off, loses every shred of dignity, and then is repeatedly mistaken for a girl by several animal professionals. Poor kid.

Especial thanks to Uncle Patrick the veterinarian and Uncle Ben, who let dad take the day off to look after his little boy.

Special update

It's benign. He might get some more, but our little guy's going to hang around for many years barking at the mailman.

Anyway, we'll give Chewie lots of love. =) Here's some photos:

DSCF3345 from album 090202-Chewie after surgery

That doesn't look too bad, right?


DSCF3352 from album 090202-Chewie after surgery

(Sasha and Isabella are keeping him company here)


DSCF3350 from album 090202-Chewie after surgery

Ack. Poor kid.

We've also got some photos from the last few weeks we still need to post of, well, happier things, but we'll get to 'em later.