The Adventures of the Graham-Man…

The site was down for a bit, sorry you couldn’t get your Graham fix!

Everything is up and running, keep an eye out for new posts soon!

Eoin, Jessica and Graham

We took what we hope will become our Gregory Family Annual Fall Pilgrimage last weekend. (If you remember, last year the three of us went camping at Cape May Courthouse, NJ, which is just south of Atlantic City.)

This year, we took off to the Berkshires - with lodgings courtesy of Jessica’s parents. We had a great time on our adventure. Some of the highlights included a trip to the Berkshires Scenic Railroad, hiking at Mount Greylock, playing in the pool and enjoying the beginning of the fall foliage. We also visited the Guthrie Center - home of Alice of Alice’s Restaurant. (As the song goes…“Alice didn’t live in a restaurant. She lived in the church nearby the restaurant…” )

Graham woke up each morning at 4:30am, so Eoin tested his theory that bringing a small boy dressed in pj’s to Dunkin’ Donuts at 5am will score you free munchkins. He has now successfully tested this in five states. We are happy to lend Graham out if you wish to test this in your neighborhood - just send us three airline tickets and we’ll be there!

We arrived home safely after a fun journey and are already thinking of where we could go next year! Below are some photos of our adventures…You can click on the images to make them larger.

Hello Everyone! We had a great rest of August, beginning with a visit from Nana (Eoin’s mom.) We had a really nice time and can’t wait until she comes back again.

The kids (Graham and his cousin, Kyleigh) had off of school for the last week of August until Labor Day. Graham and Ky spent a large part of that time together at our house, and Grandma Lois took them on a lot of adventures. Here is a photo of the kids in their Elmo shirts and hats before they went to a petting area at one of our local farms.

They also enjoyed playing the piano too! They had a busy week, filled with lots of fun!

We met Grandpa Gary and Grandma Kathy (Eoin’s parents from California) this weekend at Great Uncle Chris’ and Great Aunt Peggy’s house in New Jersey.  We had a blast spending time with each other and checking out the sites (Sesame Place and Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty.)  When Kathy sends us the photos from the trip, we’ll post them.

Kyleigh (Graham’s cousin) turns two tomorrow, and her family had a small party for her this weekend.  Below is the photo with Kyleigh in the background (in pink on the left).

Thanks to all of our family for a great weekend!

Graham had a GREAT visit with Wendy (Jessica’s high school pal) and her family when Wendy visited home from Kentucky. Thanks, Wendy, for forwarding these photos!

Mommy to Graham: “Please put the lint roller down. Boo (our grey cat) does not want to be lint rolled.”
Followed by, Mommy to Graham: “No, he does not want to put on deodorant either.”
Followed by, Mommy moving Graham away (far, far away!) from Boo.

Having a great summer, and hope you are too!
Eoin, Jessica, and Graham

PS According to Graham, what was the coolest thing he saw at the Aquarium? The turtles, sharks and jellyfish??? Nope, the hand dryer in the men’s bathroom!

Graham, Eoin and I had a great 4th of July weekend and hope you did too! We took a last minute trip up north and visited Eoin’s family over the long weekend. We were able to spend some time with Grandma Foley (Graham’s great-grandma), Nana (Eoin’s mom), Great Aunt Marge (Eoin’s Aunt) and some of Eoin’s cousins and their families! It was so great to see everyone and meet some of the youngest cousins. We also have another new one on the way – who, I think, will be Great-Grandma Foley’s 24th grandchild! Cousin Jenn hosted us for a fabulous picnic on the 4th – complete with a barbecue and pool time. We had a blast spending time with family!

We were sad to leave, but wanted to get on the road so that we could catch the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson ferry. The boat ride was great – it was nice enough to sit out on the top deck, and while we were there, we were treated to a beautiful sunset. Coming in to Long Island, we were able to see some of the firework shows in the far distance, but Graham was more interested in seeing the waves of water coming off of the back of the ferry. We were the last car off, and made it to the Port Jefferson-Poquott fireworks show at the very last minute! The show was spectacular, and Graham loved all of the big bangs and bright colors. We were exhausted when we got home, but boy, what a great trip!

On Monday, July 5th, Graham and I (Jessica) went to the Port Jefferson Parade. It was an extra special event because Graham’s Uncle Jimmy (Jessica’s brother-in-law) is the Chief of the Port Jefferson Fire Department. It was his job to kick off the parade and to salute all of the other fire departments who participated in the parade. We stayed for about one and a half hours and saw many of our friends marching, but it got so hot that we had to leave. Many of the fire departments had bands, and Graham and I enjoyed the music of the bag pipes and drum. We finished the long weekend by enjoying dinner over at our neighbors with 14 folks from our block. A perfect end to a great weekend!

Here is another photo of Graham from this week. As you can see, he is soaking wet! He loves playing out on the back deck with his small pool, and loves putting the pool water into his tote. Hope you are having an equally great summer!

Graham having a blast in the backyard…Here is a photo Eoin took with his cell phone.

Dear Friends,

We recently returned from a trip to Orlando, Florida, with my folks (Bill and Lois), my sister and her family (Erika, Jimmy, Kyleigh) and us (Eoin, Jessica, and Graham.) We had a blast! We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in the Disney Vacation Club area. The hotel is based on an African lodge, and is complete with a wildlife preserve with over 30 species of wildlife. We were in a two bedroom suite with a living room, full kitchen, and a long balcony overlooking a savannah full with animals. Traveling with two almost-two-year olds is tough, so the kitchen was great for meals and snacks and the balcony was great for entertainment. (It also makes me appreciate what Eileen and Gary and Kathy had to go through raising Eoin and his three brothers!) It was neat to walk out onto the balcony at any time of day or night and see what animals were outside. I think the kids liked seeing the giraffes and zebras the best! I always wondered how giraffes sleep. Not much at all, in fact. (I read an article that said, “Adult giraffes do not sleep much. Some scientists estimate they sleep only a half hour to an hour each day in 5-minute naps during the night.” Whoa!)

They also had a great pool area for the kids. They had a big slide for big kids, and a smaller slide for the little ones. And hot tubs for the adults. Kyleigh liked the baby slide the best, whereas Graham enjoyed the small whirlpool the best. And my folks liked the hot tub. We went to the pool area every day of our trip, and it was a great pre-nap and post-nap activity.

While we were there, we toured some of the sights and went to two of the parks. Eoin, Graham and I went to Sea World together. We enjoyed the penguin tank the best. I thought the design team was especially creative - they had ice makers in the ceiling which would drop snow in the penguins area. As a bonus, it was cool in the building, which was especially nice since it was so hot the day we were there. The manatees were also neat to look at, but it was sad to know that many were there because they had suffered injuries from boaters. The polar bear was pretty cool, too, but he was too busy taking a nap to enjoy our company.

We also went as a family to Magic Kingdom. Graham did really well on the kids’ rides. I was glad that Graham doesn’t seem to suffer from motion sickness as I do. We spent all morning there, and then went back to the hotel in the heat of the day to cool down at the pool and take naps. We returned in the evening to enjoy a few more rides, and found a good place to enjoy the electric light parade and the fireworks. I think Graham enjoyed them the most. It’s hard to keep Graham in one place for more than 30 seconds, and he was enjoying himself so much, he didn’t move during either. I don’t think he even blinked! Hah-hah – I know that he blinked, but we were amazed at his attention span at the parade and fireworks. I think my dad spent more time watching Graham than watching the parade and fireworks. It was great to see my dad enjoying being a grandpa so much!

It was a good trip all around. Before I went, I was worried that Graham might not be old enough to enjoy everything, but he did just fine! We kept to our eating, napping and sleeping schedule pretty well, and he was very well behaved the whole trip. He was a little fussy on the flights, mostly because he didn’t want to be contained.

We went to the doctor last week and Graham is now 28.3 pounds and 33.5″ inches tall! Graham’s growing well, gaining weight, and all of his teeth are coming in. He’s developmentally on target too. There are a few things that we are continuing to follow up on. There is some concern about his iron and hemoglobin levels, so we have an appointment with a hematologist in a few weeks. And he snores too, so we are going to follow up with an ear, nose, and throat doctor. Nothing is alarming yet, but there are a few things that don’t add up, so we are getting him double checked by the specialist.

He is still in school five days a week, and loves it there. At the end of the month, he will be moved up to the toddler classroom. (He’s in the waddler room now.) Since he is the first one in his classroom, he sometimes spends 20 minutes there in the morning before his classmates arrive. I think he will be happy to move up there full-time. He still enjoys playing with bubbles and running around outside. He particularly enjoys playing with the watering can and the hose! We got him a small inflatable pool too, which we fill up each day in the morning so it’s warmed by the sunshine when he gets home from school. It’s not as great as the whirlpool at Disney, but it does the job in cooling him down!

Lots of hugs from all of us,

Graham, Jessica and Eoin