Chloe Learns to Walk

Updated on 9/26/2007 at 10:00PM EST

I've compiled a montage of videos that show Chloe learning to walk, starting with her stubborn attitude toward bipedalism, to outright darting for the door to play with her sisters.

She's been able to stand in place for some time, but shortly after the 11-month mark, she just decided to walk, and we've been chasing her ever since. Help us.

Sorry for the camera shake.

Dad and Lynn Visit; Brianna's Pink Hair

Updated on 9/15/2007 at 9:54PM EST

After a long hiatus, Dad and Lynn were finally able to come visit. It was great to see them, and I know they were happy to finally meet Chloe. In fact, Chloe began walking the same weekend they arrived, so they were fortunate to bear witness! They were the ones who gave Chloe her cute little push-car, which is supposed to help babies learn to walk. No worries, though. She loves the car, and pushes it all over regardless. It doubles as a push car, so she can sit on it and fly around. In a future post, you'll see Chloe walking and playing with it.

Lynn brought some Halloween gear, and "put her pimp on". Zachary's face is all you need to see to fully appreciate just how funny it all was. Priceless!

I wish they could have stayed longer. We only got to see them for a couple days, and I was having server problems at work, which killed one of the days for me. I wanted to spend more time with them, and take more pictures. But I'm happy that we got the ones we did. We'll take more next time.

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Zachary's 16th Birthday!

Updated on 9/1/2007 at 9:47PM EST

I know that this is his day and everything, but I can't believe I have a 16-year-old child. Child? He's two years away from being a legal adult, albeit, one that can die for his country, but not drink alcohol until 3 years later.

Holy crap.

Well, this year he had a simple request: take me to Red Lobster so I can get the fisherman's platter, with one of everything on it, and give me cash as a gift. Typical teenage boy... I made him a carrot cake to boot, at his later request.

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Mary Russell's Birthday

Updated on 8/19/2007 at 9:32PM EST

Our good friends, the Russell family, invited us and other friends of theirs over to celebrate Mary's birthday. For those in our family that don't already know, Greg and Mary are the owners of Las Tarascas en Zocolo, in Philadelphia. To be exact, Greg is also the day-to-day executive chef, and Mary runs the restaurant itself, as well as contributing recipes to the menu. Mary is originally from Mexico, and it was their wish to bring authentic Mexican cuisine to our region. The restaurant is one of our absolute favorites! In fact, we've gone to their restaurant so much in the past, that we became very friendly, and I ended up creating their website (http://www.las-tarascas.com).

Their two daughters, Gabby and Anna, work in the restaurant manning the bar and dining room respectively. And the youngest, their son Alex, has been known to make guacamole and otherwise help in the kitchen when needed. They're a great, generous bunch of people, and work harder than anyone we know. We're incredibly happy for their success with the new location, and thoroughly enjoyed Mary's birthday party.

I can't believe that I didn't take one stinking picture of Mary. Unbelievable.

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Manning Family BBQ

Updated on 8/18/2007 at 9:14PM EST

August means the approach and eventual arrival of the Manning family BBQ, which is a sort of a euphemism for a gang of rowdy cops that get together to have a good time off-duty, surrounded by their significant (or in my case insignificant) others. It's always fun and relaxing.

This year was Chloe's first at the BBQ, and coincidentally, the first time she got in a swimming pool.

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BBQ at Brady and Doneen's House

Updated on 8/16/2007 at 10:44PM EST

After much hard work, Gwen's sister Doneen and her fiance Brady had a BBQ to commemorate the completion of their beautiful new deck and landscaping, and to welcome Doneen's daughter, Christa, for a visitfrom Colorado after graduating High School. The deck is top-notch; better than many professionally crafted decks I've ever seen, and it was a great addition to a family gathering.

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The Magic Fork Trick

Updated on 8/16/2007 at 8:28PM EST

Here's a great trick you can do at a restaurant or at home, using only two forks, two toothpicks, and a salt or pepper shaker. I did this in our dining room after dinner one night, and it was an addictive endeavor, until we finally got it to work. Prepare for a major time suck, with a great payoff!

Basically, you connect the forks together at the tines, and insert a toothpick between the first two tines. Make sure the toothpick is centered (weight balanced) and locked into the tines well enough to hold the weight of the forks.

You then insert the second toothpick into one of the holes in the shaker, so that it's firm enough to hold the weight of the forks. You then touch the tips of the toothpicks so that the weight of the forks is suspended by the standing toothpick.

Make sense? Probably not. Well, watch the quick video clip of the balanced forks as I tap them so that they rotate for a second and then drop to the table.

Note, some forks won't work well due to large size, or fancy tine shape.

Monkey Mode

Updated on 8/15/2007 at 9:43PM EST

Chloe has entered "monkey mode" at 10 months of age, as she has learned to climb off the bed. She's graduated from being an infant, to an S.U.H. (Sport Utility Human).

The truth is, Hope showed her how to do it, so we're trying to create an appropriate punishment for her. We're relatively creative people. I'm sure we'll think of something that's both fair, and karma-friendly.

2007 Vacation in Williamsburg

Updated on 8/1/2007 at 11:23PM EST

Vacation this year was a family drive to Williamsburg, Virginia, to visit the Busch Gardens Amusement park, see the historic sites, eat the local food, and generally relax however we could.

Though we had bad weather on a few days, we did manage to visit the park, as well as drive go-carts, goof around in an arcade, shop, eat, visit the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!" museum, and more.

Here are photos of our trip and the local surroundings.

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Dane and Sandra Visit

Updated on 7/11/2007 at 10:22PM EST

Dane and Sandra came up north and stayed with us for a few days, on their way further north to visit some of her family, and ultimately, Dane's parents (my grandparents) Dino and Vivian in New Hampshire.

They wanted to get a flavor for the Philadelphia area, so we took them to Geno's Steaks in South Philly, a local diner, South Street, a South Jersey Italian restaurant named Tuscan Tavern, and a local Italian bakery to get some authentic Italian desserts.

We had a great time, drank wine, ate well, and Dane and I even managed to cook together for the rest of the family.

Dane took pictures as well, so I've combined both of ours to build this large (141 photo) gallery.

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