Domo Arigato indeed......

Time to wrap up the posts of yesterday in one giant, final NEW YAWK post. To everyone who gave us a week-long send off on Long Island we say thanks a million. Actually the thanks go out to all and sundry who wished us well on our journey from Florida through North Carolina and Maryland up to New York. We are so blessed with the greatest of families and friends.

But anyway here's the final leg of "Road Trip Oh Seven"
Where to start???

How about with one of my best friends in the whole wide world....Pattie Magee!!! Ok. Magee ain't her real name...but it works, dontchya think? Besides, for me at least, it's been Magee since 1989. Since we rediscovered our long lost Grand Avenue Junior High School locker connection, discovered we shared the same EXACT birthday and a mutual envy of girls with naturally straight, silky hair, since we attended NCC together etcetera so on & so forth. Pattie has long been one of my most favorite people on the planet, together with Ann we've had some of the best times of my life. They are my desert island girls, ya know what I mean? Here she is with her youngest little darling, Derek.
And here's Pattie with her oldest darlin', Vic. How can she resist those huge arms!! Did she get tickets to the gun show?? Is Vic so pumped up cause he beat the pants off of Chris in play-station Hockey? Was he in training before our arrival?

In all seriousness, Vic and Pattie were the consummate hosts and we all had GREAT night. I wish we had more time! I wish we had more pictures!!! (Magee - can you believe I don't have a single picture of you and me together? What the??)
These are things we shall remedy when I visit in October.

The little one Derek...oh my. What a sweetheart!!! He's quiet and easy to please. Quick with a smile and very, very cuddly. I can't wait to get to know him better.

And this little Pip....Victor the seventeenth (or something like that, maybe he's just the fourth?)
I dare you to spend three minutes with Victor and not be grinning ear to ear. We had so much fun in the short time we had to spend together. He'll give you hugs and kisses, invite you to dance (to a kelly-mix'd cd no less) then show off his room, run up and down the yard with you, all the while beaming and chattering away. I KNOW he enjoyed all the excitement of visitors cause he kept creeping out of bed and lurking in the dining room so he could be part of the action!! This was great in two ways:
It was his first foray over the baby-gate at his door. Something he could have probably scaled months ago, but the excitement of visiting Arnolds finally tempted him to dare it. Watching the realization dawn on Pattie and Vic's faces as they saw they had a new level of independence to deal with was priceless.
The second way this was an event of great hilarity and adorableness was that on his third or fourth time over the gate (unbeknownst to us, of course) Victor must have finally got bored of the grownup stuff and found himself a bottle of pancake syrup to drink. Lol!!!!! What a little pirate!!

One last note on our night in Amityville...Pattie is such an amazing Mom, not surprising to anyone who knows her. She uses her all her talents to keep her kids engaged and entertained. Little Victor loves her stories so much, he now insists on spending whole days in character...and that means Pattie has to be in character too!! He'll clean his room, but only if Pattie as "Momma Bear" asks him as "Baby Bear" to do it, and he loses patience when Mommy talks out of character! Lol!!! I don't know anyone who is as up to this task as Magee. And I find it hilarious that she's created a bit of a drama monster.

I miss all you guys and can't wait to see you again.

The next event in NY....our great nephew Jake's christening:

The man of the hour.
Godmother Extraordinaire: Maryanne and husband Bobby.

Jake's big brother, Luke. The man of every other hour, at least for the time being. This kid is SUCH a character!!! Love you to pieces Lukester.
Two of my spectacular sisters: The boys' beloved Beanie and sister Kate. You have never seen eyes light up if you haven't seen Luke greeting his grandma...aka Beanie.

Speaking of grandparents: cousins Bob and Patty are expecting their first grandchildren, Twins! Congrats to Ryan and Melissa and the whole clan.

Luke and Jake's older and wiser cousin, Michael, the coolest cucumber around, with his banjo-picking Dad, my brother in law Charlie. Michael....I can't believe how grown up you are!! I remember when it was YOUR christening!! Stop growing up! I demand it.
Our family of girls attracts the nicest of fellas: Skipper, Bobby & Christian.
Two aunties and an uncle: Maggie, Lolly and Tom.

Who let the NYC riffraff in? JK! My bro Em-bob and the ever talented Julia.
(These two make the BEST camera faces. It's something I aspire to.)

Unbelievably, I have no pics of Colleen and Mike, the proud parents and our hosts. I can only say that's it's a testimony to their generousity of spirit and loving family nature that they are always able to bring together the most amazing groups of people in loving harmony and joy. Thanks to you both for a lovely day and congratulations on having two of the cutest boys on the planet. Love you both.

Ok....final NY event before we left was two days with my soul sister (and real sister) Maryanne. Alas, I am all blogged out for the night, and Sunshine, you deserve a post all your own anyway.
I love you to pieces.
You know how there are some people you can barely even say goodbye to cause you love them too much? Some people that are your shoulder? The first person you want to call with good OR bad news? Some people who understand you so well you can't even imagine life without them? That's my Mrynn.
(for the uninitiated...that's Maryanne minus all the vowels)

-k.