Quality time with Nana

A day after we returned from Houston, my Mom came to visit! She helped me accomplish so much while here, including major house cleaning and stocking our freezer with yummy food! Of course, Mom spoiled her grandson with new clothes and books. O loved the attention and enjoyed quality time with his Nana. He even learned how to clap his hands together to "patty-cake" for Mom...It seems like every time she comes he learns something new from her! Thanks for all of your help, Mom, and for visiting! We look forward to your next trip in December!

Owen's first ice cream!

O kissing his Nana

Off to Houston again!

We, as well as Binoy and his girlfriend Ryn, traveled to Houston to visit Tobi and Joyce and go to our first Eagles game! This was an exciting first for both of us and for Roby, taking his son to his first game made it that much sweeter. We braved the crowds of Houston Texans fans proudly wearing our green jerseys...and, man, some fans were mean to Joyce and me as we walked along with Owie. (Granted, Eagles fans are known for their rudeness, but we aren't like that...and, come on, the Texans? hmmm. I didn't think they were in any position to talk smack...he he he.) We left early to tailgate, and every once in awhile you could hear a chorus of E-A-G-L-E-S....EAGLES!!! wafting through the tailgating area. The guys enjoyed standing next to the field and seeing McNab practice beforehand. Owen fell asleep through part of the game. (He seems to love snoozing through loud events :) We all had a good time and it was nice to leave victorious, despite the heckling!

We visited our other cousins Tiji and Nancy and their daughter Ashley and met their newborn son Austin. Later we met up with Kate and Eric for some delish steaks and topped off the evening with gelatos...yummo! Roby had to leave for Canada, and later New York, for business, so O and I stayed behind to spend more time with everyone and get to know Ryn a little better. Joyce and I really clicked with her. Ryn is a sweet girl and we all heartily give our seal of approval :) Binoy is such a wonderful guy and an awesome cousin, so it is refreshing to see he found someone so sweet! Yay!

We spent our nights playing the addictive dice game we learned from the Felicianos during our labor day trip called SCOOTCH! fun stuff. After B and Ryn left, Owen and I had Tob and Joycie all to ourselves...we always have such a good/relaxing time with them. This trip, Joyce and I took Owen to his first movie, Invincible, at a theater that allows babies on a certain day of the week. We had the entire theater to ourselves and were able to order lunch and eat while watching the movie...how cool is that? Of course, Owen slept through the majority of the film (the whole loud event thing I mentioned :), which is too bad because it was a really good flick!

As usual, there was a lot of grubbing going on, which is probably why I feel like I gain so much weight every time we visit! Tobi challenged me to eat 3 wings-the hottest they come-at a restaurant. No problem. Listen y'all, I may be a whitey, but I can handle the heat! ha ha ha. Yet another reason why I can hang with my Indian peeps...and I love that Joyce considers me an honorary Indian-evidenced by the way she starts speaking to me in Malayalam as if I know her language. I get a kick out of saying, "Um, Joyce? I have NO idea what you just said."

We had a wonderful stay, as always, and look forward to our next Houston adventure. A bit of trivia for you-in Owen's first year of life, he has been on 5 airplane trips (3 to Houston and 2 to Philly) and 2 road trips (1 to Tampa & Orlando and 1 to Virginia). He seems to like traveling just as much as we do, and we are happy he has had the chance to see family and friends so much this year!

Owie & Joyce Auntie

Tobi & Joyce

The girls!
Introducing Ryn!
Roby's trademark way of ruining a picture :)

We love spontaneity!

A couple months ago, our friend Rich from my hometown called us up saying he had taken a spontaneous road trip on his motorcycle and ended up in TN. Thankfully we weren't out of town, and he arrived at our doorstep the following day. How great is that? Being surprised with a visit from a good friend you haven't seen in way too long is always sweet.

Owen, curious about Rich, just stared at him at first. My theory is that he was trying to figure out if that was a small cat growing off this man's chin :) Once he got past the mystery that is Rich's beard, he really enjoyed his time with him! We went downtown to the Mellow Mushroom for some of the best pizza, and the guys tested some type of German beer...I have no idea, i just go for the eats...although I do use one of their bottles as a flower vase now. (If you read this blog with any type of regularity, you might have noticed that when anyone visits, we take 'em to the Mellow M. Have too. It's that good.) Afterward we strolled through Coolidge Park by the carousel and the river.

Rich took off for Nashville the next day to visit more friends. (He seems to have friends everywhere!) Although we wished it could have been a longer visit, it was wonderful catching up. Let it be known that we love when friends drop by unexpectedly!

Thanks for coming to see us Rich!

What is that on your chin there, mister? Can I pet it?

Sunburned Rich laughing it up with the o-man

Rich and O in front of the carousel