Surprise!!!

Vinny went on his first plane ride a couple of weeks ago -- he & I flew up to Rochester for "Great" Auntie Ann's surprise birthday party. There was lots of fun & lots of food!

Vinny did great on most of the plane ride legs (the last one on the way home was a little bit trying -- there was some crying involved, which resulted in the flight attendant asking if we needed any help. Yeah, maybe she could just apologize for us to the rest of the passengers.) Anyway, we survived.

Since we were there a day early, we had to lay low before the birthday she-bang got started. So, we got to enjoy a day out on "Great" Uncle Tom's boat. The best parts about this adventure were the lost ski, the crazy tube riding with Cousin Sean, and the Kids Sing-a-long while we were towed halfway back to the marina until the boat restarted. Don't worry -- we did make it to the party on time.

Cousins Kathleen & Molly helped get Vinny to sleep on the boatride.

Cousin Sean helped me stay on the tube during Uncle Tom's Wild Ride, i.e. "Lean left, lean left!!"Here's some footage from the birthday party -- some of the Big Cousins (Amy, Sunny & Colleen)

Vinny was very into the balloons.

The next day, the Birthday Auntie shared her balloons some more. :)We also went to "Great" Aunt Karen's house for a pool party! Let the good times continue! Vinny got to meet Baby Cousin Hannah, who was running circles around him. She was running back and forth on the deck, and finally she stopped long enough to share some of her cookie with him.

Vinny decided he'd like some more of that.

But, apparently, the best part of the trip for the little guy was playing at the Rochester airport as we were leaving. This was the first time Vinny pulled himself up to standing. :)

Wouldn't you like to have just an ounce of the joy he has?