October is potentially my favorite month of the year – I love fall, the weather, the leaves changing, and no fall would be complete without a visit to the Topsfield fair. Mom graciously agreed to watch Brian – as there probably isn’t too much of interest to a 1 month old at a town agricultural fair – and Aaron and I, along with Amy, Joe and Justin – spent an evening walking the fairgrounds, people watching and eating delicious fair food. Justin went on a few rides with his parents, although he’s still not sold on them entirely, and of course we played some games, visited the livestock barns and toured the agricultural halls. It was a fun night. I did have one misstep in the form of a fried twinkie – but I don’t really want to talk about it… :)

At the end of September, most of the family got together to celebrate Joe’s birthday at Amy and Joe’s house. It was a low key celebration and a good opportunity to catch up and spend time with Justin and Brian. Unfortunately, most of the photos from the little party are a bit dark as we turned the flash off to take some pictures of Brian (so not to disturb his sleep) and then neglected to turn the flash back on – but I am posting them just the same.

In the first couple of weeks after Brian was born we visited Amy and Joe often (surprised?). This is a collection of photos from those early visits. Although everyone says going from 1 to 2 kids is a huge change, Amy and Joe made it look fairly easy. Justin seemed to accept Brian as a permanent addition fairly quickly, although he’s not quite sure why Brian isn’t up and walking around yet. He even sat down to explain to Brian how his feet worked – which was pretty entertaining to watch. Enjoy the photos.

On September 7th at 7:23 PM Amy and Joe welcomed their second son, Brian Callahan. He weighed in at 9lbs, 3 oz and was 21 inches long. Aaron and I had the pleasure of staying with and caring for Justin for a couple of days while Amy and Joe were in the hospital. It was great fun for us to have the time with Justin. As you’ll see from the photos we played with legos, with water in the sink, we went to the toy store, the playground and we feed ducks and geese at a local pond.

Meanwhile, Brian was born. We also brought Justin into the hospital to visit his mom and dad and to meet his new baby brother, who is adorable. Brian is a very sweet baby – looks a bit like Justin did as an infant, but I think there is a bit more of Joe in Brian’s face (than there is in Justin’s). Above is a family photo from the day Amy and Joe brought Brian home. Needless to say, we are all in love with Amy and Joe’s newest little boy.

At the very end of August Amy, Joe and Justin came over for dinner and a little Rock Band session. Justin took a particular liking to the drums and Aaron is already plotting to buy him a full drum set – although Amy asserts a drum will never make it through their front door and would have to be stored at our house… we’ll have to wait and see on that one. :)

Towards the end of the summer we spent a weekend on the Cape with Aaron’s family. We enjoyed spending time with Andrew and his friend Cordelia and were lucky with the weather, so we got to spend the majority of the weekend outside. It was a relaxing visit and great as always to be able to spend time together. Click on the photo above of Lisa and her dog Lindy to see the small album of photos from the weekend.

At the end of July, Justin turned three! I can hardly believe it and now, he’s already halfway to four – crazy, I say! Amy and Joe had a big back yard party with family and friends. Joe designed a treasure hunt, including a beautiful hand drawn map which took the kids to various stations throughout the yard to pick up color coated loot. Justin was red, of course. The kids really enjoyed it. Amy made another over the top cake (remember the stop sign cake from last year?) – this time incorporating a number of Justin’s favorites: a bridge, windmills, parachuters, a tractor, etc. The party was a great success. I can’t wait to see what they do next summer.

Over the summer, Andrew and Rita came up and spend a weekend with us. Rita and I spent a lot of time in the garden together and Aaron and Andrew played hours of both video and board games. And obviously, we went and played a game of mini golf. Over the weekend we also introduced Andrew, who is a newly, self-proclaimed scary movie junkie to Silence of the Lambs – which was fun.

Way back in July (I know, I know I am so far behind) the family made our usual trek down to the Connecticut shore for a lovely vacation at the beach. We swam, played games, read, napped – all very good things – and enjoyed being together in such a wonderful place. Justin keeps asking Amy and Joe when they can go back to the beach and I feel exactly the same way. Highlights from our time this summer would be the sparklers on the 4th of July, the bonfire on the beach, playing in the sand and all of Justin’s “fishing” (like in the photo above). Needless to say, we had a really great time. There is a large album of photos from our time there this summer. Normally, I would break it up across several posts, but I am trying (I swear) to catch up.

I am happy to report that at the very end of June, my cousin Meghan married her wonderful boyfriend Louis. Amy and I traveled up to Portland, Maine together for the weekend’s festivities. It was great to see and visit with family. The ceremony and reception were at The Portland Company Marine Complex, old historic industrial complex – with exposed brick and wide plank pine floors. Their ceremony was sweet and very personal, and I was glad to be there. The reception featured a local blue grass band, an 80s dj, a candy bar and a photo booth. The two black and white photos at the end of the album were taken in the photo booth. It was a very happy celebration – an appropriate beginning of their life together.