Only you can prevent forest fires.

Marco donned his Park Ranger gear and we hit the road for our cabin in Silver Lake (other side of the mountain from Kirkwood) for a little R, R & R. That's right, Robin, Ryan, Reese (& Steve!) joined us for beautiful weather - albeit a bit smoky - food, drink and fun. Merriment ensued.

Here's the proof:

The mini-Ranger.

The obligatory "baby in the sink at the cabin" photo required of all Kroeck babies. Of course, Marco had a different vision for his shoot. My version won out, but let's just say his wasn't quite so, err... G rated.On the deck...At the beach...

Ryan blessed me with the most fabulous nickname ever. I will forever be "Syrup." "Good Morning Syrup!" Ryan is uber genius. She talks so much, brushes the hair out of her eyes by flipping her head like an adult and boasts a healthy dose of self-esteem, "Don't I look pretty?" Who can resist that?

Bags full of toys were packed so that Reese and Marco could share this one four inch crackly paper. (Thanks cousin Katie!)Thanks for joining us RRR (&S)!

Old news.

I'm a little late to the party on this post, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise!

For Mother's Day, we got together with the cousins for a photo shoot to surprise G-ma Cecchin. The short synopsis is: chaos. The long story is copious clapping, dragging, sitting, dorky faces and "look-up-here's." Joey was running full speed around the studio, Tommy was crawling to the camera like McJagger, Clara was crying (very uncharacteristic of her) and Marco just sat there staring as if to say, "When will I be able to run and crawl and sit up?"

Here's the surprisingly adorable end result:

Runnin' Cuzzin.

Jeff, Marco and I are participating in the Komen San Francisco Race for the Cure with my younger cousin Courtney. Courtney is a strong and funny chick who I'm proud to call my friend. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is currently undergoing treatment.

Please feel free to join us! The Race is Sunday, September 21st. If you can't join us and you still want to help, donate. The Race raises money to fund education, screening and treatment programs in our community and supports the national search for a cure. If you can't do either, just keep her in your thoughts and prayers - she needs that too!

Check out my page. And here's Jeff's page. His isn't cute yet.

Go Team Courtney!

Rock the Vote.

Obama... Johnny boy... blah blah. Take our poll at right.

UPDATE: The polls are closed, the votes are in, the ballots are counted.

Here's what you thought:
19% said "Definitely a Cecchin"
58% said "Definitely an Andreotti"
22% said "A perfect combo (copout)"

Now, I know it's not contest, but if it were, I'd be screaming, "I WON! I WON!"

A Tale of Two Cities

Friday we partied wicked baby hard at the D’Angelos. You can tell it’s a good party when you end up with green teeth.

Saturday, we mellowed and enjoyed Oakland’s warm weather with a walk to breakfast and the Farmer’s Market and then sat on the deck. I decadently read my book and got sunburned – AGAIN! What is my problem? Maybe that I’m so white. Sadly, Marco’s skin seems to more closely resemble my pink splotchy tone than Jeff’s olive complexion, but hey, perfection comes at a price.

Marco met this handsome little boy on Saturday afternoon and had a whole lot of things to say to him. Hope he doesn't fall in the river and drown gazing at his reflection. We headed to the Giants game that evening, 6 o’clock start against the A’s. It was like a scene from a sci-fi movie coming up the BART escalator looking straight up into some twister wind storm. It was FREEZING in the City and the fog was rolling in. Marco actually said, “Seriously Ma and Pops… I’m a baby.”

He made a great point so we scalped the tickets outside (err, allegedly). Jeff knows I’m a total hard ass, so he sent me to haggle. It went like this:

Me: Front row arcade, how much?
Man with cash: Uh, $40?
Me: Sweet!

We took our winnings for a walk and had dinner at Gordon Biersch where they serve beers for less than $9 a pop, with a great view of the game and Marco didn’t have to wear a snowsuit. The End.

These pics are unrelated, but cute anyway. Jeff's birthday... I went ahead and let them spill a pitcher of beer on my white pants so we'd get it for free. What can I say? I'm a team player. Stick with me kid, I'll show you the ways of the world.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Marco surprised Daddy with this when Jeff went to get him in the morning! Clever little elf... Marco playing with Daddy's new toy.

For Father's Day, Jeff wanted a wood-burning pizza oven and Italian grapes for our back yard. Uh, yeah. So, instead we headed up to Sonoma to Viansa - a winery that makes Italian-style pizzas in their wood-burning oven. We tasted wine, ate pizza and enjoyed the beautiful day.Marco had a rockin good time. Is it just me or does he look like David Silver dancing? For those of you who get that reference, sad for you. An incredible margherita pizza with a glass of wine and a bottle.

Viansa was a great family-friendly spot! They had lots of picnic tables and a big grassy area. There was live music and the food was amazing, like really good. Put it on your list with Lake Temescal. You too can experience the Cecchin family tour.

Marco didn't spend Father's Day with G-pa Cecchin or Papa John, but he had this special message for them both.

Says it all really.

Century Club

That's right folks, the 100 club. For his 100th post, Marco would like to send a shout out to his friends.

Say it with me, "Weekend."

And here are some shots...

Dina and I took the kids to the beach at Lake Temescal! It was the bomb and we should all go. It's like $2 which pays for the lifeguards. They let Marco in for free. Could it be his smooth talking (Daddy taught me!) or his under oneness, not sure.

Marco donned his rash guard, his boardshorts, his flip flops and his Hawaiian hat (thanks Bob & Cynthia!) Notice his hair is not making a blog appearance anytime soon.Ben is practically a man. He learned to pee in the lake (allegedly) and it was accomplished by lying flat on his stomach in about an inch of water. There's a learning curve to his new talent.

Are you wondering why I'm taking pictures of this blond girl. It's LIA! Blond, grown up Lia. Whoa.

Here's a pic for the folks who are saying, "Maybe we should go to Lake Temescal in Oakland." Barbara, it's very Twain Harte, minus the snack shack, you would love it.

Marco takes a dip (followed by crankiness and a nap). Enjoy the whiteness of my shoulders here because now they're a very sexy HOT PINK! Meow.

And Uncle Mike was in town! Marco outweighs him now. True story.

But enough about me…

Now that I’m back at work copywriting and editing, I spend all day writing professional standards like “Ask me how!” and “… and more!” so sticking with the theme, here are some of our “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).”

Marco sleeps through the night most of the time. When he does wake up, we either hit the mobile and he goes back to sleep or we hold him for about five minutes and put him back to bed. He doesn’t eat at night anymore. Doc says he’s big enough and we want him to stay in the habit of eating only during the day like a good little GLEC. He’s been good to us. We’re very lucky.

He’s really playing with toys now, which is fun. It’s easy to set him down with a pile of toys. He can entertain himself with staring at them, sucking on them, picking them up and throwing them. Doc says soon he will pass them back and forth between hands. I know… it’s thrilling.

Marco dines on almost exclusive soy formula these days taking four ounce bottles during the day with a six ouncer at bedtime. Sometimes he protests when a bottle finishes and we’ll add another two ounces. He’s a piggy piggy. Doc says we can start with rice cereal anytime between now and six months. I think he’s too little! :)

He’s wearing 3-6 month clothes and has pretty much outgrown his smaller stuff. Some of his pants are too long, but never fear, daycare just hikes them up to about his chest. WHAT? I can just imagine what the cool kids say about him. “Look at the dork!" "Doesn’t that hurt?”

And its a huge shame that he’s grown out of most of his hats, because he’s losing all his rockin’ hair! Poor bald baby looks like Phantom of the Opera (if the Phantom were very handsome in the face). G-ma C says that he’s balding much earlier than Jeff who waited until his 20s. THANKS FOR HAVING ME!! Goodnight!

Here are some shots from the park with Brooke on Friday. Katie and I walked down with our roadies. We're so grown up.

Marco first swing!Brooke likes to share.

Isn't she sweet!?

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Old manhood has set in... this morning Jeff rolled over and said, "This might be a stupid question, but how old am I this year?"

Chugga, chugga… Happy Birthday Niko!

Niko is having fun and turning one. We crashed Niko’s family party and hit the steam train up at Tilden Park Sunday morning, then headed back to the Romios house for a casual barbeque. Here's our train car.

Marco loved the train! Well... at least the filtered light and the tunnels.

The barbeque was so casual in fact, that Marco debuted a new style… plaid hat, Hawaiian shirt and an “I heart Uncle Taki” t-shirt. Not afraid at all. He’s so Carrie Bradshaw. Or something.

The kids: Marco, Maile and Kira (Niko's cousins), Niko & Brooke. Marco had his eye on that blue-eyed Kira. Meow.

Yes, I photoed the drinks - don't judge me. Cherry mojitos, margaritas and lemonade.

Happy Birthday Niko!!

Surprise!

Saturday, we were the ruse for a surprise wedding shower for Vic’s fiancée Danielle. We were in charge of getting her there and we did! Phewf. Mission accomplished.

G-ma Cecchin watched Marco for the afternoon and he was a cranky one! I mean, he was up until 11:30 at the Giants game the night before and it showed (nominations for Parents of the Year are still being accepted). He took about six naps throughout the day, poor little party animal. Thanks G-ma!

Sex and Giants in the City.

Friday night, boys went to the left and girl to the right. More accurately, Jeff and Marco took the Montgomery station to the Giants game and I took Powell to the Westfield mall to see Sex in the City with the girls.

With Marco dressed like an Eskimo (his first night game) and Jeff in shorts (shocking I know), they met up with G-pa Cecchin for the Padres game. While they enjoyed 13 innings (ouch) – I enjoyed the INSANE scene at the movie theatre. We were ten of about 4,000 girls at the 7:10 show. Most of them were in heels and dresses and carrying their name brand bags. I went vintage (that's the same as 'old' right?)

After the show, we went out for drinks. The bartenders said he’d made about 1,000 cosmos that night, so Robin and I big leagued the obvious and opted for a lemon drop. We’re really our own people.