Guest Bloggers: Two for the Price of One!

As I said yesterday,
my brother and his wife are visiting from
Rhode Island.

They have graciously agreed
to be my second guest bloggers....
as a pair!!

Please join me in welcoming....
:::insert applause here:::
Richard and Michelle!
::::Crowd goes wild::::

Well, that's quite an introduction. A real privilege for us to be guest writers on Lee Ann's blog.

As my sister said, we're from Rhode Island, the nation's smallest state, and the place where you'll find more politicians in prison than run-of-the-mill criminals. Yup, corruption central. A few other tidbits, in case you're interested:

1. Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State because it has miles and miles (and miles) of coastline. It's a really beautiful place.
2. Providence, the capital, was home to the New England Mob. Think Tony Soprano's sidekicks hanging outside Italian restaurants on Federal Hill, bedecked in gold and yapping on cell phones (okay, the phones had long cords then). You'll still see them today.
3. You can get a stuffed quahog (a type of clam filled with clam pieces, breading and Portuguese sausage called chourico) and wash it down with coffee milk.
4. Republicans are as scarce as frowns on a sunny day.
5. But you will find a lot of Catholics (the most Catholics per capita in America)

OK, enough of the trivia. We're so happy to see my sister and her family. These are special moments -- times to share and reunite. And a time to see what's changed.

Here are some observations:
Lee Ann looks great and happy. She can't rid herself of 80s music, but then again, neither can I. We just listened to Ton Loc's "Funky Cold Medina" and are rocking to the Eagles "Seven Bridges Road."
Rob looks great and is immersed in his fantasy football. Squash appears to have taken a back seat.
Chris has long, curly, bushy hair. He could be a drummer in a pre-teen rock band. Last night, he took us on a journey, piece by piece, of all the collectibles in his room. We went from Disney World to Little League baseball to his pet fish.
Trey has long, curly, bushy hair. No word on whether he's intentionally mimicking his brother. He no longer massacres his "Rs," either, and he's quite proud of that. It also means we can understand him now. He also can seriously dance, with wild, flailing movements that will make him a mosh pit star when he's older.
Kate has beautiful, long hair. A real princess. And a festering boil that was diagnosed as related to the SuperBug strain. There are vats of hand sanitizers all over the house, and Lee Ann is anxious to remind us to cleanse ourselves. Seriously, though, Kate looks radiant and confident in herself. She's in an after-school newspaper club, which makes me so proud (as a journalist).

To wrap it up, the clan are happy, healthy and just plain fun. Smiles abound in this family, and that makes us smile, too.