Hair styling

Caitlin and John and Sam and Jeff have returned for a few days' visit. They arrived late last night, courtesy of memorial day traffic, but we had a wonderful picnic at a local arboretum today, and my aunt Lee is coming for a visit this afternoon. We're taking lots of pictures which I'll try to post soon.

Lucy's hair has been growing longer and I've been having fun with it. The other day I braided her hair for the first time. It felt like quite a rite of passage- I've always enjoyed braiding and french braiding, and have looked forward for awhile to being able to do it with Lucy. Here's hoping she'll sit still enough for a french braid sometime soon...

We've also done some fun ponytails.

And the front view. :)

The beach and the porch

On Saturday we headed down to Cape Cod for the weekend. Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera, so I'll just describe it for you.

Lucy napped on the way down, which was the plan, as it was a 2 1/4 hour drive. For some of the time she was sleeping with her head drooped forward and making really cute snoring sounds.

Here's a random picture of her in the carseat. ;)


Once there, we headed to the beach with some friends. It was close to high tide, but the water stays shallow for a long time, interspersed with islands of sand and grass. The weather was perfect- sunny, warm, with a strong breeze. Matt stayed back on the shore with some friends while we waded out into the channels of water. Lucy's shorts soon got wet as it got a bit deeper, and she kept saying, "I getting totally wet!". So I decided to strip her down- we've done the regular diaper in water before, and it quickly becomes so heavy with water it won't even stay on. Lucy had such a great time splashing in the water, which was up to her waist most of the time, running around and falling down in it (on purpose). We walked together holding hands, me holding my skirt up a bit to keep it dry, surrounded by blue water, patches of bright green dune grass, and rippling sand. It was so beautiful. We saw 4 horseshoe crabs on our wanderings in the shallows. I'd never seen them alive, and it was cool how they coasted along the bottom. I was a bit freaked out too, as they have those big stingers, but they were happy to mind their own business. Lucy also found a hermit crab in one of the little tidal pools. She thought it was a spider at first, which was a good comparison.

The rest of the day was fun too, talking with friends and eating good food. We didn't get on the road until after 7, and even though I conked out, Lucy stayed awake the whole time, until we put her to bed at home around 9. I couldn't believe it! Apparently she kept singing songs and talking to Matt the whole way home, and telling him, "It really dark outside".

This evening we had dinner out on the porch- the first time this season! The mosquitos weren't out yet and it was a beautiful evening. We could hear the tree frogs starting up and the birds too.

Blankey "how-to" and comforting baby

In which Lucy shows me and baby how to properly suck on her blankey, and baby is comforted in a surprising way.

Happy bday to my little sis!

I love you so much, Caitlin, and am so thankful for you. Here's a little bday song from Lucy and me. (Btw- what she's about to say at the end of the video is "I want birthday cake!" We'll have to make some when you guys come back). :)

Adventure to the city

We had a fun adventure last week in the city with my dad, my sister and her fam (my dad is now safely back home, and the Littletons are travelling around for a few weeks before they visit with us again at the end of the month).

We took the train in, which the kids loved. Matt had to go to class, but he got to take the train in with us which was extra special, since Lucy and I often drop him off at the station. Sam and Lucy pretended to take tickets from us, and had a great time looking out the windows and hanging from the luggage rack bars.



Speaking of which, guess who's idea it was to put Jeff up here? (Hint- his initials are P. J.)


The three munchkins together.

The swan boats were lots of fun- we even got to read "Make way for ducklings" while we waited for more people to come.

On our way back, we came across a merry-go-round. I think it was Lucy's first, and she was so excited about how the horses moved up and down. Sam loved it too, as you can see.

We also stopped at the duckling statues, where much clambering occurred.

Walking around was fun too. Sam and Lucy both liked the following arrangement.

And Jeff was snug as a bug in Caitlin's fleece.

Up up and away

Trampolines are so fun- I think the kids would stay on it all day if we let them. They have quite a capacity for bouncing, and there are so many fun games to play. John and Caitlin pretended to be trolls/lions underneath, poking up at Sam and Lucy. And later on Sam, Lucy, Caitlin and I sat on the trampoline while Papa Jack jumped, making us all bounce up and down. Lucy and Sam kept asking for more.

Sam and Lucy running around.


Jeff crawled eagerly on the trampoline at first, but once Sam and Lucy got jumping he decided he'd rather watch the action from some stable arms.

All aboard! Lucy's hair is so funny when she bounces.

Lucy and Sam making their geckos walk on the floor. At first Lucy kept calling hers an "ecko".

Lucy's enjoying being a big cousin- here she is holding Jeff on her lap.

And now a few videos of the trampoline fun, taken especially for my mom (we all miss you and wish you were here with us!).

Beach time

We had a nice warm spell recently, and got to play at the beach with Papa Jack.