Perfect summer day

First of all, YAY for summer! The sticky, hot days are here!  Yesterday evening brought a big thunderstorm and heavy rain which cooled things down a little.  After the rain, everything outside was steamy and it smelled sooo good.

As we like to do during the summer, we went to the beach last weekend.  It was REALLY foggy.  I mean we could barely see the waves breaking.  But the water was warm and Jack had a blast standing in the surf, feeling the sand being taken out from under his feet. We could tell that he was getting dizzy watching the water retreating after each wave.  He would lose his footing for a moment, but we were holding on tight.  Our days of just relaxing at the beach are long over...we took turns walking and splashing with Jack.

Pointing at a plane flying overhead 

Taking his truck for a spin

Happy

Rob and I took turns in this position for pretty much the whole time we were at the beach.

It was still super hot when we got home so Jack cooled off in his pool. (I love this Picture.)

Jack missed his nap, and by 6:30 he was so ready for bed, so we tucked him in (earliest ever!), and then Rob and I had steamers for dinner...It was a perfect summer day. 

Catalog living

On another note, this site makes me laugh!  I do love looking through catalogs, and this just makes it even better.

Catalog Living - A look into the exciting lives of the people who live in your catalogs.

Here's a little taste of what you can expect...

A peaceful ending…

After achieving his life’s work of balancing the wicker ball on the radio, Terrence carefully removed his hat and went for his final swim.

Evening stroll

Jack took a stroll around the neighborhood a couple of nights ago.  It was hot, so he was strutting his stuff in just a diaper and sandals. 

He's very good at pushing his truck and he has a fascination with the sewer covers on our street. He always has to take a few moments to stand on each one.  Sometimes we have to practically tear him away. 

He is starting to get a little braver...here he is letting go and standing on his own.  

I feel like I've been saying that "he's going to start walking any day now" for awhile.  I was thinking that he was just cautious, but he's started to climb up on furniture and has no fear of stairs, so I'm not sure that's it anymore. I think some bribing may be in order.  He may really think that getting around on his knees is walking (his poor little knees!) We'll see how that goes!  

Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday

Pretty little weed

I think that this is just about the prettiest weed I've ever seen. My mom noticed these little flowers growing in an empty lot near our house so we headed over and cut a few.  Rob did a little research and we think that it's soapwort.  The bud vase I purchased from Etsy was the perfect little container for them. I might have to go cut some more...

Father's Day weekend

We had a fantastic weekend celebrating Father's Day.  The weather was just the way I like it...hot and a little sticky!  On Saturday we went to the park, where there was a nice breeze and Jack had a ball cruising along on a bench that sits along the water.  He just wanted to toddle back and forth across it holding hands, with a big jump off at the end.  I think he was very proud of himself.

On Sunday, Mimi kept him busy with his truck.  He pushed it all around the neighborhood.  We were convinced that this would be the weekend that he'd finally let go.  He didn't. 

Lauren, Sam and Maia came over for our Father's Day brunch.  It is always so fun to see Jack and Maia together and this was the first time they actually sat and played as playmates instead of doing their own thing.

Look how cute she is with her Daddy.  what a nice Father's day photo...

Rob, I can't believe that we didn't get a shot of you and Jack...bad me. I am afraid this is the closest we've got...although, it is very cute how Jack is holding on to your pinky finger.

I hope you had a wonderful day!  Jack and I love you very much! xoxoxo

Jack in the bath

We never got much use out of our plastic baby tub.  We really only used it for the first couple of weeks and I guess we never got the hang of giving tiny Jack a bath on the kitchen counter.  He wasn't a big fan of it either.

He only started to like taking baths once we introduced him to the real tub where he could get a good splashing in and watch the running water. When he was little one of us would get in the tub with him and now we just put a towel down for his head and lay him down to get a good scrubbing.  He loves it.  It's really the only way he ever lies still.  Once the bath is over, Jack watches all of the water drain out while waving and saying buh-bye.  It's pretty darn cute.  Here are some shots of Jack in the bath last night...

Truffles

Speaking of my birthday, Bonnie made me these gorgeous, dark chocolate truffles.  They are so amazingly delicious! I am going to have one right now. Thank you Bonnie!  :)

Picnik

 Rob and I got a new camera for my birthday.  Yay! It was a surprise for me...and I say that "Rob and I got a new camera" because really, we'll share it. 

Not only have we had fun playing with our new toy, I've also come across the 2nd most addicting online space (that would be 2nd to this blog). It's a photo editing website called Picnik.  There are all kinds of fun tools for FREE!  Go ahead and try it...you'll be addicted too.

Happy birthday to me!

So far, it's been a great day...Jack and I went strawberry picking with some friends.  We rode a tractor out to the strawberry field which Jack loved.

The concept of picking ripe berries was lost on him, but eating them was not.

Jack and Laila...you've got to love her strawberry face.

Here's our loot.  Now I have to figure out what to make with all of the berries!

Race for the Cure

We had a great weekend in CT!  Saturday morning was the Komen Race for the Cure in Hartford.  It was my family's ninth year participating!  It is such a fun and inspiring event and it feels really good to honor survivors, like my Mom.  Here are a bunch of pictures from the race and cookout/family reunion that went on afterwards!  

Jack is ready to race!

Maia is too cute. Isn't her shirt great?

Jack watching the runners go by.

Jack even got a t-shirt. Maybe by next year it will fit him.

This is a shot from the kid's short race.  You can see Maia running in the bottom left corner and Jack is right in the middle.  We eventually put Jack down.  He tried his hardest but he was the last little guy on the course. Oh well, there is always next year!

The race tuckered him right out.

Back at the BBQ...Maia, Jack and Jonas had a ball pushing this little bike around.  It was so great seeing all the kids having fun together.

Jack said, "enough of the pushing, I want a ride!"

It was so nice to see everyone...I am already looking forward to next year!

19 Months

Here are Jack's 19 month pictures!  He is getting so big!

Today I had help from these folks to keep Jack in one place while I took the pictures...

You've gotta love Jimmy Fallon (oh, and Elmo). :)