Vacation - Day 2

Hannah and mommy

Dave and Cate

Dave, Cate and Jonathan

Hannah after she ate a fistful of sand.

"How do I get this stuff off my hands?!"

Hannah LOVED the beach and ate a few handfuls of sand before she realized there was more to do at the beach.

Andrew and Grandpa

Cate, Dave, Keith and Hannah

Jonathan swimming

After Hannah tired of eating sand, she realized she could crawl in it and the ocean at the same time. The girl had NO fear and would crawl straight into the waves. She would stop every so often when she got a mouthful of water, but mostly she just wanted to crawl in the water.

A little hermit crab

Auntie, Hannah and Tanya

Cate showing Jonathan how to lay in the ocean and let the waves crash over you.

Jonathan's turn.

Trying to keep the baby from crawling out to deep.

Ben - exhausted from swimming in the ocean.

Monday we had an early lunch and then went to the beach. It was so fun! This time the boys were in swim clothes and were not the least bit timid about getting wet or sandy! Hannah loved it too! After we got back to the house and cleaned every one up, Keith and I talked about our last trip to the beach where we laid in the sun and read our books - slightly different from this trip. It was so fun to watch our land-locked children explore the beach. And it there was no time for sitting when you were on Hannah duty. She was constantly on the move and eating sand.

Best quote of the day:
"Don't push me!" Jonathan to the waves as he was trying to climb a slippery rock.

First Day of School

Waiting, rather impatiently, for the bus to come. Daddy is trying to help pass the time by reading a book. Notice Andrew is looking toward the door to make sure he doesn't miss the bus!

Running to the bus

In his classroom with about half his class

Running off the bus - see a theme?!

Andrew the Kindergartner!

First art project from his first day at school

Andrew's first day of Kindergarten was yesterday. He was so excited and had such a great first day! I asked him when he got home what his favorite part of the day was. His answer - "The Bus!" Not what I was expecting, but I'll take it!

To be honest, we were a little worried how his first day would go based on his first day of preschool last year. But it is amazing the difference a year makes and he was so ready for school. Or as Andrew says, "It's not school! School is over. This is Kindergarten!" Apparently school only refers to preschool in his mind, and we are working on helping him understand that kindergarten is a part of school.

We met his teacher last week, Mrs. H, and she seems very calm and easy going. This is her 18th year of teaching, and she has grandchildren age 5 and under. She seems well equipped to handle anything that might come her way.

We are excited that he is excited, but it was a little sad and surreal to watch my baby get on that school bus with barely a backwards glance. They grow up so fast!

Vacation - Day 1 at the BEACH!!

The boys first view of the ocean

Checking out the beach with Uncle Dave.

Cate taking in the sights.

Andrew

Andrew, Cate and Auntie

Ben going for a swim - he was the only smart one who dressed for the ocean.

Jonathan playing in the water.

I'm not sure what is going on here, but it looks like Jonathan got a mouthful of sand.



Hannah taking a little walk on the beach with Auntie.

Hannah did not appreciate being trapped in her stroller when there was so much beautiful beach to explore.



Grandpa and Jonathan

More sand digging by Jonathan



Andrew and Cate and playing in the waves.

Dave catching the perfect photos.

Andrew and Jonathan were tentative at first, but waded in after a few minutes.

Four cousins enjoying the ocean

Ben getting a little zen on us.

After the beach and showers, it was time for books and bed.

Sunday night after dinner, we walked to the beach. That's right. We walked to the beach. It was a short 5-minute walk from our house and it was breathtaking. As you can see by the thousands of photos, we had a great time. The boys weren't too sure at first about walking in the waves, but by the time we left, they were both soaked. And we didn't dress them in their swim clothes, because we were just going to look at the water. That lasted about a minute.

Andrew's last visit to the ocean was his first birthday, and he has no memory of it. I think both boys will remember this trip. Hannah probably won't, but that just means we need to visit again!

Vacation - Day 1

The boys enjoying a snack on the plane.

Our home away from home.

Playing Candy Land with Grammy.

Jonathan (with a little marker decoration on his cheek) and Ben.

Grammy and Hannah watching the kids play in the pool.

Uncle Dave cheering Andrew on in his efforts to learn to swim.

The awesome above-ground pool - only 5 feet deep with a 3-foot deep lip all the way around the pool.

Hannah and Auntie

Well, I was hoping to start posting vacation pictures when I got caught up with laundry and life. But since that isn't going to happen, I'm going to start wading through the hundreds of photos before I forget all the fun we had!

We left last Saturday (July 30th) morning for Newport, RI. Our flight there was not great. We missed our 6:20 am flight because the bag tag printing machine stopped working and they couldn't hold the plane. So we made 10 new friends who also missed that flight and had not-so-nice things to say about the crew working the Delta counter that early morning. I'll skip all the details, because they aren't that exciting, just frustrating. I will say that the kids did AWESOME on the flights. Because of the flight changes we had only 50 minutes in Atlanta, which involved running and me begging a sandwich lady for a super fast sandwich to feed my starving children. Fortunately she saw I was desperate and a little crazy and gave me a plain turkey and cheese sandwich with few questions. Hannah took about an hour nap on each flight and was fairly easy to keep entertained. (The flights home were not as easy with her.) We did finally make it to Boston around 6 pm instead of 1 pm, and then had a little drive to our fabulous vacation home.

Most of these pictures are from our first real day of vacation - Sunday. We slept, relaxed, swam in the pool, and got re-acquainted with our cousins. Grammy and Grandpa brought some of Keith's old Legos they had saved and that was a HUGE hit with all the boys.