Beach

With our smiles still on our faces, we headed back to the beach today - though the wind was much stronger and the waves more fierce. No worries, we took to the playground and just enjoyed digging in the sand.



After a couple hours, we did go into the water as it had calmed down. Matteo is really learning to swim nicely.

And my Mayor - as we are walking along the beach a car pulls up and yells Matteo's name - - imagine my shock as it was only 9 AM and there were only a handful of people on the beach. Nice to have such wonderful friends. And so today Daddy came to swim for 45 minutes and we stayed 5 hours. Boy is Mommy tired.

Beach bums

To help ease the heat spell we are in I took Matteo & Chloe May to the beach today for some sand, sun and fun! We buried Matteo up to his neck in rocks :-) No hard task since this is a very rocky beach.

Having met some new friends, they taught Matteo how to catch the "safe" jellyfish -- because previously he was catching the stinging ones.  Matteo was so proud to have caught over 15 - all of which were released back into nature upon our departure from the beach.

And 4 hours later we headed home.  A wonderful time had by all.

The Mayor

Today, though I was feeling a bit better and able to stand upright, I still was not 100%, hence Daddy took Matteo to a school friend's gymnastics birthday party.  Funny thing Daddy reiterated to me, that so many moms and dads whom never met Jules (as I would always pick Matteo up from school) told him was just how much their child talks of Matteo or "potato" for those who early on could not pronounce his name.  They said even to this day they will speak of how funny Matteo is, or what Matteo said or did - - all great stories.  Wonderful to have just such a happy child. 

And yes, at the end of the day I was feeling like myself again.  Thanks for asking.

Kitchen Paint

In an effort to try and finish the kitchen, Daddy spent the better part of the day doing what little painting needed to be done in the kitchen.  Mommy on the other hand spent about 5 hours doubled over in pain unable to stand upright - never a good sign, but thanks to Daddy for pitch-hitting and caring for Chloe & Matteo.  At the end of the day they were still alive.

Matteo took being a big brother to new heights :-)

Viola!

And really not sure how working moms do it - after being "away" (but in the same house) from Chloe & Matteo for roughly five hours, I missed them so much, but still in pain, that I decided to treat Matteo to the Wizard of Oz - a movie he never saw - it was a lovely time had by all as we snuggled in bed to watch this beloved classic.

A new prospective

Want to be thankful for your problems?

In 13 words I give you a new perspective:

A Chinese proverb: “Well-fed people have many problems, hungry people have only one.”

Slip and Slide

Having arrived home late last night I was more than delighted when playing back our answering machine to find a message from our friends Caleb & Rory inviting us over for an afternoon swim date.

When we first arrived Rory and Chloe May enjoyed the hot tub/kiddie pool.



Having never been on a slip and slide Matteo really does demonstrate to me no matter how shallow the water, he will continue to jump in the air with no fear.

Really nothing short of a great time by all.

and my ever observant bug observer has me thinking of birthday gifts already!

Happy Birthday Gramps

Very last minute we enjoyed a ride up to Grandma and Gramps' house to visit Gramps on his birthday!

While waiting outside for Gramps to arrive home from work, we took over Gramps' hose and ran through the sprinkler (and "we" - I mean everyone but Mommy as there is no way I would go through that freezing cold water).



When Gramps finally arrived home, Matteo was more than happy to roll all over him wet.

The Happy Grandparents.

We then visited with cousins Andrew & Kimmy for a bit and then went to say goodbye to Jules' aunt and cousins and wound up staying there longer than expected as I simply could not take Matteo away from his cousins and all the running and laughing he was enjoying on Nanny & Poppi's 4+ acres of land. Don't worry we paid the price when on the way home the parkway was closed - OUCH. Yes, we did crawl in the door at 11:27 PM - and boy was my body aching from our whirlwind of a day.