The "Maine" Event

OK, every summer, on the last weekend in July, a large portion of Daddy's extended family gather on Little John Island. So on Friday morning, July 27th, we packed up our munchkin (read: Kaylee) and our goombas (read: Petra & Loofy) and headed north.
Since we got to the island around 11am, not many folks had arrived yet (well except those that are there a lot longer than that 1 weekend) so we decided to take a nice relaxing dip in the ocean. Brrrrrrr
Kaylee was great in the water as usual...she truly is becoming a waterbaby.
Unfortunately, Mommy's best picture all weekend, was not of Kaylee but rather of Loofy...
Check out our waterdoggie!
Back on dry land, its only natural that Loofy would want to relax and enjoy a cold one.
And here it looks like Petra might have enjoyed a few too many!
While waiting for more folks to arrive, Daddy and Kaylee enjoyed a pseudo-nap in the hammock.

As did Kaylee and Mommy...
Ahhhh here we go...more people! We wandered down to the Blair's house on the island and found G-Pa Ron.
And after some pizza at the Blair's we wandered back to the "house on the hill" aka Peter's house to find lots more people...but by that time Kaylee was getting pretty tired. She did however acquiesce to a picture with cousin Gail as Auntie Abbie looked on.
Since so many people gather on the island, we stayed at a hotel just off the island (well we could have pitched a tent...but Mommy has grown rather accustomed to a working toilet in the middle of the night. That, and Mommy enjoys nature during the day when she can SEE it...not so much at night when she can only hear it.

Anyway...the next morning, bright and early we head back to the island where cousins Sam and Julie vy for Kaylee's attention and feeding rights.
And after her morning bottle, Jim offers to take us on a boatride.

Kaylee enjoyed the vast openess of the ocean.
I can see the little sea-farer in training we have here...she's definately her father's child.
Here's Auntie Abbie and G-Pa in a silly moment on the boat.
Later that day, there was a talent show, and the whole clan gathered for the hilarity of it all.
Kaylee grew bored of those festivities so she wandered over the sandbox behind the audience.

She found several little cousins there...
Here's Graham...he's the same age as Kaylee. They shared a moment, and the sandbox toys.
And here's Dakota...look at the way Kaylee is looking at him. Shhhhh don't show this one to Daddy.
On Sunday, "Auntie" Danielle met us at our hotel to spend the morning with us on the island before we had to head home to NH. We all donned our bathing suits and headed over hoping to get another dip in the ocean.
And so we did!

Kaylee did some floating in her boat and some freestyle swimming and splashing.
She even managed to look all the way back to the beach where G-Pa Ron was taking the pictures.
Even Danielle managed to get into the chilly waters...eventually!
After a swim, it was back to the Blair's house for a sandwich before we made our round of goodbyes and hit the road.
Phew--what a trip. It was fun, but we were all glad to get home too. There are a lot more pictures...but that's all I have the patience to post.

Swimming in a Big People Pool, Thursday July 26th

Last Thursday we packed up after Kaylee's first nap and headed over to our Jackie and Emily's place. Why? Well because it was the third day in a row of 90 degree weather...and they have a pool at their apartment complex! This was Kaylee's first time in a big people pool, and she really liked it!
Jackie and I took turns watching the babies in the water while the other snapped as many pictures as possible in that amount of time.
We decided to try to get both Emily and Kaylee into Emily's little floatie boat. And yes, they are still small enough to fit...barely!
Here's Kaylee thinking, "hey I thought this was a one-baby boat."
"Oh well," she thought, "if I have to share I am glad its with my good friend Emily."
We also dunked our little munchkins. I asked Jackie to capture the moment for me. While Kaylee was startled at first, she didn't mind it so much...we did it 2 more times.
OK, I know today is Monday, and I am making a post for last Thursday...but we just got back from Maine last night, so as soon as I can somewhat organize the over 100 pictures from the weekend I will post more.

Fast Forward 16 years

So this weekend...Kaylee found a new favorite toy...
Daddy's wallet...something tells me, she's going to have a certain measure of control of said wallet...
for many years to come...
"Hmmm what do we have here? A Discover card?"
"Do they accept Discover at Baby Gap Daddy?"

"Perhaps I had better take some good ol' cash as well."
"OK lets see I have the Discover card and some cash...anything else of value in here?"
"Maybe I had better take the Visa too, just in case they don't take Discover."
"And your library card! And don't worry Daddy, I'll return all the books I take out in your name."
So, now Daddy needs a shot gun and a wallet guard. Poor Daddy!

Mondays with Kaylee

This Monday, July 16th dawned like any other.
Kaylee woke up, nursed, ate some fruit and cereal played for a short amount of time and took a nap.
After her nap, she got up, got dressed, had a snack and then sat down to do some light reading.
After biting and tearing the book for a while, Kaylee sits on the stories she has taken in, you know, to let them soak in a bit.
"So what adventures are we going to have today Mommy?" she asks.

"Well we have some guests arriving," I reply.

"Hmmmm," ponders Kaylee, "whomever can it be?"
Why it's Emily of course! Kaylee relayed some info on the good books she had read, and Emily decided she wanted to see them herself.

After a little while of playing with the puppies and goofing around with da Mommies...Kaylee and Emily donned their swimsuits and got ready for an outdoor adventure
Again, at first Kaylee wasn't so sure about the pool, espccially since this time Mommy was not in it with her...but as long as Mommy didn't stray further than arm's reach, she did fine.
She even clapped a bit when Mommy started taking lots of silly photos.
"Hey, what's up over on the other side of the pool?" thought Kaylee
Why its Emily making the most of her splashing abilities...and soaking her poor Mommy in the process.

While Kaylee contemplated man's existential dilema, Emily decided to find out what Kaylee tasted like.
Emily continued to want to dive in head first...making her mommy work overtime to keep her head above water. Kaylee also wanted to see what her toes looked like under the water a few times...they kept us on our toes, especially since at least part of our attention was on our cameras trying to preserve the moments for posterity.
A good time was had by all. This pool is getting to be old news for Kaylee, but Emily seemed excited as it was her first time...in this pool anyway.
In a more mellow moment, Kaylee demonstrates proper splashing technique to an amazingly still Emily.
Kaylee and Emily had a wonderful time playing, swimming, splashing whatever...2 closer baby friends you will not meet.

Ciao for now. (haha that rhymes and I am a dork)