the beach

Hello! We have returned from a wonderful, restful couple of days at the beach. It was just great. A friend of ours (a classmate of James who we've chosen to be Charlie's godfather) invited us to spend a couple of days with him and his parents at their beach house in Ocean City, NJ. They were very generous-- making all of our meals, playing with Lucy as she tried to demolish their nice beach house decor, and just in general letting us stay with them. On Thursday afternoon I asked Lucy if she wanted to go to the beach (to get her used to the idea. She knows what it is from a Curious George book). She immediately put her shoes on and went to the door, "Ready to go to the beach!" The rest of the day, she whined about being ready to go to the BEACH in ever more desperate tones. We drove up with Mike that night and got in late. We had two very mild days-- not a ton of wind, sunny but not hot. We were hoping Lucy would have gotten over her fear of the ocean from last summer's trip to the beach, but alas, the fear remains. Luckily, playing in the sand is so much fun that it hardly mattered.

Clinging to Daddy

Testing the waters.

James and our friend Mike talking philosophy and theology while on their way to a swim

We stay back and played in the sand.

The following pictures are of Lucy dancing and throwing sand. She would take big handfuls, toss it in the air and giggle, "Kinda rainy!" Later on, this activity had to come to an end, as it got pretty windy and even poor Charlie got sand in his face.

After lunch and a nap, we returned for more beach time. A strong wind was blowing in some impressive looking clouds, but we never got rain.

This is how Charlie spent more of the time at the beach. I think he really liked the ocean air though. He seemed to sleep more soundly while we were there.

Lucy fleeing a family picture.

Day two. More playing in the sand. We've noticed that if we spend a couple of hours with someone who even mildly plays with Lucy, she will instantly accept them into the inner circle of the family. Mike is quite good about playing with Lucy, so he is a fan favorite. She calls him "Market." We're not really sure why. She is able to say Mike, and market is not a word we use often? Ah well, it was really cute.

Before we left, I made sure to dip Charlie's toes in the water, so that he can officially say he's been in the ocean. He did not like it (it was pretty chilly).

Adoring godfather. Mike graciously (and courageously) stayed with the kids while James and I went swimming together a few times.

Stretching.

Snoozin'.

Saturday afternoon we began the journey home. We stopped for lunch in Philadelphia, which is where Mike is from. It's a very beautiful city, and reminds me a bit of St. Louis. After we made it home, Mike stayed for dinner. You know you've got a good friend when they've spent the last 48 hours with you and you've just chatted for an 3-4 hour car ride, and they still want to stay for dinner (and you want them to as well!). Now we're home and ready for a restful Sunday before another busy week begins.

Oh, just another quick piece of news: as I mentioned in the last post, Charlie had a doctor's appt on Thursday before we left. He is now 8lbs 9oz! I know this still seems quite small at two months, as some babies are larger than that when first born. However, for us that means he has gained 2lbs in the last 4 weeks, which is quite good. It also means he can finally fit into our cloth diapers!

Just a quick one

I just had to share... look at this giant zucchini!! We went to our garden last night to discover two humongous radioactive zucchini. We also saw our first green beans, the corn is tasseling, and everything else is getting larger and larger. I LOVE GARDENING!

In other news, we are going on a surprise vacation today. Charlie's godfather called us earlier this week and invited us to his parents' beach house in New Jersey. YES! This happens every year. We always think, "Well, we probably just can't swing a vacation this year," and then some wonderful friend invites us to a wonderful non-stressful weekend (I'm talking about you Abbie Mortimer and Amanda Behnke!). And we are so grateful. Anyway, we are headed up there tonight!

But first, we have to go get Charlie some vaccinations : (

I'll leave you with some snuggling pictures:

Some actual pictures of Lucy

But first, some other things. Here is Charlie fussing on the 4th of July. Perhaps he did not care for the stars and stripes forever outfit? We don't usually buy holiday themed clothes, but there are always some fun ones in the hand-me-downs! We had a nice day. Lucy, Charlie and I tried to go to our neighborhood's "parade" but found out that by parade they meant all of the kids in the neighborhood riding down the street on their bikes, followed by all the parents and small children of the neighborhood pushing/riding in strollers, which made me wonder who is supposed to be watching this parade? No matter, Lucy still loved it. In fact, she got extremely excited due to 1. large amounts of children 2. dogs, and 3. Ya'll Ready for This which someone was blasting from a boom box in their front yard. The excitement unfortunately led to injury as Lucy ran down a hill on the street and took a nose dive. Her very long un-cut bangs saved her from a nastier head wound. Later in the day, we went to a BBQ with friends, and they let Lucy pick the two strawberries off of their strawberry plant so that probably made up for it.

In other news, we recently acquired something exciting:

bum...

...bum... (just ignore the ridiculous mess in our room. We're spring cleaning, I swear.)

...bum...

BUM BUM!

I bought an old-fashioned sewing machine with the intent to learn how to sew. Be fully prepared to laugh at me in several weeks when I admit defeat, but for now, I have lots of beginner's motivation. In any case, it was a steal off of craigslist.

More Charlie. Yes, he crosses his eyes all the time, especially when I whip out the camera. I'm told it's nothing to be concerned about.

And here she is! In a picture! And she's looking at me and smiling!

Though, she's getting to look a little like Justin Beiber. I think I'm too old to know who that is, but those magazine covers at the grocery store check-out keep me sufficiently in touch. Anyway, she will not let me put anything in her hair, so this is the look that we're rockin' at the moment.

Sunglasses, and an alternative way to try them on:

Love for Charlie. He looks terrified and rightly so. The only near mishap we had happened the other day. Lucy likes to play "Hop on Top of Pop" with James, which is exactly what it sounds like. Charlie was laying on the floor the other day, and I hear Lucy say to herself, "Hop on top of Charlie?" I turned around and she was standing next to him bending her legs. So, we had a talk about who we can and can't jump on. Other than that, the sweetness continues. She talks to him, shares her toys, asks him questions (mostly, "Are you alright Charlie? Yeah?).

Last night after dinner (you can still see the spaghetti sauce stains on her cheeks), Lucy decided to take a ride on her dog pull-toy. Later she did it completely naked (after trying to sit on the potty, but before underwear or a diaper had made it back on).

Lucy loves Mary. What you're looking at is a candle with Mary on it, which Lucy found and set lovingly on the couch. She then knelt down and said numerous and very serious Hail Mary's. Her concentration broke when I got out the camera.

That's all the news here!