Come and knock on our door

My cousin Bridget and her family decided to pay a visit to the Northeast
from their home in South Carolina.

They were seeing all the sights in NYC and Washington, DC
while stopping in to visit my parents, my sister and her family and the Hamiltons, too.
Tiffany is just four months older than Lexi,
and they got along like peas and carrots ;)

The terribly humid day combined with torrential rains put a damper
on the plans I had in mind,
but a great time was had nonetheless.

We don't get to see each other often through the years,
and each time we do, I'm left wishing the distance between us was much less.
Great to see you Bridget, Rob, Austin and Tiffany!

Keeping Cool and Catching Fireflies

Our days look a lot like this lately:

We spend our time keeping cool and having fun with friends in the process.
Lexi loves being in the pool
and could literally spend all day jumping, splashing and going off the diving board.
Asking her to swim underwater, however, remains a work in progress.
Ryleigh more than holds her own.
Cold pool water doesn't bother her,
the feeling of sand doesn't bother her,
and she's even happy to join us swimming in the Sound.
My guess is that Ry is just happy to be included,
and she's not gonna waste any precious time whimpering
about all the new sights, sounds and experiences.
At this same age, Lexi moaned and groaned during our beach vacation.
She was really uncomfortable in the Nantucket's cold water,
was very unsure about the feeling of wet sand on her feet,
and was just generally more hesitant.
Little sister is already trying to outshine her, I suppose.

I'm certain that we take for granted living along the Long Island Sound.
While it's not the nicest of beaches in the grand scheme of things,
it sure is convenient to have several to choose from right here in town.
One of our new favorite activities is to meet up with friends in the late afternoon,
let the kiddos play, have some pizza delivered for them,
bring some wine for the moms, and enjoy the fresh air until bedtime beckons.

We've talked about joining our friends at their parents' house
for a pool day the past few summers.
This time, with our move looming on the horizon, we made it happen.
We tested out the brand new water slide, taught the kids marco polo (to varying degrees of success),
had jump offs, water gun fights and shared lots of laughs.
Adrienne said "it's all about making memories", and she's right!

And to prove to Lexi that we are pretty cool parents once in a while,
we went into her room a few weeks back around 9 pm.
She was still awake, and she thought she was about to get in trouble.
She hid under her blankets, until we told her to follow us outside,
that we had a surprise to show her.
And that's how we introduced her to fireflies and taught her how to catch them.

She thought it was just about the coolest thing ever.
They were literally lighting up the yard,
and she raced all around, giggling, pointing out which ones we should catch next.
When it was finally time for bed, we let all our friends go
and promised our not-so-little girl we could do it again soon.
Seeing the excitement on her face,
watching how this seemingly simple adventure made her so happy,
creating another memory with her,
now that is surely worth the bug bites Vic and I suffered!

The Great White Way

One of the things I will miss most when we move
is being so close to Manhattan.
As a child, we went in every winter to see "The Nutcracker" at Lincoln Center.
We visited the tree at Rockefeller Center,
and we saw the play "Cats" more times than I can count.
I can still remember that thrill of excitement when we came through the Lincoln Tunnel.
Sleepy New Jersey was behind us, and the exciting city was at our fingertips.
Years later, Vic and I moved to NYC together, and I spent several years working in midtown.
Being part of that energy, that hustle and bustle, finding your way in the city that never sleeps...
it's something everyone should experience during their lifetime - at least in my humble opinion.
And so, it was really important to me that Alexis have a memory from New York City -
while it is still just a train ride away.
For Mother's Day, we surprised my mom with tickets to Mary Poppins.
She loves going to plays and has been doing so all her life.
She instilled in me an appreciation for dance, the arts and the theater.
And so, I wanted her to be part of the memory Lexi had from her very first trip
to The Great White Way.
Anyone who has hung around Lexi recently knows she is "slightly" obsessed
with The Mary Poppins movie.
We sing "Supercalifragilistic" every.single.day.
She begs Vic and I to join her in the step in time dance before bedtime each night.
So it was the perfect play for the three of us girls to go to.
First up was our ride in on the Metro North.
Lexi spent much of the hour-long train ride doing this

She didn't seem alarmed in the least by all the noise and commotion that greeted us upon arriving.

In fact, she seemed to soak up the energy. 

We had a lovely brunch at Bryant Park Grill 

Lexi got to enjoy the carousel with Nanny by her side

And then it was time for the real action

Imagine her excitement when it was time for this act

followed by this one

Our little girl discovered the magic of Broadway that day, 

with her mother and her grandmother by her side!

And what a fitting exclamation point to a pretty "super" day

This was the view out our train window for much of the ride home :)

7 Months

Ryleigh-

At 7 months you are:
-sitting, still a tiny bit shakily, but sitting all the same
-rolling, scooting and trying hard to crawl
-several times a day, we play the "Where's Ryleigh" game, as you roll all around, scoot backwards and often end up stuck under a chair, the couch or the ottoman
-you push up onto all fours and grunt and groan but can't kick it into drive just yet

-your cheeks are taking on a life of their own, and we find them nothing short of deliciously squeezable

-you love to eat your solids. you are not picky and shake your hands and laugh with each spoonful
-you remain a sweet, happy, downright jolly little girl. you love to laugh at your big sister
-you think it's hilarious when she jumps, dances or does tricks for you
-you are becoming quite a squealer as you are finding your voice

-you love to be in the standing position. 

-you do a little jig when we hold you up so you can stand on those legs

-you are becoming a big fan of your jumper

-you have really started to reach for and manipulate toys. you grab them, bang them, spin them, and even try eat them, too

-you are becoming curious and a bit mischievous. See the picture below where you have swooped in and ruined our "7"

You are just a delight. So far, you are the kind of baby who makes everyone want another baby - including your mom :)
P.S. Thank you for the adorable dresses Sauer and Varley families!

Down the Shore

Anyone who's spent some time in the tri-state area
is familiar with this expression.
The shore sometimes gets a bad wrap (especially since MTV stepped in),
but there are so many beautiful, quaint areas also.
And that's just where the girls and I went earlier this week,
while Uncle Carl and Matt were in Spain for some soccer tournaments.
We spent our day at the pool,

watched Cece's sailing lesson,
had dinner on the boardwalk,

visited the arcade,
took our annual dunes picture
(minus Ryleigh who feel asleep in the arcade!)

played on the beach,
collected shells,
and enjoyed our time with Aunt Wendy, Cece and their dog Ozzie.

Thanks for hosting us!
We always have a great time in Manasquan.

Fireworks

Since it may very well be our last summer here,
we decided we had to get to the 4th of July fireworks.
Dallas certainly won't offer the chance to watch them from the beach,
and we wanted to have that memory, for us and for Lexi.
We got a sitter for Ryleigh and met up with two other families in Westport.
There was a great spread - for the kiddos and their parents :)

Lexi, Tyler, Shane and Quinn had a ball playing in the sand,
munching on American Flag cookies, staying up way past their bedtime,

and then enjoying a front row seat for some pretty rockin' fireworks.
It was a fantastic night spent on the Sound.

 Melissa & Doug sponsored the event (they live in Westport)

and made sure everyone realized it - check out the barge ;)