The Cape 2010

We had our annual trip down to the Cape last weekend. Ted's family rents a nice house there for the same two weeks in July every year. We were down there with Ted's parents and his two sisters' and their families. I think we had 13 people staying in that house with 5 of them being children 6 years or under. It was a little crazy at times, but it was fun and of course, Eliot had a wonderful time with his cousins. He absolutely loved the beach. He asked to go back to the beach several times a day. He enjoyed digging in the sand with his "diggers" and shovels, but even more than that, he loved swimming in the ocean with Daddy.




When we weren't at the beach, we were just hanging around the house playing with bubbles, or coloring sand art with chalk, snacking, or listening to Auntie Carolyn read stories:


And of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some great photos of the kids in front of the beautiful blue hydrangeas:

It was a nice time with great weather. It's always nice to get away, even for just a few days. The change of pace is nice. We really enjoyed our family time together and there's no question that Eliot did too.

"Nat"

This summer I decided to try out a Mommy & Me Gymnastics class (or "nat" as Eliot calls it). He loves it! There are so many different structures and things to play on. He loves to somersault, go down the slide (go figure; we have one of those at both grandparents houses), play parachute, especially with "popcorn" (small, soft balls that pop off of the parachute and go everywhere. Eliot loves picking them up and putting them either back in the middle of the parachute or away in the bucket), he loves the scooters (he gets on his belly, holds onto a hoola-hoop and either I or one of the teachers will pull him around the gym, and he loves anything that looks (even a little) like a tunnel. I think gymnastics is one of his favorite times of the week for sure.

Last week, I asked if I could take a few photos (for the blog of course!) and the teacher was thrilled. She asked if she could have a few copies to put on her website. Normally, I don't work for free, but I was shooting anyhow and I figure lots of parents will see the website (with my watermarked photos) so it can't be a bad thing.

So come Fall, I'm pretty sure Eliot will be featured on the Flips & Giggles Gymnastics website. Here are a few photos that I shot. (I just want to mention that I don't love any of them, but they get the point across).

(Also want to mention that I blurred out Eliot's classmate for privacy purposes).

July 10th; My Birthday

For my birthday this year, my parents were kind enough to take Eliot overnight from the 9th into the 10th so that Ted and I could go on a nice date, come home, sleep through the night and late into the morning. Ahhhh... it was nice :)

We picked up Ted at my parents house just after lunch time and he hadn't napped yet so we took him home to nap. When he woke up, we had just had a few sunshowers outside which left behind some decent puddles. I was inspired to dress Eliot up a little and have a mini shoot of our own. Eliot was unsure about walking in the boots, but he really loved splashing in those puddles!


Oh, and Ted let Eliot pick out whichever card he wanted to buy me for my birthday. Ted insists that he showed Eliot all of the "Mother" cards, but he said no to each one. This is what he ended up picking for me (I will cherish it forever):

4th of July Festivties

One year later and here is my 60th post! I am so proud of myself for keeping up this blog as well as I have (though some months, I have been better at it than others). This is (just about) my one year blogging anniversary. Many more to come!

These photos are a little late because I have been so busy with my photography business that personal photos and edits have to take a backseat (usually). But today is my birthday and I want to do MY pics on MY birthday. That's fair right? (Although I do have a client waiting for theirs-- I'll be playing catch-up this week).

For the 4th, we went up to stay with my grandparents in New Hampshire. We went to the Laconia parade. The adults weren't too thrilled with the parade (a lot of political campaigning and not much else), but Eliot was beyond thrilled. He got to see fire engines, and people waving at him (and him waving back and saying "hi" (which actually sounds more like "ha"), and he even got a few lolipops thrown his way. What's not to love for a 21 month old little boy?

His mouth dropped wide open when he saw the line of fire trucks!
This one is actually one of my favorite photos; my Papa Dick :)

When we got back from the parade, we were hot and tired... and Eliot was sticky from all of his parade treats. I suggested we turn on the sprinkler and let Eliot run through it. It was freezing cold and it wasn't as slow and soft as the sprinkler we have at my parents house. Eliot was a little hesitant to go through it ( and it really didn't help that he was exhausted), but we had a little bit of fun. What he really loved, though, is when Nana came out with the watering can. The boy loves to water the flowers... and grass... and cement.

Canobie Lake & Sprinkler Fun

These photos were from last Thursday (7.1) and Friday (7.2). Ted's company started rotating hours effective 7.1 so I thought it would be a great idea to take advantage of his new (temporary) early hours and meet him after work with Eliot so that we could head over to Canobie Lake Park. We timed it just right so we got there just after 5:00pm (when the discounted tickets go on sale). We had such a fun time as a family, but we quickly make the decision that we probably wouldn't come back until Eliot was a little taller. Most of the rides were for 48"+ and some where 36", but Eliot is only about 33". It was sad when he realllyyy wanted to go on the fire engine rides, but couldn't, but he had a blast just going on the Merry-Go-Round. I also thought it would be a great idea to take him on the teacups (anybody who can sit up on their own can go on the teacups). I seemed to remember that ride from my earliest trip to Canobie. I think I remembered it wrong because MAN, was that scary! Haha. I'm finding that I can't handle things in my old age the way I used to be able to. I mean, the tea cups, seriously? They whipped around and spun like crazy. I was so dizzy afterwards that I had to wait a few minutes before I could even get OUT of the darn thing. And poor Eliot. He didn't cry, but he was scared. Ted and I tried to hold him close and keep him assured that he was fine and that this was "fun". Yeah right. He can't go on the mini fire engines that go 2 mph, but THIS they let him go on? Nuts!

He really enjoyed playing games, though. At the arcade, he had a blast driving the cars. Mostly, we just let him pretend. Once we did put the $.50 in and let him drive. I did the gas for him while he steered. He didn't do so well. I'm pretty sure he came in 40th out of 40. I'm sure I didn't help his cause any.



Perhaps his favorite thing at Canobie was the duck game. They have floating ducks (probably close to 100) that float down a 'river.' Each duck had a number written on the bottom that corresponded with a prize. He got to pick two. He loved it! He won some silly little trinkets (an airplane and a mini snake), but he just loved that game. He is still talking about the "quack" game.

One of our last adventures at Canobie was taking a ride in the antique cars. Eliot drove, with Ted next to him in the front, while I sat in the back. Thank goodness that the cars are on a track ;) But he really did have so much fun.

On our way out, Ted stopped with Eliot to show him the "starblaster" where they lift you up three stories high and drop you and repeat. And repeat. His face watching that ride was priceless!


Friday was much less eventful, but still resulted in some cute photos. Friday= laundry day at the folks house. It was beautiful out so we set up the sprinkler (that I got on $5 clearance at the end of the season last year) and just let Eliot play away.



(Bottom two pics were from just before the sprinkler adventures)