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)

Summer is Here!

It's been a while (again) since I've updated. I've been so busy with work which is GREAT, but it's sad when photos of Eliot fall behind in editing or when they're not taken at all because I am so busy with clients. I have to work on finding a better balance.

Eliot seems to grow every day. I often look at him while he's sleeping and wonder where my baby went and how did he EVER get so big? Ted and I also often talk about how blessed we are. He is just the sweetest boy. He loves being a 'helper.' He helps me clean up his toys, he helps me get all the laundry together on laundry days at Manya & Papa's house (yes, my mother is now "Manya"), he helps me bake & cook; he helps with everything, although sometimes 'help' isn't really the right word, but he tries, bless his heart. He is just a really sweet child and I wonder what I ever did to deserve him. Granted, two is right around the corner, so posts this fall may have a different tone; we'll see.

Here are some new photos from June. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

(Another) Trip to The Zoo!

These aren't my best photos by far, but I like them because they tell a story. It's funny to me that out of all the animals at the zoo, Eliot looks most forward to seeing the snakes; although, lately, the bears have been giving the snakes a run for their money. Here's Eliot at his favorite exhibit:

A Memorial Day Weekend Visit to Nana's

We had such a nice Memorial Day weekend (with great weather too!). We went up to New Hampshire to stay with my grandparents for Saturday into Sunday. Eliot, of course, had a blast. Nana bought special toys for Eliot to play with when he visits and it's funny to see how his tastes change as he gets a little older. Last time we went up, all he wanted to do was play with the broom and sweep and this time, he only wanted the guitar (that of course made lots of noise and played the same songs over and over)!

We visited the outlet stores on Saturday and hit up some mega Memorial Day Weekend Sales! We got GREAT deals at The Children's Place & Carters! Ted was even able to get two pairs of shoes; he has been so patient waiting too, I think he's wanted them since September. I love shopping, but what I love even more is a bargain! And we got plenty of bargains!

Nana has been talking about taking Eliot to see the "dancing bears" for maybe a year now. They took my sister and I when we were younger to Clark's Trading Post; a place where they raise and train bears to perform. There's also a train and lots of other things to see and do. Eliot was very excited to see the train, and even more excited to get on it! However, once the whistle blew (loudly) he got a little scared. There is also a 'wolfman' that taunts the passengers on the train; he wasn't too comfortable with that either, however I think he has only good memories of the "chooch" because when I show him photos from that day, even if it is of the bears, he says "CHOOCH!" He loves trains!


When we weren't busy with exciting things, we hung out around the house and had some delicious food! Eliot wanted to watch Papa Dick do some grilling so I took him outside to see; that's when he found Nana's garden ducks. He loved playing with Nana's garden ducks!

And this is Eliot needing to be cleaned up in Nana's laundry sink after painting himself with pudding:


These are actually from the Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend. Eliot thought it would be fun to put his cookie in his digger and eat out of it:


I just also want to note that this Memorial Day meant just a little bit more to me than Memorial Days in the past. I had just (weeks before) photographed a Memorial Celebration for a fallen hero; an American soldier who lost his life in Iraq while fighting for our Country. I want to say a GIANT THANK YOU to the Men and Women who have sacrificed their lives to fight for our country and keep us free, although, a simple 'thank you' could never be enough.

Just a Few of Eliot

I've been so busy with client photos lately that I had a card full of Eliot photos that were just waiting to be uploaded and edited! I'm pretty happy with this bunch. His little friend, AJ, who lives downstairs from us, introduced Eliot to his first squirt gun. He had SO much fun with that thing. (Side note: I'm not huge on guns and probably won't allow him to own any (mayyybe a squirt gun, but we'll see)). AJ squirted Eliot and Eliot squirted AJ, but mostly, Eliot just squirted himself. If you click on the photos and look at them close up, you can see in most of the pictures, Eliot has water dripping from his face. He thought it was so funny though.



I can't believe how much Eliot has grown. This past year just flew by. He says probably over 100 words now. He is still obsessed with diggers (and "dums" which is Eliot-speak for Dump Trucks, or Garbage Trucks). In fact, his new favorite game is to empty the trash into his dump trucks and drive them around the house. I find trash EVERYWHERE these days. But he's adorable and he's such a love. He snuggles with me all the time. I will be heart broken when he grows out of this phase!



Oh, and the cozy coupe! My life long BFF's mother is a nanny. Her yard is FILLED with fun and exciting toys. The last time that we were there, Eliot refused to leave the cozy coupe. I posted an ad on Craigslist looking for one in our area and a very nice gentlemen sold us his grandchildren's old coupe for just $10! AND... today I found the matching gas tank on Craigslist for $5 so I had Ted go pick it up on his lunch break since it was very close to where he works! Score! I don't have any photos of the gas pump yet, but man, I love Craigslist!

I Just LOVE The Month Of May!

Beautiful temperatures and weather, long days getting longer, and the whole summer to look forward to. We had a gorgeous (albeit a little hot) May day yesterday. It was my grandmother's birthday party. Eliot loves birthday parties-- especially if the birthday girl (or boy) is willing to let him 'help' open the presents! Yesterday's fascination, however, more than the gifts, was the watering can :)
... and a frisbee.