Buy One Get Two Free!: Beachin' It!

Where is summer?!? Some days it is here and others it feels like early spring. This summer's weather has been a downer for sure. The pool at Grammie's is struggling to stay in the 80s, so we aren't doing as much swimming as last summer. Boo. But we have been spending lots of days outside playing in the yard since low 70s temps are perfect for that!

I'm a month behind in the blog post, because we've been out and about doing lots of activities. July 4th we went to Peter's Pond to hang with our cousins Dianne and Timmy for the day. We rode bikes, swam, played in the sand, and hit the playground. We headed home after dinner, and went to Auntie Anne's house to play with our cousins and watch the fireworks. This is the first year I kept them up, they liked them for 5 minutes and then lost interest. But they loved the glow sticks!

riding bikes at the campground

Play hard. Sleep harder.

their first 4th! at 9 months

21 months

2 years old

and this year as 3 year olds at Auntie Anne's getting ready for fireworks

someone in the neighborhood was lighting off some loud booms!

with our cousins

watching fireworks on the beach

We've done a lot of friend visiting this month. Our friend Alan came over to visit, it was great seeing him with the kids. They loved him! Sat in his lap and read books, played ball with him, told him stories. So happy he finally got to meet them! We went to Derrick and Deb's house and played with Emma and Ethan and Parker and swam in the pool. We had our annual summer visit with the Rego's and had a great time catching up and playing in the yard.

Hanging out with Al

relaxing poolside at Derrick and Deb's

I told him to get cozy

Emma and Ethan with the trio

Summer selfies

They loved playing in the yard with them

Sam was exhausted

eating carrots and hummus

Chilling on the blanket with Jared

We went to Diggerland in New Jersey and spent the day riding on all the machines and playing in the park. It was a great time. Elsie wanted to go on this big rope climbing adventure, and was so disappointed when she didn't meet the height requirement. She did enjoy the tall slides and playgound at the park, and rode her first ride without Mommy and Daddy. We stayed in a hotel (which the kids love), and then traveled up to New York to Matteo's first birthday party before heading back to MA. It was awesome to have an afternoon with our family!

Yay! Diggerland

Elsie already has her hands up. My daredevil.

He buckled himself in

digging it with Daddy

waiting her turn

The park is open 10-7, but is all sun and super hot. So about 1:30 we jumped in the car and let the kids cool off and nap while Mommy & Daddy went to Starbucks to recharge. Win win for everyone!

A nice playground there

my babies went on their first ride all by themselves

it was so sweet, they held hands

this kid loves machines

ice cream break

this is the rope park Elsie asked to go on all day. She was crushed when she missed the height requirement.

crashed out in the hotel

butterfly balloon

showing it off to Luca

Elephant

monkey in a banana tree

Happy birthday Matteo!

We hit the beach with Grammie, Tracey and her clan, and Amy and her crew, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute in the sand and the waves. Danny had a dance party at the beach, Sammy laid in the sand, and Elsie built sand castles. We all played with our friends, and enjoyed eating snacks and soaking in some sun.

Grammie and her girl

love!

this boy cannot love sand more

mom, wrap me up

snack time

3 generations

my beach boy

love Sammy and the photo bomb

not a bad view

sam hiding under his towel. buddy, most people lay on the towel out of the sand

group shot!

our crew

smiles all around!

Weekends are filled with parties. We celebrated our Aunt Joan's 80th birthday on Saturday, and then Jenni's baby shower on the Sunday. Elsie got to come with Mommy to the baby shower, and she thought that was the coolest ever to go with no boys. I'll admit there is rarely an occasion when I don't have all 3. It was great to spend some time with her one on one.

Look Mom a tractor

I love when they play nice together

cousins

photo op with Daddy

Hard to get everyone looking all at once

family shot

Jenni's gift

girl time

We brought out the power wheels and they are a huge hit. We got a jeep for Christmas, and we bought a quad and a tractor to add to the crew this summer. The kids love driving around the yard chasing each other.

power wheel parking

my jeep girl

traffic jam

hooking up his cart

Went to Capron Zoo in Attleboro with Tracey and the kids, got to see some different animals than our regular zoo. There were kangaroos, lions, monkeys, meerkats, and a leopard to name a few. We played at the playground for a bit and then got a yummy lunch before heading home.

I guess they are surprised meerkats

lots of group shots

I can't love this picture enough, I want to take one every year

this was from last september at Buttonwood Zoo

that's one full van!

Here are some of the new phrases around the house. Danny says 'the mans' when referring to a man he doesn't know. So in the grocery store 'Mom, what's that mans doing?' or 'That mans is buying milk'. Or at the park 'Why is that mans pushing that girl on the swing?' Or driving in the car 'I see a mans walking his dog' or 'look that mans is in a skid steer!' Every time he walks by a man he says 'Hi Mans!' and most of them laugh and say Hi back. If he knows the person but doesn't know their name, then he uses the phrase 'our friends'. So after Alan left, he said 'where is our friends going?' or when we went to the beach and Tracey's friend Janet was there, Danny asked 'why our friends not going in the water', and whenever we leave the house to go somewhere he asks 'what are our friends names we are going to see?' It's pretty darn cute.

Danny's other phrase is 'some-ting'. Danny what are you doing? 'I'm doing some-ting Mommy'. If I'm waiting for him to go he'll say 'I just have to do a little bit some-ting first' and run back to drink his water or grab a toy to bring with us. And if he is trying to hide bad behavior he'll say 'I'm not doing some-ting Mommy'. Last week he went in the kitchen and didn't come out, I asked what he was doing and got 'I'm just doing some-ting' I said what? He replied 'I'm being sneaky' OK Dan, thanks for giving it away. He was using a pen on the notepad. But he knows he is supposed to ask for a pen.

At some point or another, the kids asked me what the name of the big M sign (McDonalds). Now whenever we drive by one, the kids all yell 'Look Mom is Old McDonalds!' and break out in song singing Old McDonald has a farm...E-I-E-I-O! I can't bear telling them they've got it confused. I just can't it is so cute.

Singing is in full effect. The love the Daniel Tiger potty song 'If you have to go potty, stop and go right away, then flush and wash and be on your way!' Every time they hit the potty they are singing it. Elsie is now asking 'who bought this for me?' about everything. I don't know where this is coming from, but she asks for absolutely every item, like her toothbrush, her bike, her clothes, her hair elastics, the list is endless. And Sammy is all about the snuggles. He is always asking 'will you nuggle me?' or he'll come over to you and lift his arms up and say 'will you nuggle me up?' Every time he says it I melt and dread the day he stops saying it. I soak in his snuggles, and he leans in and says 'I lub you Mommy'. I lub you too, buddy.

Here are the rest of the pics from this month.