Rhode Island July 2010

Here is a slide show of our fabulous trip to RI this summer. Thanks to Uncle Dickie, Auntie April, Hannah, Andrew and Angela for welcoming us into their home and making the week so special for us. Besides all the fun at their house we were able to see all of our family in RI. For the record I'd like to name everyone who appears in the slide show with the exception of my sister Grace who I unfortunately didn't photograph but did get to see on the trip.

Gramma Grace, Uncles: Dickie, Dale, Marc, Greg, Jon, Tom, Charles, George, Aunties: April, Laurie, Tricia, Dina, Joi, Grace, Michele, Lisa (also not shown in slide show) Cousins: Hannah, Andrew, Angela, Colin, Richard, Max, Gavin, Victoria, Hailey, Sydney (the baby). I'm pregnant with baby Beene #2.

Christian and Grayson are also in the photos~these are cousins of Max's cousins.

Some of the other fun we had was going to Narragansett beach, sampling some of RI's finest cuisine~clam cakes, chowda, dells lemonade, lobster rolls, bakery pizza with no toppings and autocrat coffee milk.

We picked blueberries at a nearby farm and Max got to enjoy Uncle Dickie's backhoe's, loaders, bulldozers, etc. with his cousins.

Another huge event was the Waldeck's party who are dear friends of mine from college. They threw a party for a group of friends from our URI days so that we could all catch up and meet each others growing families. I'll have to do a separate posting for that but it was amazing. Wonderful food, a bouncy house for the kido's, swings, drinks, laughs, and great company.

We are so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends back in RI and we love them all very much!

I almost forgot to mention cousins Pixie (the dog) and Gerry (the cat). Max adored Gerry. I'm going to frame a picture of him and put it in his bedroom!

Denny Creek Camping

Here we are..... Max, Jonas, Jen, JP and me on our hike to Franklin Falls (Charles taking the picture). That was on July 4, temperature was somewhere in the 50's. Today July 8th we are in the low 90's.
Even though the weather was cold and rainy on this trip (speaking for myself) I had a great time. It was so much fun to spend time with good friends, sleep in our tent, cook on the fire, and get in a small hike. Max and Jonas hiked one slow mile to the falls! Thanks to the guys for carrying them back.
The weather was absolutely no problem for the three year old's who played out in the rain while the adults crammed under a tarp while it rained.
Max's favorite part~ S'mores of course!

20 WEEKS........ ME AND SHE!

Part One-Beach Haven

We recently went for a long weekend over to Orcas Island. We stayed at a very quiet relaxing cabin on the water. Paw-Paw and GJ came along for the fun! Here are some other recent pictures of Max's adventures..........

Random Thoughts

Most of the time I feel like I'm talking to a 3 1/2 year old but lately Max throws me zingers here and there that make me feel like I'm talking to an adult.

Today we were at REI looking at camping gear when Max spotted a tent he wanted me to crawl in with him. He crawled inside one of the sleeping bags and said "let's go to sleep in our tent mommy". I decided to pretend I was a raccoon that crawled into his sleeping bag and tickle him. After some explosive laughter Max said "stop mommy, let's just just enjoy being in the tent".


Purple Starfish!


Sandcastle time





Dahl Park~ One of our favorite places to hang


Hug on the ferry


Max's friend Anjali at Dahl park....so cute!


Ape hangers


Max's boat ride in the tub

Max rides a bike, climbs a tree

Thanks to a couple months with his balance bike, Max skipped the training wheel stage entirely and went straight into two-wheeled locomotion. If there ever was a sign that our toddler is now a little boy, here it is:




Another sign he's making a real transition: We were riding around the park the other day. Max stops and says, "Let's go into the forest", pointing to the trees lining the path. Before I could even get over to him, he was climbing up this tree like a jaguar. He had never done that before, except one time last summer with his cousins, with me mostly lifting him into the tree. Here, he just shot up the thing by himself and before I knew it, he was 6 feet off the ground. A little scary, but the old dad was proud.

And here's a couple pics from our super fun trip to the Pacific Science Center ... alas, only had the lame camera phone:

Emily from ELDC Turns 4!

More of Emily's Party

Max and His Balloon

Easter Fun!

A few random items

Haven't posted in awhile, so here's a couple pics of Max's cool red overalls and his first lollipop, and a clip of Max singing "Buenos Dias"