Last Weeks of Summer: NH

I can't believe it's September tomorrow.  Seriously?  Where did the summer go??

Before the fall set in, we wanted to make one more summer trip to NH.

We definitely made the most of it and I feel like I can start looking forward to fall things in New England- apple picking, foliage, maybe a hike up Mt. Kearsarge?

We spent lots of time in the pool:

hanging out with H!

kick, kick, kick!

1, 2, 3, jump!

MiniM.E. spent a lot of time searching for bugs.  

And we just relaxed.

Trying out some new winter PJs.

by the fire 

Bob came to meet us for a long weekend, and we took a couple day trips.  We went to Maine and saw the ocean (though MiniM.E. was terrified after the first few waves and wouldn't go in).  Since our beach trip was so short, we also went to the Zoo at York's Wild Kingdom since MiniM.E. loved it so much last time.

We also took a day trip to Boston, just the three of us, to go back to the Children's Museum, which MiniM.E. has been talking about since our last visit.

loving the turtles

lunch break! 

It was a great week in NH and we've been enjoying our last week of summer here in Saratoga.

Home Videos!

I try really hard to document MiniM.E. growing up in photos.  I take a lot.  Sometimes more than I need to, and sometimes I kick myself for missing adorable or funny moments.  I do not try really hard to take videos.  In fact, I kind of forgot that my camera CAN take videos.  Until a couple days ago.  Maybe I will take more.  I hardly ever get out the video camera, but there are some things that, as a parent, I can't not record.

MiniM.E. started singing a couple weeks ago.  It started with her belting out Ring Around the Rosy flawlessly out of nowhere.  She tends to get a little excited...

And then while we were swimming in the (cooled off) hot tub, she realized she could do this:

A Week & A Half Later...

I have a newfound appreciation for all parents who have ever potty-trained a child.  As if I wasn't exhausted before.  Carrying around at least two types of potty seats, one potty in the car, at least three pairs of tiny underwear, a change of clothes, and more wipes than I had in my bag when MiniM.E. was an infant have tested the limits of the bags I have and the arms to carry them.  We've added in at least another (if not two or three) load(s) of laundry per day.  AND there's the occasional clean up.  Not to mention the mental strain of constantly examining my child's facial expressions and body language to determine whether or not she might be gearing up for something I have to remind her to get to the potty for.

love that she picked Thomas the Train underwear

But honestly, it is STILL 1,000 times better than diapers.  I am more than thrilled and excited and I'm extremely proud.  We've come so far from the first couple days ("Hey! I just peed on the carpet!!") to days with just a couple "oops, we were a couple seconds too late...".  I must admit, the first few days I thought we might never be able to venture out of the house again in fear of having an accident in a public place.  But like all other parent-related tasks that seem daunting at first, after the first time we had a huge accident while we were out and I realized, "hey, that wasn't SO bad..." we went back to our normal routine.

MiniM.E. is doing great, I'm adjusting fairly well, and overall, everyone is much happier than we were two weeks ago when a diaper change resulted in a full-on high-speed chase around the house, four or five failed attempts to get the diaper off, one screaming child needing to be cleaned up, and a repeat of steps one and two to get a clean diaper ON.

And with that, here's what we've been up to now that we're back to enjoying the last weeks of summer.

Playgrounds & Our Yard:

Look at her swing!

The Peerless Pool

Quality Cat Time:

Breakfast at the Track:

Followed by A Morning at Congress Park:

Dancing at a Concert in The Park:

Lake Moreau:

The Sandbox:

An Evening at Polo:

what a cute divot stomper!

And we're off... to a last summer week in New Hampshire.  The plan?  Swimming, swimming, swimming, ice cream, the ocean and a boat on Lake Winnipesaukee. Hope you're all enjoying the last weeks of August.

Guess What We've Been Up To?

Throwing rocks in the stream

Saying "Hi" to our favorite puppy

Playing in the sandbox

Taking a bath with shaving cream 

Painting the yard with chalk paint

Swimming

 

And biking.

Notice something about all these photos?  Somebody isn't wearing diapers... We have all new big-kid underwear!

THE cutest baby bum

We aren't out of the woods yet, but she's got it down.  Congratulations MiniM.E.!

Welcome August!

Ah... What a nice breather!  So far, I love August and have made a mental note not to schedule so much stuff next summer!  What was I thinking?  I just want to play outside and have cook-outs and picnics and fires in the firepit!!

Last weekend in August we started our lazy August with a BBQ at an expecting friend's house.  MiniM.E. was the entertainment, and apparently a side dish:

Bob's brother visited us Sunday and Monday:

We spent some time at Congress Park after watching the horses warm up at the track on Sunday:

And we had a fantastic play date at West Side Rec on Monday.  We were there the whole morning and were almost the only ones at the park, so our girls had plenty of space to play!

Bring it on, Lazy Weeks of Summer.  We're ready!