Meamaw and Grandpa's Visit

After a series of canceled and delayed flights, Meamaw and Grandpa finally arrived at 3am.  Poor MiniM.E. was so excited to stay up and wait for them and go to the airport to pick them up... and then we told her they weren't coming until the next day so she would go to sleep... and they came while she was sleeping.  Fortunately she didn't seem too upset about not seeing them when they got here, but she asked to wake them up about thirty times between 6am and 10.

All was forgiven when she saw the presents they brought.  A doll for LittleL.G., books for both of them, and most exciting: matching outfits for MiniM.E. and Bitty Baby. 

I tried... this WAS the best photo of them dressed up.

 After some play time, a tricycle/balance bike walk and a nap we went to the beach:

LittleL.G. played in the sand

Meamaw and MiniM.E. made a castle

And we all went swimming.  After some burgers on the grill Daddy, Meamaw and Grandpa went to a concert and the girls all went to bed.

Breakfast at the Track and Congress Park

Yesterday did some unpacking and played in the yard.

Today we went to the track to see the horses warm up.  The past few years we have gone multiple times to see the horses because MiniM.E. really seemed to love it and we were always up early anyway, but this year we haven't been at all.  I guess it takes longer to get two kids out of the house in the morning and we've been busy!

testing out the onbuhimo carrier Gram made us!

We stood and watched the horses for a while, but MiniM.E. was less excited about the horses than in the past.  I guess we have seen our fair share of horses and since she was hungry and we met our friends, breakfast and climbing stairs with a buddy were more exciting than horses warming up.

LittleL.G. was so excited to see the horses running and was really into standing at the fence watching them until....

She decided she wanted to ride one.  We are doing baby sign language with her like we did with MiniM.E. and she has a few solid (though hard to distinguish at times) signs: read, all done, more, and swing/ride/go on/do that.  The last one is used for lots of things.  She basically swings her arm back and forth, which originally, I took as "swing".  However, it quickly became the sign for "ride", "go on that", "go there" and "do that" (usually what MiniM.E. is doing).  Occasionally she also uses it for "milk".  So after the horses went around a few times LittleL.G. started swinging her arm around.  When it became clear to her that I wasn't putting her on a horse, she started fussing and when I obviously wasn't getting the picture she went rigid and refused to be held/stood on the ground/sat down.  So I had to wrap her up again to keep her calm.

After the track we went downtown for coffee and to meet up with our friend, her daughter and her new baby.  And I got the cutest tree photos ever!

The Last NH Day for the Summer

washing the van

testing out a ride on around the neighborhood

trampolining

Liquid Planet

About half an hour away from my parents is a small water park with a big splash pad, a few slides and some other big kid activities like mini golf and a zip line.  It was going to be a beautiful day so we thought we'd try it out.  It was pretty awesome for little kids and I can't wait to go next year when LittleL.G. is a little braver.

The highlight for LittleL.G. was the water swings:

but MiniM.E. really liked them too:

They had cute little slides, and I was surprised MiniM.E. wasn't more excited about them

We started out at the splash pad and after a while tried to convince MiniM.E. to try the big waterslide.  The park only has four, and two were closed.  MiniM.E. is only tall enough that she could ride the big green one with an adult.  She was adamant that she DID NOT want to try it, but Gram and I knew she would love it... so we bribed her with some shaved ice.

Sure enough, she loved it and went down three more times!  The line was a bit long so it took 20 minutes or so to wait each time.  She probably would have kept going on it until the park closed, but she was getting tired and LittleL.G. needed a nap, so we packed up to go back home.  We will definitely have to go again next year!

After naps (the waterpark even tired out MiniM.E. and she slept on the way home!) we played outside.

Swimming, Jumping and the Beach

We spent the day yesterday relaxing at home, swimming, swinging and jumping on the trampoline.

Today we went to Massasecum Lake with our friends C & H.  It was a beautiful day but at this beach the sand was all in the shade and with a breeze it felt too cold to swim.  When the sun was out it was hot and the water was nice but as soon as a cloud blew by it felt ten degrees colder!

"I just want to cuddle with this towel!"

The girls both had a blast playing in the sand:

And we eventually made it into the water for a quick dip.

The Fish Museum!

This week we are in NH to enjoy one more week of relaxing and swimming.  Today was a rainy day so we drove down to Boston with Auntie Jen to visit one of MiniM.E.'s favorite places, the Aquarium.  We had a good time visiting, but I have NEVER seen the aquarium quite so busy.  It was hot and crowded and while we were originally a bit disappointed that we wouldn't have much time, we'd had it after an hour and a half or so.

unsure of the big fish tank

touching a starfish

and this is what she picked from the gift shop

Flowers, Picnic, Playground, Party & Playtime

MiniM.E. showing off how well she is taking care of her sunflower

A picnic at our friends' house

playing at the "school playground"
 

bouncing at a birthday party

read aloud time