Making Memories

Today we had a great reason to leave the beach early: Grandpop's 86th birthday party at Mom-Mom and Poppy's house.


He had a lot of candles to blow out on his cake -- not quite the whole 86, though! -- so fortunately all five of his great-grandchildren were happy to help.



We always enjoy seeing our girls playing with their cousins, and we know Grandmom and Grandpop do too. It really is remarkable to think that our girls will know and remember their great-grandparents, and we're happy that we have days like today to bring everyone together.






Not that the kids were even thinking about making memories; they were just happy to play in the pool (Emily even swam by herself for 10 seconds!), blow some bubbles, have a noodle parade, and pretend to be elephants. We really do need to get everyone together more often!

An Ocean Lake

As a little kid, I always loved playing in the gullies that often form on the beach, and today there was a great one that Emily kept referring to as "the lake." Just like the wading pool at our resort in Coeur d'Alene, it was just right for our two little girls. Well, Kate did have trouble staying on her feet at first, but even when she got water in her face, she got right back up with a big smile. And when she and Emily played together, both had smiles from ear to ear!

Hometown Zoo

I've been wanting to take the girls to the Philadelphia Zoo for a while now. I mean, it's a little strange that we've been to zoos in three other states but have yet to take them to the great one that's practically in our backyard. Well, lucky for them, Mimi and Aunt Jill stepped up and brought the girls along with Patrick and Madelynn for their first visit today. It's hard to get all the details from a three-year-old (not to even mention a barely talking 16-month old), but the pictures sure make it seem like they had a fun time!











Maybe one of these days I'll get around to bringing them myself!

A Double Dose of Crafts

All the time we spend outside during the summer tends to cut into our craft time, but we have two reasons for a craft today: Grandpop's 86th birthday and Uncle Steve's recent surgery. We're having a birthday celebration for Grandpop this weekend, and it will be the first time the girls and I have seen Uncle Steve, so we spent the afternoon making cards to brighten their days.

For Grandpop, we made a card with six balloons because, well, 86 would have just been too many for a little card!






For Uncle Steve, to cheer him up and wish him a speedy recovery, we made him a sun.




As if we haven't had a ton of sunshine already this summer!

Not Again!

Although it rained down the shore yesterday, at home it held off until this evening. Just like at the shore, when it rained, it poured. So much so that it overflowed the creek and flooded our yard in what seemed like minutes. Poor Emily was worried that it would reach the house, or worse, make her crab sandbox float away!




But even faster than it rose up, as soon as the rain stopped, it receded without ever reaching our big ol' crab. Whew!

Swimming in the Streets

The fun part of so much rain, at least down the shore, is that it often ends in flooded streets. So when the skies finally cleared, we changed the girls into their bathing suits and joined some other neighbor kids splashing around on the sidewalk and street.





Too bad the drain worked so quickly after the rain stopped, or else we would have stayed out there longer, but it was fun while it lasted!

Playhouse Revisit

Go figure, by the time I got Kate down for her nap, got Emily ready with sunscreen and a swimsuit, and managed to get us both into our giant raft without tipping over into the bay, within 15 minutes we heard faint thunder. When we saw a streak of lightning, well, let's just say we got out of the bay a lot faster than we got in!

It took a little longer for the rain to start, but once it did, it pounded -- forceful enough that it woke Kate from her nap. So, with the two girls awake and looking for entertainment, I remembered the playhouse that Uncle Richie had made last summer and Mimi and Pop-Pop had thankfully agreed to save. (Who am I kidding? Mimi saves everything!)



Emmy remembered using the lamp in the house last summer, and now with a seat for each girl and a new dress-up dress from Aunt Suzy, well, they were all set for some rainy day fun!

Evening Cruise

We managed to have an early dinner tonight and as a treat for Emily eating such a good dinner (instead of the sweets she's been demanding recently), we decided to go for an evening boat ride. We took the boat out into the ocean where the temperature seemed a good 20° cooler, and between the cool breeze, the lull of the engine, and the lapping of the waves, Kate fell asleep almost as soon as the sun went down.






Emily, however, wasn't about to miss out on the fun of a nighttime boat ride!

Sunshine and Sunsuits

I can't believe I ever thought sunsuits were just for babies, because, really, how cute does Kate look in hers?! (Thanks, Uncle Steve!)

I Love These Girls

(Just in case anyone couldn't already tell.)