Assortment of Photos

Well, another week has passed. That means one more week and then the kids and I are back in J'ville anxiously awaiting Daddy's return. I can't believe that the summer has come to a close so quickly. Here are photos from the last week plus, since I missed posting about our last week in July. Again, how did it get to be the middle of August already?

We have been busy. I finally got up the "nerve" to call Karen, one of my best friends from high school. For reasons not worth remembering we stopped talking sometime during freshman year of college. Now we are both mothers of two children -- her sons are three and two -- and I decided it was time to look her up again. We've met up twice for playdates at our old elementary school and her family was there to celebrate Garrett's birthday this weekend. Why is it as women (I can't speak for the men out there) that we let petty little things get in the way of good friendships and then we drop off each other's radar, never to look each other up again? Karen was a life line to me freshman year of high school, the pretty girl who asked me to sit at her lunch table when my friends had dropped me and I was reduced to eating by myself. We cheered together all through high school, slept over each other's houses, plotted about boys together. Then, nothing. Nothing for over twelve years. I was so nervous calling her, my palms were actually sweating. Why? Did I think she'd laugh at me and hang up? That wasn't her personality then. Why might I think she would turn into such a person? Nonsense, plain and simple. I have to say that she hasn't changed at all from the girl that I knew -- she has just grown into a confident, successful woman who I am hoping will let me call her a good friend again. I don't plan on it being another twelve years before we talk again -- too much time has already been wasted on such foolishness (Guess I might finally be growing up past my high school neuroses -- is that possible?)

Well, without further ado, here are the photos. Dada, next time I post a long post like this I want your mug in the shots!

Tractor Show (July 28th):

There is a farm just up the road from my parent's house that hosts a tractor show every summer. People come from far and wide to display and see an assortment of antique tractors and small engines. Considering my son's affinity for tractors (he shouts with glee every time he even thinks that he sees one) we thought that it would be a grand time. The following are the photos from the show, plus a few from around the house that morning after the show and that afternoon.

Okay, Mom. We're ready to go!

Maybe not.

The (noisy) small engine that struck fear and trepidation in my brave boy's heart.

Is it okay to look? I mean, I don't want to miss out on anything.

Dada, this tractor's just my size. Any chance you might hook me up?

Big kid, bigger tire

Hmmmmm, so many tractors to see, so little time.

Here's the token photo of Momma for Dada. Garrett was totally enthralled with this antique fire engine. Imagine, a tractor show and a fire engine! What more could my little boy need?

Okay, Sissy. You take us for a ride, and I'll sit here enjoying my drink.

(Some kids have a lovey. My son has his sippy cup.)

Check me out!

What, Mom? You mean I wasn't supposed to climb up here?

Little girl, just like her Momma -- right at home on Papa's tractor. She looks like she is really driving the thing.

What a beauty!

Sissy, let me show you how it's supposed to be done.

Hey, Bubby -- you've got a hole in your ear!

Heeeeheeeee! I'm just the cutest thing ever! Don't you agree?!

Is this how they work? How do I look?

Papa, can I please have a ride on your tractor?

Little man learning the ropes from Papa

Papa's girl

Who needs a pool when there are puddles like this????

Afternoon at the Beach:

Amazingly enough, we have only made it to the beach one afternoon while we have been north. This afternoon we grabbed Papa after work and headed to Short Sands in York. The kids had a great time in the tidal pool and both wanted to run far into the sea. Guess we should have packed their bathing suits and a change of clothes for the adults. Oh well, fun was still had by all.

Check out these cute hineys.

Splashing away

Wow! Every time I throw rocks into the water they make a big splash and a cool plunking sound. Maybe I should try it again!

Being watched over by YaYa. She keeps me in line (well, at least until I smile at her)

Little Gymnast and Playdate with Ezra:

I saw this leotard at the gym and I just couldn't resist. She's already proven with her stunts at the playground and around the house that she's ready for class this fall, now she has the outfit to match.

Aug 1st, mine and Chris's 9 year anniversary, the kids and I had a playdate with my girlfriend, Beth, and her son, Ezra. Beth and I have been good friends since 6th grade and we've grown close over the past year now that we are both mommies. Ezra will be one in mid-September, and he is just the cutest little boy. What a love!

I love this photo of Beth -- what a fantastic mom she is, and this picture just captures how in love she is with her son.

Ez in the tunnel.

Elena peering out the port hole

All the kids romping together.

Elena's New Hat:

What do you think of my new hat? It's a little big, but I will actually leave it on my head.

(Check out The Little Hat Company if you are interested in your own -- started by a local mom who wanted a hat for her daughter that wasn't a baseball hat last summer and her company has taken off! Catalog due out this fall and just started her website).

Yeah, I'm styling.

This is a photo of Garrett's silloutte. I don't want to say he has long eyelashes or anything, but they even show up in his shadow! The girls had better watch out for him (He already has a team gymnast at Atlantic who fawns all over him, and she's in 7th grade! Maybe Mommy's the one who is in trouble!)

Playing in the pool:

Yaya and Papa got Garrett and Elena a plastic pool for the yard. The kids have had a great time playing in it, whether there is water in the pool or not. In fact, this afternoon after loading Elena in the car I found Garrett sitting in the middle of the dry pool with his snack cup and drink. Need to get photographic evidence of that cuteness.

Mommy, remember to stop and smell the flowers!

Garrett's birthday party:
Saturday we celebrated Garrett's 2nd birthday with friends at New Castle Commons. New Castle is a little island off Portsmouth that is right on the river -- in fact, Chris and I met on that island. Well, we found a picnic spot overlooking the lighthouses and river that was beautiful (well, the adults thought so, and the kids liked shouting at all the boats as they passed). Our friends Bethanne, her kids, Bobby and Elizabeth, and her mom, Josh, Monica and Maddy, Beth and Ezra, and Karen, Jeremy, and their kids, Timmy and AJ, joined my parents and children for the celebration. I felt very blessed to have so many dear friends there to celebrate the wonder that is my son. It was a great afternoon and we had a blast!

All these bags are for me? I get more presents? Wow!

(Note: a wedding party arrived to have photos taken with the river and the lighthouses in the background and all the kids were immediately entranced. Of course, some couldn't understand why those cameras weren't pointed at them, but then again, all our children are beautiful so they should have been :)

Ohh, a truck book. Yeah, Mom, there are other presents to open and enjoy, but I've got a new truck book. (Great idea, Monica. You've won my son's heart forever.)

Bobby, Bethanne's son, and Timmy, Karen's oldest, enjoying the bubble machines. Bubbles were everywhere all afternoon. What is it about kids and bubbles that is so facinating?

Reading our new truck book. There was no chance of Garrett paying attention to anything else once he opened this present. Poor Ezra desperately wanted to read with him, but Garrett would have none of it.

Garrett's fishy birthday cake. It was actually a bunch of cupcakes with loads of frosting on top. Gotta say it was the best idea I had for the day.

Blowing out our birthday candle. Garrett's wish this year was for Daddy to come home safely and soon. (Dada, this is the best shot that I'm going to send of my new 'do. You'll just have to wait till your home to see it for yourself!)

Elena enjoying a birthday cupcake. Garrett was too busy to stop and enjoy, but this girl dug right in.

Well, that is all for photos for now. It is amazing how we've been up here all summer, and yet as the time for our departure draws near I'm again cramming all sorts of visits into a few days. My girlfriend, Bethanne, and her kids are coming to Portsmouth for a playdate tomorrow after gymnastics. I'm trying to plan a visit to Portland to see Beth and Ezra one more time. Dinner is tentatively scheduled for late this week with Maddy, Josh, and Monica. Marcy comes back into town later this week and we are hoping to visit for a few minutes since we seem to have missed each other the rest of the summer. And I really want to meet Karen out for a beer one night. Hmm, yeah. Got one week for all that. Guess Chris, the kids and I will have to come back sooner rather than later for a visit just to see everyone again -- I can't let it be two full years before I'm back. Too sad to think about. So I won't.