A Pool Visit

Since we'd done the the beach and gone swimming off my parents' dock, it was time to check out the pool nearby.  My parents have had this house for about six years, but never tried the pool so we took Finley and he had a blast!

First, the baby pool helped him get acquainted with his surroundings.

 But soon, he was ready for the big pool.

It was so much fun playing around in the water and while we missed Dagny (who was napping), it was good to have some Finley time.

Trophy #1

After completing the final school session of Tiny Tumblers - Finley got his very first trophy!

The little athlete was quite proud of his prize :)

Then, we had this conversation:

F: Can I drink out of this trophy at dinner tonight? It looks like a cup.

M: No, you don't drink of out of trophies.

F: Then what do you do with it?

M: You put it on a shelf and just look at it (realizing how silly this would seem as I said it).

F: Hm, that's weird.  Maybe I can put it in the basement with all of daddy's frisbee trophies.

M: Good idea, bud.

A Wet 'n Wild Birthday Gift

GG and Grandpa sent Dagny an early birthday gift the last week of June and both kids were pretty excited to give it a try as soon as it arrived!

She got soaked not long into the fun!

 This water table will be a treat all summer long, thank you GG and Grandpa!!

Soccer Star

A couple Saturdays ago, Finley went to his first preschool soccer practice.  We got him shinguards, high socks, and his own shiny new soccer ball and he was pumped! Dan took him while I stayed home with the snoozing baby sister.  Dan said it was a mix of kids aged 3-5 and some were happy to leave their parents for the the fun on the field and others not so much.  Thank goodness that Finley was ready to play all on his own! He's wearing the yellow shirt and blue hat :)

 Dan said the "coaches" seemed a bit disorganized and unprepared, but I suspect Finley had no clue.

 

 Going for the goal!

They arrived home and Finley sounded thrilled with the whole thing, awesome! Though he did want to know when the game would be since that day was "just practice" -- our competitive DNA is ever present!

Water Play Baby

Last week, Dagny and I went to one her buddy's birthday party.  Okay, the birthday boy and Dagny are probably going to be buddies when they are old enough to understand the concept--meanwhile, his mom and I have become fast friends since we moved out here.  She and I were both pregnant with summer babies, living in Acton, elementary teachers by trade, and both named Allison - it was kismet! Fast forward a year later and I was excited to take Dagny to celebrate Liam's birthday :) One of Liam's gifts was a new water table and Dagny spent 80% of her time standing at it and having a grand old time. I took way too many pictures and really enjoyed watching her have a blast.

 The birthday boy there on the left with our girl.

I forced her to take a lunch break where we dined on delicious grilled chicken, guacamole, a squeezy vegetable pouch, and some cheesy poofs.

She was rather perplexed by this piece of grass stuck to her cheesy poof.

Then, she crawled back to the water table for more wet fun. While she managed to stay fairly dry during her first visit, this next trip left her quite damp but on such a warm day--I bet it felt really good!

Well played, Dagny, well played.

 We finished up by watching Liam enjoy his birthday cake and then I took my soaked, exhausted, and incredibly happy baby girl home :)

The T!

Last week, Aunt Caitlin made a last minute trip up here and after gymnastics we made the trek to Alewife to pick her up.  We sat in some nasty traffic, but Caitlin sat in worse traffic and our grand plan to eat all together at Bertucci's looked to be in jeopardy.  With Caitlin significantly delayed, Dagny, Finley and I went ahead and ate dinner at the Bertucci's at the station.  They were great dates and we had one of the nicest waiters that I have had in years :) Caitlin kept updating us and when she was close, we ordered her dinner to go.  Finley ate all his bites and got a hoodsie cup for dessert that he was diving into when Caitlin arrived.  Phew! She was happy to have made it and Finley was excited that he sort of got to have dinner with his aunt as planned.  We headed out and Caitlin asked Finley if he wanted to sit inside the giant T, which of course he did!

Then, Dagny and I joined him while Caitlin snapped some photos.

Brief as her visit was, we're always happy to see Aunt Caitlin whenever she appears!!

Dagny Walks!

Just a week shy of her first birthday, Dagny is officially walking!! She's been working much harder at it since about Sunday afternoon and is really reaping the benefits.  Being such an efficient (i.e. speedracer) crawler and cruiser, she didn't seem to want to walk on her own before now. Yesterday, she wanted to walk around the house holding one of my hands, which was new so I suspected the walking must be around the corner and I was right! Tonight after dinner, she was showing a lot of eagerness to walk and I figured it was time to get the video camera.  Take a look!

Way to go, Dagny, you are amazing!!  She walked a few times back and forth between Dan and I and then Finley crawled into Dan's lap and offered to catch her, which turned out to be adorable.  He seemed to be just as proud of her as we were.

She walked a bit more and even went about seven or eight steps to the toy shelf all on her own, but alas it was soon time for bed.   As with most major baby milestones, this new stage will probably cause some unpleasant sleep disruptions, but figuring both kids already have odd summer "colds" that are waking them up ungodly early - I'm glad all this is happening at one time!