hip high....

by the 4th of july!

yes...isabelle was this excited to take this photo...
in her defense it is super hot...

we got our corn in some crazy fertile soil up here and we have beat the old saying "knee high before 4th of july"
now i am just waiting for the deer, bears or raccoons to find it....

happy 4th!

{owen} 18 months

At 18 months:

• you are saying "no" to everything
• sometimes you slip and you say....mama, dada, dah (dog/adele), uh oh, iwah (i want)
• you shake your head no and yes (on occasion), sign all done, more, and are an expert waver 
• you climb on everything...we find you on the dinner table, in the rocking chair, in our bed, up the loft ladder, and on top of the singer sewing machine on any given day
• you love water, dirt and sand play
• you wind up to throw things at people all.the.time.  And usually you are coaxed into gently putting things on the floor (mainly because we all give you a big round of applause after)
• if we say "no owen don't do that" you are interpreting it as "yes please do it more and more and more"
• you love adele, the cats and the chickens
• you love to play pass with balls (and have a mighty strong arm at that)
• you are fast on your feet and have a sneaky grin 
• you furrow your brows so deep it makes us laugh
• you love pasta, rice, yogurt, cottage cheese on occasion and fruit (you are a picky eater my friend...)
• you are the best snuggler i know (only when you want to of course)
• your kisses are tough boy kisses and usually leave me with a bruised lip
• you sleep through the night...there have been night time rumors of you moving into sissy's room soon
• you have 12 teeth....that are terribly crooked
• i can not bring myself to cut your hair...it is beautiful and when you sleep you look like an angel
• you are 18 months and i'm sure there are plenty of things i am missing...but you are perfect owen..... just perfect

more from two weekends ago....

uncle ryan and the two cutest kids

serious grampy time

tree climbing

...is serious stuff

a french braid will hide a 1000 sins

I have a little blogger guilt over last week...so I'll try to make up for it (but no promises)!  Here is a photo dump from two weekends ago in RI.  

belated

Quite possibly the worst daughter ever....yesterday I forgot to call my dad on his birthday.  SO...me...being terribly horribly sorry for such carelessness have dedicated this blog post to you dad...don't you feel terribly lucky!

My dad has taught me many things...to be myself, to not care what others think of you, how to laugh at yourself and how to talk.  I still fail on so many levels to talk about what is really going on in my head but my dad never misses an opportunity to encourage me to open my brain and my mouth.  So, happy belated birthday... i'm so happy you are my dad!

perks of a peanut

...he can still bath happily in the sink (and wash a few dishes while he's at it)

And the livin's easy

It never fails. Summer starts and I hear that quintessential sublime riff...summer time....Goosebumps people it gives me goosebumps....or maybe just commenced the beads of sweat rolling off my brow in my non air conditioned car. For a moment I forget the haze of humidity, crank the radio (sorry kids) and take a big deep breath of summer. Cliche? Most certainly. We were luck enough to welcome summer with my parents at the beach. There is something so special about Charlestown and the summer time.... Horns on rt 1 blare, the locals curse the tourists, the smell of the pine forest just before I arrive at my parents, clam fritters and of course that salty air and water...yes... this will always be home.

last weekend

frogs

toads

these two...

anticipation

...floating away

happiness

more and more and more....

...hot air balloons

that all needed a proper farewell

silliness

cousins

love

We were lucky enough to host family last weekend and crammed in a whole bunch of goodness.   We went to the Quechee hot air balloon festival, strolled through Hanover, took walks, caught frogs, caught up and spent a very happy Father's Day with our daddy and my brother-in-law (two very fine dad's if i may say so!).  So thankful for family and friends. 

And today...off to Rhode Island to enjoy some beach time and sea food...oh yeah and get my kiddos!