Celebration at the Lake

Happy Birthday, Nana!!




We celebrated the 4th of July holiday-- and Nana's special birthday-- at Split Rock in the Poconos. We hadn't been there since June of last year, and now that Liam's a little older, we were excited to bring him along. And let's just say... he loved it. He was completely and totally in his little element at Lake Harmony, and was rather disappointed when it was time to leave!

And what's not to love? Liam enjoyed some serious digging...





and reading...




relaxing...




and some thrills!




He wasn't sure what he thought of Grandpa's boat at first...




but I think he warmed up to it! :)




He enjoyed dancing to music on the beach...




and swimming with Grandpa (it was a little cold!).



He also had a great time celebrating Chris and Ariane's wedding. Chris and Ariane were married a few weeks ago in France, and while we were sad we couldn't be there for it, we were really excited to hear that their reception would be held the same weekend we were in the Poconos-- Chris's family only lives about 30 minutes away from SplitRock! Here we are surrounded by newlyweds: Ariane, Chris, Ashley, and Styles (who is now going by Drew. Whatever!)



Best wedding reception ever... there was a bouncy house!



Back on the beach with Daddy and Mommy:



Thanks to Nana, Grandpa, GG, and Aunt Jayne for such a fun weekend!

We're taking to the skies one week from today to visit Tante Erin, Tonton Thomas, and cousins Sarah and Pierre... wish us luck on our 7-hour flight with one very busy toddler!!

Mowin'

Liam LOVES to "mow" with Daddy!

We had an awesome, awesome holiday weekend in the Poconos to celebrate Nana's milestone birthday. Stay tuned!

Happy Father's Day!

Liam had a random 24-hour fever virus last Thursday into Friday, but by Friday evening, he seemed back to himself again. Not sure what was up with that! On Saturday, he slept in a little and then was raring to go. This kid bounces off the walls if you don't let him out-- early and often! All Daddy wanted to do for Fathers Day was go to the Zoo, so we went for a couple of hours in the AM before it got too hot. There, Liam discovered a new thrill: the carousel!



Liam and I drive past a train yard every day on our way home from Miss Doreen's, so he was pretty excited to see a kid-sized train at the zoo.



Later that afternoon, we went over to Tom and Mollie's to celebrate Caitlyn's 8th grade graduation (congrats Cait!!). It was hot out, so Liam took a little dip-- and showed Daddy how to splash!



Liam makin' eyes at the graduate:



Saturday was also Grandma's birthday. We wish we could have been together to celebrate! Happy Birthday, Grandma-- we love you!

On Sunday, we met Nana and Grandpa for a Dad's Day picnic at Long's Park in Lancaster. It was lots of fun! They had lots of space to run around and a fun playground for climbing.



Dad, Liam, and Grandpa:

Lots of love to all you dads!

Weekend Fun

Last weekend was a great mix of fun with both friends and family. On Saturday morning, we met up with Mommy's friend Jen and her sweet daughter Amelia. Liam and Amelia spent many days together as newborns when their moms were on maternity leave together, but the little ones hadn't seen each other in almost a year! We had such a fun time feeding the ducks (and shooing away the giant geese) at Haverford College's pond.




Later that afternoon, Aunt Jackie came to visit (Uncle Tim's friend had his bachelor party in Manayunk that night, so he joined us on Sunday). It was great to have them in town! Liam had a lot of fun playing with Aunt Jackie, but he knew when it was time to buckle down and get some work done:



On Sunday, we went to our little township farm down the street to see the animals and get some ice cream... and witness a stare-down (which was actually more of a nuzzle, but amusing nonetheless):



Liam with Uncle Tim:



Scoping out the chickens with Aunt Jackie:




It was absurdly hot that day, and although it didn't stop Liam one bit, we couldn't wait to get back inside to the AC. We convinced Liam it was time to go-- which was the right call, considering he could sport the sweat-hawk:



(which on other days is the "Ryan Seacrest"-- this is usually a result of him eating dinner with his fingers and then rubbing them in his hair. Yummy.



Either way, it calls for Super Liam to hit the bath! He loves his super-hero towel from Cousin Jacie and Grace!

Uncle Tim deploys soon to Kyrgyzstan... please keep him in your prayers. Tim, be safe and we can't wait to see you in November! We love you!

Liam in Action

Me: Liam, where's your belly?
Liam:



"Um, excuse me Mom... I'm working here!"




Reading a bedtime story with Nana (and someone had a case of the sillies):




Me- cooking dinner
Liam- catching up on some reading

The line has been drawn...

Let's Go FLYERS!!!

Memorial Day Weekend Trip

Happy Memorial Day, everybody-- and happy start of summer! We celebrated the long weekend in Old Town Alexandria, VA, with Nana and Grandpa. With the exception of some weird sleeping (or lack of sleeping) issues, Liam was a lot of fun and we all had a great time.

We arrived on Friday and went straight for the resort pool. It had been almost a year since Liam had been in water deeper than the bathtub, so he was a little freaked out at first. Thanks to some splashing and water-squirting from Grandpa, though, he got over it pretty quickly! He especially liked being thrown in the air by Daddy and Grandpa (this was the closest I could get on film):

On Saturday, Liam and I met up with one of my college friends Melissa and her ridiculously adorable son Henry (7 mos) at the waterfront. Henry is such a happy and easygoing little guy! The last time we were in Alexandria was for Melissa's wedding, so it was great to see them again and meet their new addition.

On Saturday evening, Liam got to play with babysitter Julia (who was wonderful... but Liam was a little traumatized. Stranger anxiety at its worst!) while the rest of us went to see a live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion out at Wolf Trap. It was awesome! Us picnicking on the lawn (definitely the best place to see a show):

Garrison Keillor-- who left the stage and joined us on the lawn for a song:

On Sunday, after Liam forgave us for leaving him, we went down to the waterfront to watch the street performers and run around a little:

We also took a water taxi over to the National Harbor. At the dock getting ready to board (Liam was way more interested in a water bottle than the camera):

On the boat with Grandpa and Nana:

Us at National Harbor:

Best part about National Harbor (for Liam, anyway)? The giant "sandbox" at the waterfront! Yesss!

Liam has spent many hours in Miss Doreen's sandbox, so he was totally thrilled with this little beach.

"Ok... how do I high-five this one?!"

After a great weekend, we loaded everything up on the luggage cart (and I mean everything!) and headed back home to Philly.