First bath

Baby Hanako's first bath.
Mama had lots of help.
Post bath exhaustion.
DHawk 3 1/2 years ago.

Pools = Dangerous

At 0700 this morning, Danny insisted on going into the pool. Never mind that the sun was barely up and the air temperature was in the 50s!
Note that "de lifeguard" is cold but attentive.

When it got sunny and beautiful this afternoon Danny was back at the pool. He managed to fall in the deep end, twice (100% submersion with life-threatening potential). Prompt extraction by the lifeguard prevented serious injury. It shook us up enough to go buy a personal flotation device that afternoon. Danny wore this wonderful device out of the store (like DadKV used to do with shoes) and again at home. He recounted the day's events.
"What did you see, Daddy?"
"What did you say to Mommy?"
"What was I doing, Daddy?"

"Did you see my head peek out, Daddy?"

"Was I over der, Daddy?"
"Did you see my arms and legs moving?"
"What happened next, Daddy?"
As MomHV was drying him off after the second time, he said, "Two times was cool, Mommy!"

At bedtime SHV told him, "get ready for another good day of vacation tomorrow."
"With no drownin, Mommy!"

Sag Harbor

Posting while on vacation is always a fun thing!
D-Hawk had a great day at school on Tuesday - no accidents, no crying, better socialization. Afterwards, we scooped him up and headed for Sag Harbor, NY.

Here's the boss man scoping things out with some binoculars, topside on the ferry. It was a pretty cool moment when he realized he could actually see things through the binocs. (He also asked to wear the McNabb jersey to school!) The next morning was microfleece pajama-time!Leigh liked it.Outside, a polar bear with a farmer's tan was spotted.After this, our little polar bear (now 100% potty trained, thank goodness) sat on the toilet and said to Daddy, "sometimes the polar bear has to use the potty with his Daddy."

Running to throw a croc in the pool.

A Day in the Life: Part 2

Post-siesta, our day would resume with yet another trip to the beach. After getting everyone sunscreened, dressed, and loaded into the van, we would head to the ocean, where the rest of the family (later risers than ourselves) would be waiting for us.

It never took Cousin Kaiya long to get her mitts on Li-Li.

She proved to be a very good helper and would follow Leigh around and keep her out of trouble while SHV and Neen worked on their tans.

Meanwhile, DKV would partake in a friendly game of horseshoes.

Here DHV and Uncle Dana watch and wait at the other end.

DHV wasn't satisfied with just watching, however, and had to get in on the action as well.

When Kaiya got tired of babysitting, Janine took Li-Li for a stroll.

And then "Sandma" and "Sampa" joined the girls for a photo op.

Yes, Leigh got passed around quite a lot. Here she is hanging out with Uncle Dana and Aunt Molly. She was pretty tolerant...

... but eventually decided that she'd had enough.

Finally, the afternoon would end with some good old fashioned digging. Where's Danny?

A Day in the Life: Part 1

We started our days on Cape Cod off with breakfast on the beach. Having gotten up with the monkeys at 6, we had no problem getting there by 9 and snagging the pole position in the parking lot and a prime spot in the sand.

It didn't take long for Li-Li to realize that there was nothing to stop her from leaving the mat and exploring the sand.

And eating it too, of course.

This guy was pretty happy just strolling the beach, looking for treasure and singing various tunes from The Wiggles.

Before long it would get hot, and various people would hit the water.


Leigh was pretty brave when it came to the ocean. In fact, she was known to crawl right towards and into it, without hesitation.

Finally, DKV would go for his swim and the rest of us would wait on the beach, looking for the little speck of red to reappear, signaling that our morning was coming to an end.

After that, it was home for lunch, naps, and a respite from the sun. Up next: back to the beach for an afternoon with the rest of the crew.

Cape Cod!

Last Saturday, at 5am, we loaded the Odyssey with the kids, au pair, and a tub of sunscreen. 3 1/2 hours later, we were on "the Cape."



It was warm and sunny all week. We saw hermit crabs, dead crabs, live crabs missing legs, eels, a whale, and even picked some blackberries ripening under our deck. A little slice of heaven for everyone.

Beach

East Coast beaches are warm.
This allows the Westies to strut their stuff on the beach.
A couple of jumbo jets flew overhead while a Coast Guard helicopter hovered nearby; at that moment no one could hear Miki scream.Strutting.

July Bonus Photos

Some never-before seen photos that didn't make the first cut.

DHV "helping" by raking Joe and Alice's pond.
He also "helped" DKV by whacking him in the shin with the rake.

LiLi getting a sink bath.Danny and Neen.DHV and LRV.In the lake with aquaman.Leigh Rutledge and Dan Rutledge.
An instant classic.

Vermont

Danny woke up in the morning and started in with the "I want to go to Vee-mont!"
So we went.
DHV relaxing in the grass.
This is what results when you slap your face with a cream-cheese covered piece of toast. "Dirty face!" as Danny would say.
Leigh looking like she got caught with her hands in the cookie jar.
Playing with some new "yellows" lakeside.
Canoeing.
Family hike.
"Yellows" on the deck.
Happy children.