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.

Quiet August

There's been nothing much going on here since the Portlanders took Ida and Miki away. We are tuning up the house to put it on the market in the spring, and browsing real estate near and far.

To fill the late summer duldrums, here's some photodocumentation that never made the blog.

Second cousin Ella (not to be confused with Auntella) made an appearance. She so flummoxed Danny Hawkins that he took his toy cars and locked them in a separate room.Neen returned from a trip to Germany with a suitcase full of European Nutella, German chocolates, kids' clothes, etc. And Charles and his lovely bride, Anna, came up from NYC - while visiting from merry London.