Operation Bird House

Dad is out of town this weekend, so Mom planned a fun Girl's Day. First, we went to the mall for a haircut (and lollipop!), then we had lunch at Chick Fil-A (nuggets! ice cream!). It was too rainy to go to the pool, so we decided to get a bird feeder to put in the back yard. Mom said later we can paint "See Rock City" on the roof.
We hung it up and sat in our chairs with big glasses of lemonade. Then, we looked around for the pretty red, blue, and woodpecker birds that live in our trees. But, who showed up? The stinking squirrel! I let him know right away that he was NOT invited to the party ("No squ-lul! Not for you! Is for baby birds!"). We had to stay alert, chasing him away all afternoon. Mom said I will be a good hall monitor one day. While we were on squirrel patrol, Maggie caught a possom (Ick! I thought they were nocturnal!). It didn't want to play with her, and kept hissing. It was so yucky. Mom had to get a shovel (why do these things happen when Dad is out of town?) and move it to the garbage can. She thought it was dead... but apparently it was just "playing possom", because it ran away when we weren't looking! Maybe Maggie will find it again later.

Count Her Down

My teacher says that I am The Little Boss with my friends at school (my parents agree that I have excellent leadership skills).

Mom laughs at my leadership at home, too. I like to call slow poke Maggie inside. I sternly "count her down" the way Mom counts for me when she wants me to hurry up.

Usually I stand at the door and yell: "What are you doing over there?!", and "It's time to go to your walk!". Then, I start counting "1-2-3" to show her that I mean business... she even caught it on video:

Count Her Down

Kalyn Rocks

I LOVE KALYN! It has been a whole week since we were on vacation together, and I miss her.Kalyn is the best big girl cousin, ever. She is a little more than 8 years older than me, close to the same age difference as my Mom and her favorite girl cousin, Jenny. Mom says that means that Kalyn and I are destined to be great friends.
When we were in Cape Cod, she let me copy everything she did. There was nobody more patient and fun than Kalyn. She taught me how to peel and eat clementines without catching a yucky seed. She found the cutest little snails and hermit crabs for me to squeal over. She made me laugh,shared her shaved ice (yum!),and taught me how to have a blast at the beach.I wish I could see her every day. Mom says that she and Dad are already campaigning for Kalyn and her Mom to come visit us again soon!

Cape Cod 3

On the last day of vacation, we drove to the north side of the Cape to spend the day at Mayflower Beach. When we arrived in the morning, the water was up to the row of umbrellas, then the tide went out. Seriously, the tide there goes WAY OUT.
The tidal pools that are left behind make perfect spots for hunting hermit crabs. They look like tiny little marbles with legs and pinchers. Kalyn helped me collect them in our bucket so we could watch them all scramble around. It became an obsession!
It was really nice to hang out with the whole family that day. Mom loved how the beaches are so different up there. First of the all, the water is frigidly cold (Dad and Aunt Julie call it "refreshing" and claim the cold water is in Maine). Plus, the beach itself becomes the most densely populated square mile on the continent in a matter of 2 hours. It's like a fun party all day long!
We walked over to a family favorite restaurant, Chapins. Mom let me have a Sprite there. I like Sprite!She let Dad have a Coke.
Then my aunts taught me how to make a scary face, which became a recurring theme for the rest of the trip!
Sadly, on Saturday, it was time to pack up and head to the airport. We were able to stop in Boston to see Kalyn's new house. It's perfect! She painted her room a cool green, and she had lots of baby dolls to show me.
But, the highlight was meeting her awesome dogs!
D.J. was the first in the family. I think he liked me...
and he loves Kalyn!
Ben is a big kisser...And Mary is sweet, sweet, sweet.
It was hard to leave, because we had such a great trip. This is our one big family vacation a year, and we were glad to spend it with Mom's favorite in-laws!
Even if they are a little bit kooky...
The next time we will all be together again is at the wedding- I can't wait!

Cape Cod 2

On Mom's favorite day we rented bikes and rode along the Shining Sea Bikeway to Woods Hole.
It was so beautiful! But, I got a little bored sometimes. If you look closely in this picture, you can tell that I am not wearing my happy face.
Our group suffered minor injuries during the Tour, with Kalyn's scraped knee being the worst. Poor Kalyn! The pebbles and sand on the side of the trail caught her tire and caused a little spill, but she was so tough- she got right back on the bike!
The trek was worth it when we got to Woods Hole and stood on the coast, admiring the boats and sea.
We also took a snack break. I never liked clementines before, but if Kalyn was having one, then I wanted two! And I only wanted Kalyn to peel them for me.
Our other favorite snacks were cupcakes from the best bakery in the world.
Mom said Aunt Julie spent a quarter of her annual budget on cupcakes this week. And, Kalyn set a record for Most Peanut Butter Cupcakes Eaten On Vacation. Ever. Yum!
One day we took a trip on a sail boat. It was huge, and one of my favorites that Mom and I visited in the mornings on our walks.
It was very fun at first, but 3 hours on a boat may not be the best idea for a 2 year old... especially when the batteries to your portable DVD player die right in the middle of Dora and The Puppies.
Still, it was fun to look for dolphins, sharks, and whales. I didn't see any, but they kept telling me to look. We sailed over to Martha's Vineyard, and Dad taught me to say it properly, "Mah-tha's Vin-yahd".
Back on dry land, I loved playing with my new dollhouse! I even decorated it with pebbles and flowers from the yard. Funny, most of the occupants of my house kept falling out of the windows or door to their death on the patio.
The best part of the week was being able to relax. The grown-ups spent time in the man cave,
while Kalyn and I focused on creative ventures.P.S. We have just received word that Big Mike was crushed over the fact that Kalyn was named MVP over him. So, we offer this photo as evidence that his fun-ness made it a very close contest!

Cape Cod 1

We just got back from a week in Cape Cod with my Boston family. Mom said we have too many pictures (tried to capture all the great memories!), so we have to break this down into 3 mega-posts. The first picture is me with the MVP of the week, Kalyn. I ADORE her, and Mom is going to devote a special blog post to her later this week!
The most exciting part of the week was celebrating the engagement of Auntie Joy Joy and Big Mike. We love him! He is from Cleveland, and is still recovering from LeBron's decision to go to Miami, but he proved that he will be an awesome uncle! Mom and Dad were thrilled to get out of the heat and humidity at home, so we spent as much time outside as possible. The first few nights up there were a crisp cool 60 degrees. Heaven!
I spent the better part of the week proving that I was a big girl now, not the baby from last summer. I learned to open the door all by myself. After it squished me the first time, I learned to push or pull it hard and then RUN through it.
It was so nice to catch up with everybody, especially Kalyn. Mom took her annual Cousins By The Hydrangea picture, and couldn't believe how much we've both grown.
Kalyn was very helpful this week, she taught me how to walk down the aisle for Joy's wedding (hope Joy likes how we jog to Pachelbels Canon) . She is going to be a Junior Bridesmaid and I am going to be the Flower Girl!
We were always the first ones up in the house. Dad said I am a built in alarm clock, 6:00 on the dot! Papa made coffee, and we read the news and colored with markers.
Then Mom and I would take a long walk to the marina to see the boats while Dad went for a jog. Their goal was to get me out of the house to give the late sleepers some peace and quiet. It was nice, because Mom let me wear pajamas and bring my new doll, Baby GaGa. Sometimes we would walk into town to the awesome playground.
Early in the week we spent the day at Falmouth Heights beach. Kalyn found a HUGE hermit crab (as big as a baked potato), and taught me how to look for seashells in the sand. Our parents were laughing at the fact that most of the beaches to the east and west of us were closed this week due to an unusual spike in great white shark sitings ("Jaws mania 2010"), but our beach was open! Guess the sharks don't like Falmouth. Mom was only brave enough to go in ankle deep.
We had great times at the house... the boys bonded over sports, religion, books, and whatever.
The girls colored, learned to knit, watched the Bachelorette finale (we were on Team Chris since he is from Cape Cod), and worked on wedding plans.
We enjoyed our time together and wished we could stay for more than just one week!