Sunday, October 24, 2010

Ok, where were we...?


Time has gotta away from us.  We blink, and poof, almost two months have passed.  Let's catch up-in no particular order.  Commentary may accompany pictures, and the key word is "may".

Maddie the butterfly


Striking a pose by the waterfall

 Outside the butterfly house



Emma and Maddie enjoying each others company one sunny afternoon.  From the pictures, you'd think they were best buds.  For the moment, they were.  The bickering and antagonism resumed shortly thereafter.

Family day at the game one Saturday.




Our version of Oliver Twist.  Maddie was playing on the trampoline and when done, ended up looking like a ragamuffin.






Later in the day, after a bath, she was back on the trampoline with her friend, Harry.  These crack me up.


Monday, September 6, 2010

Come on in. The water's fine!


Summer does not officially end until mid-September, but we all know that it basically ends on Labor Day.  What does that have to do with this post, you ask?  Well, nuttin, other than to use it as an excuse to go to Miss Robin's house for one last hurrah. The weekend involved good food, good drinks, and good company.  Although the weekend marked the beginning of football season, much of our time was spent by the pool rather than watching football.  Let's take a look:

Emma and bubbles


Aiden and Emma shooting each other with bubbles

Denise with our gracious host, Robin.

Look!  It's Mom and Dad together in a picture.  How often does that happen?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MADDIE !!!!!!

On August 30th, our baby girl turned three years old.  Let me repeat that.  Three years old.  Where, I ask, have the years gone?  It seem like just yesterday that she was rolling on the floor, learning to crawl, learning to walk, learning to talk, ....  To mark the occasion, we kept it short & sweet; a few of her friends, a little play time, and some cake & ice cream.  That evening I told her that she had to stay a three year old for the rest of her life.  She grinned at me and said, "Ok, Daddy".

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Hair

Not to be outdone, Emma got into the act of showing her new do.


The background:  Momma went to get her hair cut and hoped to have Emma's cut, too.  Unfortunately, the salon was too busy, and they could not work Emma in.  That is where I come in.  At home, with Maddie in the tub and Momma on the phone, Emma begged to have hers cut.  How hard could it be I thought.  I watched them do Maddie's, and it basically looked like:  snip snip here, snip snip there.  So with Emma hounding me to do it, I grabbed the scissors, received a weak nod of approval from Denise, began cutting, and voila!  A new do.  I do confess that it was way harder than I thought.  Adding to my lack of skill was the fact that Emma would not sit still and run-of-the-mill scissors are not the cutting instrument of choice.  Still, it doesn't look bad.  Emma actually received compliments from teachers at school.  HA!  After we cleaned up, the fun began.
I played around with the camera to get shots with varying shutter speeds and flash settings.  We managed to goof around some before Momma put a stop to our fun with comments like, "Who's the adult here?"  "It's a school night!"  "Emma! Do your homework!"

Some of these turned out pretty cool, especially the ones where she looks like she's transparent.  Today may put to rest the notion that we have no fun on school nights.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Growth of a Swimmer

Those who spent time with us at the pools this summer can attest to Maddie's fear of the (deep) water.  As of mid-July, she'd scream at the top of her lungs at just the hint of bobbing in the water on her own.  If you have doubts, just ask Louis.  But what have we here?  Is it Maddie, floating through the water without the death-grip on an unsuspecting adult or teen?  I believe it is.  Go Maddie, Go!!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

School Daze

School starts in a few days, and the lazy days that we've grown accustomed will end.  Gone will be the days of after-dinner bike rides, roughhousing, and bedtime romper-room.  This is about to end so take a long look so that it is seared into your memory.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Haircut Update

The pictures at the salon did not do justice to Maddie's new do, so I've decided to post some additional ones.  I'd say she's camera friendly.  Momma is, too.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Hey Beautiful

Exactly two years, eleven months, and 22 hours to the day that Maddie entered this world, we finally cut her hair.  Prior to going, she kept saying that she "didn't want a headache."  How we persuaded her to change her mind, I don't recall. Anyway, here we go


Wow, that's a lot of hair.


Hey, where did it go?


This cracks me up.  She struck a pose after climbing out of the chair.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Naples - The Boat

On our last day, we got a break in the weather and were able to go out on the boat.  And we took Maddie with us.  I think it was her first time out.  She struck quite the pose.


When we finally made it out onto the Gulf, we stopped to go tubing only to discover that we did not have the proper tow-rope.  We swam instead, and how Juli managed to get Maddie into the water was a miracle.


Maddie is not comfortable in the water at the pool, and out in the Gulf where she could not see the bottom nor the shore, we expected it to be worse.  But to our surprise, she did well.  In fact, she found it quite enjoyable once she was able to sit upon the tube.  Notice Juli's expression.  She was exhausted from dealing with Maddie and Emma.  The girls are having quite a laugh since they didn't have to do any work to get onto the tube.  Or maybe it was because Maddie left Juli in a warm spot in the water.  Only they know for sure.


Some other fun moments of the afternoon:

Emma and Sam sharing secrets while on the tube

 
More of the same, except for the chit-chatting


Emma riding solo


"What do you mean there are sharks in the Gulf?"
Hello, ladies.