Family Vacation, part 1 - The Pond

We began our adventures out east by going with mommy's uncle John, aunt Kim, cousins Jessica and Emily, and Ben and Beth to The Pond where we hung out...

... went fishing on the pond...

... fished and hung out some more on uncle John's big boat near the bay...

... napped when we got tired...

... explored when we were refreshed...

... snacked when we got hungry...

... napped some more when we became tired again...

... and I even got to drive the boat...

 And when we got back to the cabin, we ate some of the fish we caught and had a few crabs, too... just for practice...

Thank you, John and Kim for spoiling us rotten!!

Funny noises everywhere

City Park Jazz...

... is often more about the food, fun and relaxation than the actual music... which, incidentally, was actually salsa music the other week. I know my music, you can't fool me.

Summer what?

Sometimes, even if it's 95 degrees out, I just gotta hang out in a cozy blanket...

I love myself some summer!

What have I been doing with myself this summer so far, you ask? Well.... I started out on the opening day at the pool with a most exciting maneuver, which involved running through the fountains you see behind me... (like my hat, cousin BR?)

and running into a pole. That's right. Straight into a pole, leaving behind a piece of my front tooth, which my mom captured in this here photo... sort of.

I'm almost 2, after all, and I want to honor the long-lasting reputation of the many, many two-year olds who have gone before me.

Despite this impressive incident, I love, love, LOVE going to the pool. It's pretty much my favorite thing to try to drown myself in the 12 inches of water in the kiddy pool, run around til the guards yell at me, sneak snacks into the pools and steal other children's water toys. It's simply a blast.

Also, we recently went to the mountains where there was freeeeezing cold water, and well, lotsa mountains. 

Other than staring at the boats all day long, if you ask me, the best part was the dancing...

(Too bad my mom doesn't know how to rotate these clips - you get the idea....)

And when I'm all through exploring and adventuring and naughtying and snacking and running around screaming my head off, I get pretty worn out and always love a good, cozy snooze...

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike...

Actually, in case anyone asks, it's a motorcycle. I have my own keys to it, as well.

And don't tell my mom, but sometimes I like to talk on the phone while riding my bike...

Vacation, vacation, vacation

We recently went to Chicago to visit some of mom and dad's college friends- specifically dad's football friends. It was SOOO much fun and I was so busy running around with all the other kids, I didn't stand still long enough to have my picture taken very often. We ate pizza, swam in the pool, played football, ate more delicious food, ran around like maniacs in the hotel lobby, swam some more, took naps, visited with all kinds of friends, and played and played and played...

The fun was not over yet... We drove to visit Daddy's family and had an incredible time playing at the lake! We went out on the boat, played late at night with flashlights, ran around like maniacs some more, went to the zoo, even took a trip to urgent care cause one of us had an allergic reaction to a still-unknown something... But that didn't slow us down, we had a lot of fun waiting for us, so...

 we had picnics,

swam in the lake (or "bath", as I liked to call it),

played with Sparty...

... and 2nd cousin Jacob,

visited uncle Tom's vineyard,

and paid great grandma a visit,

where we played with marbles and great grandma told me she had lost hers...

... so I gave her some of mine

Everyone spoiled me rotten...

and everyone agreed I look like my Daddy's uncle Tom when he was little - at least this might explain where my blond hair and faux hawk came from...