Gone Fishin'

More fishing at the reservoir...this time Uncle Stevie and Aunt Cindy are in on the fun...

Uncle Jon too...

And Daddy...

I know Lili has a slightly manic look on her face in this picture...apparently the fish had just started wiggling like crazy on the line...notice how Audrey is unfazed...

Snorkeling with Papa

Lili got her very own set of fins and a snorkel mask from Papa for her birthday, and they had a fun day running "missions" out around the rocks by Well Rock. She was getting so excited at any wildlife(mostly rock crabs), we could hear her screeching through her snorkle from the beach. She and Papa look pretty cute in their wetsuits...

Whoooooooooooizzit?

This is Kateri's favorite thing to do at Nanny and Papa's house. She sits on Nanny's bed and faces a big shelf full of family photos and points at them and tries to say "Who is it?" It started out "ooooooooooooooooooooizit?" but now she just says "izit" and points. I wish I had it on video, but I can't seem to download the videos right now. The second pic is her trying so hard to say "who"

Happy Birthday Lili!

Our little Lili turned seven this week. For several months we have been planning to visit Plimouth Plantation for her birthday. It was great, and despite some drizzly weather, we had blast and learned a lot.

This is the replica of the Wampanoag site...the structure in the middle of the field was a treehouse for the kids to play in and help scare animals away from the corn...pretty cool...

Thanks to an emphasis on "cultural sensitivity" in the museum's literature, my little rule-follower Lili was terrified of offending the Native Americans who were at the Wampanoag site. It was kind of confusing, because the people dressed up as the English colonist are role playing, but the "Wampanoags" are of Native descent, and although they are in 17th century garb, they are NOT role playing. So this whole thing kind of stressed Lili out and she was overheard repeatedly telling Audrey, "Just don't say ANYTHING to the Indians, Audrey!!!" I guess Lili was worried Audrey would display her knack for brutal honesty and say something offensive. She needn't have worried. This was actually the most enjoyable part for me. All the people working there were really talkative and interesting.

The Pilgrims however are a little more difficult to talk to because they are pretending to be actual people who lived in the 17th century and seem think it is no big deal that they lost a couple of kids during the last winter etc.

It was pretty amazing to think of these people surviving the winters in these tiny one room homes...at one point my mom asked Audrey if she would like to have been a Pilgrim girl and she looked around and said seriously, " I would NOT like to have a floor made of dirt." and then, glumly, "Why did we come here?" Later on we were using the restrooms in the gift shop and I said to Audrey, "I didn't see any bathrooms in those tiny houses, I wonder how the Pilgrims wen to the potty?" Audrey looked concerned for a minute and then her face brightened, "They probably just came in here!"

Some cute little goats staying out of the drizzle.

Kateri loved the people watching.

I thought it was really cool how you could see the ocean from the site.

We also got to go onboard a replica of the Mayflower, which is anchored in Plymouth Harbor, and then it was off home for enchiladas and Princess Birthday Cake...all in all not a bad birthday for our sweet firstborn!

Picking Blueberries

One of our beloved annual Scituate traditions is picking blueberries at Treeberry farm....

Audrey took it very seriously this year and refused to quit even when the cord from her coffee can was digging into her neck with the weight of her harvest.

Kateri just enjoyed tasting them...

A trip into Boston to see the Tall Ships

We had a nice little adventure today with Nanny and went into the city to see the Tall Ships, which are in Boston Harbor for the week. It was a great day...

We took the ferry from Hingham...a ferry ride with a friend, what could be more fun?

"Kateri are you sucking on that grimy old chain?"

"....maybe..."

This was the prettiest one...I think it was Dutch...called the Europa.

We even stopped by the Aquarium to see the Harbor seals...here's one doing a quick swim-by much to Kateri's delight!

Still smiling at the end of the trip!

The Beach!

Lili's had some good rides on the boogie board so far...

Off to the beach! Lili has become quite the speed demon on her little razor scooter, and Audrey keeps Kateri company in the wagon while Papa does all the work.

Uncle Joe and Aunt Becca...

We've had some great beach days so far in beautiful Scituate. Pretty close to perfect actually, although we are missing one very crucial element. Luckily we'll be picking him up from the airport one week from today. We can't wait to see the Daddy!!