Family Reunion

In case you didn't realize how spoiled my kids are, after coming home from a lovely six week stint in Scituate, we all got to go spend a week in Newport Beach thanks to the generosity of Uncle Justin. The whole Speier fam got to be together again.

It was a gorgeous week.

A little surf...

A little sand...

We celebrated Justin's retirement...

...and Gianna, Tolton and Kateri's birthdays.

And in general just enjoyed hanging out together. One of my greatest hopes for my children is that they stay close to each other throughout their lives, and provide a shoulder to lean on when necessary. They have such great models for this on both sides of our family, and I hope that the memory of these times with the Birds and the Speiers will reinforce the importance of family in their lives.

So thank you so much, Justin, for a wonderful week, and helping us stay close as a family!

Lili's Birthday (a month and a half later)

I'm really behind on the blog. We have been so busy, what with taking another family vacation, starting school, and riding the emotional roller coaster of real estate. Lili has been begging me since her birthday to put photos up on the blog so she can look back and relive it. She actually got to celebrate her birthday twice this summer. The first time was when her daddy and all her Aunts and Uncles were in Scituate to celebrate with her. These wonderful aforementioned Aunts and Uncles were so kind and generous and made her birthday dinner a great night.

I was so happy that she wanted Toy Story Toys. Eight seems like it could go either way, and so I am relieved that she is still so into little-kid stuff and not asking for clothes or anything.

The day of her actual birthday, the Bird house was pretty deserted, so we headed off with Nanny to Nantasket beach for a little miniature golf and a ride on the carousel.

Audrey had some beginner's luck.

Kateri didn't play too many holes, but she loved exploring.

The girls capped the evening off by making pink cupcakes with Nanny and giving them out to the neighbors. Happy birthday Lili!

Scituate Summer VII :Why Kateri looks ashamed in this photo:

One day we decided to take the commuter train into the city with my lovely cousin Amanda. Amanda, if you are reading this, if you ever want to come to Phoenix and be our unpaid nanny again, the job is yours. Anyway, we stopped at Sam LaGrassa's for some delicious sandwiches and headed towards the Common to eat them. On the way, we passed the Granary Cemetery, where John Hancock and Paul Revere among others, are buried.

As you can see, some of the headstones are tilted and uneven. One of them, weathered and fading, survived the centuries only to have my Audrey step off the path and lean the full weight of her husky five-year old frame on it to "straighten it out." Luckily, I shrieked at her to stop before the ancient stone crumbled or snapped. Luckily, none of the five or so Freedom Trail guides in full costume saw her. These dudes take their job seriously, and if they had seen us and yelled at us, I'm pretty sure Lili would have died of embarrassment right then and there. Anyway, that's why Kateri looks ashamed...

The rest of the day was lovely...we saw the Swan Boats at the Public Gardens and walked over to the Aquarium to see the seals before heading home with a sigh of relief to beautiful quiet Scituate.

Scituate Summer Part VI: Fishing with Papa

My girls are so lucky to have their Papa, who takes them on all sorts of adventures on his days off.Getting their fishing gear ready...

Fishing at the reservoir for little perch...I realized that I am far more squeamish than my little girls during this trip. I couldn't bring myself to break off segments of wriggling earthworms for the hooks, so I had to ask Audrey to do it. "Sure, Mom!" She replied, taking care of business while I averted my eyes. "No problem."

Lili took care of removing the hooks and throwing the fish back to be caught again another day.

Papa also bought an inflatable raft this year. The girls had lots of pirate ship adventures in it with Papa, staying out hours at a time thanks to their wetsuits, and then Papa started taking Nanny out for rides in it and fishing from it.

He caught this beauty of a bluefish from it after it took them for a Nantucket sleigh ride down the beach.
Very exciting!

Scituate Summer Part V: My favorite time of day

is evening at the beach. After the crowds cleared out, there were several nights where we packed a picnic dinner and headed down for an evening at the beach. It was heavenly. The girls swam, played, ate, swam and played happily for hours and Nanny and I got to sit and talk and watch the colors change.

Kateri loved evening at the beach, too.

Sometimes Lili brought a book for a change of pace.

My second favorite time of day: morning at the beach. The sun would be sparkling on the water like it does on the Pacific, and the beach would be empty except for a few dog-walkers.

My third favorite time of day: midday at the beach. Okay, I guess I just love the beach. Can you blame me?

My kids and I are so blessed to be able to spend our summer in such a beautiful place. I suspect that many Scituate residents take the astounding natural beauty around them for granted, because I am always surprised at how often we have the beach completely to ourselves.
Not that I am complaining! I am all for a little peace and solitude.

I'm just saying I know how lucky we are. Goodbye, beautiful Scituate beach! We'll see you next summer!

Scituate Summer Part IV: Party Day

Saturday was a lot of fun. Luke had finally arrived, Bowker was out for the day; our family felt complete. The girls were trying out the swing Joe had rigged in the side yard,

with help from Jon and Bowker.

There was an intense game of Polish horseshoes going...

The sky turned dark and threatening, and then it started to pour...

The ever-prepared Nanny whipped out some crafts for the girls on the screen porch.

But manly men don't go inside when it starts raining...they keep right on playing.

And sometimes, if they're extra manly they take their shirts off...

And then they all go jump in the ocean (not pictured.)

Scituate Summer Part III: Everybody at the Beach

It was so much fun when everyone was in town at the beach together. Pigtails look twice as cute, and sand tastes twice as delicious when you have a cousin to share them with...

For someone who had to take his Boards in a matter of days, Uncle Joe was really relaxed...I think it showed on his face...

There were plenty of babies for Luke to steal...

Stevie, protective new parent that he is, showed extreme dedication in protecting his little daughter's snow-white skin from the rays of the sun. Seriously, he carried that big old beach umbrella over her the whole walk from the beach. He was super dedicated...

...see?

Kateri thinks her Uncle Steve is hilarious...or maybe he's just telling her he knows how it feels to be ridiculed for having an abnormally long torso.

Uncle Jon lost his wedding ring at the beach :( Sorry Jon, that stinks...we have been keeping an eye out for it every day...just in case.

but other than that, everybody had a ball!

Bye, Fifi!