A Day at the Beach

Well, the dam. Whipple Dam, actually, which is about as close as you get to a beach in Central Pennsylvania. The babies catnapped on the way there.


When we got there, there was nothing to do but enjoy the sunshine, splash in the muddy water, and eat sand-covered pineapple for the next two hours.

Oh, and give hugs. These kids love their hugs.

Why Mason Will Always Be an Only Child

Because my arms only stretch so far in opposite directions.

Lucky Thirteen

Sweet Summertime

It's been a busy few days. Mason, Aimee, Madelynn, and I spent the whole day yesterday at Bland's Park in the kiddie water park. The babies splashed for hours - Mads ended up with her first skinned knee, Mason learned that he can't crawl under water, and both drank their fair share of chlorine. They had a blast.

Today, after work, we took the babies to the pool. When George and I lived in Vairo Village, we paid two years worth of amenity fees for a pool, fitness center, laundromat, and game room... which all were put in after we moved out. I wrote a letter to the manager requesting our money back, but never heard from anyone. They owe us, so today, we crashed their pool.

We've had three nice days so far and Mase already has tan lines. It's going to be an amazing summer.

Thoughtful

I came home on my break from work Monday to find that this baby:


had picked these flowers:


for me. Of course, he threw two of them off the balcony while I was trying to get a picture of them, but still... he picked me flowers.

Park Pick-Me-Up

Yesterday was an I'm-going-to-wake-up-at-six-and-nap-for-twenty-three-minutes-all-day kind of day. So we did what we always do when we have one of those days.

We went to the park.

An hour at the park is all it takes to cure babies and mommies of the grumpies.


Well, sometimes.

A Day Away and a Big Guy in a Tiny Shirt

Last Monday, I went to Hershey Park. Since babies can't ride rollercoasters, Mase stayed home.

It was the first time I've ever been away from Mason for an entire day. I did have fun and the little break from my mommy duties was nice, but by four o'clock I was eyeing up the kiddie rides, pointing out cute babies to Andy and talking about how Mase would have loved the baby pirate ship.

On the way out I grabbed a stuffed Hershey Kiss and t-shirt for him. I put it on him today for the first time.

It's tiny. It would have fit him six months ago. Ten hours away from my kid and I can't remember how big he is. I'm never leaving him again.

Dads

Mason wants to wish the best daddy ever a happy father's day.

(It's not as dangerous as it looks... I hope.)

And, of course, happy Father's Day to the original best daddy ever (mine!).

♥

Art

I was making breakfast a few mornings ago when I glanced down to see Mason happily scribbling on his Doodly-Thing on the refridgerator. He'd never paid it any mind before except to try to rip the pen off of it, but there he was - creating a his first work of art.

George thinks it's the three of us holding hands on the beach, but I'm pretty sure it's an abstract depiction of Mason's view of the world: slightly messy but beautiful and always turning out okay in the end.

I still haven't erased it.

Light Switches and Life Lessons

I was carrying Mason down the hall this afternoon and he was running his hand across the wall, trying to grab at picture frames and doorknobs and the thermostat. In his (failed) attempt to bring the frames crashing down, his fingers bumped a light switch. The kitchen light turned off, and he stared in amazement at the now dark room. I flicked the switch up, the light went on, and Mason laughed as he realized he could see again. He turned it back off and we stood in the dark. On. Off. On. Off. He was beyond fascinated.


It's amazing how early we learn the fact that one tiny action - deliberate or not - can change our whole world.

Duck Tales

My mom and I took Mason to Bellefonte to feed the ducks yesterday. We started out slowly, finding two tame-ish looking ones that weren't flocked to the little girl with the hot dog buns like the eighty-five other ducks in the park. The pair waddled up to us and I gave Mason a piece of bread. He wasn't sure whether to hold it or throw it or eat it, so he froze. That was when the ducks got vicious.

Okay, not vicious. Just impatient. But Mason did get pretty scared. He caught on quick, although he wouldn't throw the bread to the ducks. He wanted the ducks to come to the bread.

So he held out his bread and waited.



There isn't a picture after that last one because the duck snatched the bread and ran away, leaving Mason breadless and hysterical. So we moved on to what we hoped were friendlier ducks.

Turns out, Mason loves ducks!

Mason loved watching the fish, too; so much that he actually stopped eating bread and threw it down to them.



I promised we'd go back soon.