The OC

April was a somewhat traumatic month for me. My baby turned one. As if! And my dear friend, Ellen, moved to the Netherlands. Eee-gads!!

So when I heard that she would be back in the States in the middle of August...and in NEW JERSEY (so close!)...I immediately planned to go see her. Double bonus that her friend, Kate, had the same idea. Triple bonus that my friend, Jamie, was going to be at her shore house then too. So all the families recently met in Ocean City, NJ for a quick weekend of catching up and playing in the surf.

Lily was in SEVENTH heaven playing with Kate's almost 8 year old, Natalie!

The rash, in all its glory, didn't fully surface until the trip home (fear not, she was kept under an umbrella on the beach 99.9% of the time we were there).

Jamie's twins -- Abby (left) and Beth (right)

The only bummer -- but it was a B.I.G. BUH-MER -- was that Anna had been running a fever leading up to the trip. A high fever. And when it broke, she broke out. In a head-to-toe rash, which turned out to be Roseola. A fever/rash combo that landed her in the ER early the morning (as in 3 am early) after we got home. The silver lining, though, is that once the rash appears the child is no longer contagious. Given the number of kids on this trip, I was certainly grateful for that!

"Baby Andrew" (who is 10 weeks older than Anna) devouring his frozen custard. I couldn't believe Ellen was brave enough to give him a cone! I'm far to mess-adverse...

HILARIOUS to see kids, who don't know how to drive, try to do the bumper cars!

Lily and Katie, Ellen's daughter, on the world's tiniest ferris wheel.

Lily and Meridith, who is only 14.5 months younger but almost as tall!

Kate's husband, Paul, with all the "big" kids on the boardwalk

Lily and Katie are only 13 months apart in age -- but about 14-15 pounds apart (Katie is a PEANUT!). Lily loved picking her up and carrying her around.

Andrew, Katie, Anna, Meredith, Natalie & Lily

We had an awesome time visiting with Ellen, Kate, Jamie and their families!! And my earlier suspicions were confirmed. Vacationing with other children makes for one happy Lily (the converse is certainly true too -- boy can she be a pill when deprived of tiny playmates!).

My poor, poor baby...

Green Mountain Memories

It's hard nearly impossible to believe that Labor Day is around the corner. This Summer has gone by in a flash. The fact that we've been on the road for more of August than we've been home certainly hasn't slowed things down.

Our first trip out of the Nation's Capitol was to Vermont. The Green Mountain state. Noah's homeland. On the occasion of his 20th high school reunion (yes, he's THAT old!).

The reunion was actually loads of fun. And great stories. And trips down memory lane. We also got some nice QT with his family. And our Vermont friends. Friends with (THANK. GOD.) kids who are Lily's age. Friends we'd like to see much more of!

Miss FULL 'o Personality!

AKA Miss Curly Head

Yes her lips are blue. Or maybe purple. My VA-bred children were not accustomed to VT lake temperatures!

The oldest kid in the gang. Sam. Mister I'm Too Cool For These Little Kids!

Second Oldest. By 3 months. Miss Megan. BEST toy-sharer I've ever met!

Twin #1. Darling Charlotte. The twins have 2 months on Lily, exactly.

Twin #2. Muscle Man Max. Watch out for this little dude!!

The fabulous (albeit CHILLY) Lake Dunmore.

Chillin' (literally and figuratively) on the Vermont "beach" @ Lake Dunmore.

We also happened to be there during the Addison County Fair & Field Days --

The tiniest miniature horses I've ever seen...

...straight out of central casting (notice the name tags)!

Anna's mean face

Only. In. Vermont...

If Middlebury, VT happens to be on anyone's upcoming vacation itinerary, let me PUH-LEEZE recommend the uber-fabulous Waterfalls Day Spa. Awesome place. Even more awesome owner! Hey, no one can ever accuse me of not knowing people in high places!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

If current obsessions are any indication of the future, Lily is going to be a computer programmer. Or developer. Or gamer. Yes, my four year old is OBSESSED with all things electronic. Especially computers.

Lily has a slew of Web sites, bookmarked in her own online folder. She knows how to navigate to them. Away from them. Through them. She can troubleshoot when problems arrise. She's a machine on the, well, machine.

Lily also protests loudly when we try to hop on the iMac. To do silly things. Like, you know, pay bills online. How dare we!!

Anna seems to be closely following in the computer-obsessed footsteps. We had a rare occurrence recently when she and I arrived home after "school" to find an still empty, and blissfully quiet, house. So what did Anna do? She ran, as fast as her toddler legs could carry her, over to the computer to snag it before her older sister resumed her throne.



I think that he was high from the experience. Mesmerized by the music of Little Orphan Annie. In awe of the fact that SHE actually got to sit perched on the kitchen stool!

Tunnel Vision

It's hard to remember the early days when a covered playground tunnel was a scary thing. When it required me to put my little girl on my lap and stuff my big body down a narrow tube. Now slides represent pure joy. Unadulterated fun!

A big St. Jude THANK YOU!

Back in June, to help celebrate Father's Day AND raise money for an incredible organization, Lily's school put on a charitable trike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN.

The timing was especially good as we attended a family meeting in Charlottesville, VA mere days before. Lily, always the entrepreneur, packed her pledge sheet and did her best to hit her fundraising goal. Which she did. Thanks to my VERY generous family members -- Lois Anne, Loise, Lake, Rebecca, Marilyn, Peggy and Nettie (aka my mother). Noah and I topped her off. Who can say no to a charming four year old asking for money to help "sick children?"

Since this was a Father's Day function, the official family photographer (um, yours truly) wasn't in attendance. And it seems as if Noah was more focused on Lily than on the Flip camera. Which he probably should have been. You can sort of see her here.



Lily, I think, was more focused on the camera than she was on actually biking. Which she shouldn't have been. But she's four, so I'll cut her some slack.

The school raised over $3000 to support this incredible medical facility, which is doing cutting edge research and which never turns down a patient irregardless of their ability to pay. If anyone ever needs a charity to donate to, I'd highly recommend St. Jude's.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the generous contributions from our cousins, aunts, uncle and grandmother. So, without further ado, here's Lily with her LONG overdue thank you!

South Asia Meets North Arlington

My sister, Miranda, just got back from what sounds like an absolutely amazing/once in a lifetime trip to India (complete with a MAJOR trek through the Himalayas).

While we haven't gotten the full download, we did get some goodies. Miranda was sweet enough to think of the girls and pick up little Indian frocks for them at a market in ______. Shoot, I forgot to get that critical detail.

I promise to fill in the blank after we get the full scoop (and see the pictures, of which I hope there are many!!). In the meantime, I was able to capture a few shots of the girls in their new attire. Post-bath. Pre-bed. But barely. Anna was so tired tonight she definitely wasn't going to stand still and pose for a picture. To the contrary. She made a game of running from the camera.

(pants are from the far off land of Nordstrom's...although they do go quite nicely)

Between the curd and curry, kids in India aren't exactly the same size as my girls. Almost 16 month old Anna's dress is sized for a 3 year old. Four year old Lily's (oops, four and three-quarters year old...as of today!) tunic is meant for a 7 year old.

THANKS MIRANDA!