Put-in-Bay, The End

These are just two cute pictures of Charlotte from our trip. She is such a happy baby and really had fun on vacation. She loved being outside, eating out with the whole group, going for walks, watching her cousins play in the pool, and playing on her blanket in the yard of the B&B. She slept great at night and took her naps just like at home. Charlotte is pure joy. Chuck and I are totally in love with her!

The Feed Sack

Charlotte has a neat little mealtime "toy" which we lovingly call the feed sack. It's a little mesh bag on the end of a ring. You can put little pieces of fruit in the mesh bag and Charlotte sucks all the juice out. We had fun feeding her strawberries, mangoes (her fav!), and blueberries. She loved to suck on her fruit pieces every morning.

Strawberries are too sour!

Group Shot!

I saw this series of photos on my camera and I thought it was pretty funny. It's hard to get five girls together for a group shot!

The first two....

add Mary Jane....

here's Anna.....

almost...everyone smile.....

perfect!!

Put-in-Bay, Part IV: Cousin Love

The love between these three cousins is so sweet. Charlotte looks for them as soon as she hears their voices and Anna and Mary Jane are the first to greet Charlotte with a kiss and hug everytime they see her. They love to entertain her and take care of her. Here are a few pictures of the three cousins together.

PJ party at the B&B

Put-in-Bay, Part III: Island Fun!

Fun was had by ALL......

First time in a "real" swing for Charlotte (she loved it, in case you can't tell!)

First time in swimming for Charlotte (she did NOT love it).
Mary Jane had a ball in the kiddie pool!

Anna was a pro off the diving board!
I kicked everyone's butt at putt-putt (even with a baby on my chest...I rule!).

Put-in-Bay, Part II: The B&B

We stayed at the best B&B ever!! The Anchor Inn was perfect. We had awesome breakfasts everyday and the inn keepers, Joey and Kit were so sweet. The rooms were comfortable and homey and we loved hanging out on the front porch.

Put-in-Bay, South Bass Island, OH

The whole family met at South Bass Island in Lake Erie for a great week long summer vacation. Chuck, Charlotte and I drove in from Maryland and Lisa, Scott, Anna and Mary Jane drove in from Wisconsin. We all met at Dad and Linda's and boated over to the island. Everyone had a great time, it was truly one of the best vacations ever! It was the perfect mixture of fun and relaxation. Charlotte had a blast with her cousins and loved all the action and excitement of being away from home.

Between Lisa and I we took over 400 pictures! It's a little overwhelming to try and narrow down the highlights, but here goes (see this post and the following few).....

View from top of Perry's monument.

First teeth

I noticed two little white teeth starting to poke through the day after we moved into our new house. I was surprised to feel them since Charlotte had not been showing any signs of discomfort (just lots of drool). Almost a month later and her first two teeth are really poking through and visible when she cracks her smile! I was lucky enough to get a good picture of the teeth recently.

Happy Five Month Birthday, Charlotte!

Fun in the ExcerSaucer

Charlotte loves her new ExcerSaucer! Here's a video of her typical playtime in the saucer....this goes on for about 1/2 hour, until she exhausts herself and needs to be removed from the contraption!

Maryland Fun

We made time for a little fun while Dad and Linda were helping us out at our new house. Friday night we attended a Maryland tradition, the Crab Feast. It was all you can eat Maryland crabs, corn on the cob, Maryland crab soup, BBQ beef & pork sandwiches and all you can drink beer. Needless to say no one left hunger! (Well, maybe Charlotte! She'll have to wait another year or two before she can enjoy crabs!)

Beer & crabs.....what more could you want!

Also.....Charlotte decided she was ready to give wine a try!

Thanks, Grandpa & Gramdma Linda!

How lucky are we?! While movers were moving all our stuff in to our new house last Wednesday, Dad and Linda were driving from Ohio to spend a few days helping us unpack and get settled. They arrived just as the movers were leaving. Dad ran wild fixing things (I love my new extra sturdy banister!) and Linda unpacked and put away all my kitchen stuff (in a much more sensible and organized way than I would have done myself) and painted doors and trim. They were a tremendous help and we'll always remember their first visit! Thanks, guys, we love you!

Besides helping out around the house, they also had fun playing with Charlotte. They even bought her an awesome new toy, which she is crazy about!

Grandpa & Charlotte

Charlotte "helping" Gramps understand the directions.
Last minute adjustments.
The finished product! Thanks, Grandpa & Grandma Linda!!!

Daddys' Girls

Chuck & Charlotte, Keith & Kate, and Nick & Sophia.

Our New Home

After living in DC for nearly 8 years, Chuck and I sold our condo last fall and headed 25 miles east to Annapolis, MD. For the past 8 months or so we've been living in a rental house and searching for a home to buy. Last month we finally found a house we could picture our growing family living in for many years. We moved in to our new house on July 30th.