SHWIMMING!!!!

Great-Grandpa Joe (Papa) picks up Josie from daycare and takes her to our pool once or twice a week. And she loves it-except for the time the inner tube flipped her over and she couldn't get herself back up. Took awhile to get her back in the swing of things. She was worried about "fall!" Can't blame her really. No more inner tube unless I'm in the pool right next to her. Or maybe at all. A little girl drowned recently in 1 foot of water because of an inner tube.

Josie's first slip-n-slide encounter:






Grandpa usually swims with her-he forgot his suit this day. Our condo has a regular pool, hot tub (josie loves it!) and this awesome 2ft wading pool.

4th of July

We celebrated the 4th at the Salem Waterfront-enjoyed family and friends, some Irish dancing, music, and, of course, the best fireworks that they've ever put on before. Josie did great-stayed awake the whole time (as opposed to last year when she fell asleep in the middle of the fireworks) and clapped and clapped for the "pretties".





Look Mama! A light saber! (note to parents: a great tool for keeping a child up way past their bedtime. Thanks Lisa!)



Mama and Josie taking a picture of each other.

Josie's 2nd Birthday party AKA The Party of the ANNOYING SINGING ELMO BALLOON!

You know-it seemed like a good idea at the time. We went to the party store to get some balloons and I picked out one of Elmo's face and some latex ones and the girl filled the balloons while we paid. Then when we went to get them-she's like, "You know-we have a singing Elmo balloon. Would you like that one too?" Of course-she didn't point it out until I'd already bought and paid for the other one. . . . So yeah-I got it. Brady and Marina and I squished ourselves into the car with a million balloons (or so it seemed). Honestly-I was a little worried about Marina in the backseat-I couldn't even see her. That balloon sang all the way to Jeff and Marie's house . . .

It was just a family birthday-we had a gourmet hot dog theme and of course, green beans for the birthday girl. (Side note: we recently had a green bean canning party and when Josie saw over a hundred quarts of green beans on the counter-her eyes got HUGE! And then she was ticked cuz we didn't have them for dinner . . . She kept pointing at them, like-hey people-THEY'RE RIGHT THERE! OPEN ONE FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!)

That balloon floated for 6 WEEKS! And is still singing . . . . . Shouldn't have rescued it from the skylight. And when the whole balloon bunch came loose from Josie's highchair during dinner-we shouldn't have let Uncle Jeff climb the tree to get it out.

A few pics . . .


Look Mama-it's SINGS! (yes, yes . . .we are all painfully aware, sweetie!)


Uh, oh!





Somebody DO something!


This is the nice quiet one.

Sassy girl

Is that a new camera Mama? Let me see up close.


Scuse me? I'd like a Shirley Temple to go with my goldfish. Extra cherries, please!


I'm too sexy for these sunglasses!


I crack myself up!



I'm soooo rocking this recorder . . .

My new ringtone is "Elmo's Song"

I need to get out more.

Nuff said.