July 4th Weekend in Vermont

July 3rd - July 5th

After the Blathcly wedding festivities, it was time to turn our focus to July 4th weekend. This meant seeing Angie and Joe and meeting baby Liam, all up from Florida; watching the family teams take part in Bay Day; and the Bowler Family cookout.

Liam enjoyed watching the race

Charlie loved the freedom of the park

Aaron zooming in ... (ahead of Pete) :)

And the winners are ... Team My Moms Cooks Good!!

This photo was taken before Pete came up with the scam for this year

The family teams - great job done by all!!

After the race, a group of us hit up The Dog House for some good ol' fried food (though we missed Paul & Lille this year, who got caught up at the park).

Joe and Aaron decided to try what was called "The Michigan Dog"

The cookout at Grandpa Bowlers was great. Some good steaks, dogs, lots of snacks, salads and lots of family time. Great to have most of the family together since it doesn't happen often enough.

The Blatchly Wedding Week

June 25th - July 2nd

Dave & Colleen's wedding day was finally coming! It was time to get ready for the festivities - and being a bridesmaid means painted toenails, a rehearsal dinner and getting dressed up. We headed up to Vermont to get started. Friday, a week before the wedding, Colleen treated us bridesmaids to a pedicure ... I'm not one for these things, but enjoyed the girl time (and the surprise birthday ice cream cake!) at her camp.

Ready for those red shoes!

Charlie and I stayed in Vermont the whole next week while Aaron headed back to NH to work. I got a hair cut, had a birthday, a dress fitting/hemming, some tanning appointments, did some garage saling with Shelley and Mom and had a nice dinner with Kristy during that week! We also enjoyed the park one afternoon with Shelley, Tori and Trey. It was hot, but fun.

Charlie in action on the swing!

Three little monkeys - Tori, Trey & Charlie

Giving Aunt Shelley BIG hugs

Aaron came back just in time for the rehearsal and dinner for the wedding. The rehearsal was a wet one, and the dinner was good (unlimited lobster for anyone ... I even took one of my own and ate a bit before I realized I don't really like it much).

Dave & Colleen

The wedding day brought perfect weather. Us girls tied each other into our corset dresses while the men were outside sweating as they greeted guests. The ceremony was perfect and then it was time to celebrate!

Charlie LOVED the band and couldn't contain herself - this is her crawling around with her bread because she just couldn't wait to hit that dance floor!

The ALLARD girls (of course, we didn't know Kristy was going to be one at that time)

Family photo in the big chair

Having fun with Daddy

Dancing with Mommy

She fell asleep on the dance floor with Nanny and was OUT for the last few hours, even with the loud music!

The beaming bride!

Friends, always, no matter what

(Me, Shelley, Colleen & Angi)

Sisters for life

Thanks to "Nanny & Papa" for helping with Charlie so we could have a good time at the rehearsal and wedding!!

Our Star!

We are so excited - we got a sneak-peek photo sent to us from Charlotte's Robeez photo shoot last month! They said this is one they have chosen to use on their website for their new shoes coming out for the fall - these are their new reversible ones. It may be on the site as early as July sometime! We're so proud of her and love the photo (and that is a real freshly-steamed cashmere sweater she is wearing, along with makeup ... we still laugh).

And here it is - on the site early! I got an email stating that they had new arrivals and thought I'd check it out. I did NOT expect to see her on the main "Girls" page!!! I thought I would see her as a little thumbnail you can click on when you view an actual pair of shoes, so you could see a child wearing them. I was so proud of her when I saw this. And we're still waiting to see some of the friends she met on the photo shoot be put up on the site too.

Fun Stuff

June 2010

Charlotte likes to eat, especially now that she can eat more "big girl" foods. She loves blueberry waffles, pizza, any type of pasta (even if it's a bit spicy), and pretty much anything that we eat. Though with this newfound love of foods, she also gets more messy with the independence of feeding herself. Her favorite is to run her sticky hands through her growing hair - this makes for some crazy hair, which she thinks is hilarious.

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Bumpin' Up and Down in Her Little Red Wagon - we got her a new wagon as an early birthday present. We knew we wanted this souped up one with a sun shade and seats that can lay flat or be open for bigger kids. The side also flips up so I can sit on it with her as a bench. So cool - and she LOVES it. She was so excited to wake up one morning and see it in our living room.

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We used a Target gift card Charlotte received from some Syracuse friends to buy her a water table for the hot summer days. We set it up on the deck with some cold water and some toys and she enjoys playing and splashing around. She even lets me spray her in the face with the squirt toys! It's lots of fun.

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We finally headed out to Hampton Beach to bring Charlie for the first time. Now, keep in mind that she's been on a cruise and to some wonderful beaches in the Caribbean, so this wasn't going to be as great as that. But we avoided the long line into the Beach and the raised parking prices and headed just north to where we could easily park at a meter and have some space on the beach. We set up a little sun shade for her that the wind immediately blew over. And as soon as we set her down, she picked up a handful of sand and tasted it. She didn't like it much, but continued to play with the sand in her hands with a look of disgust the whole time we were there. Though the water was too cold for us, she enjoyed sitting as the waves came in. It was a fun afternoon of family time.

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On Father's Day, we decided to lay low and just spend more time together since it was another free weekend. We decided to go and enjoy some creemees at a local spot. I thought Aaron was crazy to try their two flavors of the week together - maple and peppermint twist! I stuck with the maple alone, but Aaron and Charlotte loved the mix. She loves her some creemees!

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Every Friday, Charlie and I head to the public library for infant lap-sit storytime. (Don't let the name fool you - there is never much sitting on the lap!) There's a bunch of under-2 kiddos and their Mommies who sing songs and listen to stories. Charlie enjoys this a lot since she loves both books and music. She sometimes even crawls up to the librarian as she reads and gets to sit on her lap. And she uses the little chairs in the room as a walker as she uses the space of the room. It's something we look forward to whenever we're actually still here in town. We also check out some board books each week so Charlie can enjoy some new ones at home. What better way to wind down at night than some stories read by Mommy or Daddy?

Summer is fun!