The Beach - Year 1: Look out Shore Patrol!

Elliot took to the surf like a champ!



She is marching in the sand with Cousin Alex's master piece sand castle (and Alex in the surf) in the back ground. It took all she had to not stomp it.



Above and below Elliot displays her Shore Patrol chops by pointing out things on the beach and in the water that need to be "saved".


Once the beach goers were safe again, Elliot decided to take up a little sand surfing.

She's a natural - so comfortable on the board, she can surf and impersonate Elvis at the same time!


Surfing grew a little tiresome, and she had extra energy, so she had to start excavating in the mini Grand Canyon.


What a workout! Our little beach bunny took a siesta under the umbrella ... dreaming of little fishies and mermaids.

Elliot's crew at The Beach

I am still getting flack for not bringing Elliot to the beach last year, so technically, it was her first trip to the beach, even though, I suppose technically, we could have brought her last year...but a 10 day old baby, a post partum mommy and a 12.5 hour car trip (see below) do not a vacation make. We made up for lost time this year and Elliot took to the surf like a pro!

Below: Crab Night at Auntie Jane & Uncle Allen's! We love it - especially when Ben picks the crab for us. Elliot is just posing here. Apparently they are not supposed to eat shellfish yet? So the clumps on her tray are from KFC ... (is this supposed to be better than shellfish?) And isn't crab a crustaceon (that I cannot spell)?


Below, the hunters and gatherers set out in search for a new beach house that is closer to the action. It was a long hot walk, but we were ultimately successful in finding new digs. No better way than to just walk up to the houses you like and see if they are rentals...and we are lucky to have not received any trespassing tickets.


In the distance, Uncle Jamie & Ben boogie board in tiny waves.

While Papa relaxes and paints a new masterpiece in the shade.

Cousin Alex takes Elliot for a twirl after the beach wedding. Congrats to Cindy & Richie!

Cousins Alex & Zoe are buried in the sand and acting "eaten alive"...did not make miss Elliot want to be buried much. We'll save her for next year.

Cousin Zoe tries her hand at photography (not bad!) while Elliot & I are slathered and sunglassed ready to hit the sand.



Elliot and Daddy yuk it up in the pool only to be followed by the apres-beach mocktail smoothies Uncle Jamie made for the kids. Do you think Elliot liked hers? We had to literally hose her off after this blueberry mayhem.

Elliot's East Coast Tour

Elliot is a road tripper after all. She weighed in on her 1 year check up at 20Lbs, 15oz, so we just made the cut-off to turn her car seat around to face forward. We did and her inaugural voyage was on a 12.5 hour road trip to The Beach. Thank goodness we have such good friends along the way and we were able to stop off and play in several states with some very fun new friends of Elliot's and very dear friends of ours.


Above, Elliot was so happy to be out of the car in New Jersey and even happier to play with Stella Grace's toys while Ben & I happily munched away on blondies and iced tea. Elliot & Stella had a riot and we were sad our stop was so short! But we still had 8 hours to go!

Below, Next Stop: Philly! Serena is very cool to Elliot since she is twice as old (just turned 2 - Happy Birthday Serena!). The girls are patiently waiting at Pudge's for our, of course, Philly Cheese Steaks to arrive. We lament the fact that we did not take pictures of Elliot diving into her first. Day 1/2 of our 9 days away and we have already gained 2 lbs...no need to worry about the car seat.

What a better way to follow-up a dinner of cheese steak than to wake up to Mitch making blueberry pancakes! The girls lined up at the bar to watch Mitch cook, Benihana style to keep them entertained. Again, our stay was to short, but we are pale and need to find the sun!


And finally, the icing on the cake. Only one stop on our return trip home, in New Jersey, this time to meet up with Noah. Elliot developed an immediate crush on this handsome 2 1/2 year old. Below, they share a romantic dinner for two where they noshed on veggie burgers, corn, string cheese, and KETCHUP! I didn't realize Elliot had not had ketchup yet, and once her fingers found it, she could not get enough. Of course! She loves vinegar things like pickles, likes tomatoes well enough, and then to add sugar, an instant obsession to go with her new crush!

After dinner, Noah & Elliot retired upstairs to launch into space in Noah's rocket ship. Great fun and another visit too short!

Emilot & Ellimy Meet Again

Cousin Emily came to visit for Elliot's birthday. They look so much alike, we fielded many questions at the Sing Along about whether they were sisters - but that would be some kind of science since they are only 5 months apart.




Elliot & Emily clown around after dinner at Quincy Market.
Below, Grandma sent some adorable matching outfits for the girls. Unfortunately, they were never wearing them at the same time. Emily would have one on and Ellie would be in her PJs still. Then by the time Elliot matched, Emily was on to the next outfit, or Elliot spilled lunch on hers. So, sorry Grandma, but your daughters are also not good photographers and the couple of times they managed to match, we managed to take yucky pictures! Look how happy they are! Oh, but it was cute in person.






Below is one of the street performers we saw at Fanueil Hall. www.thehumanknot.com. He captivated the boy cousins and even kept Elliot & Emily tuned in from their strollers.



Elliot is thinking about her own street performance as she waddled around the bricks and landmarks while cousin Andrew got his shop on at Urban Outfitters.

Birthday Party!

Elliot's birthday party was great fun for her. In spite of the lack of super-joyed photos we have...if anyone has more smiley photos on their camera, send them our way. Auntie Kassi needs to see more documentation of the event. And as for the cake sequence, we put the entire cake in front of her and she barely touched it. Then we gave her a huge slice which she proceeded to eat daintily with her precise pincher grip and did not get a crumb anywhere. She has made a bigger mess eating Cheerios! So, there was no cake / frosting smear to be found anywhere! Clearly she takes after her father where cake is concerned.

Summer Lovin' - Had me a blast!

Its been a whirlwind summer and we are only just beginning here in Boston! Below, Elliot has her explorer cap and face on as she tells Auntie Kassi stories in the car. Elliot is so happy to have a companion in the back seat!


Below we are clowning around after a picnic in the park on the Charles River. We ate sandwiches on blankets and Elliot pointed at all the dogs walking by yelling, "Kkktttttt!" A few of them stopped to be pet and to lick her face. Ick!


There is an awesome little sprinkler park and wading pool. We waded right in and had our first lesson in water safety. Shortly after snapping the picture, I stood up to talk to Ben and Elliot sat down...Which I noticed after she was sitting under water looking up at me with her arms up. It was only a second she was under water...but it was only a second I looked away. Hmmm. She did not care, but I was not cool.

Cool was again restored as Elliot models Auntie Kassi's fashion sunglasses. Be careful near the Elliot when you are wearing: glasses, sun glasses, headbands, barrettes, earings, necklaces, and shoes...she's got an eye for them!


Elliot continually practices her coordination skills by trying to carry multiple similar objects in one hand only. Below is an easy one for her. She is trying to get all of her stripey socks into her right palm. Not just her arms, but all in her palm. She works for quite a long time to get 2 forks in one hand, two puzzle pieces in one hand, two maracas in one hand. I hope the sock show she was doing below is not the beginning of trying to hold 3 things in 1 hand.


Elliot was quite the strawberry picker at the strawberry festival. Note to those going to pick berries: flip flops are not the preferred shoes of those in the fields. Sampling the goods in the field seems to be forgiven if you are a baby.



Auntie Kassi came for a visit and we went to a daytime tour of Fenway Park. They do it every day so its a good way to see the field and learn some stats when you can't make it to (i.e. don't want to pay through the nose for) a game.


Auntie Kassi and Elliot pose by the Ted Williams sculpture outside the park.



Below Elliot takes the Green Monster by storm. She is sitting on the wall in seats that are obtained through a lottery system and with a face value of about $135 per seat! Very hard ticket in town to score.

Below we are waiting to go up to the roof deck seats.


Ahhh, life is good on the roof by Pesky's Pole (yellow blur pole to the right of me).
Below Elliot clowns around with the field below. This time experiencing Roof Top seats where you have to also enter a lottery to have the right to spend $440 on a table for 4...but in these seats, you get table-side service and $100 back in food credit...which I guess would buy about 4 hot dogs and a beer. We are not likely to experience these seats again any time soon...Less about the price and more about the fact that we would never have our acts together to apply for the lottery!