Sweet Caroline
Caroline turned two this month. I can hardly believe it. As everyone always says, “The days are long but the years are short.”
And so, here are a whole bunch (because I can’t narrow it down) of new pictures of my sweet daughter. Beautiful, funny, expressive, loving, possessive of her brother, loves the letter “o” and green frog rainboots, queen of long soaks in her tiny bathtub, inquisitive, and one of the two lights of my life…
Pink Princess Harps are the best:
Sometimes a girl just needs to relax and eat some Yoplait (product placement):
Her eye color changes constantly depending on her clothing color and the light, but this is their true color:
Fairy in the moonlight:
William goes back to school next week - I can’t believe that either. The summer has flown by. I have been so busy and I know I haven’t posted very much lately, but I promise to do better!
Filed under Images, Recent Posts | Comments (2)the beautiful beach
We just returned from our family vacation to sunny Sandestin, which is why I haven’t posted anything in a while. First it takes a week to pack everything, then another two days to fit it all - and us - in a MiniCooper. With roadbox, of course - but even with the roadbox, as we were finally getting in the car to leave and my seat was totally full of critical in-car sacks of snacks, books, movies, etc., my son said “Mommy, where are you going to sit?” And then my husband said, “Well, I think we got everything but the kitchen sink,” and then I remembered that I had forgotten the inflatable bathtub for the hotel, without which my daughter would refuse to take a bath for the whole week, and I actually got to say, “But we did forget the bathtub” and had to squeeze it in too. Then actual time at the beach, then another day to get back, and then another week to unpack everything and do fifty loads of sandy laundry. My subjects may now refer to me as the Queen of Perpetual Laundry. You may now rise and kiss my hand.
Suffice it to say that my daughter did not like the sand. Really really did not like it. See the old post on this blog called “Snow!!!” and you will see a similar reaction to alternate forms of water. We suspected this would be the case since she won’t even play in our sandbox at home. Any tiny particle of sand touching any part of her would cause her to react in a less than ideal-happy-family-vacation sort of way. So for your viewing pleasure, here are two shots of Caroline, just like a hundred others with a very similar expression, at the beach. And just so you don’t call DHS on us, the bruise on her cheek was due to a collision with the hotel dresser drawer pull - another happy moment for her on vacation.
William, however, loves the beach and had a wonderful time.
And his Jacques Cousteau impression:
I would like to extend eternal thanks to some condo owners who were not visiting their condo next to our hotel this particular week.
It was only because of their chairs and umbrella that I was able to get a smiling picture of Caroline. So to the Brown family, whoever and wherever you are, you can send us a bill for our few minutes of happiness if you like.
But cookies also made the beach acceptable, with a smidgen of suspicion thrown in for good measure:
Happily, Caroline did love the many swimming pools, and most especially loved running endlessly around the lower level of the hotel which consisted of empty ballrooms and miles of carpeted hallways. With cool elevators that go up to the fifteenth floor if Mommy isn’t fast enough to get to the buttons first. Note to self: if I ever again want to ride fifteen floors up and down all by myself, all I need is a screaming toddler in my arms and people will magically say, “That’s ok, we’ll wait for the next one…”
Happy summer everyone!
Filed under Images, Recent Posts | Comment (1)The Summer of the Hawks
From now on, the summer of 2008 will be known in our household as the Summer of the Hawks. One of my neighbors has been watching this pair build their nest since February. They chose a tall pine tree next to his driveway for their home.
We have since learned that these are Sharp-Shinned Hawks. These hawks are very territorial. They are the smallest of the hawks, and feed on songbirds, lizards, frogs, and other small mammals. About two months ago we noticed there were baby hawks peeking out of the nest (so high binoculars were needed to get a good look). After they began moving slowly farther and farther away from their nest, we learned there were four babies. We would often see all six hawks sitting on a fencepost or in a tree together. The parents throw their prey to the juveniles in midair to teach them how to hunt.
We went on vacaction all last week and now that we are back, all the hawks have gone. We will miss hearing their pretty calls all day long throughout the neighborhood, although I’m sure the sparrows won’t miss them at all.
I got a few good shots - two of the best were when one of the juveniles decided to rest a while on my husband’s car and let me get to within a few feet before he flew off.
