Weekend at the Cottage

The second weekend in July, we went to the cottage. It was just the four of us up there at both cottages, which was kind of fun. The weather was nice and we spent a lot of time outside.

When we got there and were unpacking, Leah got into the cooler and helped herself to blueberries. She hid away in the porch so we wouldn't catch her so quickly. Tricky baby! Although, when we did catch her, we just congratulated her for being so smart, and she got to finish up the blueberries!

We had corn for dinner on Friday night. It was yummy!

Leah loves corn, she just goes to town on it.

She made sure to eat it from every angle in order to maximize the number of kernels that she got.

For dessert we made s'mores. Cam and Daddy found the sticks in the woods, and Cam was very excited to use actual sticks (as opposed to store bought roasting sticks). I have no idea why Cameron wanted to wear his life jacket while roasting marshmallows, but who am I to tell him not to?

Daddy didn't get to eat much of his s'more because Leah commandeered it from him.

Cameron loved his too, especially because he made it himself.

Leah's face after her s'more. To say she enjoyed it is an understatement. Her hair was also quite lovely after she ran her marshmallowy hands through it.

On Friday night Leah went to bed early, and the rest of us stayed up playing games. Cameron discovered Sorry and loved it. Here is the face of a happy boy who gets to stay up late and play games alone with Mama and Daddy!

The next morning we just hung out around the cottage. Cameron and Leah found this book that turned into a truck. That kept them busy for an hour or two, in and out of the bus, zamboni, ice cream truck, etc.

We walked down to the old cottage to get the boat. It was a buggy walk, but luckily the black flies were only interested in Tim so the rest of us were left alone.

Life jackets on and ready to go. Cam told Leah that she always has to hold a grown-up's hand on the dock. Apparently he counts as a grown-up.

We drove around the lake for a while, spotting a few loons. Here is Cam pointing to one of them.

Close up of the loon

Happy kiddos on the boat

They both loved it!

After naptime, Cameron wrapped himself up in his blanket and put his hat on. I guess this means he is ready to go?

We went swimming down at the old cottage. Mama and Leah floated around the raft.

One, two, three, JUMP!

Leah got a bit chilly, but of course wanted to still be fashionable. Towel first, hat second though... she is practical if nothing else.

We went back into shore and Mama caught a frog for the kiddos. The frog wanted to kiss Leah. Leah did NOT want the frog to kiss her.

Cam with the frog.

Sweet peas warming up in the sun

What a sweet baby!

We took the boat back up to the new cottage. Cameron wanted to help Daddy drive.

After a few minutes of lessons, he took over the motor on his own. He actually did a really good job, except the few sharp turns we took. No one fell out, so I would call that a win.

After dinner we went into town for DQ, of course. Everyone loved their ice cream but then had tons of sugary energy to run off. Luckily, Mama remembered a playground in Perth so we went there to play for a while.

Leah in the ladybug

Cam the climber

And the monkey swinger. He definitely liked climbing better than monkey bars.

The aftermath of a race down the racing slides.

As the sun started to go down, Leah got tired so she relaxed in a swing with Daddy.

Leah Bee on a bee!

On Sunday we returned the boat back to the new cottage and played there for a while. The kids both liked playing in the hammock, in fact we pretty much had to drag them out of it, kicking and screaming.

Pensive baby (in her hat, of course)

Sweet smile!

Cameron surfing in his life jacket. No, we were not going on the boat, he just really likes to wear his life jacket.
Smile!!

We had so much fun at the cottage. The kids really love being outdoors and swimming, boating and playing. Hopefully we can go for a bit longer next time!

Fourth of July in Swansea

Alright, back to the regularly (or not-so-regular!) scheduled catch up posts. On today's menu, the Fourth of July in Swansea!

As usual, we spent the fourth of July weekend in Massachusetts. Unfortunately this year, the fourth was on Monday when we had to go home, so we didn't get to participate in the neighborhood parade. We still had a great weekend though!

On Saturday was Cathy's baby shower. It was very nice and she got a lot of great gifts. Here are the Walker ladies at the shower: Kristin, Joan, Cathy, Kim and Ella in front

While we were at the shower, the boys and Leah went down to the Landing to go swimming. Jack and Cameron check out the beach.

Jeff supervising the kiddos - Jack, Cam and Leah

Sweet Miss Leah! She LOVES her hat.

They got tired of the beach pretty quickly and headed out to the dock to jump off and swim. Cameron wanted to jump in on his own, with no one in the water to catch him. He did great!

Then Daddy showed off his diving skills

And back in jumps Cameron

Then Jack wanted a turn

Leah wanted to jump in too, but she can't quite jump yet. Instead she backed into the water, just like she would go down any step. Very cute!

Leah going underwater!

Apparently she was not a big fan of the yucky tasting water. I can't say I blame her!

This is what happens when you leave a baby girl along with a bunch of dads. The poor kiddo ends up with one sad looking pigtail coming off the side of her head. This would have been acceptable in the 1980s, when it could have been considered a side ponytail. Now it just looks silly! :-P

Daddy dives again

And Leah backs into the water again

After we got back from the shower and they got back from the Landing, everyone went over to Tom and Joan's for dinner. Leah and Ella hanging out.

Goofing around with Jack

Cathy, about eight months pregnant

The next day we decided to go back to the Landing for more swimming, since the kids had so much fun the day before. Unfortunately, it was much more overcast and chilly, so we didn't do much swimming. First Cameron and Daddy checked out the water. There were also more waves, so Cam really didn't like the water as much today.

Walking out to the dock

A cute family picture - I can't believe that everyone is looking at the camera!

Walking back down to the landing. I think this one is pretty cute too. :)

My sweet kiddos

Leah and her cherry hat. The girl LOVES hats! She is probably the only baby ever who will actually keep them on.

That night we went up to Kim and Jeff's for dinner. The kids had a blast playing in the backyard. Cameron and Jack took turns being soccer goalie. Jack kicks!

Coming in from the other side! Cameron loves being goalie, and he is actually pretty good at it.

Now it is Cam's turn

Meanwhile, Ella and Leah play in the grass

It was such a fun weekend, as always!

More about Leah

One thing I forgot to mention in my 15 month post was how good Leah is at communicating. She really gets her point across and understands everything we are asking. We think she is pretty darn smart! :-P She can nod her head yes and shake her head no, and amazingly she actually uses them correctly. She doesn't just say NO to everything, like I remember Cameron doing. She has a pretty good size vocabulary, although I think I am the main one who can understand her words. She can say: Leah, Mama, Dada, Poppa, Nana, brother, Cameron, Grandpa, hi, bye-bye, ball, up, out, help, more, thank you, please, milk, water, do, poo-poo, duck, uh-oh, cracker, cookie, baby. She can also make the animal noises for a duck, a cow, a dog, a bird and a cat. We think she is going to be quite the chatty girl when she gets older!

Leah - 15 months old!

Last week, our sweet Leah Kate turned 15 months old. It is crazy that she is such a big girl already. On Tuesday she had a doctor's appointment. She got one shot and was so mad at the nurse after she got the shot, but then waved and blew her kisses on the way out. Here are her stats:
Weight: 19 pounds, 14 ounces - 8th percentile
Height: 30 inches - 26th percentile
Head: 46 cm - 51st percentile

Tim was very worried that the doctor would be worried about Leah not gaining much since her one year visit, but the doctor was fine with it. He knew how active she has gotten since she her last visit, and figured she is probably just using a lot more calories these days. He looked at her chunky thighs and said, "It doesn't look like this child is starving!"

We certainly don't think she is starving, the girl is a wonderful eater. She will eat most anything - meat, veggies, fruits, bread. She drinks a ton of milk and loves anything dairy, especially cheese. Many times, she will eat more than Cameron during a meal. All of that is exactly why I wasn't too worried about Leah's lack of weight gain.

Miss Leah is indeed a very active girl these days. At around twelve and a half months, she started walking quite a bit. It started out, of course, with four or five Frankenstein steps between Mama and Daddy, but pretty quickly turned into walking for distances. Now she walks, runs, can walk backwards and tries her hardest to jump. She LOVES to dance and do acrobatics - really she likes to do whatever her big brother is doing!

Leah has always been a curious girl, and now that she is active it has just increased. She is very mischievous and is getting into everything! We have definitely gone into childproofing overdrive, making sure all of the cabinets are locked and the dangerous stuff is out of reach. Leah loves to walk around the kitchen, opening up every single cupboard, looking in, taking one or two things out and moving on to the next. She can be a one-woman wrecking crew, but it is very fun to see her start to explore her world.