Trolley Time at the Beach

Today's report of life at the beach is as follows: Sebastien and Genevieve woke up at 6:30AM, which is earlier than normal, but they are just so excited about being here that I really can't blame them. We went out to the beach once everyone got up and Sebastien had so much fun splashing in the pools we dug him in the sand. Genevieve took a little beach nap and then enjoyed chilling in the shade. Sebastien is still very scared of the ocean water and won't go within 20 feet of it, which is ok with me for now. After nap, we went for a ride on the trolley that goes along the beach to downtown York Village, where we got off to play on the playground before heading back to the cottage for dinner. Of course baths and bedtime for the kiddos followed. It was a nice, full, relaxing day at the beach. Here are some photos:

Below: moon rising last night

Below: My little groundhog on the beach
Below: my sleeping beauty on the beach

Below: Sebastien and Grandpa on the see-saw at the park

Below: on the trolley!

Grandma & Grandpa on the trolley with the kiddos

Genevieve and Grandpa on the trolley

Do baby girls get any cuter than this?

First Full Day of Beach Vacation in Maine

Luckily we have great internet access here at the beach, so coming to you only a few hours old are our pictures from our first full day.

Below: Genevieve was not a huge fan of the beach today but she was only out there for a little while and was already tired and hungry. Later this week we'll get her suit on and make her a little warm baby pool in the sand and hopefully she'll like it.

Sebastien loved making little pools and playing in them. Daddy made him a jump on this one and he spent countless hours jumping off of it into the puddle.
Below: Becca shows off the yummy lobster dinner on the porch of the beach house.

Below: Masse family photo.

Below: our family photo
Nice view from the porch at the end of the day.

A week at home

Well another week has almost come and gone. I can't believe how fast these summer days are flying by. We didn't have many playdates or activities planned this week and that's partially because I wanted to slow down and enjoy some time at home with the kids before our end of summer chaos begins. By that I mean, we are leaving Saturday for 2 weeks at York Beach, ME. There is a quick trip to Denver mixed in there for a friend's wedding. When we come back from York, we leave a couple weeks later for South Bend, then followed by Brian & Jaclyn's wedding. So, yeah, I'm trying to make sure we take a big breath of home sweet home.

Genevieve has had a productive week. She learned how to roll over and can do it fairly consistently from back to front. She also discovered her feet. Both of these milestones were not hit by Sebastien for at least another month, so I was pleasantly surprised. She also tried rice cereal for the first time this week, and spit it out, but that's normal the first couple of times. We'll keep trying. Here are some pictures:

Below: All ready to try cereal!

Not as good as she hoped.
Below: Sebastien (and a hopeful Gwynnie) loved eating her left overs.
Seabstien points out his accomplishments with lining up and stacking cars.

Below: alternate view of "tummy time," which Sebastien still insists on doing alongside Genevieve.

Thursday morning we went to "splash day" outside the Windham library. Sebastien enjoyed this water hopskotch. (Note how brown the grass is. We've been in a major drought and sadly our front lawn looks like this too.)

Genevieve at splash day.

Below: back at home, Genevieve checks out her reflection.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post at the beach, but I'll try. If there's a long delay in the next post, you'll know why :)

A Visit from South Bend Friends!

Betsy and her two kids, Atticus and Norah, were vacationing in NY with family and paid us a visit on Tuesday. Atticus and Norah are both close to 3 so Sebastien had such a good time playing with them. Here we are in the backyard Tuesday afternoon.

Everyone did a good job sharing the cozy coupe.
Wednesday it rained so we went to the Children's Museum in Boston. Luckily Becca went with us because we learned you basically need one adult for each toddler, and even then it was tricky at times. Here is a picture of Norah and Atticus at the baby washing station. I have to admit this was a little creepy but the kids seemed to really like it.

Below: Sebastien washing his baby doll.

Genevieve didn't need anything but Auntie Becca for entertainment.

Atticus and Sebastien shooting hoops.

Below: All 3 of them playing in the sand.

Below: Sebastien in the splash puddle

Below: Norah & Sebastien in the construction zone on a machine.

Thursday morning at the park

It was an awesome 2 and a half days with a house full of toddlers. Its too bad we can't play like this every week. Luckily we'll see them again in about a month in South Bend.

Random pics

Here are a few random pictures taken around the house. I took the following picture after Sebastien lined up all his animals around Genevieve. Gwynnie even participated for him.

Her hair looks pretty red here.
Evenings with daddy

Jaclyn's Bridal Shower

Last weekend we had a bridal shower for Dan's brother Brians' fiancee Jaclyn. A good time was had by all. Below are some pictures from the event:

Kim, Becca and Genevieve

Sebastien will be the ring bearer in the wedding so he had a special "Ring Security" shirt.
Becca, Brian, and Jaclyn
Below: Sebastien loved helping open the presents. It's amazing what a difference several months makes because even at Christmas, he was not that into open presents but he certainly was this time.

Below: Jaclyn's grandma spending some quality time with Genevieve.

Children's Museum of NH

Wednesday Becca and I took the kids to the Children's Museum in NH. We spent most of our time in the 0-3 yr old room since that conveniently works for both my kiddos. Sebastien loved the big train set, as you can see below. There was an infant area nearby where Genevieve could get her tummy time on. Enjoy the pictures...

Genevieve and Sebastien in the mirrors
Sebastien building a stain glass window

in the infant area...

Ok, this isn't from the museum but this is her new favorite thing to do.

4th of July Weekend

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I wish every weekend could be 3 days long with plenty of sun and things to do. Friday night we had some friends over. Saturday we hung out at home and played in the backyard by the pool. Sebastien isn't a huge fan of the inground pool yet, so he plays mostly in the kiddie pool. Genevieve, Dan and I tend to chill out in the shade on lawn chairs and Gwynnie likes to dig herself holes in the mulch beds. Saturday night we went to see the fireworks in Windham. This was Sebastien's first time seeing fireworks and he was scared at first but his Elmo doll helped him through it, as well as Dan & I reciting some lines about fireworks from his favorite book. After that he seemed to like them and now he can't stop talking about them ("go boom boom!") Sunday we did some more chilling at home by the pool, then went to a friend's house for a pig roast. On Monday we headed to Lake Winnipesaukee for a lamb roast with friends. It was such a nice weekend!

Below: Genevieve in her 2 piece bathing suit.

The kids in their bathing suits.
Genevieve with a beverage in the backyard.
Below: Waiting for the fireworks to start in Windham. Uncle Phil joined us for the evening. Here he is walking with Sebastien.

more waiting for fireworks

Below: Watching the fireworks with Daddy & Elmo

Sebastien and Genevieve watching TV

Below: Sebastien playing on the beach at Lake Winnipesaukee

It was a great weekend but at least it's only a 4 day week, right? It's 100 degrees here in NH today so Dan & I set up the window AC units. Thank goodness for them or I'd be spending the whole day with the kids in Walmart or something!