Who Needs Toys?

Who needs toys when you can play with a plastic cup and a spoon?  Juliet loves sitting on Pop's lap and playing.  She's also rocking her patriot headband and dress here.  Close up shots on her cool style later....

Cuz

Matty and Brendan just hanging out.  Matty is being extra silly for the camera!

Biker Gang

Watch out for the gang!!  Fun in the sun at the shore with the cousins-- Juliet, Matty, Brendan, and Ryan.  The boys were riding their bikes and Juliet was keeping up with her ride on car! 

Say Cheese

Everyone look at the camera and say cheese!! 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Birthday, Daddy--from your two favorite people (who sat very still to take this picture, but would not hold up both signs AND smile at the same time) :-)

The Climber

Juliet has embraced her inner climber.  My old technique of blocking her way with the ottoman does nothing to inhibit her movement.  She climbs right on top and slides down the other side.  She was feeling particularly triumphant the other day as she conquered her old enemy, the green ottoman.

Look Ma, I'm on Top of the World!

Shortie

Juliet is a tad on short side.  I mean, I know she's only 1 and all, but still, she's pretty darn short.  I think she may have inherited the short Norwegian genes.  We'll see.  I put her in capri pants.  Yes, these are capri pants.  Although, you can't tell--they look like full length pants on her teeny legs!

Shortie:

The Terminator and Shortie:

Kitchen Helper

Matty loves to help--here he is having a grand old time mixing up the pancake batter.  Mmmm!

Smiles in the Park

Juliet and Matty -- frolicking in the park.

The Family

The family -- Mommy, Daddy, Matty, and Juliet-- all in one picture!

Playing in the Sun

Matty and Juliet love playing outside...

Mini Me

Matty and Daddy took some great self-portraits.  Everyone always says that Matty looks just like his Daddy...I guess there is a little resemblance... :-)

Friends

Matty & Juliet and Ella & Owen sat really nice for a group picture.  No crying involved--excellent!

Juliet is Ready for her Close Up

Juliet with an extreme close up!  I tried putting her hair into two little braids, so it's completely back and out of her face in this picture--all you see are her chubby cheeks. 

Visiting Friends

Road trip time!  We took the kids to visit Tony & Sara and their little ones Ella and Owen.  Everyone played really well and had a great time.  Juliet's favorite part of the visit was the bowl of goldfish that she devoured over the course of the afternoon.  :-)

Matty and Ella playing

Juliet and Matty snacking

Juliet still snacking with Ella and the coveted goldfish

The Final Straw (berry)

Some last shots of Matty and Juliet strawberry picking...

Strawberry Fields Forever

Phew..that was tough work.  Time for some group pics!

Cousins in the Strawberry fields

Pop with his four grandchildren--everyone is tired from all the hard work (that Pop, Aunt Susie, and Mommy just did :-)  )

Strawberry Comraderie

Strawberry Buds-- Matty and Brendan

Strawberries

The picking continues...

Juliet checking her height against cousin Brendan

Matty picked a strawberry!

Juliet pointing out a good strawberry to cousin Ryan

Strawberry Picking

Strawberries are in season!  We went Strawberry picking--Matty's 3rd visit to the strawberry patch and Juliet's 2nd!  It was quite a hike out to the field, but the strawberries smelled amazing and were ripe for the picking, as the saying goes. 

Distractions

Why haven't I updated the blog in a week?  Reading the Fifty Shades of Grey and Hunger Games trilogies back to back was probably a really bad idea in terms of my free time.  I also forgot our camera over Memorial Day weekend and didn't get any pictures of the kiddos and fam at the shore.  (I'll have to make up for it by taking twice as many shore pictures for the rest of the summer.)  Our Memorial Day weekend was certainly not dull.  We had the traditional sand and surf fun, but it also included Matty running full speed into a sliding glass door, stepping on a shard of glass, and some major GI issues.  On the bright side, Matty shook everything off and didn't let anything slow him or his eating down.  Juliet continued her Charm tour and is currently gathering research for her first book "How to win toys and influence family".  Her biggest coup so far is getting Uncle Tom to let her play with his new iPhone.