Road Woes

Why do we always come here?

I guess we'll never know.

It's like a kind of torture

Just to watch the show.

-- Muppet Show Theme

Change is coming.

Top Chef, etc.

Couldn't resist posting this picture of us with Stacy and Kevin and...Richard Blais. We had a great meal (sans kids) at One Midtown Kitchen as part of their summer chef series, and the Faux Hawk himself was kind enough to pose with us. Delicious!

But getting back to the real subject of this blog...

Claire is walking all over the place, but only while holding onto someone's hand or behind her push cart. She could walk if she wanted to...she just doesn't know it yet.

Her future's so bright, she has to wear 1989 Pizza Hut Back to the Future Part 2 promotional shades.

Eastbound and Up

Technical difficulties with our external hard drive have made posting pictures more difficult lately. I'm working on getting those resolved, but in the meantime, here are some pictures from our July trip to Carolina Beach with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ryan and Luigi...

Hold on to your funnel cake, boardwalk carnival-goers...the Dynamic Duo is on the scene.

Hooray, Henry finally likes rides!

Even scary ones!

And this was the "serious one"

Pretty sure they're watching Superman here

Grandpa helps Henry get used to the surf...

...while Grandma keeps watch to prevent Claire from eating sand.

Claire is a third-generation beach-lover.

Meanwhile, back at the beach house, the boys take advantage of the downtime between Grandpa's sets of old family slides...

Better Late Than Never: Claire's First Birthday Party

This post is more than a little tardy, but it's been a crazy summer. Here are some pictures from Claire's first birthday party, which he had at our house in July. She had lots of fun with her family and a few friends...

Grandpa Marty gives her a pre-party pep talk. Bonus: if you are struggling to remember what a tube TV looked like, see background.

The traditional first-birthday corn on the cob

The somewhat more traditional first-birthday cake and ice cream

Alexis and Grandma show Claire her first "real" baby doll. I believe they are kindly letting her know that she was never that quiet as a newborn.

Deep Down in Florida

We spent July 4th weekend at the beach in Sarasota, Florida. We didn't know that our hotel would be ground zero for something called the Suncoast Super Boat Grand Prix Festival and all the tattoos and 80's hairstyles that go with it, but we had a great time anyway...

Hooray for indoor baseball! We took in a Cards-Rays game at "the Trop" in St. Petersburg one night. I don't like domes, but we weren't complaining about the 70-degree temp once we were inside.

Claire enjoys her breakfast in our hotel room while Henry sleeps in the background.

I don't know what she's planning here, but it doesn't look good.

This was Claire's first time to the beach. She loved it, and didn't even get upset when she ate large quantities of sand...

...but she definitely preferred these dried apple pieces.

Captain America shows off his new flip flops, which led to some very funny walking difficulties during their first hour of use.

Thanks to a well-positioned balcony, we had a private Fourth of July fireworks show without even leaving our room!

Claire Ellen Turns One!

It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since Claire was born...and a whole eight months since she stopped screaming.

Queen for a day. Much more than a day, actually...

That drool is to be expected. She seems to be getting about six upper teeth in all at the same time.

Once cake, one candle. As Henry says, this one is "made from homemade."

Cue obligatory shots of sugary, goopy, cakey mess...

Looks like that sugar coma hit a little early. But she liked it, no surprise. If you think this is gross, her bathwater looked like the post-Deepwater Horizon Gulf Coast.

You should have seen the other guy.

Randoms

Here are some recent shots showing what Henry and Claire have been up to...

"Friends" means never having to explain why you're in the bathroom with each other while on the toilet or balancing a stick on your face.

Pop teaches Claire an important summer lesson: how to eat watermelon.

Success!

Here's one way to handle 95-degree temps during the first week of June.

****** in a box!