A boy and his beach...

Just a few more glimpses of Elijah enjoying the beach a few weeks ago.

A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing...

The ocean called, and we answered, driving over three hours last Saturday to Truro, MA. Marc had been able to get a week off of work and we decided to spend it on Cape Cod, renting a house all the way up by the tip, near Provincetown. Marc grew up going to the Cape every summer since his uncle used to have a house out there and has many fond memories that include lots of sun, sand and ocean waves. I had only been a couple times before, but each time I grew more in love with the area, and couldn't wait to bring Elijah there.
We packed up the car and headed off, eager to get to the beach. We made it to our rental house around dinner time, but before grabbing a bite to eat, we decided to head down to the beach first. We went to the bayside beach and Elijah marveled at the "puddle" in front of him. The weather was cool, but the feel of soft sand beneath our feet and the smell of the salty sea air had us hanging around for quite some time.

Finally at the beach!!

ahhhh....

The next few days were spent checking out the various beaches and what they had to offer. Sometimes we'd go to the ocean side beaches where the waves ruled, and other times we stayed amidst the calm of the still, bayside beaches.

Checking out the water...

hm...thinking about going in.

Pretty fun!

After a few days by ourselves, a bunch of our friends came to visit and spend a few days at our place. We had a blast. Elijah had his friends to play with, we had our friends to hang out with and we had so much fun playing in the sand and sea. We had a bonfire at one of the ocean beaches one night where we roasted hot dogs and s'mores. I still have the smell of the bonfire tucked deep into my sweatshirt!

Simone, Elijah & Zeben

Marc playing with the kids

mmm....campfire hotdogs, delicious!!

Jasper, Lex & Zeben hunting for hermit crabs!

Bath time! Thankfully we had a tub that was big enough for all of them!

The tub had jacuzzi jets, which most of the kids were fans of. Zeben and Elijah were not into it at all. But they had no problem watching their friends have fun!

Bedtime story hour with Marc

The Cape Cod Crew!

Getting our Groove On!

Last weekend we packed our overnight bag, piled into the car and headed to Boston. Our main destination was Fenway Stadium, home of the Red Sox. However, we were not going to see a baseball game. Instead, one of our favorite bands, Phish, was playing a concert there. 
We decided to bring Elijah along, since he loves to listen to music and dance, dance, dance. This concert was no exception. We swung by my brother's apartment, right outside of Boston, to pick him up before heading to our hotel. Elijah and I took a nap while Marc and Amir hung out in the city. Upon waking we got ourselves together and walked outside, only to be met by some rain! We had brought along some rain gear so we stayed dry, and the rain quickly ended an hour or so later. We grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading to Fenway.
The highlight of the weekend for Elijah happened on the way to Fenway. We got to ride the "T", Boston's subway line. It was jam packed with people all headed to the show, but Elijah loved it all the same. Once we finally arrived at Fenway the energy was palpable. Everyone was excited for the show and ready to dance the night away. The concert started early and so it didn't go as late as usual ones do. We enjoyed a fun night of great music and running into some friends before heading abck to the hotel around 10:30ish. Then we all piled into bed and fell quickly to sleep. The next morning after breakfast we headed back onto the highway to drive home. Although our stay in Boston was short, it was fun filled and fondly remembered.

In the car, heading to Boston

Happy family ready to see Phish!

Once the skies cleared we were blessed with a beautiful rainbow!

Down & Dirty

One of the pleasures I've had with creating our new garden space is watching the pride Elijah takes in caring for it. He always makes sure to remind me when we need to water the garden and is always quick to jump in and share what we have planted with random passerby's. I'm proud of the garden as well. We took a bit of space, originally filled with mostly shrubs and turned it into a flourishing garden. Our greens are growing strong, our herbs are spreading and I am shocked at how fast our peas are growing. There is definitely a strong sense of proud ownership when you can sit down to a meal where many of the ingredients are from your front yard. We're nowhere near growing all of our own food, but this small step makes me happy.
I also think that there is some silly pride associated with just how dirty Elijah can get. At some point socks and shoes come off and Elijah's toes wriggle around in the dirt, free as can be. Sometimes I will join him, relishing the feel of the cool dirt between my toes. Other times I'll just watch him enjoy himself and think to myself that another dirt rimmed tub will be the end result that night.

Game night - fun for the whole family!

A few months ago we started up game night - a night that occurred about once a month where we'd get together with friends, have some good food and play some fun games. The best part about game nights is that the kids would come along and get to play, while the adults were (mostly) left alone to enjoy whatever game we had chosen to play that night.
A couple of weeks ago we hosted game night here. We ordered some pizza and after a few rounds on the wii, headed upstairs to play Cranium. The kids busied themselves playing games and after a while we got absorbed in the game. That's when we realized it was quiet, almost too quiet. SOmebody then sniffed the air and thought they smelled shampoo. After sending out one of the adults on a search expedition, we discovered the kids in the third floor shower, emptying a container of shampoo down the drain. In the process they also managed to get shampoo smeared all over themselves. After quickly being stripped of their clothes we turned the water on and let the kids take an impromptu shower. Getting them redressed, however, proved to be a bit more of a challenge, and so we let them run around naked while we went back to the game. At one point Elijah and Zeben found the clay that came with the game and enjoyed playing with it. The night wore on until a team won (Marc, Lex & Megan if memory serves me right), and sleepy babies insisted that it was bedtime.

George & The Man In the Yellow Hat

The other day Elijah asked me for some more water while he was eating lunch. I walked into the kitchen to refill his cup and brought it back to him. He responded with, "Thanks Man In the Yellow Hat!" and broke into giggles.

I looked at him, unsure of what he was up to, but I soon caught on when he said, "Ima - Man In the Yellow Hat. Elijah, George."

Clearly we were playing pretend and I just got the memo. This morning he slipped back into his role of "George" with ease and all morning was spent in character, with Elijah chastising me if I neglected to call him George instead of Elijah. The imagination that he possesses at just two years old makes me feel creative and I love him for that. It's wonderful to watch as he lets me in on the joke and shares his world with me. I wish I had some pictures of us as George and the Man In the Yellow Hat, but we were just too busy being silly. Instead, here are a few more from the park the other day. 

My little shutterbug

Elijah has always been fascinated with our camera. It's probably because he's had it shoved into his face from birth, as I snap away doing my best to document everything that has gone on in his short life. He continually asks to try the camera out on his own, and isn't pacified when I hold it out for him to see through the lens. He needs to hold it himself! So, throwing caution to the wind this morning, Marc and I let him have at it, always hovering to make sure the camera didn't fall or smash into anything. He snapped away, sometimes just taking pictures of random things, other times setting up a scene to capture something specific. He asked Marc and I to pose a few times as well. We both watched quietly, letting him do his own thing despite the fact that I frequently wanted to tell him to lower the camera or raise it up a bit. I was a little skeptical while I uploaded the pictures, but was shocked and amazed when I saw the results. Elijah already has quite the keen eye when it comes to taking pictures. His perspective is totally different than mine and that comes through in his photos. He really did seem to put a lot of thought into the pictures that he took and I think that shines through.

I love this series of his little guys. He used the same background, but switched up the guys for each picture.

Close up of his baby doll

We were instructed to be silly

A couple pictures of the photographer. Wearing a t-shirt for "pants" and his baby in a mei tai. He chose his own outfit today, clearly.