Seeing old friends

On the afternoon of the 4th, we went over to the Starkey's house- the Starkeys, Kistes, and my parents have been friends since before we were born. Tim, Mike, Jen, and I grew up together and all graduated together. Today, we're all married and all have little ones, so we got together for a quick hello while we were home. So nice to see old friends!

The proud grandmas with their favorite little ones!

Jen's little girl, Emily. Isn't she a doll?

Cate in the bouncy house with Emily and Cooper.

Cate with Cooper- Cate was really interested in the box of sidewalk chalk.

Parades and petting zoos

Cate participated in the Push'em Pull'em parade along with hundreds (seriously) of other kids. We didn't have much for decorations this year, and I didn't even have a red, white, or blue outfit for her, but we still had fun and got balloons!


Later that evening, we went over to the field where all the balloon events take place, to check out the petting zoo and baby alpacas. Cate loved it, and she quickly caught on that she could rip up some grass and feed it to the variety of critters through the fence. Rick and Dad were with us, and afterwards, Rick asked if it was better now that we have Cate so that I can justify petting the animals as opposed to just being the weird 30-something person petting goats without a child at my side. Kids do have their perks. :)

Gramma met up with us at the petting zoo, and then we started to head home to get Cate ready for bed, just as the hot air balloons were beginning their fly over.

With Gramma and Grandpa

Rick and I have found that when we hug in front of Cate, she runs over to get in the middle of it. So when Gramma and Grandpa hugged in the kitchen during our visit, Cate barged in. I don't think they minded!


Cate's other grandma, Nana Davis, brought her this dress last fall, hoping that it would fit this summer- it does!! She wore it to church last Sunday and looked like a little angel.

Cate and Sophie at the zoo

On the Monday after the 4th, we drove up to the Toledo Zoo to meet up with my dear college friend Martha, her husband, Jason, and their daughter Sophie, who was born only a few weeks after Cate (they're the Dancing Barefoot with Sophie blog). They drove down from Michigan for the day, and it was the first time we've gotten together in nearly 9 years- before Rick and I were even married! We were so excited to see each other and possibly more excited to get the girls together for a meeting.

We arrived first, so Cate had a little snack with Daddy while we waited.

The girls first meeting- checking each other out!

The first exhibit- the seals. Obviously, they didn't keep distance between them for long.

Then we decided to take the girls on the carousel. Sophie was a little unsure on this particular day and preferred to ride on Martha instead. :) Cate picked out this pygmy hippo and thoroughly enjoyed her first ride on a merry-go-round.
What "exotic" bird did Cate find most interesting in the aviary? Ohio's state bird- the cardinal! Of all the birds, Cate seemed to make quick friends with this cardinal in rehab.

Burning off a little energy at lunch. I caught her on the go in her moment of wildness!

The girls with the girls!

Cate's trying to sneak Sophie a kiss.

As if the cardinal wasn't enough, the girls most enjoyed the mallards that were nesting at the edge of the rhino exhibit. I'm not sure they even noticed the rhinos. Sophie really wanted to get up close and personal with the ducks!

I love this picture. Does it say, "We're done," or what?! I hope we can all get together before another 9 years goes by!

Cate's first boat ride

So school is FINALLY out, and we're happy to get this summer vacation started. Today, the sun came out for the first time in a week, and Rick suggested we all go out for our first family boat ride in the new boat. After lunch, we took it down and put it in at the south end boat launch and took a ride up the Kennebec just past the north end boat launch, turned around, and went back to the south end (Bath is about 6 miles long and one mile wide- the six miles bordering the Kennebec River). Cate was stylin' in her new pink goggle sunglasses and her froggy life vest.

Above- self-pic taken on the go. Below- Rick snapped this shot from the "captain's" chair.

The Captain. View of Bath and the big crane at the shipyard in the distance.

View of downtown Bath from the riv-ah.

A shot of Bath Iron Works- the big shipyard in town, and, I believe, the second largest employer in the state. If you look at this picture up close, you'll see at least one Navy Destroyer docked there.

Talking, reading, eating

Cate's chair has become a favorite spot to hang out and read. Of course, it's also become a favorite object to try and climb on to get to other, higher spots!

I tried to catch her actually reading this book, but I wasn't fast enough with the camera, and two seconds after this shot, she hopped out of the chair and crawled into my lap to look at pictures on the camera. That activity hasn't grown old yet.

Here's another picture I had to take when I peaked in on her before bed the other night. I love the arms over the head. This is also the only time she's still, so I have to pause and enjoy it.


Sheila was over for dinner the other night, and I made lemon squares for dessert. Cate was hanging out under Sheila when she bit into her lemon square and sent a puff of powdered sugar right down on Cate's face!!

For the past few days, Cate has been jabbering this particular phrase over and over. I'm not sure if it's happy, happy, happy, or Abby, Abby, Abby or perhaps just something in her own language, but at least it sounds like our language!!!

Pictures from the week

Rick was on the look out for a summer chair for Cate, and he found this one at the grocery store, of all places. She enjoys sitting in it with her milk while thumbing through a good book. So cute.


Hiding has become the new thing. She's always enjoyed peekaboo, but only recently has she turned peekaboo into a full-out hiding activity. Below are a couple of examples. She usually finds a corner or a piece of furniture to tuck herself into or under, and then she covers her face. My favorite thus far was the other night when I was running her bath, and I knew she had headed into our bedroom, but when I went down to our bedroom to get her, I didn't see or hear her. I walked around our bed, and there she was, sitting on the floor next to the bed with her eyes covered. I so wished the camera hadn't been downstairs at that moment!!


As you've noticed, Cate has a taken a liking to her pacifier again, and I guess on this day, the pacifier wasn't around. The outfit she has goes with the doll Aunt Laurie and Uncle Zach sent for her birthday. It has a pacifier attached for Dolly, but I guess Cate figured it would make a fine substitute since her pacifier wasn't around.

Just a little more video of Cate kicking the ball around the driveway. I still don't think it totally captures her abilities, but you get the idea. She may not talk yet, but the girl's got a good leg!

Crystal Spring Farm - Lamb Day

Last weekend a local farm in Brunswick, Crystal Spring Farm, was having their lamb day open house. They've had over 100 lambs born there this spring, and we saw three little lambs that had just been born that morning. (not the ones below!)


We ended up going to lamb day twice, b/c the newspaper said it was on Saturday, so Cate and I went over (Rick was working) only to arrive and find a sign in the driveway that said, "Lamb Open House is Sunday. Newspaper misprinted date." That's so Maine! Luckily, the farm and the land are owned by the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, and it's part of a Community Supported Agriculture initiative, so the property is pretty open to the public. Cate and I were able to follow one of the nature trails back to where the rams were being kept, and we went over to the other side of the farm to check out the ewes and lambs from afar. Below is the ram pasture.




Then on Sunday we went back again, with Rick, to the "official" lamb day. Cate was able to get up close and personal with a few of the lambs, and I think she said "sheep!"

Cate wanted a boat really bad so her Daddy decided to get her one. After discussing it for a minute we decided to go all out and she got a Boston Whaler. You read that right a 15' Whaler sport. Everyone knows this boat is the unsinkable legend.