Bill for my birthday

Hurricane Bill, that is. Yesterday was my birthday, and Hurricane Bill was passing through the Gulf of Maine. Mom, Dad, Laurie, and Zach came down from camp for the day, and we went down to Land's End on Bailey Island (by car, NOT by boat) to see the wild surf. It was pretty impressive, but then we got home last night and heard about the 7 year old girl who died up in Acadia at Thunder Hole after being swept in the ocean by a rogue wave. I promise that we were high up on the rocks and away from the water- even though the pictures do look a bit deceiving, now that I look at them.

All the girls!

Notice Cate's Boston Whaler shirt that her Daddy got her- it's a whale driving a Boston Whaler. :)

Rick and Zach and a myriad of strangers all taking in the view.

Back at home, Cate planted herself on Uncle Zach for story time. He's become her favorite book reader this week.

Party for the twins

Last Friday afternoon we went up to the Heichel's house for a 1st birthday party for Claire's twins. She's been up in Maine with the boys for the whole month of August, and it's been great to be able to see them! Below, Cate's handing out the birthday hugs!


Claire's oldest, Jack, really took a liking to Cate. He was very good with her, and he really seemed to enjoy playing with her.

Mrs. Heichel, Claire, Nathan, and Matthew

Nathan and Matthew all ready to eat cake, and Jack all ready to blow out their candles and run off with the Nemo fish decorations. :)

August pictures

A couple of weeks ago, Rick took Mom and Dad down to Five Islands on the boat, and Cate and I drove down and met up with them for lunch.


Dad and Rick leaving to head back home. Mom rode back in the car with Cate and me.
Cate had a good time playing in the water with Grandpa. It was so hot, and we couldn't stand to be anywhere other than with our toes in the water!

Cate really liked pouring water on Grandpa's head!

I picked up Cate a bubble blowing machine, mostly b/c I was getting light-headed blowing bubbles all day long. It's been quite a hit.

Cute sun dress from Nana Davis!

Special congratulations!

We just want to send out a big congratulations to Rick's sister and brother-in-law. Today, they gave Cate her first cousin!!! At 1:46pm, Chrissy gave birth to a little boy, Barrett Nathan Covey. Mom and baby are both doing well. Uncle Rick, Aunt Lindsay, and cousin Cate send our love to you all!!

Cate talking

We've had several requests for video of Cate saying words, so here it is! We were a little concerned that her vocabulary seemed limited, but the pediatrician assured us that we'd probably see the 18 month vocab explosion, and we think it's finally happening. She's picking up new words daily, and she's finally making an effort to pay attention and imitate words when we say them to her. In this video, we manage to get a few of her favorite words out of her before she quits cooperating. And just to translate, she's started calling my dad Papou, Greek for Grandpa, since Grandpa seemed too hard. She also says Yia Yia, which is the Greek for Grandma, since my mom is "mommy" to Cate, as is every other woman that Cate likes. Rick's mom is Nana, which Cate signs banana and in this video responds to Nana with "Yummy." :) Oh, speaking of signs, notice that she does the sign for boat when she says it.....

Mommy & Gramma take a hike

Today while Rick and Dad went down to Five Islands in the boat, Mom and I took Cate on a hike down at a new preserve at Birch Point in West Bath. It was a beautiful walk through the woods- everything was SO green!! Then at the end of the trail, it opens up to a view of one of the bays. If any of you remember the pics and videos from a year ago of the party at Rick's coworker's house on the point (and the lobster boat rides), that's pretty much the direction we're looking in the picture below. He lives just a little further down the road in Birch Point.

The ocean is out there!

Pardon the shot of my backside, but Cate is cute. She loves riding in the backpack, and she nearly fell asleep on the walk back to the car.

Nice picture of Gramma!

Mommy & Daddy go on a date

Yesterday, since Mom and Dad were down at our house from camp, they offered to stay with Cate so that Rick and I could go out on a lunch date. We decided to take the boat down the river to the Osprey Restaurant at Robinhood Marina in Georgetown. Below, we're coming into the marina (notice the lobster buoys everywhere!)

We're tied up at the dock- our little boat is right in the middle of the picture, above the inflatable boat. There are some huge boats- yachts and sailboats- that stay at Robinhood. Ahh, lifestyles of the rich and famous!

Us!

Waiting for Rick to stop drooling and return to our ride!

Action video, just for fun!

Day at camp

We've had a stretch of three beautiful days- 70's, low humidity, perfect! So yesterday, we went up to camp for the day. I thought this was a cute picture of Cate on the dock, but you'll have to excuse her messy shirt- I forgot to pack a bib, and we had pizza for dinner. Oops!!

Isn't this too cute?

This new "deck" is really the old floating dock. The dock was so big and heavy, and we don't have any easy way to get it in and out of the water, and we didn't use it that much. So Dad took the floats off, and he and Rick created a deck, which we all agreed was a great idea, and we sat out on it most of the afternoon.

Grandpa and Cate watching boats (one of Cate's favorite words)

Daddy on the dock taking a picture of us on the new deck.

Cate found the kayaks to be most interesting and insisted on climbing on them and in them for closer inspection. All was fine until she started sliding down the inside of the kayak- they're on a hill. Then they just weren't so much fun anymore. (funny to the rest of us though!)

Swimming

We had a few hot days earlier this week, so I finally cut the tags off of Cate's swimsuit and filled this little pool on the deck (which actually looks really small in this picture!) Anyways, after adding some warm water from the inside faucet, we lured her in, and then she had a great time splashing around.

The highlight seemed to be pouring water- in the pool, out of the pool, on us, on her head, on the dog's head....
As her hair started to dry, the little ringlets came out in full force. I wanted to get a picture of them, b/c they were so cute, but trying to get her to hold still for a picture of the back of her was nearly impossible. Here's what I did get though:

Rocking moose

Laurie and Zach bought Cate this rocking moose when she was born, and she's finally big enough to ride it! It has moved downstairs to the living room, and she really gets going on it!