Happy Independence Day

I have lots to share about our week with Kenzie and Nana, but will get to that in the next post. I wanted to dedicate this post to 4th of July since I am actually posting on the 4th. Independence Day is one of my very favorite holidays - celebrating America and our freedom during the summer just seems right... Anyway, we had a great 4th of July again this year. It was quieter than most, which was fine by us. We spent the early part of the day buying, and then assembling a pergola for our patio. This was so fitting on this day since we have now declared our independence from the brutal summer sun on our fully exposed patio! I am so looking forward to many days and evenings enjoying our beautiful patio and backyard. Lucy had a great day playing with her playhouse and in the pool. Here are a few pictures:

Blowing kisses

This doorbell is just the coolest thing...
...along with eating snack in my new playhouse!
Here is our new pergola - we are looking forward to shady times on the patio!
This is one of two baby bunnies living in our yard. Isn't he cute?

Sprinkler Day!

Every Tuesday is Sprinkler Day at school. According to her teachers, Lucy just LOVES the sprinkler. We often get comments about how brave she is with the water. We weren't surprised based on what a water baby she is!

We decided she needed a sprinker for home too, and it came just at the right time! It was in the 90s the other day and Lucy enjoyed getting to cool down. Neighbors Molly and Joe even joined in on the fun with Lucy - she couldn't have been happier.

Father's Day - Right on Track!

Kenzie, Lucy and I took Brian for a ride on the Wilmington & Western Railroad as part of our day of celebrating what a wonderful Dad Brian is. As you may recall, last year we also went for a train ride and had a bit of excitement when a few train cars derailed! Luckily, this year was drama free. We rode the train, had a picnic lunch at Mt. Cuba and then returned to the train station. Lucy enjoyed the ride, but was a little scared of the train whistle. Brian covered her little ears for her. Other Father's Day festivities included a special breakfast (courtesy of me!), special mainly because Brian typically cooks breakfast, so he got to just sit back and enjoy. We also went out for dinner to one of Brian's favorite local spots - Two Fat Guys. Unfortunately, Brian also got stuck working for a good portion of the day - Dad's just don't get a break!

Here are some pictures from our train adventure:

Weekend in Erie

A couple of weekends ago, Brian, Lucy and I headed on up to Erie to celebrate Eric and Katie's wedding. Lucy did a great job in the car for the long trip. This was especially impressive because she was suffering from her first bout with bronchitis and her first experience with an antibiotic. We enjoyed visiting with Nana, Poppa, Uncle Mark, Aunt Rachael, Collin and Lauren. As you can imagine, Lucy was especially excited to play with Lauren who is so close to Lucy's age. Here are a few pictures of the girls:

Festival Fun!

This past weekend we headed out for opening night of St. Anthony's famous Italian Festival. Going to the festival always reminds me of the years I lived in Trolley Square and went to the festival just about every one of the 8 fabulous nights to enjoy all the yummy food offerings. These days we generally only make it there one night, so we better make it good! Lucy is an avid people-watcher, so she loves places like a festival. We enjoyed the food and Kenzie and Brian got to go on some rides. Unfortunately, little Lucy was too short even for the kiddie rides! We didn't realize there weren't any rides for someone under 36 inches. Before heading back to the car, we stopped in the park though, and Lucy enjoyed the swing set. This was actually the first time she was happy when we put her in toddler swing - hurrah!

Kenzie and Brian waiting for rides to start... Lucy watched on with fascination!

Daddy and his girls

Love this picture of Kenzie!
Lucy is so sad because she is too short for all the rides :-(

Lucy did finally get to enjoy a ride - and it was Kenzie powered!

Just Playin' Fun

As I am sure you have figured out, I really love to take Lucy to Longwood Gardens. It is a really beautiful place and lots of fun for Lucy - especially in the good weather. She loves to splash in all the hands-on fountains and there is a maze she can run through and explore. There are steps sized just right for a toddler and fun chairs to sit in to relax. It is also a nice place to meet up with friends to walk, chat, play and have fun. Heather and Isabel also love to go to Longwood, so we often meet up so the girls (who are only a couple of weeks apart) can spend some quality time together. Yesterday we met again, and this time we had a special treat because Alex joined us too! Alex was so sweet to both of the girls and seemed to really have a lot of fun as well. I took way too many pictures, and here are a few of my favorites. It was so much fun watching Lucy run, play and laugh with Alex and Isabel. She really had a great time!

Memorial Day Fun!

We had a fun-filled Memorial Day this year! Brian, Lucy and I went to a neighborhood party on Saturday and had lots of fun - we didn't take any pictures there though... Sunday Lucy & I met Heather and Isabel at Longwood Gardens and had lots of wet fun as usual.

Later that day we had our own little backyard party with Aunt Amy, Uncle Paul, Zoe, Ella and Nana. It was great to have everyone over for a cookout and the weather was just great.

Monday was just a whole lot of relaxing... Kenzie was with us for the holiday and we all lounged around or in the new inflatable over sized kiddie pool. It was nice to relax after a packed weekend!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Isabel & Lucy enjoy getting wet in the outdoor children's fountain.

Isabel is happy to cool off on such a hot day!

Lucy loves the Queen Bee chair!

The girls are having a great time at the rainfall fountain in the indoor children's water garden.

Lucy blows kisses to me...

Zoe and Ella relax in our hammock...