"Mom, today I saw a peep show with Daddy!"

Clearly this was because he was at the Boston Children's Museum with his Dad and they have a "Peep and the Big Wide World" exhibit.  

What were you thinking?

It is starting to hit me that in one weeks time my husband will enter the world of full time worker.  I feel like I have waited so long for this day to come, and now it is right around the corner?  We are all excited about the changes are taking place, as well as a bit nervous.

We will now go to a two parent working household.  Sadly, Christian's days as full time stay at home Dad are quickly coming to an end. Luckily he will get to still be with his little boy a couple days during the week and we will still have our family weekend time together!

I just have to brag for a a blog post about what an AMAZING father Christian is.  

Not many dad's could pull off the stay home dad thing, it really isn't an easy task, but Christian makes it look easy.  Christian is such a fun dad, he is always taking Berkeley on adventures, making play dates for him and teaching him things in a creative way.  Christian is in touch with many of Berkey's friend's mothers so they can do play dates; he doesn't mind being the only dad in a group of mom's!  He has also found a few stay home dad friends at the parks and made friends that way.  Children are instantly drawn to him because he is so goofy and plays in their imaginary worlds.  He is always making Berkley and his friends laugh.  Berkeley is so lucky to have, "the cool dad."

Christian has been working with Berkeley on the alphabet, numbers, and music.  He has played endless games of Memory, Candy Land, and Car City with his little side kick.  Berkeley goes to the park at least once a week, the Science Museum at least 2-3 times a month, not to mention field trips to the ocean, peach picking, the Boston Children's Museum, the book store, and many libraries around town.  

I feel so honored to be married to a man who loves his son so much. I see what a big influence Christian is on Berkeley already with his love for music, his goofiness and the way he has taught B man to give compliments and tell his mommy he loves her.  It really is a beautiful thing. 

I'm so glad that Berkey is so close with his daddy and that they have the special bond that they do!  What a lucky kid!

Why do vacations go so quickly?

This summer we were hoping to make it to Utah, sadly with Christian's job prospects at the time being zero, we could not rationalize purchasing the cost of three plane tickets.  We decided that instead we would rent a cottage on Cape Cod for a week which was a little more than the cost of 1 plane ticket.  We planned to have a nice little family of three outing, but three weeks ago, my mom decided she and my dad wanted to join us for her 50th Birthday present.  

We were super excited to get to see some more family this summer!  We rented an adorable cottage in Dennisport just 3/10 of a mile from the beach.  The ocean temperature was so awesome this year; it was warm and lovely to swim in.  We had such a nice visit with my parents and a great time exploring the Cape. 

Grandma and Grandpa watched Berkeley while we had a nice date; we rode a nice 26 miles on our bikes.  We stopped at Seymour Pond on our bike back and had a nice swim to cool us off.  I love biking but don't feel like I get to do it enough, which is probably why I am no good at it.  I just prefer running or swimming more. 

This was the first time both of my parents swam in the ocean.  It was fun to plan around in the ocean with them and share their experience.

Every day that we visited the beach, Berkeley made Grandpa or Dad dig him a hole.  Once he was in his hole he would ask everyone to go get water from the ocean and fill up the hole.  This process was relentless.

Christian and my Dad went on a deep sea fishing excursion; they brought home some yummy black sea bass which we grilled that night.  My dad even caught this cute little shark, but let him go.

Dad and Berkeley had fun flying the CARS 2 kite on the beach

Berke finally overcame his fear of the waves and came out into the ocean with me.

We went out for ice cream one night; it ended up being by a putt putt coarse (not uncommon for the Cape), so we decided to play 18 holes.  I won!!  Berke was a crazy man experiencing a sugar high from his ice cream, and we all had a fun time.

Berke's last hole at Skaket Beach; there was already water inside so that was a super BONUS!

Berkeley was so tired from the sun and running around at the beach that he sat in my arms and was asleep in 5 seconds, snoring and everything.

One of my favorite Cape towns is Chatham.  We had fun seeing the lighthouse there, shopping and having a delicious lunch.

We also took a ferry to Martha's Vineyard for the day.  

The Edgartown lighthouse is one of my favorite spots. 

This was the adorable cottage we stayed in.  It was wonderful to get up and run along the ocean front most mornings, something I could seriously get used to!!

We also went whale watching! Whales are so big, beautiful and graceful.

Our cute little family; love these boys so much!

On our way home, we stopped in Plymouth to see the Mayflower II and the famous rock.

Berkeley absolutely adored his grandma and grandpa; he was thrilled to get so much extra attention and love.  He was very sad to see them go:(

I was so happy that my parents got to share this experience with us.  It was wonderful to have a week off of work and be surrounded by family and nature.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

This was a week of extreme humidity and heat, which in turns means lots of sweating.  

Julia has a gift of visiting me during these extreme heat waves or during terrible winter storms.  I was so happy when a sudden work trip to NYC popped up for Julia and she came out a few days early to spend some time with me!

There is no better way to beat the heat than staying inside, but that is for the weak of heart.  So we headed to the beach to get sunburned, sweaty and sandy. We visited Cranes Beach in Ipswich for the day. This kid loves to play in the sand, but hates that it sticks to his hands.  

We picked up Wendy who was also visiting from Seattle on business; she may be moving to Boston soon, so I did my best to talk her into it.   

 We had fun attending a Red Sox Game!

Gotta love a night with the BFFs!

 Berke was great at cheering for the Red Sox this year and now tells me they are his favorite team! The chocolate ice cream in the 8th inning really helped push him through with a happy energetic attitude until we arrived home at midnight.  He was a real champ!  

Have I mentioned how much I love this kid lately?

 Look at this adorable couple!  Yep, you do hear wedding bells.  They have been engaged just over a week now and I couldn't be happier for them.  Congrats!

 Berke has the BEST Aunties; since he was asking a million questions about the foam finger (he asks a million questions about everything these days, yes we are in that stage) it meant that Aunt Stefy had to buy him one.  He was soooo happy about his foam finger, he used it to cheer, play fun games and use as various musical instruments.  

 It was a great night at Fenway...until the 9th inning when the Red Sox gave up there lead and decided to play like idiots, but over all a great night.

The visit was much to short, and I already miss Julia.  So happy I got to see her however!