Scarlett's Hips Don't Lie

Suzanne and Steve's wedding

This past weekend, we went to Maine for Joe's cousin Suzanne's wedding. While we were only there for one night, it was a really, really great one night. Here are the kids all dolled up...

 And Joe with the kids right after the beautiful ceremony at the beach.

The reception was AWESOME. We all had so much fun.
Here's a picture of Scarlett trying to catch the bouquet (look out, Carson)...

 She did not catch it, but the woman who did kindly gave it to Scarlett anyway.

 Holden rocked the dance floor. Here he is thinking he's leading Cotton Eyed Joe.

 And, well, this picture kind of speaks for itself.

Here's Scarlett dancing with cousin Michelle...

And Holden stealing accessories.

 And Scarlett walking around in my heels far, far better than I can even walk around in them.

 And then, there's this.

(They're available for parties...for a minimal fee.)

 Congratulations Suzanne and Steve! We had a fantastic time! And don't think we won't be taking you up on that offer to come visit you guys in Maine (and when I say "offer" I mean how I totally invited us to come visit you in Maine) We'll let you get settled in after the honeymoon. But call me the following week...K?  

Canada - 2011

Man...have we got some catching up to do. This has been, hands down, the craziest summer. Ever. At the end of July we went to Canada. It was such a fantastic trip and I got all home-sick, as always. Scarlett has talked about the trip non-stop and already wants to go back. Like now. I'm going to let the pictures do the talking - cause there's a lot of them. (Unfortunately, we got no pictures of Scarlett and Holden's Great Grandparents when we visited with them. But just know, we had a fantastic visit that involved presents, Swiss Chalet chicken, and a giant fish tank.)

The kid wants to color.

Holden is a pretty quiet kid...especially when compared to his sister. Even at 2, he doesn't talk a whole lot. I think it's because, honestly, even if he tries to talk he can't fit a word in around Scarlett. (Heck...I can't even fit a word in around Scarlett.) And he never really has to talk because Scarlett does a lot of the talking for him - if she wants juice or a snack, he gets juice or a snack too. And if he does try to communicate and isn't successful, he'll get frustrated quickly...like any normal 2 year old. But last night Holden and I had a really nice moment and what better a place to share it than right here.

The kids will often sit at the dining room table and color or play with playdoh...it's their artsy-project place. Scarlett was already there playing with some paper dolls when Holden came running up to me. He had a confused look on his face, but he slowly and calmly said "MORE CAYNS." I had no clue what the poor kid was asking for. Joe chimes in - "more kiss?" Holden patiently shook his head no. "Do you want to play a game?" I asked. Holden patiently shook his head no. He repeated slowly..."MORE CAYNS"...Then I had it. "Crayons? Do you want to color?" And Holden's little face lit up. "Color!" he beamed. He was obviously proud of himself for getting his point across. And I was proud that he remained so patient and asked to do something independently of Scarlett. And so I gave him some crayons and a coloring book, and he colored his little heart out with a huge smile on his face. 

Booga Booga Booga BOOO!

We've got a new thing in our house. When Boog is on a roll with something (i.e. dancing, spinning, running, etc.) We shout "Booga Booga Booga BOOO!" and on the "BOOO!" we raise our arm up like a super hero taking off. (Holden added that last part all by himself.)

 See...our Boog is quite the little character and this chant, for some reason, just fits him perfectly.

So we do it...a lot.

              And without fail, like Holden, the chant always makes us smile.

Booga Booga Booga BOOOOOOOO!

Garbage Museum with Uncle Jonathan

Uncle Jonathan came down for a visit recently so we brought him to the Garbage Museum in Stratford. We had never been before and, let me tell you, the kids LOVED it. We were immediately greeted by a giant dinosaur made from trash.

 Scarlett and Holden ran around investigating everything.

 "CHHEEEEEEESSSSEEEEEEE!!!"

 There was a little play store there that Scarlett didn't want to leave.

 And a mini garbage center.

 And then....AND THEN...we saw real live trucks handle garbage.

 Holden couldn't contain his excitement.

"GARBAGE TRUCKS!! (bumble gum tum blah blah) COOL!! (blah humbug humble bug blah bumble) COOL. Garbage trucks. COOL! Bye! Buh-bye, truck. Uh-Oh!"

 He grabbed Uncle Jonathan and the boys looked at trucks...

 while the girls did this.

Well...good morning!

Hard not to smile when your day starts with Froggie boots and Puppy.

Scarlett's Dance Recital - "Steppin' Out 2011"

Scarlett had her dance recital this past weekend. She loved every single second of the attention. She ate it up...with a spoon even. Check out her "I own this" stride as we're walking up to the joint.  

And here she is all decked out in ballet garb.

And with her (very, very proud) dad.

And nan. (And Larry...who was busy snapping all the great pictures.)

A nice "3/4 of a family" shot.

Did I say she was loving the attention? (I think I may have.)

And (drumroll please) here is the footage. This is actually from the dress rehearsal (we couldn't film the recital). It is not the best quality. It goes in and out of being decent and pretty horrible - the lights made it hard to get good video and there is a man who comes dangerously close to blocking my camera in the first 30 seconds of the clip - but, you get the point. (The best way to view it is to click on the two arrows in the bottom right of the box and make it full screen. Scarlett is the fifth little girl from the left.)

Pretty cute, huh?

Here is a picture of the finale. You can see how far back we are so there is no way that Scarlett could have made us out in the crowd.

But when Larry zoomed in with his camera - well...just check out her face.

Congratulations, Scarlett. You did fantastic and we are so incredibly proud of you!

And look out! Come September, Scarlett takes tap.