Back to School

Well, we have one week of work under our belts here on the pond. Riley made it through her first week of daycare and we made it through her first week of daycare too. It is strange and kind of sad to think that she spends the majority of her day with someone who isn't me or Chris. I pick her up after school and we make it home to play and hang out by 3:45. Chris is the JV Golf coach though and doesn't make it home until 6:30. So he only gets a half an hour with her before she's off to bed. There are three other kids at daycare and I think Riley really enjoys being around them and watching them.

Chris and I have both had colds this week. I started my first two days of class with barely a voice! My building is undergoing renovations and is not very clean with dust all around which only makes the situation worse. The weather here has been really nice and I actually had to water my dahlias tonight because we haven't had rain in so long.

We're excited for Monday, not only because we have the day off but because there is always a big celebration for Labor Day in our town with a huge white elephant, book, and rummage sale plus a Juried Arts and Crafts setup. It's lots of fun.

Riley recently outgrew her pajamas and we've had a bit of a hard time finding new ones in the right size, style and material. Sarah found these for Riley at the LL Bean outlet and even though they're 6-12 months they are super roomy! Yay for pajamas!

Last Day of Summer

I'm sad to say that this is the last day of summer for us. Chris and I head back to school tomorrow and Riley heads off to her first full day of daycare. She went twice last week for a few hours at a time so that the daycare lady, Shannon, and the other kids wouldn't be total strangers to her. She loves watching other kids so hopefully she will have a good time and maybe learn some tricks from them.

Yesterday Riley was really enjoying playing with one of the small couch pillows. She realized, I think, that she can pick it up and started giggling when we were playing with it.

It feels like the summer has gone by in a blink and I think part of that is the fault of the weather we have had here this summer. The only really hot weather we had was back in June and we never even had a heat wave. Not that I want to complain about the lack of unbearably hot weather, but the lack of seasonable, dry weather bothers me. We've had so much rain this summer that I actually haven't even had to water my dahlias more than a few times.

Speaking of the dahlias. I'm thinking of sending in a picture to the company I order my dahlias from for their annual photo contest. The prizes are gift certificates of varying amounts. I just can't decide which picture to send in. So I'm going to post two options and if you could leave a comment on which one you think I should submit I would appreciate it. Or, if you think I should try for some different shots, let me know that too!

Happy Belated Birthday Grandma!

Riley wanted to wish her Grandma a happy 60th birthday yesterday, but we forgot to remind her and by the time we remembered, she was already in bed. So today we reminded her and she posed for this photo. Happy birthday Grandma!! Hope to see you soon!!

Nice Weather

On Sunday afternoon we went to visit our friends Justin and Jessica and their new baby Leah. Leah was born August 6th and seems so tiny and it's hard to believe that Riley was ever that small.

We finally have been having nice weather here finally and Riley and I even sat outside for a little while yesterday afternoon. It's sad to think that the summer is almost over and that we go back to school in less than a week now.

RIP Howie the Cat

Howie the cat was found in the yard this morning. We believe he may have been hit by a car. Chris buried Howie in the woods behind the house. We are sure Cesky will miss Howie immensely once he realizes the cat is never coming back. Howie was 3 years old and loved playing with pens. He will be remembered for killing lots of yard rodents especially after our trip to Colorado two years ago and for the time he got tape all over his legs after jumping in the baby's crib when he wasn't supposed to.

Baseball Dreams and the Beach

Last Sunday we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house so that Grandpa could work on a dream of his - hitting it out of the park at age 60. We all went down to the Windham Middle School baseball field and Grandpa, Chris and I took turns hitting baseballs. Grandpa and Chris made it almost out of the park a few times, and, while I also had some hits, I was lucky to get it out of the infield.

Then on Tuesday we packed up the car again and headed to Ogunquit for probably the last time of the year. The summer seems to be winding down rapidly and school starts back up again soon. In Ogunquit we went to the beach and for walks and Grampy tried a life jacket on Riley.

Massachusetts

On Weds. we took a trip down to visit Great Grandma Crawford in Ashland. She made us delicious blueberry muffins and then took us to a local buffet for lunch. It was a nice visit and nice since she hadn't seen Riley since Grandma's birthday party in May. The only downside was the rain, which seems to be a pattern we're stuck in lately.

After visiting with Grandma we went out to Somerville to visit Uncle Peter at his apartment. After visiting his office to meet a few blog fans, we went out to eat at a BBQ place near Peter's apartment called Red Bones. The food was good and Riley was fascinated with the menu. It was big and laminated and kept her entertained for quite awhile.

We arrived back home a bit after 9pm to a very excited dog who was bummed that we just wanted to go to sleep after our long day.

Just Cute

7 Months Old (Yesterday)

Eating Feet

Riley has recently discovered that she can grab onto her feet and put them in her mouth. She could probably do this awhile ago but hasn't been interested until now. She doesn't have much opportunity to try when she's on her back as her diaper gets in the way, so instead she bends over when she's seated upright. It's pretty funny to watch.

We went to Laconia to visit with Nana, Grampy, and Uncle Peter yesterday. Riley thought it would be pretty funny to try and vault herself off of the couch, but Uncle Peter caught her before she landed on the floor. Great reflexes Uncle Peter!

I discovered that nothing distracts a fussy Riley better than a big box of toys! When I put the box in front of her she didn't quite know what to do with herself.

Also last week Great Aunt Lynn sent some pictures from her recent trip to New England. We enjoyed the pictures and Riley enjoyed trying to eat the card!

Our computer is still in the shop as an excuse for the delay between posts!