Summer 2011 Continued

In July we took a trip down South for Zoe and Mila's aunt Suzanne's wedding and to visit friends and family.
On the way, we stopped by in Raleigh, NC and Zoe got to hang out with her favorite cousin Ellis

Zoe enjoyed seeing her very first bride & groom in a wedding ceremony, while Mila got to skip the formal part and played with some fun decorations in the hallway instead:)

The reception was a ton of fun, the kids especially enjoyed the dress up trunk and photo booth. Unfortunately they were too quick for our cameras, so no pics :( But here's one pic of our little cow girl:
After the wedding festivities, we visited with aunt Martha and finally planted a tree for Mila!

The tree we picked is a Southern Magnolia, and should grow to about 80 ft (~ 25 meters).

Luckily uncle Earl was kind enough to come by with a tractor to help us dig a hole with this 7-ft tall "baby" tree!

Everyone helped in the planting process:

FINITO! We look forward visiting this tree when we come to see Martha and hopefully can see it bloom next time! As last trip, we came home to some lushious cukes in our garden. This time Zoe was not the only one excioted to see them- Mila was happy to put her newly grown 4th tooth to a good use:



And just a few random pics to add:

1 &2 . Mila playing in our living room in a little summer shirt that used to be her mom's :)

3. This is the way Mila likes to sleep when she gets to our bed ( which is just about every night)- she likes to snuggle with her Papa on his pillow :) Fo such a timy peanut she sure needs a lot of space!
Will be back soon, to wrap up the Summer update and catch up on the fall!

Our long summer

Summer this year was long, eventful and beautiful!

First few pics from Zoe's birthday party:
Zoe and her friends dressed up in princess and fairies costumes, painted faces and kept the party going until it was dark!




Next was our favorite beach trip this year to Newport, Rhode Island.
We spent a whole week at a friends' house in New Port, rooming with our friends Jay and Aga, and their twin boys Sam and Carter, who are Zoe's friends from daycare. Nothing beats a vacation when your kid's friends are staying in the same house! The kids had a blast- and adults got to relax and enjoy the beach time as well.
We enjoyed spending some time downtown Newport:






We went for a nice hike ( Mila's first!) in a nature preserve. Kids enjoyed climbing on rocks and trees, finding local creatures hopping around and a great view overlooking the beach at the end.




and then of course- everyone LOVED the beach. New Port has lots of them, all different and beautiful. Mila was absolutely fearless - trying to crawl into the ocean any chance she got.Zoe loved finding shells and boogie boarding:


When we got home, Zoe found lots of veggies waiting for us in our garden;
And Mila found that overgrown grass was even more comfy for frolicking in:
More summer pics coming up- to be continued soon!