Vacation Act II - "To The Judge!"

So after we left Maine, we had a little hitch in our vacation plans. Lucia came down with a nasty chest cold and when we should have been in the car headed out to Stockbridge, we wound up at Children's Hospital getting a chest x-ray. Despite her hacking, Luce remained in good spirits and a few nebulizer treatments later she was ready to depart for western Mass the next day. Thanks to our friend Kelby's blood ties to this guy we found ourselves in the beautiful guest quarters of the ancestral Sedgwick home - it couldn't have been more perfect. We've always wanted to visit Tanglewoods and at last we were able to get there! Our visit was worth the wait, despite a grumpy usher who was not kid friendly at all (luckily Cathy gave him the what-for). For the record, our children were perfectly behaved (they even surprised us) and we all enjoyed the musical setting.
While I'm sure the kids would have been perfectly happy to stay and play inside, we had a bunch of cultcha to shove down their throats: visiting Mass MoCA, the Berkshire botanical gardens, donning faux facial hair, and last but certainly not least, visiting with our old pal Jen and her ridiculously cute son Hayden. All in all, a fabulous addition to our August vacation. Once we packed up the car, we headed back home for a quick pit stop and then... you guessed it, back up to Maine for Act III.
P.S. Mama Mer wanted to be sure I captured Lucia's cuteness du jour so we won't forget:
- One of her favorite phrases right now is, "No, I don't want to." Lucia, would you like some more beans? "No, I don't want to." Lucia, can you give Mama a hug? "No, I don't want to." Lucia, time for night night. "No, I don't want to."
- During mealtime, if Luce is really enjoying her food (e.g. mac and cheese) she does a "happy food dance" where she wiggles her body back and forth grinning from ear to ear. She must get it from me, I often do this when I'm having pizza and a beer.
- She let's us know when she's frightened. She'll get the saddest look on her face and say, "I be scared!" Most recently this happened whilst watching a tornado appear on Elmo's World. In her defense, the tornado muppet was rather unsettling.

A Vacation in Three Parts: Act I - The Maine Event

For those of you who have not yet done so... please take a 2 week vacation. Soon. In fact, go now. I don't think I have ever taken a 2 week vacation (save for summer school breaks and various unemployment stints) and it was glorious. We kicked things off by heading up to Maine of course. My folks played generous hosts to us for 6 days of R and R (that's ring around the roses) and tons of other activities. There were roller coaster rides, naked babies at the beach, nature walks, museum visits, more beaches, and fun at the playground. Whew. And this was only the beginning of our vacation! Lucia loved her extended stay at Casa Nonne and Papa and so did we. In fact, we liked it so much we came back after 7 days. More on that in Act III...

Random Acts of Cuteness...

Ok, so this whole potty training thing - - very amusing. We're taking the casual approach right now, so really she sits on her potty just to sit. Nothing exciting yet (god how my definition of exciting has changed). But she has taken a STRONG interest in underwear. Namely, ours. Here she is sporting a lovely pink pair she pulled from the dryer. I just know one of these days we're going to forget she's wearing them and head right out the door. Lucia has also discovered the joys of native corn on the cob and homemade playdoh. Both are very popular in our house right now. Other random acts of Lucia cuteness:
- she looked at a picture of me holding her (I have my back to the camera in the picture), she pointed to my hair and said, "Sadie!" Thanks kid.
- I picked her up after work the other day and she said, "Pretty shirt!" (it was your standard issue Fran work shirt, so I know she was lying).
- Mama Mer was holding her last night and Luce patted her head and said, "Pretty hair!" (it was your standard issue post-work Mer hair, so I know she was lying).
- Thanks to Uncle B, she has a new favorite toy. She carries it around and says, "I going on errands!"

Our much needed vacation is coming up soon, so if you don't hear from us in awhile it's because we're off "makin' memories" someplace.