Memorial Day Weekend

We decided to forgo our usual plans of travelling to the Cape for Memorial Day weekend to stay in Boston. It was quite relaxing to be home and not have to fight the tourists to get down to Eric's parent's home. On Saturday, we travelled up to Marblehead for Connor Gyllenborg's 1st birthday! The rest of the weekend we just stuck around Charlestown and got some stuff done around the house....rearranged rooms/furniture and spent some time at the park with Hampton and with our friends the Smith's and their 6mos old daugher, Ella. The weather was gorgeous - it got into the 80s in Boston on Memorial Day. Also, HH is 10 months old as of Memorial Day!

The John Harvard Park/Playground is about a 1/2 block away from our house. Now that the weather is nice, it has become Hampton's new stomping grounds.

Hampton showing his respect for Capt. Tek

Our landscaping is done for the summer! (window boxes)

View of the Bunker Hill Monument from our front steps (and the Warren Tavern in the forground). The Monument is the landmark of our city "beach"

Setting up camp with the Smiths on Memorial Day at Bunker Hill Monument - fitting locale for Memorial Day!

A view of some of the Boston Sky Line from Bunker Hill

Marin and Erin on the unofficial "first day of summer" 2008!

Eric, Hampton, Ella and Brian hanging out at the monument

Hampton liked his new tent!

Hampton and Ella Jane sharing toys

After we spent the day at "the beach" the Smith's came over and we did what Americans do on Memorial Day....grilled up some burgers and had some beers. Aside from the Sox getting swept in Oakland, it was a great weekend all around!

9 months and counting!

Hampton just returned from his 9-month check up and he's doing awesome. The doctor was quite impressed with his motor skills and, to our surprise, he's not in the top percentile any more!

His stats:

Weight - 22.4 lbs (71th percentile)

Height - 28.75 inches (59th percentile)

Happy Mother's Day!

The Mom's on Mother's Day

Today was an awesome Mother's Day. We spent the weekend on the Cape with CC Grammy, Grandpa and Aunt Nanny. We enjoyed a beautiful brunch at the Hyannisport Golf Club and later ventured to check out potential kitchen appliances for our much anticipated home renovations. Hampton had a great weekend, he loved playing with the dogs. He sensed Cody didn't truly want to get down and dirty with him so he crawled after him for most of the weekend. When we got home on Sunday, Hampton crawled up our two flights of stairs! I was quite impressed by his agility - hopefully that will continue to develop on the sport fields :) Anyway, he's now 9 1/2 months old - says "Mama" and "Dadda" all the time. He waves. He claps. And, he's continuing to experiment with more and more foods. Too fun.

The Fam (minus Deacon)

Minnesnowta

We just returned from a very quick trip to Minnesnowta...and yes, it snowed while we were there - made the weekend rather "romantic" and COLD! Of course, we came unprepared with spring clothes in tow but we had a ball. The trip to introduce Hampton to his great-Mommoms and Pretty Aunt Collin (HH's Great Aunt) turned into quite a party! Billy and Tina made it from Ohio (traveling via his monster truck!). Collin, Greg and Abby made it from Colorado. And, most of the Shaughnessys, Enzlers and Hansons joined in the fun! Between Mommoms, PAC and Bob, they rolled out the red carpet. Lots of food, a blazing bonfire and plenty of laughter made it a perfect weekend.

Crawling Machine!

Hampton has broken free! He is now officially crawling here, there and everywhere. And, trying to pull himself up on anything and everything. His eagerness to crawl was quite evident on our vacation last month. He'd wiggle to and from one spot to the other by either rolling or army crawling. But, now that he's got the hang of crawling, there is no stopping him.

He will also sit and wave, which makes my heart melt every time. It is so fun to see how much more responsive and curious he is to the world around him.