Back to work :(

I started back to work this past week.  I'm really sad that summer is officially over!  I had such an amazing summer with Callie and I definitely think we made the best of it. 

Here are some pics from the end of summer!

Our last official beach trip of the summer! We lost power at the house during Hurricane Irene so on the second night without power we decided to get out of the house.  We went out to the beach with our friends and neighbors the Ritz family! It was such a great way to end the summer. 

North Creek Lobster Bake 2011

Last weekend we went to my in-laws house in North Creek, NY.  For the 2nd year in a row, my in-laws, along with some friends, hosted a huge party in the woods.  Last year, Callie was a newborn, but we still went to the party and had a great time! Callie slept most of the day and enjoyed being passed around to our friends and family. 

North Creek Party 2010

This year was a different story.  Callie is a big 1 year old girl now and she came ready to party. 

 First, Callie had to do her hair so she would look pretty for the party.  

Then, she played with one of the dogs. 

  Next, Callie watched her Daddy and Uncle Erik prepare the food.

And then, she enjoyed some cuddle time with G.G., during which she drank/spilled an entire bottle of water all over herself!

After a quick outfit change, Callie marched around the party wearing her new Elmo backpack that she got from her Great Auntie Joyce!

 She did not want me to take the backpack off of her. 

 Then, Callie decided to go play some games with the other kids.

 Finally, the food was ready!

 And, it was time to eat.

 After Callie had a full belly and another outfit change, she decided to dance with one of her new friends.

 She also danced with G.G. - Callie really gets around the dance floor!

 After dark, Callie and her friends broke out the hula hoops for some more fun.

 Callie made one more trip to the dessert table....

 ....before her Daddy had to carry her away...   does this look like a familiar scenario?!

Callie had a great time in North Creek this weekend!

Surprised!

Callie's new thing is her "surprised" face.  It's hilarious.  She is "surprised" by everything.  Here is a pic of the "surprised" face:

And a cute video from today.  Some of our good friends Donna and Jon had a baby girl, Kayleigh, at the end of July.  Callie is in LOVE with the birth announcement they sent.  She carries it around the house pointing to the picture of Kayleigh and saying "baby".  Here is a video of Callie showing her love of Kayleigh and making her "surprise" noise/face.  Enjoy!

**Sorry, uploaded the wrong video the 1st time!**

Also\

Mini-Vacation

Andrew took a few days off this week so we could have some fun! First, we went away to my parent's house in NH for a few days.  We had a great time!  Our first night there we decided to do a lobster boil for dinner.  

Our handsome chef!

Potatoes and Onions

Shrimp and Linguica

Delicious lobster

Callie ate some of the lobster, onion and potatoes and then we decided to give her an ear of corn.  She loved chewing away at it and actually got a lot of corn off of it!

We also decided to go to Funspot.  I used to go to Funspot all the time when I was younger and so it was fun to take Callie there and let her explore! 

At first she wasn't so sure about this ride.

But, eventually she decided it was fun!

We tried to let her go for a ride on the elephant, but she wasn't having it. 

We were in an arcade filled with rides and games with flashing lights.

And Callie wanted to go up and down the plastic slides.

And pull around the plastic wagon.

 I think she had fun at Funspot, but will enjoy it more when she is older. 

While in NH, we also spent some time relaxing and hanging out by the pool.

On the way home from NH we decided to stop off in Boston.  We were going to go to the Aquarium but it was really busy so we decided to save it for another day and just walked around the Waterfront and over to Faneuil Hall.

We went on the carousel.

Callie liked watching the water fountain.

We looked at the beautiful rose garden.

And checked out the stores at Faneuil Hall.  

Also, it was apparently "Ellen Day" in Boston yesterday (who knew?!) and Faneuil Hall was packed with people waiting to get a glimpse of Ellen DeGeneres as she came off of a Duck Boat and did a little press conference in front of Faneuil Hall with Mayor Menino.  We actually did get to see Ellen get off the duck boat but all of the pictures on my camera came out blurry, so I can't share the excitement ;).

Anyways, there is the update from our mini-vacation!  Now, it's back to enjoying the rest of summer - 17 more days and then it's back to reality :(

Red Sox

We decided to take Callie to her first Red Sox game this year! We bought the tickets in the winter when they first went on sale.  We were so excited to start what we was sure would be a new annual tradition for us!  Andrew and I have been to a few games together over the years and we always have a great time.  We knew it would be different this time because we would have Callie with us.  There would be no more stops at Boston Beer Works before the game.  No more Cask 'n Flagon or Jillians after the game.  Instead, we thought we would watch Callie take in the sights of Fenway.  We were sure she would love watching the crowd, clapping and cheering.

We were wrong.  Ms. Callie - who is usually fun loving, happy and always smiling, decided she wasn't in the mood for the Red Sox. 

We arrived to Fenway a little while before the game (We spent about an hour driving around looking for parking because I refused to pay $50.00 to park.  After searching high and low, we eventually ended up at the parking garage we started at and I begrudgingly paid the $50.00.  I'm still not over it.  But, I digress....).








We made our way to our seats in the bleachers.

Callie usually has no problem sitting on our laps and we thought she would be so distracted by all of the people and excitement that she would be content

Instead, Callie insisted on ripping her hat off, throwing her Wally the Green Monster doll into the crowd, and pulling that lovely ponytail you can see on the back of the nice girl in front of us.  We lasted less than 5 minutes in our seats. 

Instead, we decided to head up to an open area we saw near the Budweiser Pavilion.  We thought it would be a nice area of Callie to stretch her legs and for us to watch some of the game.

Instead.....  Callie decided to look out of the other side of Fenway at the parking lot. 



















We did get one shot of her in front of the field, but she wasn't too thrilled about it!















Callie marched her way all around Fenway Park. 














                 
And eventually had to be carried out by her father.

Her favorite part of the day was playing hide-and-go-seek behind the t-shirts in the souvenir shop. 

  Overall, it was definitely an adventure.  I'm glad we took Callie to her first Red Sox game.  But, we've made a new family rule!  No more children at the Red Sox game until they can buy their own ticket!!! :)