No better snack to keep you cool!  Ethan loves his ice pop!

Ethan and Auntie playing at the book store

playing with big cousin Marshall

Littleton, NH- Polly's Pancakes

vacation with Grandma and Papa

We couldn't resist stopping at a candy store with the longest candy counter in the world- 112 feet!  Notice that Ethan is clearly chomping away!

Ethan plays a little tune at the piano on the sidewalk

We put our feet in the cold water at The Basin in the White Mountains

Ethan's favorite activity was putting leaves in the water and watching the current take them down the rocks

"I swim" as Ethan would say!

Hanging at the pool with Grandma!

Ethan did a great job swimming on his own at the pool!

We are loving every minute of summer!  We spent the weekend on Lake Winnepasaki with my parents and their good friends.  We had a really great time.  The weather was perfect, the company was fantastic, and Ethan loved every adventure that we went on!  I posted pictures of a few of the highlights from the trip.  I'm so happy to report that Ethan is a water baby!  At the start of summer he was apprehensive to get into my parents pool, but ever since we got him this life jacket called, The Puddle Jumper, he is eager to get into the water and can swim pretty independently.  He had a great time swimming around, playing motor boat, kicking a ball, and "jumping" in the pool (he'd sit on the edge, count to three with us and then we pull him in).  We had a really nice "mini vacation" complete with good food, and a trip to the mountains.  Ethan pointed out each and every mountain that he saw as we drove! We're thinking about going back in the fall to actually hike one of those mountains!

Last week my sister Sarah and I took Ethan to the book store.  We didn't realize how close we were to closing time so we only had a few minutes to look around before we had to leave.  I told Ethan that we would visit another time.  Sarah slept over and the next morning we were talking about what we were going to do for the day.  I asked Ethan if he wanted to go the the beach.  He looked right at me and said, "No!  Book Story!" He was insistent that he wanted to go back to the book store.  So that's what we did.  When we arrived, he ran right to the back of the store where the childrens' books are kept, and played and played with his Auntie. We found another cute little book store when we were in Meredith, NH this weekend.  I think Ethan loved everything we did, but I'm pretty sure the book store was at the top of his list!

Ethan's vocabulary continues to blow us away.  He is easily putting two words together and sometimes even three word sentences.  This morning he asked for, "apple juice."  I asked him to choose the cup that he wanted and he pointed at one and said, "Blue dino" and as I was filling the cup he said, "I gonna drink."  I love hearing him talk!  It's fun to listen to him testing out word combinations.  He'll put two words together slowly and then wait for me to repeat them back, almost to confirm that he is correct.  Then he'll repeat the words over and over, each time letting them flow more easily.  Some recent ones are "apple juice", "ice pop", "book store", "I swim", "I jump", "I go car."  By summer's end, I won't be surprised if he's talking in full sentences!  I can't wait to hear what he has to share!