Family Vacations

The rain didn't stop us from enjoying Ogunquit beach with G Ma and Grandpa George- we just put on our rain boots and jumped in the puddles!

cocktails on the beach

steamrollers and bulldozers- beach necessities

Breakfast

Marginal Way Walk- Ethan walked (or ran) the whole thing

Acadia National Park- Jordon Pond hike

checking out the trail with Grandma and Papa

Popovers- yum!

We took pictures of Ethan in this same spot last year- he crawled around a bit but was mostly stationary.  This year, I was lucky if I didn't get blurred pictures as he was moving so fast!

Maddie and Ethan check out the menu before dinner

Hiking with Mama

Ethan was a great little hiker- he loved climbing over this rocky trail and only needed a little help from Mama

Celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary- Sand Beach, Acadia

Ethan has been lucky enough to spend lots of time with his extended family.  We met G Ma and Grandpa George at Ogunquit Beach for a few days and had a great time.  The weather was a bit rainy but we made the most of it.  Ethan had a great time splashing in puddles and basking in the attention he received from his grandparents.  We got in some beach time and Ethan was happy to drive his trucks all over the beach- one last beach day before summer officially ended.

Last weekend we all (my siblings and my parents) headed to Bar Harbor, ME to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  Once again, Ethan loved being around his family.  He amazed us with his stamina on various hikes throughout the weekend.  He's definitely a great little hiker!

We've noticed that Ethan is enjoying music more than ever this week.  Whenever we get into the car, he immediately requests music, and sometimes even has particular song requests.  He loves bopping along to the music and is beginning to sing along with the music.  It's so adorable to listen to him picking out certain words and phrases to sing along to. 

Ethan has also begun to show signs that his imagination is in full swing.  If he is in a room by himself or goes near a dark room he comes running to us and saying, "The moo cow is coming to get me"  While it breaks my heart that he is experiencing fear, it's kind of amusing that of all things to be afraid of, he finds a cow to be scary!!  I think I have Stew Leonard's to thank for this one!

Fortunately, he is using his imagination in other ways as well.  We've overheard him playing trains and making the trains talk to each other.  He uses sound effects and everything.  Sometimes when I'm sitting on the couch with my knees up, he'll take a car and drive it over my knees and tell me he's driving it over the mountains.  It's amazing to see how a child's play transitions from being so concrete to so imaginative. 

And lastly, a bit of exciting news-

We're due April 3, 2012!