Beaches, Babies, Pools, and Potstickers

Our annual trip to Long Island was full of sunny days and water fun this year.  And family visits, of course.  We hung out with probably 50 relatives in the first two days of our trip, thanks to back-to-back gatherings of the triplets' birthday party, Rising family brunch, and Kulis family BBQ.  We got lots of good Daniel, Carter, and Noah time in- can hardly believe they are over a year old now!  Life with three babies is still a total production for Dan and Paulette; I am constantly amazed both by how much work it is for them just to do normal things we all take for granted, and at the same time how they've got every aspect of the boys' lives down to an efficient science.  Feelings, bottles, naps, diapers, and baths- it can't be orchestrated any more smoothly than it is, yet it still takes so much time.  But the triplets are clearly thriving and starting to have their own distinct personalities, for sure.  All three are on the very verge of walking too.  I'm excited for Dan and Paulette to reach the stage where having three kids of the same age really isn't that much different from having three that are a few years apart.  That probably won't be for a few years still, but they'll get there.

The kids also had a great time with their Rising cousins, especially at Great Grandma's pool.  Cannonballs and can openers off the diving board for the older ones, and lots of paddling around in swimmys for Haley, Peter and Charles.

On Wednesday, Aiden, Chris and I took the train into the city while Andy and Haley went to visit Andy's college friend Lisa and her three kids (one of whom, violet, is just Haley's age).  While Haley and Violet played dress up princesses, Chris and I took Aiden on his first adventure with the NYC subway system.  He loved standing up (holy cow!) in a moving vehicle, and refused to sit even if there were lots of open seats.  Aiden's choice was to go to Chinatown for lunch, so that's where we headed.  We ate a very cheap but very tasty lunch of dim sum dumplings and soup at a small restaurant and then took Aiden to an Asian candy store that featured hundreds of different kinds of gummy treats.  Grandma Chris was supposed to supervise Aiden as he picked out some different gummies, while I made a bag for Haley.  Somehow, she agreed to several pounds of gummies!  Aiden's bag of treats cost more than our lunch for three!  He was in heaven, as you can imagine.  From Chinatown we headed further south to the Staten Island Ferry, which was mobbed with tourists like ourselves wanting to get a close-and free- look at the Statue of Liberty.  It was nice to sit on the boat and enjoy the breeze and the beautiful day after so much walking around. In the afternoon I said goodbye to Aiden and Chris as they boarded a train bound for Long Island, and walked north to enjoy a delicious Indian dinner with Whitney, Will, and Aly.  It was a perfect day in the city.

We also got some beach time, mandatory for a summer visit to Long Island.  We spent a cloudy but warm and calm day at Smith Point County Park on fire island.  Grandpa Dada joined us for sand castles, walks on the beach, and some swimming.  Both kids enjoyed swimming out past the breaking waves, jumping up and over each wave crest just before it broke.  We swam until lips were blue and goosebumps were taking over.

The last few days of the week, we got to relax at Oak Island.  Haley and Kimball played in the sand, Haley with her toys and kimball by digging giant holes to bury clam shells.  Aiden set crab traps, fished for snappers, dug clams, and used the umbrella net to catch shrimp, killies, and comb jellies.  We ended up digging so many quahogs that we ate some raw and made clam chowder out of the rest.  Andy, grandpa Dada, and Aiden also went out on an evening fishing trip and caught bluefish, seabsss, and fluke.  They came home with a bag of bluefish filets too.  Oh, and there was kayaking, jumping off the dock, eating, and relaxing in the sun too.  Dan and Paulette came out with the boys on Saturday and we got to witness their first swim at Oak Island.  They all seemed to love it so I'm sure they'll be back for more soon.

The Midway Returns

New London's big summer weekend is the annual Hospital Days (sponsored by NL Hospital) in early August.  Usually there is a carnival on the town green with a midway and games and rides for kids and adults alike.  But the past two years, the organizing committee decided the midway was too "unhealthy" (read: un-classy) and not in keeping with the message of Hospital Days, so they swapped the carnival part for some more wholesome activities like face painting and beanbag tosses on the green.  Well.  Everyone silently (or not so silently) agreed that the new entertainment was pretty lame in comparison, so this year the Lake Sunapee Chamber of Commerce sprung for bringing back the midway. The kids for seven towns over whooped with joy, let me tell you!!  Aiden was one of them, since this year he is tall enough to go on ALL the rides, not just the motorcycles and the flying bees.

Aiden tried everything except the Zipper... He went on the Hurricane, the Tornado, and the Tilt-a-Whirl.  Many, many times over.  He mostly went with friends, but he conned me into trying a few rides with him and I nearly puked/passed out/peed myself on them.  I think you must be immune to that inner ear sensitivity stuff when you're six, because Aiden and his friends seemed like they could spin one way on one ride and then the other way on the next, on and on like that, all night long.  Haley was sensibly too short for the puke coasters, but she had so much fun on everything she could go on that I think she'll be worse than Aiden in a few years.  In any case, the midway was a huge hit, so we're all hoping it will come back around next summer.  You just won't catch me on the Tornado again.

Haley Turns Three!

Our crazy Little Doo turned three a few weeks ago, and we had a lot of fun celebrating her birthday all week long.  Grandma Chris was up for the week, so that made it feel more festive too.  We picked raspberries and ate them with whipped cream, went swimming in the lake, walked to Arctic Dreams, and had lots and lots of tea parties.

On Sunday we had Haley's official birthday party, at Elkins Beach (her special request).  A few of her friends from Windy Hill came, as well as Micah, Becky, Phoebe, Fisher, And Grandmas Sally and Chris.  The weather looked a bit iffy in the forecast, but then turned out to be nice and warm and calm- perfect for little ones to go swimming and play in the sand.  We had the whole beach to ourselves too, I think thanks to the gloomy forecast.  

About a half hour into the party, the bunch of helium balloons that we had tied to the picnic table came loose and started to float away.  We had tied a plastic bath toy to them earlier to weight them down-it was just heavy enough to let the balloons hover in still air, but unfortunately just light enough to allow them to rise in a breeze.  When they took off, Haley noticed them first, and let out a bloody shriek, "MY BALLOONS!!" which was followed by steady sobbing.  The balloons swung low over the water and a couple of adults dove after them and just missed them as they rose up and out of reach.  Up, up up they went over the lake, and we tried to console Haley by pointing out that they really were pretty way up in the sky.  She was having none of it. Then suddenly, they dropped back down to the lake surface, but way outside of the designated swimming area.  Sam's mom Chery is a good swimmer, so she volunteered to swim out and retrieve them.  We all watched her progress intently, especially Haley, but a breeze picked up after Chery had passed the swim buoys and the balloons seemed to be moving across the lake at the same pace as she was.  Then Daddy sprung into action for his distraught birthday girl- a couple had just arrived at the beach and they were preparing to launch their kayaks for a paddle.  Andy begged them to loan him a kayak to save the balloons (and the day) and they agreed wholeheartedly, glad to be part of the adventure.  As he paddled out, Chery turned around, and he finally reached them about 200 yards out.  Everyone cheered as the balloons returned to the picnic table, fastened with a triple knot just to be sure.  It was a cooperative birthday adventure all the guests agreed they would not soon forget!

The infamous balloons!

Haley had a fabulously pink princess birthday cake, and after sharing it with her friends and family she hit the water for another hour or so of swimming.  It was a great third birthday for our doodlebug.  We can't believe she is already three years old!  Oh, and she spontaneously potty trained herself on her birthday too (never dreamed all that talk about her being a "big girl" now would actually work!)...just goes to show that kids can always surprise you :)