Wednesday, June 29, 2011

LW & Silas-- Hilton Head Take II






Here's to my youngest cousin Lindsay and her marriage to Silas! We did our best to get to their wedding. I won't go into the details, but let's just say it was a travel disaster and we therefore didn't make their nuptuals. We did, however, get to spend some time with them after they became Mr. and Mrs. Odell.


The guys all got to go for a kayak excursion:


Cally finally saw a real live alligator:


She got to ride in Uncle James' rented Mustang Convertable and wondered why the windows wouldn't go up:


And Grandma gave Cal her first pedicure:


And we all got to spend some time on the beach again:





And we all got to spend some quality time cuddling with his relatives:






Here's to the Underwood sisters, who continue the tradition of getting family together!


And here's to cute kids who aren't necessarily that much fun to travel with, but keep us smiling and feeling fortunate to be a family!




Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Turtles


Cally, John and Hazen has the opportunity to help release 50 threatened spiney softshelled turtles into Lake Champlain.


These little guys were brought to the ECHO science center in October and carefully cared for so that they could be released into the lake. Cally may not remember actually doing this, but hopefully, this sort of stewardship will become a part of who she is:



Monday, June 20, 2011

Happy Father's Day!


Every once in while, I hear Cally blurt out to her dad, "Dad, you're the best dad in the whole world". I'm not exactly sure if her two and a half year old brain really knows what she's saying, but then again, I think she does. I hope she knows how lucky she is to have a dad that arranges his work schedule so that he can stay home with the kids one day a week, who has a sit down breakfast with the family every single morning, who picks up toys for his kids at the freecycle zone at the dump, who gets a swingset on Craigslist and assembles it, who hasn't missed a single doctors appointment for either of his kids (even when in utero), and who loves his kids more than anything in the world.




Yesterday, on Father's Day, there wasn't a lot that was done for Dear Dad. We did, however, let him sleep in, delivered him coffee in bed, and made French Toast. Cally made a card and we had some photos printed for him. It's the little things that matter to this dad. He loved it all. And he's pretty sure that there isn't a dad in the world who loves his family as much as he does.



It may be a while before Cally and Hazen realize what an amazing father they have. It may not be until they have their own kids. But I know that he is pretty unbelievable. I know how much he's put on the back burner (powder days, international mountain adventures, epic mountain bike rides, music festivals, and more) so that his kids can be front and center in his life. And I know how innovative he's been to make it so his children can be a part of what he loves and represents. Right now, the kids are too young to really understand, and I know there will be a period of time where they actually resent spending time with their family, but they will never be light on love with this guy around!



Happy Father's Day, John!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Three weeks in Review


Time seems to be slipping away. Here's a photo journalistic synopsis of the past three weeks:

Hazen turns 4 months! The stats: 14 lbs 8 oz (50th percentile) and 25.75 inches (75th percentile). He's smiling, giggling, and generally just a happy guy.


Crazy weather: We've had tons of rain this spring, combined with the run off from a big winter of snow means that Lake Champlain is at an all time high (in terms of flood level). We made it down for a wild afternoon:


Memorable Memorial Day with friends:








A fun Jazzfest weekend with a visit from the Dormers: Matt, Carlota, Boden (2.5 years old) and Skylar (9 months old) and the cousins in Stowe.






John's parenting leave is over, the kids are both with Meike for just another three days, exams start tomorrow, and I'm out of school on Thursday (just in time to jump on a plane to get down to South Carolina for Cousin Lindsay and Silas' wedding). Ahhhhhh Summer! So looking forward to it.