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My birthday was Sunday and it was LOVELY! Raph surprised me with a SURFBOARD for my birthday which was a shock and SO exciting. He actually gave it to me on Sat. night, and on Sunday we were awakened by the beeping phone telling us we had a text message, which turned out to be from our dear friends, John and Gwen, telling us, "Surfs up!" And by 8:30 I was in the water off of Long Sands surfing. It was great! I have a new wet suit, and even though I am quite self-conscious about it, I decided not to let that stand in the way of my time in the water. It took me a long time to figure out where exactly I wanted to be on my board and I was exhausted about four seconds after I went in, but I had SO much fun and can't wait to surf more. The day was pretty much like a blast from the Hawaiian past, since that is where John and Gwen live, and some other friends we know from Hawaii (who now live in CT) also showed up. It ended up being a great beach bash with a bunch of friends, followed by a motorcycle ride with my sweetheart (babysitting services provided by Ann and Larry - thanks!), followed by an outstanding dinner shared with friends and family. It was such a perfect day! I am so lucky.

A Goodbye Party for Rudy

We had a memorial for Rudy this week. We had two in fact, but I was working during the second one. But the first was at Fort Foster, and we were lucky to get to see many relatives we don't see too often anymore. Like any Matty event of late, it was a baby-fest, and I never tire of photographing the babes as they grow. I'm glad my kids are lucky enough to grow up with other kids their age in the family.

Rudy's brother, Uncle James, attended, along with a lot of Rudy's wife Virginia's family. Virginia died when Larry was 23, so we never knew her, but it is fun to imagine what she might have been like by getting to know her siblings and nieces and nephews. (Rudy and Virginia were both from families of 10 children!!!) The crew spread Rudy's ashes into the Atlantic there at Fort Foster, and they "divided the estate" which consisted of two suitcases full of clothes and old lottery tickets, which we're pretty sure aren't worth anything.

Anyway, some pictures from the party, mostly of the babes.
Virginia's siblings - from left to right, Bobby, Gardiner, Ruthie, and Lawrence.
The cousins (and sadly I don't even know all their names. Help me out here!)


Jo wearing Rudy's jacket while dividing the estate.


Little Rudy growing big to fill Big Rudy's shoes!

Uncle James is fascinated by the babes...

No back up.

When you drive four hours to go camping, you can't back out. Not even if a certain one-year-old screams his bloody head off all night and you end up having to drive out of the campground into the parking lot and sit there for the rest of the night because you feel bad for the other campers.

BUT, not being able to back out has its perks. For us, it meant we were able to explore Acadia for the first time. We stayed in a breath-taking campground right on the ocean, went on a horse-drawn carriage ride, enjoyed the tidepools, and views and were overall really proud of ourselves for making it happen. And of course the kids had a good time. Even if they were tired.

Branford 2010

We were lucky enough to get to stay with my Aunt and Uncle and cousin at their house in Connecticut recently. Boy do we love it there, and really, what's not to love? Great family time, delicious food (Suzanne outdoes herself) and an absolutely gorgeous location. Pretty perfect.

Mr. Communication.

My little Remick is such a communicator. If all else fails he's a grunter and screamer, but all of sudden he has become such a little talker (and signer.)

He says: mama, dada, ball, airplane, thank you, birdie, truck, uh-oh
He signs: more, milk, please, water, eat
He repeats sounds in singing - lala, deedee, etc.
He shakes his head yes and no.
His receptive language has been amazing lately too. He totally follows directions (when it suits him): like sit down, pick it up, lay down. If I say something about his diaper, he'll run into the bedroom (where the diaper changing station is) trying to rip his diaper off. So far we've beat him before he tugs off a diaper full of terds, but the day is totally coming.
I find it interesting that all of Makili's first words were food items and Remick's aren't even though he spends all day eating or trying to get food. Sometimes he helps clean up though...

Skies

We've had a lot of eventful weather around here of late. It has been hot and humid (I feel like I'm in the Burgh!) with a lot of thundershowers. Before I was working at farmers' markets three days a week thunderstorms held a different meaning, but now I worry about customers coming, tents blowing away, being wet for ten hours, etc. Farmers' markets are a lot like the mail - rain or shine sleet or snow, they are happening.

Anyway, after work last night, I wanted to be outside and the mosquitos have become absolutely unbearable at our house all of a sudden, so we went to Long Sands Beach to walk. My mom is here to help me out while Raph is working long hours in Boston for two weeks and going for a late-night walk is right up her alley. We were so lucky to watch a really amazing storm come in over the water. It was so beautiful and a little scary (we didn't capture any of the lightning but there was plenty.) In bed later when the storms reached our house, it was like a light show. It was really cool. I don't have anything super-smart to say about the storms or the skies, but they have been really cool.

So full

Our days have been so full that I haven't had time to write about our first camping trip, taking the kids to see Peter Pan, which Makili loved, or even to write about our frequent trips to the ocean. Makili is learning to jump in and let his head get wet (a huge accomplishment!), we're trying to teach Remick not to walk to his death in the waves (that kid is a menace!). Makili got new shoes today (though I don't know that this would fall into the "need" category) and my god, you should have seen how excited he was. He was jumping up and down saying, "I can jump better in these!" I wish I could find more time to capture these gems, but alas the flowers keep blooming, the kids keep growing, and the weather moves us to the water almost every day.

I don't know how people do it.

I don't know how anyone can endure watching their children go through painful medical procedures. Both of my boys had routine shots today at the doctor (please don't leave me comments about your opinions on vaccinations. Each and every parent must make this opinion on their own and I don't judge anyone else personal decisions, please don't judge mine.) This is tolerable. They are quick and over before they know it.

But they both also had to have blood drawn today. I decided to have Makili tested for Lyme because he had a known tick bite a few months back and has had three otherwise symptomless fevers since then, and I also decided to have both kids screened for lead. We learned this year that the garden closest to our house is full of lead. We mostly grow flowers there (now exclusively flowers) but in the past two years we've grown a few vegetables and I wanted to make sure that the boys don't have high levels of lead, though honestly I don't really know what you do about it even if you do? Anyway, Makili was scared, but was so brave and it didn't take long. BUT Remick was just awful. Unfortunately, the poor child inherited my deep, small veins which have been awful for me my whole life. Phlebotomists frequently miss and leave me with an armful of bruises. Three women worked to restrain his writhing, screaming body for EVER to get a tiny, vial of blood that was nearly not enough. They tied that rubber tourniquit on countless times, feeling around, put on a warming pack which Remick hated, missed once with the needle after moving it around all over the place in his arm trying to make the stick come up with something. Remick eventually tired out and was there sweaty from screaming. I talked to him, asking him if he wanted to go see Daddy, or eat blueberries, or have milk, and he would grunt desperately at me hoping I would free him from the torture. It was an hour of absolute AWFUL. I really don't know how either of us could have possibly endured more.

Outtakes

Photographing seven babies is not easy.









These were the best we could do! (Sorry Rudy)

Goodbye Grampy

Raph's grandfather Rudy passed away yesterday. Like my own grandfather, he was optomistic to a fault. Just last week he told us that the doctor had told him he could live to be 110. He was a man who was proud of a job, and spent the last years of his life working at the Ringling Art Museum in Sarasota, FL. We went and visited him there once and he was so proud to introduce us to his coworkers and show us around. He lived his older years with total dignity - driving and working until the very end - a condition not all of us can be lucky enough to endure. We took this picture of Makili with Raph, Larry, and Rudy in 2008, but I wish Remick could have met him too.