We Have Lift Off!

Dear Friends and Family,

BREAKING NEWS!!! Will is starting to really walk! Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBTmryeQHrk

On Monday, we spent the morning and afternoon at the beach. Will showed off some of his first consecutive steps there, and then on Tuesday he started to walk around the house!!!  I was so impressed with his new moves that I had Will surprise Chris when he came home from work. Chris walked in the door, and Will walked right into Chris' arms. It was really cute, and Chris was so surprised!

Will breaks in his new shoes!

Claire is really warming up to her little brother.  Normally she doesn't like to be in close proximity to Will, but now that he is trying to walk, she is eager to show him how it's done.

Playing one of his favorite games: hide and seek with Peek-a-boo Panda!

Peek-a-boo!

 Will loves a good evening cuddle with Daddy!  More peek-a-boo!

As I mentioned earlier, Will, Claire and I spent most of the day Monday at the beach.  We had a great time playing in the water, looking for beach treasures, and building sandcastles.  But at the end of the day, it felt wonderful to be scrubbed clean again...especially after Claire found a bird feather and decided to surprise me by tickling me in the ear with it!  She soon received a lesson on not touching feathers that aren't in her dress-up chest.

It was a good thing we did so much playing outside, because on Tuesday it rained all day long! It wasn't such a bad thing though, thanks to Aunt Sue, who got us a rainy day cookie cutter so we could make rainy day cookies!  YUM!

Last week we did lots of trips to the Library for reading time. We even went to the baby library class for Will.  Claire was completely nostalgic in the class. She was so happy to get to play with beach balls at library class again.

I snapped this photo just as Will gets whacked in the head by another baby!

Luckily he's used to getting bonked on the head with beach balls, so he's cool with it!

In Claire's library class they do LOTS of reading. I am always so impressed by how long Claire will sit and listen to stories.  Will was really mobile so I stayed in the back of the room to try to keep him entertained and Claire just occasionally looked my way to share a smile. Then it was time for the craft and rather than pulling me over to the craft, Claire walked straight over and joined all of the other kids!  I was amazed!

I was so amazed I took a picture! This girl is going to be ready to start Pre-school in September!

This weekend we were busy around the house and the island!  Chris added a second coat to our deck and Claire and I helped plant more sea grass near the island pier.  Our neighbors were impressed by what a good gardener Claire was.  Her job was to put the sand around each plant and pat it into place.  It was also nice to see how many neighbors showed up to help. Claire and I left after working for about 20 minutes because others wanted a chance to help.  

Will says, "Hi!" to Dad!

Claire is busy planting the grass!

I'm just supervising and cheering her on!  Nice work, Claire!

I also made yet another Elsa dress for Claire.  I think it's time for me to find another pattern!  But boy are these dresses easy to make, and they always make Claire smile!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!
Love,
Bethie