5,4,3,2,1

This week has been full of little milestones for this family.

On Monday Axel turned FIVE months old. 
 We celebrated with a trip to the beach followed by a stop at Johnson's Dairy Bar for dinner (which was really for the rest of us) and ice cream (which we did share with Axel to his great delight!). 

 He is a happy smiley guy!  He loves to smile at people...it is so fun to walk into a room and see that little face light up with a goofy little smile!  He still really loves his sister and tolerates (and perhaps even enjoys) her unending attempts to get him to smile/look at her.

On Thursday Ben and I celebrated FOUR years of wedded bliss.  It has been a busy but pretty great 4 years.  We were able to celebrate with a picnic in the park on Wed.

 

Just the three of us :)

 

And then Ben made dinner on our anniversary...Shrimp Fra Diavolo...delicious!!!! And brought me this lovely boquet!

  This cutie had a great week.

She spent THREE days at Grandma & Grandpa "Camp" with her girl cousins and Grandma & Grandpa "Bengskin".  And boy did they pack in the activities...swimming, crafting, 3 girls "sleeping" in the same room, and even a trip into Boston to ride the swan boats and visit the "ducks".  I can't wait to see all the pictures....but it has been fun trying to figure out what happened according to what Tobi has been recalling. We got some picture updates of these THREE girls having a great time:

It sure seemed strangely quiet not having Tobi here and we missed her lots, but it was so great that she got to spend such a special time with her cousins and grandparents.  (I do have to admit it was a nice little break to have just one child to look after for a couple days...but the level of entertainment was lacking significantly!)

Do you see what TWO stands for? 

 

 Here's a closer look!

Yup...tooth number two is officially in!  The only time we can get a good look is when he is crying...so I had to snap a couple of shots while he was a little upset.  (Hmmm, nice huh?)

And for the last milestone we now have ONE more eater in our house.  Axel had his first "meal" from a spoon.  Rice cereal...mmm, mmm, mmm!

I'm not sure if it really counts since he mostly sucked it off the spoon like he was sucking on a bottle...but let's just say I could not get the spoon to his mouth fast enough!!!!

4th by the sea

So we didn't make it up to the island in time for the 4th festivities (parade, fireworks, etc.) since they celebrated on the 2nd and we arrived on the 3rd, but we had a lot of fun with family and a spectacular view!

swimming-

 viewing-

 bbqing-

 cousins-

 coastline-

 kissing-

 laying-

There was a dance at the community center.  Tobi was so tired since she had no nap that day and it had been a very full day already...but she was so sure she wanted to go to the dance.  She got there and sat in a chair watching for about 20 minutes...I was sure she would fall asleep.  But suddenly she decided she wanted to dance...

 She danced with serious determination...and she couldn't be stopped!

We were all so busy watching Tobi's dancing that we didn't even notice when Kirstie Ally came in... (she has a a house on the island and shows up to things like this from time to time).  Of course we found out the next day that Jon and Shay had danced with her, but they had no clue who she even was.  Ben saw her as we were on the way out...I was oblivious...so I went back in to catch a glimpse.  I think she is even thinner than she was at the end of dancing with the stars.  We were thinking if we had stayed just a bit longer it would have been a great photo op of her and Tobi dancing together.   But it may be just as well, since Tobi had no interest in anyone dancing "with" her...I think she was afraid her style would be cramped.  That would have been a photo op of a whole different kind!  Maybe it's better we took the over tired toddler home when we did :)

The rest of our time there was filled with more fun...

hikes-

ice cream-

kayaks-

naps-

 

 seafood-

And then it was time to head back home...

Bye Islesboro...see you again soon!