Alice's (and Uncle CJ's) First Pedicures!

Since Auntie Bethany and Uncle CJ were in town, Alice and Mommy took the day off to spend the time with them and Auntie Chris and Baby Mae at their apartment in Boston.  While we were there, Uncle CJ, after recently leaving his job, decided he wanted to kick off his fresh start with some fresh feet via his first pedicure.  Since Alice has so much experience having her nails painted by Daddy, she was happy to have her first professional pedicure as well.  Baby Mae had to nap, so Auntie Chris stayed behind, but Auntie Bethany and Mommy came along for pedicures as well.

Here are Uncle CJ and Auntie Bethany, settling into their chairs:

Here is Alice, showing off her chosen color:

Alice with her pedicurist:

Special Alice and Mommy pedicures (the first of many?):

Showing off her pretty toes:

Auntie Bethany checking out Alice's toes:

Beautiful toes all around!:

Our pretty toes then carried us back to Auntie Chris and Uncle Dan's apartment, where Baby Mae was now awake and happy to see us:

Auntie Bethany and Uncle Dan with their nieces:

Before heading home to Salem, Alice spent some time resting, reading books and reminiscing about the luxury of the day!

Here are the rest of the photos from our day of pampering!  Enjoy!

The Baptism of Baby Mae

We recently had the honor of spending the day celebrating with our newest niece, Baby Mae as she was baptized!  Here she is, looking gorgeous in her Christening gown:

Here she is with her Mommy and Daddy (aka Auntie Chris and Uncle Dan):

Alice was excited to get dressed up with everyone and, of course, to spend some time with Grammie and Grampie!:

We were especially excited that Uncle CJ and Auntie Bethany were in town for the baptism:

The happy family:

It's a twin thing!:

Auntie Bethany was so happy to be able to spend some time with her girls:

Congratulations and God Bless, Baby Mae!  Here are the rest of the photos from the baptism ceremony.

Alice the Student

Since we moved to Salem a little over a year ago, Alice has been attending daycare at a center here in town 4 days each week.  She is now in Preschool at the same center and enjoying herself most days and starting to make some friends.

She loves doing art projects, playing in the block area, playing dress-up, and reading books and singing songs with her friends and teacher in circle time.

Recently, the school had a vintage photo themed picture day and here is a photo of Alice from that day.

We look forward to watching Alice grow into the smart, creative and curious kiddo she is becoming and we are very pleased that her time at school is helping to expose her to so many fun, new ideas!  Go, Alice!

Lemonade for Sale!

The last day of public school here in Salem was a scorcher!  Alice and Mommy were home together that day, so we woke up early to plan for, and execute, our master plan - a lemonade stand!

Here is Alice, very excited after we got the lemonade stand set up inside.  We spent the morning making the lemonade, setting our prices and searching the house for everything we needed to make it all happen:

After naptime, we set up our stand outside our front steps.  Here is our little entrepreneur waiting for her first customer:

The irony of the day was that Alice discovered she did not really enjoy lemonade!  Here she is, trying her first glass:

Alice did a great job mixing the lemonade, pouring the glasses, handling the money, and flagging down the customers:

The day was very hot, and before long, we were taking frequent breaks to sit down and relax!

Overall, it was a fun day, and Alice was very proud of her endeavor!:

Here are the rest of the photos of Alice's first day in business.  Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

We had a fun surprise for Daddy on Father's Day this year!

We brought him for a 2 hour ride on the Schooner Fame out of Downtown Salem.  The three of us bundled up and headed down to Pickering Wharf to find out what the surprise was:

It was a beautiful day for getting out on the water:

Alice and Daddy even had a chance to participate in directing the boat!:

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!  We love you!

Here are the rest of the photos from our Father's Day adventures on the water.  Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

We celebrated Mommy's recent birthday in style!  Mommy and Daddy had received a gift certificate for Christmas for dinner on the Oddyssy from Uncle Dan and Auntie Chris.  Mommy and Daddy decided to take advantage of it on Mommy's birthday.  Alice stayed with Grammie and Grampie, Daddy surprised Mommy with a fancy hotel room downtown, and they had an awesome dinner out on the Harbor:

But a birthday celebration would not be as fun without Alice around, so once Mommy, Daddy and Alice got back together, we all went out to Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt to enjoy some yummy birthday dessert:

Happy Birthday, Mommy!  Here are the rest of the photos from Mommy's birthday.

Missing Daddy

Daddy got a new job!  He still works for the same company, but now he is working a desk helping the company with contract negotiations rather than at the bench doing chemistry.  It's a big change for Daddy, but he is enjoying it so far, and we are so proud of him!

Since he has had so much to learn in his new role, he has started to travel more for work than he has in the past.  The upside of that for Daddy is that he has had a chance to visit more with our old friend, Joey, who lives near amd works at the site in Pennsylvania where Daddy has done most of his training:

While Daddy has been out of town, Alice and Mommy have explored Salem to pass the time.  Here is Alice, taking in some live music during the Salem Arts Festival:

Alice and Mommy went to Maria's, a local diner, for breakfast and here Alice is showing Daddy that she got French Toast just like he likes to get and she loved it!:

Here, Alice is showing off the menu at Salem Beer Works where Alice and Mommy went for dinner:

... and Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt for dessert! Yum!:

Alice's favorite part of the Salem Arts Festival was popping into a little side stage and hearing Katey O'Callaghan perform and meeting her after her performance.  Alice went right up to her and told her that she LOVED her performance so much!  Katey gave Alice this photo with lots of info about how to hear Katey's music online.  Alice was over the moon! (Check her out here.):

We are so proud of you, Daddy, and can't wait to hear about all of your adventures when you get back home!

Here are the rest of Alice and Mommy's adventures in Salem while Daddy was away for work.

Fun at Home

With so many fun things to do both in Salem and on our various travels this year, it has been challenging to find some time to relax and have fun at home... but we love our home, so we have tried to carve out some time to enjoy it recently!

Alice was so proud to get up and make Mommy some breakfast.  Here she is, showing off the cereal with milk!

Any packages that arrive at our house require Alice (or our kitty, Millie, or both!) to try to fit in the box!

Alice received a Cabbage Patch Kid for her birthday from Auntie Chris, Uncle Dan and Baby Mae.  Here is Alice as we performed the official adoption ceremony for Baby Cesar!

Here she is showing off some treasures she received in the mail:

Stickers!:

... and a yummy Lollipop from Grandma and Papa!:

... and here Alice is showing off her guns.  Watch out, everyone!

Her two favorite companions (aside from Mommy and Daddy, of course!) are her two dollies, Ellalie and Bobo.  Here she is, being a good Mumma to her babies:

We recently picked up this cute raincoat for Alice so she will be fashionable in any weather:

Lately, since Alice's hair has gotten a bit longer, we have had the chance to try out real ponytails!:

She has been excited to try them out, especially on hot days!:

Here are some more recent photos as we have enjoyed our home!  Alice certainly makes it a fun place to be!