A few beach favorites...

I just wanted to post a few of my favorites from our beach photos... The rest can be found in the photo album to which I linked in the entry below.... I have to give some credit to the Stinehelfers, who took a few of these pictures... I basically raided their Snapfish album... Hopefully, I'll have some videos up by tomorrow...

This very well may be my new favorite Sadie picture... She's actually looking at the camera, smiling and sitting still. Somehow, all the stars aligned!

And another smiling picture! This was her little yellow duck float that she used in the baby pool...

Redmond looking vaguely Dr. Evil-esque...

Mommy looks like h-e-double toothpicks here, but Sadie looks cute... Lisa and Hailey are strolling by...

Redmond brought some of his rockets from school and set them off on the beach. Alex and Charlie seemed to particularly enjoy this...



A crowd assembles for fireworks... Shh... don't call the police!

Sadie, looking for some mischief...
Henry, Claudia and Sadie have their very own deluxe swimming pool...
Sadie enjoyed playing hide and seek behind the curtains in the living room... Unfortunately, the house had these sheer white curtains in the bedrooms as well, so we had to drape a thick comforter over the windows so Sadie would take a nap in the afternoon...

Molly and Lila weren't so sure about those fireworks...
A lady of leisure...
Surf's up!
Some more pictures of Sadie on the beach...

Back from the beach!

We came back from the beach on Saturday evening, and I'm pretty swamped trying to catch up before I leave yet again next Saturday for my ACRL Leadership Conference and trip to Vermont. For now, I just dumped all of our photos in a Picasa web album for right now, and will add captions and organize later this week... Also, I have some very cute videos I'll try to upload in the next day or so...

Topsail Island, 2008

Massive video dump...

So, here are the videos I promised yesterday... If you haven't checked my blog in a few days, be sure to scroll down and see the following entry, where I made a massive photo dump. I had to make sure I emptied out my camera before our beach week that starts Saturday after next.

Sadie seems to be musically inclined... Now, I'm basing this on the fact that she bellows out notes from various and sundry songs she's learned and bangs on several musical instruments, but you know how parents are... If I see her holding something resembling a test tube, of course, she's going to be a famous chemist, and when she uses her play stethoscope to check mommy's heartbeat, I'm going to assume she's going to be a renowned Cardiovascular surgeon, right? So, here, I present Sadie- the budding musician!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get my camera fired up quickly enough and the noise in Planet Child was louder than Sadie, but if you listen very closely, you can hear the end of "Twinkle Twinkle". I am so sad... A year ago, the song was "Hinkle Hinkle Little Tar". I always feel weepy when Sadie learns the right way to say something. I'm still suffering that hot dogs are no longer "wot dogs" and that butterflies are no longer "wee-o-wies".



Sadie has invented the "Cookie song", which consists of her singing the words "Cookie... cookie... cook-key, key, key, key, Cookie...." The lyrics are poignant and moving, no? Here, she accompanies herself with my guitar... I should probably check to make sure the strings are still on...



Not to be limited to one genre or musical instrument, she adapts the cookie song to the piano. Playing as naked as she came into this world, she seems to be making the statement that her art is the naked truth, and not sugar-coated by the mask of clothing... And thank goodness the video is very dark!



The basic melody of Beethoven's 9th takes a darker, post-punk goth turn... Yes, I am being completely facetious... ;-)



Sadie also appreciates the art of dance. She has adapted her bluegrass dancing moves so as to continue dancing while Daddy applies sunscreen.



Sadie does not like to be a trained monkey. She often stops whatever she's doing when she sees me turn the camera on her. Here, I was trying to get her to slide down the haystack, but she balked and eventually demanded that I turn the camera off. But she did play "flamingo" for the camera. She likes to pretend to be different animals, and being a flamingo is an exercise in balance...



Sadie plays pirate at Planet Child. Notice that she uses "pirate voice" throughout the clip.



I love this clip... Sadie was playing around with the garden hose and managed to wash Mee-Maw's car, Pee-Paw, and Mommy.

Big picture dump

It's been some time since our last update... With Redmond's annual national TSA competition taking him away for about a week, and the mad rush before the trip to pull everything together with his kids, it's just been too busy around the house to take many pictures or to update the blog... So, I have a pretty massive picture dump today. Later this week, I have some pretty cute videos of Sadie to upload, so check back!

On the recommendation of a friend, I ventured to the wilds of suburban Cary to a children's play area called Planet Child. Not quite a children's museum, but with a predominance of toddler-oriented play stations, Planet Child has enough to keep Sadie busy, but is small in scale to the degree that I don't worry about losing my little F-5 tornado. She tends to run at 60 mph in Marbles, and occasionally leaves us in the dust. Planet Child is Sadie's new favorite place to go, and makes a great substitute for a park or playground on a rainy day. She often wakes up in the morning and queries, "We go to Child?".

Redmond and I took Sadie to Planet Child right before he left for TSA in Orlando, and then I visited again with my friend Anne and her two kids. Here are some pictures...

The love that cannot be named... OK- I'll name it- it's penguin love...



Playing rock star....


After Sadie finishes playing "guitar" and obsessing over the electric trains, she usually makes a beeline to the pirate ship....


Ahoy, matey!

Sadie's entering the stage where she wants to dress in costumes all the time... I really need to make and collect some costumes to keep at home... Currently, she wraps a blanket around her shoulders and announces that she's a super villain looking for the key to the world... I then have to chase her around, capture her, and tickle her...

Here, she's pretending to be a car...


In a rowboat with Max...

Here's she's going for the Johnny Depp pirate look....

Just your average, ordinary, lion-riding pirate...

Once again with the guitar...

She's waiting for me to swing her around in the bucket...

While Redmond was away, we had the perfect storm of events... Mom was also away touring Ireland with her sister, my aunt Sylvia. And Sadie's preschool was closed for the week. So, in order to ensure that I wasn't stranded in the wilds of Western Orange County all by myself for a week, Dad graciously came down to help.... This time, he and Sadie really bonded. Here, we have taken Sadie to the "ice cream store", but she actually was indifferent to the ice cream. She pretty much goes to play on that tiny little haystack....

Dad is trying to pique Sadie's interest in her ice cream cup, but she's far more engrossed with scaling the haystack...




Clutching the butterfly Dad gave her...






We usually attend the Eno River Festival every year, and this year was no different, though the stormy weather kept us away until Sunday. Unlike most years, the temperature only reached the high 80's. I have memories of watching live bands in 100+ degree weather, so I was thrilled to be relatively comfortable.

Sadie was wildly enthusiastic about the bus ride to the festival from the parking lot.

Crossing the river on a bridge...

The old mill on the Eno River...

Some of the crafts for sale...


Unfortunately, the previous days of rain had the river engorged and running crazy fast, so the kayak trips were not appropriate for small children. We mollified Sadie by allowing her to kayak in grass...

And she realizes that kayaking in grass is somewhat lame...


Splashing...

Brave folks swimming in the engorged river... We stood in tantrum alley, as Sadie and a bazillion other toddlers begged to swim in the river...