Summer Time is Here-and I'm Busy!

As my brother-in-law told me yesterday, I've created a monster. No, not little Kate, this blog. As we have been visiting with lots of friends and family over the last few weeks, complaints have been pouring in on the lack of updating over the past six weeks and again I have no excuse except that we are having so much fun being off for the summer! So instead of packing for the beach trip we are leaving on tomorrow, I have coerced Jeff into doing laundry so that I can catch up on blogging. So away we go....


Look at my brave girl having fun with the sprnkler.

Water Table

We bought Kate a water table as a "Yay! School is out for the summer!" gift. She has really enjoyed it. Here she is helping to build it,

here she is really concentrating on her experiment,

and here she is having fun!

Congratulations Aunt Heather!

Aunt Heather graduated from UNCW in May and has already found a job. We are really proud of you.

Kate especially enjoyed eating her first cookie with Grandaddy in celebration of the special event.

Curls

It's official, Kate did inherit the curls, like all of the women in her family!

Mowing the Lawn

While we are on the subject of hair, here is Kate mowing the lawn for Daddy with her first set of pig tails. She is too cute!

Happy Birthday to Scarlett!

Scarlett celebrated her 1st birthday in June, she had a great party, complete with cinderella stopping by for a visit. Check out her website for pictures from the party. Kate and Scarlett love playing together.

Beach Time!

We spent last weekend at the beach. We had not been since last summer. We had so much fun!!! Thank you, thank you to our friends for letting us stay at your lovely cottage! Get ready for lots of pictures!

I love playing with my Daddy!

Kate loved spending time with her Daddy. She is most definitely a Daddy's girl. During soccer season, he usually doesn't get home until after she has gone to bed, so being with him on the weekends is extra special.

Kate's Favorite Spot

Kate's favorite spot at the beach house is the huge swing in the sunroom. She would beg to sit up there and read. I couldn't resist posting this picture.

Grandaddy and Grandma

My parents and grandmother came to join us on Sunday. Kate had so much fun showing off her new walking skills and playing with them.


She loves to listen to her grandfather as he teaches her about nature and science (he used to be a biology teacher). We are so glad they were able to come.

A Sense of Style

Kate is starting to really exert her independence. The other day as we were playing in her room, she refused to put her pants back on after a diaper change, pulled out her uggs, demanded that I help her put them on, and then added her hat to the ensemble. She stayed in that outfit the rest of the afternoon. As my students would say-she be stylin'...(I do try to teach them correct grammar occasionally)

You Go Girl!

Here I Am!

We're back-I know you guys have been wondering were we have been. My students have informed me that blogging is, "like so 2 years ago-get a face book account Mrs. Costa!", but I know all of our faithful visitors don't care. You just want to see what Kate's been up to. Well, what we've all been waiting for has happened-drum roll please...Kate has discovered the wonderful world of walking! Kate finally started walking on Tuesday and has not looked back-today she tried to run from her father, who was chasing her around the kitchen. It ended in a fall, but it's the fastest we have seen her go. She's doing great. Check out our first attempt at a video to see for yourself! (If the video stops at 4 seconds, move the cursor forward a little and it will play the rest...I don't know why it stops at 4 seconds)

Minneapolis, Minnesota

I went to Minneapolis for four days last week for an International Baccalaureate conference to learn about changes in the curriculum to a course I teach for the programme (that's how IB people spell program-it's all very British). Much to my surprise, Minneapolis is a wonderful city-we went to the Mall of America-yes, I rode a few roller coasters-, a Twins game, ate at a wonderful Brazilian Restaurant in the theatre district (once again-how IB people spell theater), and saw the Mississippi River for the first time in my life. The city has these skywalks that connect the entire downtown area, so you never have to go outside until you get to your destination. I had a great time even though I missed Jeff and Kate terribly, but we all survived. I brought Kate back a Moose puppet-we named her Minnie.