Future Olympian?

In these pictures, Morgan either looks like a future Olympic swimmer, or a miniature version of Elton John. We can't decide. 

Lake Vacation

There are a ton of pictures in this post, but our week at the Lake can be summed up in three words that Morgan repeated over and over again: Ducks, doggies and bubbles. 

We arrived at Andy's parents house on Alexander's Lake on Sunday after our trip to Maine. It was raining on Sunday afternoon, but by Monday, the sun was shining and Morgan got to enjoy her first swim of the year. 

At first, she wasn't quite comfortable with the idea of floating. But Cousin Alex was happy to show her how it's done. (Morgan called him "Aya")

Every night, Morgan would unwind with Henry and Alex in their room. Here, Henry (aka "Enni" in Morgan-speak) teaches Morgan the sweet science of Pokemon battles. (Good stuff to know when you're 15 months old.)

Another one of Morgan's favorite pastimes at the lake was calling out for the neighborhood dogs. With Trigger, Sam, Kiwi and Bell all close by, Morgan was rarely left waiting for a  4-legged friend. 

With the deck in lockdown mode (i.e. baby gates installed so Morgan couldn't escape), Morgan was able to enjoy dinner by the lake several nights. 

The deck also seemed like a good place to go porch-tubing with Alex. 

By mid-week, the rain had returned. So Morgan's afternoon bubble session had to be moved inside.  

One night, a family of ducks stopped by for a snack. As you can tell in the picture below, Morgan was much more excited to see wild birds than Ariella, who still has horrible memories from a goose encounter as a child. (Oh brother.)

By the end of the week, the sun had returned and we were all back in the water. Ariella dusted off her ol' lifeguard/swim instructor skills and gave Morgan her first lesson.

Meanwhile, Andy introduced Morgan to another rite of passage... taking a bath in the lake. Morgan didn't mind the shampoo, but obviously didn't appreciate the Mohawk hairdo. 

All in all, it was a great week of Lake fun!

Beach to Beacon

After a couple of days in Boston, we headed north to Portland, Maine for phase 2 of our New England vacation. 

Every year, our friends Jamie, Emily and Charlie invite everyone up to Maine to run in the Beach to Beacon 10k road race (see Mainely Garvins blog). The race attracts some of the best runners in the world, along with a lot of the worst (we both ran in 2006). This year, we just watched. 

Morgan was very interested as the top Kenyan runners whizzed past us in less than 30 minutes. 

A while later our friends Rob, Jeff and Jamie came running by. (24, 26, and 34 minutes later, respectively... but who's counting?)

Of course, the main attraction of Beach to Beacon weekend isn't the race, it's the lobster bake at the Garvin's house afterward. 

Ariella and Andy were very excited to catch up with old friends, and meet some of the new additions to the families. Morgan was also very excited to meet the Garvin family rabbits and blow bubbles with Mom. 

Morgan introduced herself to Bodhi, the newest Gerlach Kid. She patted him gently and called him "Baby". 

This isn't the first time the three guys below have gotten together for drinks. But it's the first time the drinks were in baby bottles and sippy cups. 

Morgan rode on the "big kid" swing. She did really well. 

Speaking of big kids, Morgan also held her own with the 4-5 year old boys at the party. 

After a great day in Maine, it was time for Morgan and Cooper to head back to the hotel. Andy and Jeff got to stay for a couple extra non-sippy-cup drinks. 

Make Way for Morgan

On Day 2 of our vacation, we headed back into Boston and took Morgan and Cooper to the Public Garden, where the book "Make Way for Ducklings" is set (one of Ariella's childhood favorites.)

In the book, a family of mallards searches all over Boston for a safe place to raise their family of ducklings, before they eventually choose the Public Garden. In real life, no duck or pigeon in the Public Garden was safe from Morgan.



Morgan hopped out of her stroller and ran across the park, yelling "duck" and "bird".



After failing to catch a duck, we decided to take Morgan to see some ducks that we knew she could get her hands on.



One of the most popular attractions at the Public Garden are the statues of the Mrs. Mallard and her 8 ducklings.





Picture below (front to back): Mrs. Mallard, Morgan, Jack, Kack, Jeff's legs, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Our summer vacation officially kicked off on Thursday, July 30th, with Morgan's first trip to Fenway Park. We were joined by our friends Jeff and Nicole, and Morgan's pal Cooper (not pictured, but you can check out Cooper's side of the story here). Which meant our tiny little Fenway seats were jammed with 2 diaper bags, 2 strollers, and 2 very wiggly toddlers.



Even in the shade, it was a steamy day at the ol' ballpark, so Morgan kept her supply of juice boxes close by at all times.



The Sox went ahead 1-0, and Morgan cheered with the crowd.



Concession Guy: "Get ya bawlpawk hawt dawgs heeya!"
Morgan: "I have no clue what you just said -- but I'll take two of those, please!"



After 6 innings, with the Sox trailing 4-1, we decided Morgan and Cooper had had enough fun in the sun, and decided to beat the crowd out of the ballpark.



Morgan fell asleep as soon as we got back to the car. While we were in transit, the Sox came back and won the game on a 3-run homer by Big Papi.

Even though we missed the exciting finish, it was a very memorable day at the ballpark.

Pretty Flowers

The Asian lilies that we planted in our flower garden have all bloomed.

Morgan likes them.

Ducks with Hats

DeAr bLOg fOllOWerz:

i haV beEn werking on thIs foR a wHIle. I liKe to kall it "Ducks wiTh Hats". Itz mY favorit thiNg to dO iN the baTHtub. Here'z hoW it werks.

1. GrAb soMe duCKs
2. pUt HAts oN them








My mOm sHOWed me this tRick, just oNce! (RealLY, just onCE.) And NOw I do iT aLL tHe time! YoU shOulD tRy it neXt tIME yOU tAKE a batH.

LOVe,

MoRGAn