1st day of pre-school

Today Maisie had her first day of pre-school. I can't believe my baby is already in school! Here she is in the morning before we left for school. I asked her to look at me and smile - this is the pose she came up with.

She had a great day - made bear ears, a kissing hand for me and had goldfish and apple juice for snack. She apparently liked it b/c she said she is going back tomorrow!

An attempted photo shoot at the beach

I have always wanted to have pictures of my family at the beach - playing in their cute little clothes in the sand. So, off to the beach we go. As per usual - Maisie was a complete ham and Max wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get more than one frame at a time.

One of the cute ones - Maisie hamming it up and trying to hold Max still for 2 seconds.

Caught in the moment - walking on the beach - playing to the camera when a wave catches her by surprise.

Ooh wee - look at that booty!

He was swimming in a regular diaper and it was weighing him down - so off with it. Next year we are going to have to buy that boy a Speedo - look at that tan line!

What a beautiful night - makes it really hard to pack up and leave in a few days. :o(

One of my favorites.

2 days in Charleston

We spent Tuesday and Thursday seeing the sights in Charleston - one of our favorite cities to explore. Mommy's favorite place is the Market - a great place to shop and Daddy's favorite place is anything historic. On Tuesday we went to the Market, a waterfront park with a fountain, Battery Park and ended the day having dinner on the pier at Folly Beach. Thursday we drove around Sullivan Island and Isle of Palms when GG was shopping at the bead store. We did a boat tour of Charleston Harbor and went to the Market - again. We ended our day in Charleston at the Noisy Oyster for dinner. We had a great time and were sad to cross the bridge away from Charleston. See you again next year!

Max aboard the harbor cruise.

Daddy's little taste of history - Fort Sumter where the first shot of the Civil War was fired

The USS Yorktown at Patriot's Point

A Charleston tradition - dinner at the Noisy Oyster and a HUGE piece of chocolate cake for Maisie. Her eyes are always bigger than her stomach but she has a great time trying - and sharing her delicious cake!

The waterfront park and the fountain for children to play in. Maisie is holding her dress up b/c I asked her not to get her dress wet as she didn't have any other clothes. Not a drop on it!
My favorite house in Charleston - on the corner of Battery Park and Charleston Harbor - the best of both worlds.
Maisie, Max and Daddy playing on a stack of cannon balls at battery park.
Max has never met a stranger. Here is loving on two bulldogs in Battery park. I guess he misses his Lucy.

Fun at the beach

The sun came out today - long enough for us to spend about 3 straight hours at the beach. Max fell asleep on the ride to the beach and slept for about an hour on Dude's beach chair. Maisie wasted no time getting into the ocean and playing in the waves. We all had a great time!

One of my favorite pictures of the day - my two boys.

Maisie and Max play in the hole GG dug for them.

Nap time - island style.

Maisie playing the waves. She had a blast!
Brian and Maisie in the ocean.

Max warms up to the ocean. Yesterday he was not a fan of the ocean - loved the sand at the beach - just not the water. He would run from the water as the tide came in.

Fun at the park!

Maisie, Max, Megan (aka Megan from the late, aka Patrick's Megan) and I went to the park near our house to play and take a few pics. Enjoy!

Fall Soccer Begins!

A new soccer season is already upon us. Maisie is a member of the YMCA Black Panthers along with most of her team mates from the spring Yellow Jackets team. You will see a new addition to her soccer friends - neighbor Frankie "Dash" Salzarulo. He is so fast and so fun to watch!

Here Maisie puts some leather on the ball. After she kicks it - she is turns and waves to me to make sure I saw that she kicked the ball. We are working on her being more aggressive...

Frankie leads the pack. The others couldn't catch him.

Frankie scored the Panther's only goal. That smile is sheer excitement and totally priceless!

Almost as good as juice and snacks after the game is the parent tunnel. The parents join hands and make a tunnel for the kids to run through as we are cheering for them. They love it - so much so that several just run back and forth through the tunnel.

Air Max

Max likes to watch the big boys on our street play basketball. He knows that it involves a ball (his favorite word!) but he just can't figure out how to get the ball up that high.

Max has gotten so big so fast - this reminds me that he still has a lot of growing yet to do.
~ AIR MAX ~

Fun at the lake!

We spent the 4th of July and most of the week after at Lake Williamstown. We had a great week with our friends and family!

Max swimming - he isn't quite the fish his sister was at this age but he is working on it!

Maisie takes a break from swimming to color on the dock.

Lucy jumps off the dock after a stick. She LOVES to swim.

Clean up after a fun day by taking a bath in the sink at the Merz house. Anyone recognize this baby from 30 years ago?!?

After our fun week we were ready to get back home - we packed so much stuff we barely had room for poor Lucy!

1st birthday bash

Saturday, June 21 - we celebrated Max's first birthday with friends and family. Thank you to all that came and celebrated with us. It does get a little crazy here but you being with us means the world!

Max rides his excavator with some of his loot in the background.

Start of a new tradition - my children with each of their God parents on their birthday.

Max with God father Barrett

Max man with God mother Kim

Welcome to my blog - Cooper John. Kim's newest addition born April 30. He is going to be giving his brother Carson some competition for blog time. :o) Yes, Craig, you can steal this one too....

Happy 1st Birthday Max!

Tuesday, June 17 ~ Max turns 1! We can't believe it has been a year already. How time flies.... The first of many celebrations as our little man turns 1!

PaPa Merz helps Max open his gift.

Max eyes his cake but mostly the candle....

It took him a while to get into the cake but he finally got into it.

I think he was wearing more than he actually ate!

Happy Birthday Max-man! We love you!

One of my favorite people.....

Here is one of my most favorite people - other than my own kids - to shoot. And can't you just see why - he is so handsome! Just look at those baby blues....

Love you Carson!

Wigs busted

Today we had Maisie's 4 year visit at the pediatrician which entailed 4 shots - not a fun time. Afterwards, Maisie wanted to go to the birthday castle at Johnny's Toy Store and get her pick out of the castle. Then she decided that she wanted to get her hair cut - short. So off to the salon we went for Maisie and Max to get their hair cut. Maisie got about an inch taken off and Max had his first experience with the clippers - they both did great!

Maisie before her appointments

Maisie after her hair cut.

Max with his little man cut. He did great!

Max is walking

Max has decided that it is time for him to become even more mobile. I guess his "run crawl" is not enough - he is going to walk. He walks with his hands up above his head - not sure why but it is cute!

Maisie is 4!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAISIE!

Aarrgghh!!

Have you seen a cuter pirate? I will let these photos speak for themselves - WHAT A CUTIE!!

I will say the last pic is my favorite of my God son - Carson Hinkel.... As soon as I get more time, I will black and white some of these (the last one especially) and do another post.