Natalie's artwork

Periodically, I like to post a few of Natalie's best artwork pieces.  She really loves artwork, and as I've mentioned before, I think she's pretty good at it for a 5 year old!  Our favorite themes this summer have been mermaids, surfing, princesses, and rainbows.

Above, a mermaid is swimming in the water.

Above, Natalie is surfing at the beach.  As you can see, mommy and daddy are surfing with her, but apparently Grant is still too little because he's playing on the beach.

I told Natalie my dream pair of inov8s would be a purple and blue pair, since those are my favorite colors.  Inov8 big wigs, if you're reading this, Natalie would like to come work for you in your product development department.

Well, we're almost there with the paleo brainwashing, above....  (pizza, that's our only non paleo food!)

"I had short hair when I was a baby.  It looks long now.  I want perfect sized hair when I grow up."

These three mermaids are friends, and none of them have mouths!

Rainbows are a big hit around here lately.

This is Rapunzel.  She wears a purple dress and has long blonde hair.  Natalie has an amazing memory for details, such as the bodice on Rapunzel's dress- it actually does look like this!  Oh to be in the mind of a 5 year old!

First day of school 2012

Grant started his first day at FACE Children's Center (preschool) and Natalie started her first day at Memorial Elementary School here in Natick as a big kindergartener!!!  Naturally, we attempted to take a few pictures on the front steps.  You know how it goes.  Take 10 pictures to get one good one?

Little boy looks cute, but Natalie isn't ready.

 

 Goofball loves to make silly faces when taking pictures.  

More silly faces for Goofball, and Grant apparently thinks this is really funny.

I can't tell you how many times we told Natalie to make a nice face.  Grant also wants to now get up and move.

  So he moves down to the bottom step.  We'll get it right one of these tries.

Ah, there we go!  Two cute kids!

Grant, a little unsure of his backpack on the first day.  Todd told him he didn't have to wear it (after he protested) but he had to hold it.  

Big sis went to FACE for two years, so she showed little brother the way.

Natalie's first day of kindergarten was actually two days after Grant's first day.  She has Ms. Baldassari this year, and so far, she mostly likes it.  She told me tonight that it's "too much work!"  Oh boy, wait until she gets to high school!

Natalie made a friend very quickly.  Her name is Aja (pronounced Asia).  Have no fear though.  They held hands, and marched right on into Memorial (right past Mr. Joseph, their principal) and never looked back!  That's my girl!

Natalie gets her ears pierced

Before Natalie started kindergarten, I thought she might be old enough to get her ears pierced.  (We are currently 6 weeks post ear piercing and she's still doing great with them!)

She cried a bit just before they did it and just after, but then she was SO excited.  She told everyone she could about her new earrings.

Train Trip into Boston

Every summer, we try to take one day to hop on the train and go into Boston.  First, the tradition is that we all go over to Station 5 Grill across the street for a pancake breakfast (for the kids) and eggs and bacon for the parents!

Before breakfast, Grant was making funny faces.  This is his new favorite thing to do in the mirror before he brushes his teeth.  This one is one of two that he likes to make.  

They make pancakes as big as Grant's head!

We didn't take any pictures on the train for some reason!  But we made it into Boston on a nice sunshiny day.  And we went to Mommy's work (no one had ever been to see it) but didn't take any pictures of that either.  We went to the Granary Burying Ground next.  Here is Natalie pondering the life of the guy who invented a delicious beer.  No wait... this was the guy who signed the Declaration of Independence... never mind...

The kids were excited to take off their shoes and walk around in Frog Pond.  But both cried like crazy when we told them we couldn't stay and we couldn't swim.  We were hoping that a Swan Boat tour would entice them...

The ride was great- there was no line, which was rare for summer.  Here we all are on the boat!

The swans were even out for us to see.  They are so unafraid of humans!  It was a pretty successful trip into Boston, although the kids were whiny and tired.  Maybe someday this trip will be fun!

Weekend in Maine

This summer, we got to enjoy a fun weekend up at Helen's house in Maine on Mousam Lake.   We tried to go at least once a year, and we had pretty nice weather this year!

 We took a trip out on the lake on Uncle Gordie's boat.  Natalie, no problem.  Grant on the other hand, screamed and cried almost the whole time, especially when we went fast and the engine got loud.   Too bad little buddy, you'll get used to it!  The fact that he even has on a life jacket is improvement over last November when he wouldn't even put it on to go out on Pop Pop's boat!

We strolled around the lake and  at one point, got out and swam.  Little buddy was getting hungry and needed to go down for a nap, so we went back for some rest time for everyone.  After a quick nap, Natalie, Lauren, Seth, KK, Helen, Gordie and I went out on the boat again so the kids could go tubing.  Well Natalie wanted to do whatever Lauren and Seth were doing... so she decided she wanted to go tubing too!  Gordie didn't go super fast- maybe 10 or 15 mph at the most, and in fact, he went so slow that the tube got sunk when he took a corner and a wave covered it.  So all three kids sunk with it (see below picture)!  No worries, Lauren was right there for Natalie who had a life jacket on anyway.  Natalie loved it, and kept screaming, "Faster!  Faster!"  Lauren and Seth went super fast a few times, and then Gordie took all three kids in.  Natalie is definitely the daredevil in the family!  Although I will say, I could pretty much see white knuckles from the back of the boat as she was hanging on for dear life!

 

 Nighttime brought a big dinner, a fire pit, and SMORES!  Natalie never really liked these in the past, but she really liked them this year. I think she ate like 4 of them!

There were even some sparklers lying around, and since 4th of July celebrations are usually too late in the evening for our kids, this was the first time Natalie had ever held a sparkler.  She really liked this too!  We are already looking forward to our annual trip to Maine next summer!!! 

 

More pictures from Grammi and Bean's

Just a few cousins and family photos from the Towson Bailey's summer visit!

Once again, Grant doesn't really want to be in pictures.  This happens every time we try to take a nice family photo!

Silly picture!!!!!!

Grammi and Bean with all of their grandbabies, and Colleen, who had to be in the picture, otherwise Grant wouldn't have been in the picture.  He cried unless I was holding him!

The big 6!

Bailympics 2012

The second annual Bai-Olympics occurred this summer in Plymouth, MA, and four teams participated in the event.  The Bai-Olympics coincided with the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which we also enjoyed watching on TV (especially swimming!)

Here's how the teams looked.  They were pretty fair, and the events are on the poster board at the top.  Who would be the big winner this year???

Well, to give you a hint, Steve got a little extra warm up in when he was doing push ups with Grant on his back.  Perhaps this is what gave them an extra advantage???

There were cartwheel races- above you can see Ryan (who's 6'4" and still growing) attempting his best cartwheel.  Gotta give him credit, he's really tall!

The three legged race was won by LuLu and KK, but Hannah and I SHOULD have had second place in this.  If you can see behind the winners, there was some... ahem... cheating going on as someone (not gonna name names here, but she might be the sister of my teammate) fell down and then grabbed onto us so we wouldn't beat them! We were laughing so hard!!!

They should consider cornhole as an real Olympic sport.  This was way fun.  

The obstacle course was one we probably laughed at the most.  First you had to spin around on a bat 10 times, then try to run through a hula hoop and push a truck over the line, then throw a ball into a bucket.  Megan struggled with this and it was so funny to watch!!!

The cake decorating contest was a big hit, as it was last time.  You can see we have a mish mash cake, a beach theme (this was our big winner), Grant's Dream of construction equipment and rainbows, and Natalie's mermaid themed cake.  You can use any of the toppings on the table, and anything in Grammi and Bean's house as a cake topper. 

Last but not least, we have the wheelbarrow races.  I thought I was stronger than this, as we came in like, second or third.  Steve and GoGo were the big winners here, obviously!!!!

The closing ceremonies ended with the awarding of the medals.  And the gold medal prize went to KK, Lauren, Steve and Grant!  Although we were missing a teammate in this picture- GoGo!  Well no wonder they won, they were stacked!

Second prize and the silver medal goes to MOMMY'S team- Hannah, Warren, Seth and Colleen!  This CrossFit stuff really works!!

Todd, Madison, Natalie and Megan came in third place winning the bronze medal.  Natalie was not very pleased with this. 

And last but not least, the "Achievement Award" winners ("I tried my best!"), Jeanne, Carole, Helen and a missing teammate- Ryan!  The 2012 Bai-olympics was a success!!!

Grandma's funeral

Sadly, on July 12th, my last living grandparent passed away.  Below is her obituary:

Frances Hannah Swales, 100, passed Thursday, July 12, 2012 under the care of Woodland Hills Care Center, Lawrenceburg where she had been a resident since 2005. She was born December 7, 1911, at home on Mt. Pleasant Road, Lawrenceburg to Asa and Harriet Smith. She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Swales and daughter, Martha Ann Guard. She is survived by son, Bill Swales and wife Diana, Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. Five grandchildren: Patricia Guard, Meridian, ID; Michael Guard (Carol) Cincinnati; David Guard (Sandy) Cincinnati; Colleen Bailey (Todd) Natick, MA; and Cory Swales (Brianna) Gainesville, FL; 6 great-grandchildren and many loving nieces and nephews. Frances enjoyed watching the Cincinnati Reds as well as local college basketball games. She also liked to crochet, knit, and quilt. She worked at the Lawrenceburg Public Library and served Miller and York Townships with a mobile library book route. The family would like to extend a sincere thank you to the staff of Woodland Hills for their kindness and care she received.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The ALS Association, 1275 K Street NW - Suite 1050, Washington, DC 20005.

I am terribly sad that she is gone, but I know she's in a better place.  No more pain, or loneliness.

I took a few pictures during my brief time in Indiana.  I went alone, as Todd stayed home with the kids.  Cory, Brie and I stayed together, and we stopped off at East Fork Cemetery in Lawrenceburg. 

Many of our distant relatives are buried here, including John and Ann Ewbank, who are considered the "founders" of our family in America.  They came over from Yorkshire in the 1700s and settled in Dearborn County.  Below is a picture of their graves.

On our way to the funeral home, I snapped this picture of an unimposing brick building along Mount Pleasant Road.  My grandmother went to school here when she was young.

We snapped a bunch of family photos on the front porch of my grandparents home.  This is probably the last time I will ever see this home, so it was nice that we all got to spend some time here.  Some interesting history about this home- it was purchased by my grandparents out of a Sears-Roebuck catalog!  I did some research, and I think it was the "Crafton" home (model 3318C) from the 1933-1940 era.  The front porch is a little different, however, this was not the original location of the home.  We also have to keep in mind that my dad's back bedroom was an add on, as there used to be a large porch back there.  It also shares a lot of similarities to the "Winona" model from 1927-1932, although the area around the front door is different on the inside.   It was at one time across the street, and they rolled it over on logs to its current location.  I can't remember the exact reason why, but I want to say it has something to do with wanting a basement.  Behind this house (in it's current location), my grandparents owned 54 acres of land.

 We'll miss you Grandma!  But we'll see you again someday!