To the Beach!

We were beach bums this weekend! We went on a mini-vacation with Monica, Steve and Addie to Chincoteague Island. The island is famous for it's wild ponies, but we felt in love with the laid back, small town vibe.

The beach was a blast. I'm not sure what Shannon loved more, the sand...

... or the surf!

Addie wasn't quite as into the water this trip. Much better high and dry, with a firm grasp on Mom!

After the girls went to bed, we feasted on fresh seafood and fruits/veggies we scored earlier in the day at the farmer's market. We ate for a l-o-n-g time and laughed a lot!

Baby swap!

Hard to put into words how relaxing the time was, but think these shots get close.

Thanks for a great weekend, Silvestros! Is it too early to start planning our next trip?

Why Daddy Gets a Special Day

"Ha, ha. That is funny!"

"Ha, ha-ha, ha-ha. No, seriously, that is really funny!"

"Ahh, stop! You are CRACKING me up!"





What was so funny to Shannon? Daddy squirting water through his teeth.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! You are the best daddy ever! I love you!

First Sleepover

Last weekend, Shannon had her first solo sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. By the looks of this photo, it seems like it was a tight competition for who had the most fun.

It was the perfect excuse to bring out her very own suitcase... old school Care Bears from when Mommy was a little girl!

Family Fun in Cleveland

Can you believe that Memorial Day was really only 17 days ago? (I'm including that stat to make myself feel less guilty that it's taken me this long to get these pictures up!)

Our Memorial Days festivities took place in Cleveland this year. Why?

This guy graduated. (And for those of you who haven't known him since he was Shannon's age, this is Pat, my youngest brother.)

And this amazing lady (Jodi's Grandma Rose), she turned eighty! We celebrated her with a dinner that featured a poetic look back on those years, three generataions around the table, and some delicious food.

Some of the poetry was better than others. We'll just leave it at that.

Shannon enjoyed hanging out with her great-grandparents and seeing her extended family!

Ten Months

Here's the official shot...

...but here's the more telling one!

It has been a really fun month. She is learning something new every second. This month, Shannon has:

-Switched from 'schootching' to full fledged crawling.

-Learned how to go from crawling to sitting and sitting to crawling

-Figured out how to pull up on furniture

-Taken her first cruisin' steps along the table

-Finally started saying Da-da!

-"Started to sign" (I put it in quotes because I'm still not sure if I'm seeing because I want to. :) But I really think that she's done 'more' and 'light')

She amazes us with how much she's learning but she also keeps us laughing. Some classic Shannon antics these days include:

• Cracking up over the little piggy who went "wee, wee, wee" all the way home
• Imitating our stupid "huh-huh" laugh
• And my personal favorite: crawling over to the dogs' bowls in the kitchen, shaking her head "no" as she heads over because she knows that I'm going to say "Shannon, do we touch the doggies' bowls?"

Raise your hand if you think somebody might be getting some new teeth!

Love you, big girl!