Friends!

Kate and Mommy visited some friends (and Kate's new sitters for the next couple months) and met brand new Baby Maeve Fitzgibbon! Above are Olivia, Aine, Kate, and Maeve hanging out! Kate loved sleepy Maeve so we had to remind her of the importance of being "gentle" with a 3-week old!! Maeve was a good sport!

A bit of nothing...

Now that's a cheese-y face! 

But who wouldn't be happy after getting their first-ever chance at licking the goop off the mixer after Mommy made some treats!

Kate's favorite pastime lately is "reading." She has a stack of books that we go through [over and over] and when I'm off doing something else, she will sit very well and read to herself, flip through the books, sing to herself. It's very cool to watch her (especially when she doesn't know it!) growing up so fast!

Clapping for the dolphins at the National Aquarium in Baltimore last weekend.

Rounding out the weekend...

A ride on the 5-wheeler and a run through the sprinkler to round out a nice weekend away!

Lewes & Rehoboth Funland!

Another trip to the beach! This time we spent the morning at Lewes, where there are little to no waves, and it was much more relaxed and quieter than Rehoboth. Kate made some sand-building buddies, then Daddy taught her the naughty trick of taunting the seagulls with popcorn crumbs on the beach, and were quickly swarmed by the hungry birds!

Next we hit up Funland on the boardwalk at Rehoboth for some rides before heading home for naptime. And because it was so close to her nap, slowly Kate became woozy and dazed from all the spinning in circles, but she was a really good sport, loving the activity around her!

Daddy even got to join in the fun!

And as many over-stimulated trips end, this was the scene in the backseat about five minutes into the ride home from the beach that day! [note the dab of chocolate ice cream on the tip of her nose - the day ended happily!]

More State Fair fun...

I don't think Kate and Evan were the chicks' favorite visitors in their two visits to their little cage! Both were a wee bit too harsh when they held the poor animals. Don't worry, the chicks came out fine, but we had to rescue them from Miss Squeezy!

Cool as a cucumber...

And the all-important hand sanitizer!

Kate & Chick - the rematch

Last year, Kate was so scared of the chicks at the Delaware State Fair, they didn't last long in her lap. This year, she was way more excited to touch and hold them, but their little feet felt a little weird to her, so she kept letting go willy-nilly while holding them, sending them free-falling into the air, hoping for one of us to catch them! Oh well...entertaining nonetheless! And they didn't poop on her this year!

Let the fun begin...

Kate loooooves Grandmom & Grandad's. They have tons of books that she reads over and over (& over!)...

and fun sing-along videos with animals galore which Kate is OBSESSED with at the moment! (Uncle Josh's face says it all!)

And yet, there's proof that the week did indeed have its more peaceful moments... [check out the lefty]

One of the best parts of Kate's week was when her cousin Evan came to visit each day. Together they enjoyed the pool, the swing, the wagon...best buds already!

And of course she was eating very well, with nice fresh fruits and veggies right from the farm!

Farmer Kate!

So, the day finally came where we left Katelyn with someone else for more than overnight. She was able to stay with her Grandmom & Grandad Judy in Delaware for four nights without us in between weekends, and boy did she have a blast! Tons of new experiences, tons of new words, and I swear she was two inches taller and her hair was longer when we saw her again! We missed her so much, but knew she was in good hands, and we were able to spend some nice (quiet!) time to ourselves as Jenn & Jesse, not Mommy & Daddy!

G'mom and G'dad took advantage of the free labor during the week (just kidding!), but Kate did ride along and helped as much as she could with the daily harvest!