Hanging out in my goggles

Sitting here in my swim goggles on a hot, summer day. Just because...

xoxo, Charlotte

Party Time!

This past Monday, Mommy and I were invited to celebrate Kate, Scarlett, Ella and Aidan's second birthdays...what a party it was! The weather cooperated and we were able to play outside...here are Aidan and Scarlett enjoying the water table.

Ella is anxiously awaiting her cake! I haven't had ice cream cake very often but we enjoyed all enjoyed it at the party...well, maybe Mia would have preferred a traditional cake but she managed to make the best of it!

Aidan looking very serious here, though my mom really likes this photo. Aidan recently became a big brother and we've been able to see quite a bit of him and sister Emma at our summer playdates. I hope he enjoyed his belated birthday celebration!

Hayley, Chandler and I are hanging out in front of Ella's new playhouse. WOW, was it impressive, particularly considering that her daddy built it all by himself. It had a dutch door, shutters, window boxes, a shingled roof and even a chalk board hanging on the wall inside. I am going to drop a hint to daddy that I might be interested in having my very own playhouse.

Birthday girl, Kate! We haven't seen Kate much this year but it was so nice to have the opportunity to wish her Happy 2nd Birthday. She looks very grown-up with her stylish haircut and pretty party dress! The party was so much fun and we were so happy to be included in the celebration. Happy 2nd Birthday to all my friends! xoxo, Charlotte

Aunt Laura, Uncle Ben, Jackson and Lincoln come for a visit!

Finally, mom has found a little down time and has agreed to help me update my Blog. We've had a lot of activity here of late, including a great visit last weekend from Auntie Laura, Uncle Ben, Jackson and Lincoln. We haven't seen our good friends since our March visit to London but we were able to pick up right where we left off...it was so great to see them. Here is a photo of Linky bouncing in my baby bouncer...can you believe how big he is??!

Off to the beach!!! Living in London, Jackson doesn't get to the beach as often as he'd like, so we spent a lot of time at our beach while he was here. Jackson was determined to pull me in the wagon and he did SUCH a great job!

Here we are on Saturday, all assembled at the beach. In addition to Laura, Ben, Jackson and Linky, we were lucky to have so many friends visiting for beach fun: Trae, Chris and Sadie, Joslyn, Mark, Willa and Quinn all joined us for the day for fun, sun, picnics and hanging out.

Continuing the fun on Sunday, here's a shot of me and Jackson climbing on daddy. We had a great brunch at Splash and then daddy took us outside for some playing on the lawn. So much fun!!!

Check out the Hammond-Ward clan enjoying a ride on our boat. Jackson fell asleep (see his head under Laura's right elbow) but Linky was definitely awake for the whole adventure. On Sunday evening, Julie came over to watch Jackson and me while our parents went out for dinner. And our friends bid us farewell the following day. We had such a nice visit and were so happy that we were able to catch up again. We are definitely looking forward to going to London again very soon!!! I already miss Jackson and Linky (and, of course, Uncle Ben and Aunt Laura)... I know that Mommy and Daddy do, too. Love, Charlotte

PS - Check out the video of Daddy, Jackson and I playing together.

The Birthday Fun Continues!!

Well, we've sure had a great deal going on around here over the last several days.  Mommy reminded me this morning that we were very, very late in posting our pictures from Chandler's 2nd Birthday Party...it was SO much fun!!!  Check out the fun pix...

Chandler got a lot of cool presents for his big day but this was definitely the one that "wowed" us...check out Chan Chan's new TRUCK!!!  We were all quite impressed...and we know that Chan Chan will be running over his mother's flower beds at full speed very soon.

Here I am taking a quick break from the bounce house to say hello to mommy.  Chan Chan's mommy and daddy had set up this great bounce house in the back yard, along with a sand and water table, a fun sprinkler and a great assortment of toys.  We could have played there all day!

Check out this great photo of Alex and her mom, Julie.  Alex had a really fun time at the party and we were so happy that she was able to meet a few more of our "playgroup" pals.

Mom and I are wondering if this goody bag is strategically placed in front of Dori's adorable bump??!  If so, we don't know why, since we think she is absolutely the cutest pregnant woman we've ever seen.   But I digress... Dori and Mia had such a great time at the party and Mia even helped me with Chandler's cake.  And by "helped" I mean sticking in our fingers...

YES - that is indeed Olivia, making an appearance with her mom even though her new baby brother Nate had only recently made his appearance in their family (just days before).  Olivia wore a beautiful smile throughout the party...she must have been so proud to be a big sister.  We can't wait to meet new little brother, Nate.

And there's Smiling Scarlett!  Summer is my favorite time of year (Mom's, too): the beautiful weather, days at the beach, long, warm afternoons and, most of all, catching up with friends that we don't always get to see throughout the rest of the year.  We are so happy to see Scarlett on a regular basis these days.  She seems happy, too!

We've saved the BEST for LAST - the BIRTHDAY BOY!!!  Chandler was such a trooper at his party, happily entertaining all his guests in spite of the fact that his 2 year molars were starting to make their appearance.  Poor Chan Chan!  We hope that the friends, fun, cake, toys and family made your 2nd Birthday a great day.  We love you, Chan Chan.

Weekend Fun!

Whew - what a fun, exciting weekend!  Mom and I kicked it off Saturday at Alexandra's birthday bash (Daddy was unable to make it due to an unfortunate incident involving our dishwasher).  Alex's party was at her house and, most fun, in her swimming pool.  Here I am taking a break to hang out with one of her dolls.

Alex was somewhat wary of all the activity going on at her house and was far more content to stay indoors with her grandma.  Here she is enjoying our gift (yay!) with grandma while Isla looks on.

We raced home from Alex's party just in time to meet our house guests, Chris, Trae and Sadie, who arrived from New Jersey to spend the afternoon and evening.  It was their maiden voyage on our boat and I think everyone had a fantastic time.  Here is a shot of me, Sadie and Trae having a snack.

Back at home, here we are enjoying some of my toys.  I'm doing my very best to share with my friend... and Sadie really love the airplane.

We're stopping just long enough for a quick sip of water...aaaaaahhhhhhh!  Sadie and I and our parents went out for a delicious pancake breakfast on Sunday morning before they headed back to New Jersey.  Such a fun visit!  Can't wait to see them again soon.  Love, Charlotte

Tennis, Anyone?

Earlier this week mom and I met Aunt Susan, her mom and Carsten for lunch at their club in Greenwich.  Carsten was just finishing up a tennis lesson and I couldn't wait to get out on the court and in on the action.

Carsten and Charlotte: future mixed doubles partners!!

Carsten about to show off his great serve...we were all very impressed!!

Showing me the finer points of holding my racket...so that's how it works!  I think I will definitely be up for tennis lessons in a couple of years.  And by then, Carsten will really be a pro.  After our fun on the court, we all had a really nice lunch together...then it was back to Aunt Susan's for a dip in the pool.  Always a fun adventure with the Weis family!!  Love, Charlotte

Fourth of July 2009

What a great 4th of July weekend I had with my family.   On Friday we headed out on the boat, direction Shelter Island.  But we had some friends who were already in Block Island and they convinced us to join them there...so happy we did!  We tied our boat next to theirs and had a fantastic time: we went into town for dinner and then returned to our boat for fireworks watching and bed.  Saturday morning (yes, I was up very, very early despite my late bedtime) we decided to depart and head back to Shelter Island, our original destination.  We eventually arrived before lunch and spent the afternoon and evening exploring this beautiful Island.  We stayed in our boat at Coecles Harbor Marina, which was a great place with nice people...and a swimming pool (score!).  We even took a ferry over to Greenport, Long Island for lunch and shopping on Sunday - WHEW, what a fun-filled weekend.  Everyone was exhausted when we returned home, though it was such a great time.  Happy Fourth to All!  Love, Charlotte

Playground

Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend!  Mom and I are catching up on our blogging this morning, starting with a great playdate that we had at Cedar Point's playground on Thursday.  For a change of pace, I was the only girl with three rough-and-tumble boys.  Here's Chandler, trying to figure out what to do next!

JT had so much fun running, jumping, swinging and sliding.  Here he is getting ready to go down the slide.  The moms had to act fast, as we were all very active at the playground.  Once again we had a very, very rainy week, but the weather managed to cooperate on Thursday and we were all very excited to be outdoors.

Aidan and I are practicing our rock climbing skills...we loved this climbing wall.  Though we had a little help from our moms, we managed much of the climbing on our own.  We haven't seen Aidan lately as much as we would like so it was really nice to get together with him.  Once the playtime was finished, moms and kiddos headed to the CPYC snack bar for lunch.  What a great playdate!  Love, Charlotte