Summer Fun at Camp and in Cape Cod

Hank and I are wrapping up our third week at Little Graces Camp.  Everyday we go from 9-12 and play with splash pools, moon bounces , do arts and crafts, and of course, see lots of other kids.

Covered in paint...

Playing with his bestie Connor in the sandbox

Farmer Hank

It takes place at a church where Hank has been going to playgroup for the past school year so he is comfortable with the teachers and knows a lot of the other kids.  He has a great time while we're there and it tires him out so I get a nice 3 hour stretch of nap time in the afternoon to do house stuff/nap myself.  I LOVE the hours of 1:30-4:30 around here, let me tell ya.

At the moment, I am going through a major nest-fest.  I'm trying to take advantage of my current motivation/newly found freedom to go room by room through the house and finally deal with THE PILES.  You know, the things you stick in a corner with every intention to deal with at some point and before you know it they've been there for a year?  They've met their worst enemy in me.

It has finally hit me that I'm running out of time and am about to enter a 6 month period of pure survival-mode so I'm kicking' ass and taking names around here.  The goal is to have all in order by mid-July so I can spend the last few weeks of pregnancy prepping for baby.  Whatever that means...ha!

We are heading to Cape Cod on Friday for a week's vacation - just in time to miss the next heat wave here in DC.  Nana and Papa are joining us, as are our friends John and Libby Wilkinson and their daughter Wynne.  It will be our last hurrah as our little family unit of 3...sigh. I'll post from there assuming that we have some kind of internet connection.  Hope you all have a great Canada Day and 4th of July!

Matt and Hank on Skaket Beach, Cape Cod, Summer 2011

Helicopter Face

As the mother of a young boy, I have become immersed in the wide world of vehicles.  Land, air, sea - it makes no difference.  Anything machine-like that moves is of interest to young Hank.

There are stand outs, of course.  Trains have been numero UNO around here for some time now.  Percy in particular is a favorite - Hank carries two Percys around with him at all times for good measure, which you can imagine makes it difficult for him to do much else.  We have tried giving him something to carry the Percys in (thanks to Nana for this idea - she tried to give him a tupperware container for them when she and Papa watched Hank in May), but alas, they must be in his own little hands or you can forget it.

Hank and The Percys

Helicopters are also popular.  Living 10 blocks from the White House means that we have A LOT of helicopters fly over our house.  Probably about 5 per day.  Every time we hear one coming there is much excitement and anticipation.  Will we get to see it?  Will it come back, like the police choppers that are on the hunt for an escaped criminal?  Will 3 fly over at once - a sure sign that POTUS is on the move?

Lately, when a helicopter buzzes the house, Hank does his helicopter face.  We are not sure where this came from or if he is trying to tell us he is actually terrified of helicopters, but we think its pretty funny.

Only a video can do this justice.  Enjoy.

Bienvenue a "le blog"!  It is with great pleasure that I introduce La Famille Kelly - a petit blog that will hopefully make it easier for all of our far flung family and friends to see what we are up to.

I can't promise that I will update the page regularly, or often, but I will do my best.  Since Matt and I are not great at keeping our Facebook pages updated and our old standby the Hank O' The Day has become more like the Hank O' The Quarter, I figure I'll give this a shot!  And now that I'm on radical sabbatical (taking at least 6 months off of work to spend time with Hank and have another baby - you know, a relaxing vacation-like experience), I think now is as good a time as any.

Inspired by Chanel's family blog, this seems to be a great way to share our activities and pics of the family, while creating a record of our kid's milestones (which so far I have failed miserably at doing for Hank).  Feel free to check in every once in a while (http://famillekelly.blogspot.com/) or subscribe if you don't want to miss a word!  I believe that all you have to do is submit your email in the space provided at the top of the page.

And so, I begin with an outdated-but-at-least-professional-photo of our little famille taken back when Hank was about 8 months old.  Hard to believe that he was ever that small or that we have another baby arriving in 2 months.  Pray for us...

Credit: Kaileen Galhouse