Summer Travels, Part I

At the time of this entry, Em, Michael and I are wrapping up a long trip to the east coast. It's been a wonderful trip with lots of fun times, as the following pictures will show. We started in Syracuse with Emily's family, then made our way south to North Carolina, with a pit stop in Baltimore to visit friends there. We figured the best way to go through the trip was to break it into parts, so here are some of the highlights from the Syracuse leg.

One of Michael's favorite activities in Syracuse was cooling off in the pool his Gaga and Papa has bought for him, and this watering can soon became a favorite toy.
In fact, he liked the pool so much, he didn't even really need his bathing suit to enjoy it. Any time is pool time with Papa!

First thing in morning...still in pajamas...no water...pool time, nonetheless!

Another classic way to beat the heat: ice cream! Or as Michael says, "Iiiiiice!" He has strong ice cream eating genes from both parents, so we were not surprised at his enthusiasm. If only we could model how to eat ice cream in sensible portions. One day when we find him eating right out of the carton, I'm sure he will say: "I learned it by watching you!"
We were happy to make several visits to Michael's Great-Gramma Dailey. Fortunately, one visit coincided with an ice cream social.
Otherwise, Michael spent his visits charming his Great-Gramma with kisses...


...and going for walks...

Our Syracuse visit also included his first boat ride, which he learned is quite different from the Bainbridge Ferry. He wasn't crazy about the life vest, but once the boat got going bump-bump-bump over the water, he was having a great time. For the rest of the visit, anytime someone mentioned a boat, he said: "Bump-bump-bump."


Another highlight of the trip was a couple of visits to the zoo. On this visit, Michael wore his elephant outfit, and so felt a great kinship with this elephant statue.
But of course the most fun was the time spent with family, reading books with Gaga...
...exploring outside with his Uncle Timmy...

...playing some tunes with his cousins...

...playing with trucks...

...or eating...

In fact, Michael has steadily become more proficient at eating with a spoon. This is about where we were at the beginning of the trip:


Pretty much, nowhere to go but up. Now he's getting good with the spoon and insists on eating ice cream all by himself. It is probably fear of wasting good ice cream that inspired him to refine his spoon-to-mouth technique.

Finally, here is a nice group photo of the family. Maybe one day, years from now, when Michael still wears tie-dyes, sandals and no pants, we'll look back at this picture and realize we have no one to blame but ourselves.