Fun in the Sun

We had a great few days enjoying the summer. On Saturday, Marino and I went back to Baby Bootcamp for the first time since Waterbabies started (7 weeks). I love the class and we had a good time. After class, we went to Daddy's company picnic. That deserves it's own post, but I don't have the great pictures Dave took that day yet, so stay tuned for that at a later date. After the company picnic, we went to a cookout at Wally and Sam's house, which was great, aside from a very embarrassing mom moment I had there (involving a diaper blowout and another baby's white, engraved towel:( ).

At the cookout, Marino got a chance to play with his cousin Raiden.

Baby Bella, looking adorable, as usual.

Hanging out in the pool with Raiden

On Sunday, we took Marino to the beach for the first time. Rahsaan and Tara came with some of their brood and Brian, Kim and Alana went too. Brian is recovering from major back surgery (he just had the surgery 6 days prior) and he was a trooper. I'm calling Sandy Point a beach but it's really kind of sand on top of clay and pebbles next to the bay. It's a starter beach of sorts. Marino was very into sand (he especially liked the bite sized rocks and shells). The water was a different story...
For those who don't know the story behind his name, we named Marino after our mutual favorite thing, the ocean. We were married on the beach in St. Thomas and we both love the beach so we searched for a name that had an oceanic theme. Marino means "from the sea" in Italian (it also happens to be the name of my great great uncle, so named because he was born on the boat immigrating from Italy).

So far, Marino is not quite living up to his namesake. He HATED the waves. Oh, boy, the first time a wave came (and these are tiny bay waves, not ocean waves), he climbed up my leg. When I tried to put him back in the water, he held his legs up to his shoulders!

Brian burying Alana in the sand.
Tara, Rahsaan and Baby Raiden

Daddy and Marino (Sonia pointed out, no peace sign in this picture! A first!!)

On Monday, I got a chance to visit Patti and Baby Madelyn. Wow, she is adorable! Patti was generous enough to let me hold her. She is so tiny, about the same size Marino was when we brought him home from the hopsital the second time (in August). It's so hard for me to remember what it was like to have a baby that tiny. Madelyn is a perfect angel and she slept through a lawn mower outside! I need her to have a talk with Marino...

Marino's daycare was closed for a professional day on Tuesday so I had to take the day off. Lucky for me, my mom and stepfather were on vacation on the Maryland western shore, so Marino and I went and met them at North Beach. But first, Marino did something awesome at home...he waved bye-bye to Daddy!

This was my first time at North Beach and I really liked it. It was nice, quiet, clean and everyone was very friendly. AND there is a little bake shop down the street that sells dairy-free gelato!! It wasn't a very sunny or hot day, but really that made it more comfortable for all of us. I somehow still managed to get a terrible sunburn on my knees (?!).

Here's a picture of the boardwalk at North Beach.

I love when I go to the beach and there are visible sea creatures (it let's me know the beach isn't too touristy if there are actually some thriving ecosystems). I even found some beach glass there (which I've not found at any other beach I've been to). There were a plethera of horseshoe crabs there. Sort of creepy, huh?

Here's Marino hanging with Grandma. He liked looking at the water but wanted no part of getting in (it was chilly anyway).

He fed himself some watermelon (very messy).

Here's Marino with Grandma and Grandpa Ray. See the cool boat playground in the background?

Marino even waved bye-bye to Grandma and Grandpa Ray at the end of the day. Keeping in the spirit, he said "bye bye" to me TWICE today when I was leaving daycare! How cool is that?