The Park

Bridget really enjoyed her first day at the park this year. She's old enough to run around and climb on the structures and loves going down all the slides. Ken and I have been wanting to check out this park for a while because of the slide below. Now we have an excuse! The park was mobbed because of how warm and sunny it was but it was still fun.

(above) That's Ken and Bridget on the left slide (our left).

(above) See, told ya it was them.

(above) Bridget and I driving the wooden car.

(above) Bridget is such a backseat driver.

(above) Bridget playing in the sandbox. I think it's hilarious that she doesn't sit on her butt and squats most of the time instead. Saves me laundry too!

(above) Bridget on the swings. Last year this was her favorite ride but this year she was much more into the slides.

(above) Bridget climbing all over the playground. One time she even started climbing onto the seat at someone's picnic table. I had to scoop her up before she stole their lunch too!

(above) Bridget and I at the slide. On these little ones, she can ride solo and Ken catches her.

(above) Okay, I posted a lot of park pictures but there were so many good ones!

(above) Ken and Bridget enjoying the view and scoping out the playground equipment below.

Bridget's New Swing

We took advantage of the unseasonably beautiful March weather to be outside as much as we could. Bridget loves to climb into containers of all sizes. She was delighted to find out that she could fit into this bucket. Ken and I took turns swinging her around and she loved it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This was Bridget's first St. Patrick's Day Parade! (Last year Ken and I were at a wedding and Bridget had her first overnight visit with Mimi & Grampy.)

It was a gorgeous temperature outside and we had high hopes for parade watching since we are usually freezing but it was a torrential downpour. Ken and I played the Bridget card and stayed inside with her and a few other less courageous souls until the parade-goers came back. She still got to experience a true O'Neil Irish Patty's day though complete with the annual charitable raffle. Ken, true to form, won almost every t-shirt and a hat. He was nice and gave away most of them to the unluckier family members.

Weekend Getaway

Two weeks ago, we went away for the weekend with two other couples and their children. It's good to vacation with other families who understand wha'ts it's like to travel with kids.

Here are some pictures of Bridget enjoying the hotel pool.

Bridget Coloring

This is Bridget's new favorite thing to do and she insists that it has to be Mommy's planning calendar. I guess she wants to add her own activities to the family calendar. But she's messing up my system! ;)

I have been trying to limit this activity because of the inevitable mess but she fell off my aerobics step and kept crying "color, color, color". As soon as she saw the markers, the tears stopped.

In other news, we have been binky free for four days now! I didn't want to do "cry it out" and it was just so easy to pop the binky in and have her sleeping quietly in minutes. But now that she is 18 months and I found an alternative method in "Parenting" magazine, I bit the bullet. It has been a relatively smooth transition and when I talked to her daycare they told me that she gave up her binky there a while ago. So I guess it was just Mom and Dad who were relying on it. I mean, she did cry the first night and it took 45 minutes to get her to sleep but now she's back to normal and is actually sleeping better since she can put herself to sleep.

Lounging Around

I love that belly!
Cheese!

Poor sick Bridget. Will Dora find Star Mountain?

Lots of toys and babies to play with!

Playing with blocks and hiding her monkey in there.

Pies on Parade

For my mom's birthday, the ladies journeyed to Rockland, ME for the Historic Inns Pies on Parade tour: http://www.historicinnsofrockland.com/pies.aspx. The rest of our party wimped out because of the perceived distance or feminity of the trip but Kathleen, my mom, and I had a blast! It was cold and it was a bit of hike especially for a Sunday but we got to tour some really neat oceanside inns and eat some delicious pies ranging from chocolate to shepherd!

(above) In the sitting area of one of the inns.

(above) One of the pie stops, at the Puffin Museum.

(above) Mmm.. eating our Puffin Pies. They were fabulous and A+ for presentation!

(above) Kathleen in front of the beautiful view at one of the restaurants.

(above) Kathleen lounging in the suite at one of the B&B's.

(above) Mom and I eating Key LimeRock pie at the LimeRock inn.

(above) Kathleen and I eating our key lime pie. It was one of the first so we're not too stuffed here!

(above) Mom and Kathleen enjoying their pie!