new pals

We had a visitor last month! Sophie came by with her mommy--they were some of our first visitors after the move back into the house. We miss seeing Stacy and family at daycare, so it was so nice to catch up. Liora loved having a special visitor.

I think I've written about our sad loss of Zooks, the wonder cat. He was truly an amazing cat, and a great friend to Liora. When we lost him, we grieved for ourselves, but we also grieved for Liora. We were sad that she had lost a furry companion who let her hug him and do basically whatever else she wanted to him. Up until that point, Lexy had a laissez-faire attitude to Liora. She accepted her, but didn't care to be friends too much. Liora didn't push it because she had Zooks.

After we lost Zooks, Lexy stepped in. I guess she realized she had some big paws to fill and decided that Liora was worth some effort. Now she lets Liora bother her, and hangs around her for pets. Below, you can see that she is also hanging around Liora (at times) for the food handouts.

This cheesy pirates booty is yummy for kids AND cats!

Can I have some?

An early morning hug. Thanks Lexy for filling the void.

sculpture

Sometimes, Liora gets really into arranging things in a certain way. When I look at it later, it looks like some beautiful artwork. Below are two photos from what I am calling her "block period."

Modern art!

The proud artiste. (Mommy disclaimer: she picked out this outfit)

Along the same theme, after we moved back into the house, Daddy opted to use the then-empty guest room and make a box castle for Liora. He was really into it. At first Liora was confused, but she soon got excited about going through the tunnel.

Daddy thought it would be a cool idea to encourage Liora to color the boxes. That soon turned into coloring herself, something she has never done before!

"My canvas is anywhere."

goodbye dinner with ava

Mommy's friend Robyn and her family moved to New Jersey! We were so sad to say goodbye to Robyn and Ava, who is a couple of weeks older than Liora. We got together as much as we could before they left. Here is one of those goodbye dinners with the girls sharing a chair.

And having a good-bye cupcake too! She loves that icing.

first haircut

Soon after returning from the beach, mommy was adamant--it was time for Liora to get a haircut. Because it had grown out at all different lengths, we wanted to even it out a bit.

So, we headed to Kidville, where they have a special beauty boutique for youngsters, featuring a choice of fire engine or airplane for chairs, Elmo on a tv in front of the chair, toys to play with, and the promise of a "first haircut certificate," lock of hair, and a lollipop. We wanted this haircut to be tear-free.

Liora liked the firetruck seat.

Here is the stylist assessing her hair. Liora was a bit unsure at first, but she never got upset.

Yes, they used these clips on her!

Keeping busy.

Checking herself out in the mirror.

And to finish, a braid.

She was rewarded with a lollipop!

All in all, a hassle-free and pleasant experience.

arboretum with dee dee

After the beach, Liora and mommy went to Dee Dee's house in Pennsylvania for a night. We visited Tyler Arboretum, where they had a cool "fairies in the forest" exhibit and a tree house exhibit. It was a hot day, but we powered through for a little bit. It was nice to end our beach trip with a little side visit!

An elf tea party set up in the woods.

Checking out the caterpillars in the butterfly exhibit.

boardwalk visit - family centered this time

This is the final round of beach photos! On our next to last day at the beach, we made a trip to Ocean City, Maryland, which is a little more family friendly than Atlantic City.

We walked on the boardwalk, enjoyed some good pizza and cheesesteaks, and went to an amusement park. The kids had a ball.

In sync arcading.

Loving her pizza.

Yum!

Paul and Sammy enjoying east coast fair.

We left the next day. Liora and I headed to DeeDee's house for an extra day of vacation, and Gabi and family headed up to New Hampshire. It was so nice to have the whole family together for a beach vacation!

beautiful beach

We're still not through all of the beach photos! This set come from a particularly beautiful afternoon trip to the beach, when the tide was way out and the shore birds were super excited about available food. We had been going to the beach in the morning, so we had missed these views! And the fun of running all around the beach.

I love this photo--Leo and Paul racing to us, caught mid-motion!

Cone heads in love!

Awwww.