Happy Birthday Adele!

Cousin Adele is six-years-old.  I remember the day she was born very clearly, as well as how excited I was.  I'm so glad that Audrey and Adele love each other.  Here are two videos we made for Adele today:

Coming later this week (if I survive Michael being gone for four days) - photos from Lillian's seven-month birthday :)

Back in the U.S.A.!

We got an early start this morning and are safely back in Philadelphia.  I took so many pictures, I wanted to share them :)  It was a wonderful visit and we got to spend some real quality time with our Toronto family.

With Nana at the beautiful Blue Water beach.  It was really gorgeous with baby powder sand and clear water:

Audrey thoroughly enjoyed the water, as usual :)

Nana with the girls at her home:

We met up with our friends from New York and toured the Toronto Islands.  The only one of us who had been before was Michael.  It was a really nice day and I would definitely go back!  Here is Audrey with Lucy (and the CN Tower).

And Daphne, Michael, Lillian & Lucy:

On Saturday, Michael's dad was finally able to take Audrey fishing for the first time:

Audrey was a big help:

 And here is her first catch!  We decided it was a little small and threw it back:

On Saturday evening we went to Michael's cousin Jorge's house.  Audrey had a great time with her big cousin Daniel, and borrowed this bikini from her little cousin Sofia:

Lillian with Avo:

Apparently 3D glasses without the lenses are all the rage in Portugal, and Daniel picked up this fashion trend on their trip there this summer.

I got Audrey and Daniel to cheer "Toronto!" for this one:

 Audrey and Daniel decided to practice writing.  Audrey wrote the word "Avo" (grandfather) all by herself this weekend!

Then on Sunday, we went for what seemed to be an early Christmas for Audrey.  She was very spoiled by Michael's Aunt Fatima, who we call Tia Fa.

Lillian with cousin Mindy.  We are going back to Toronto in 3 weeks for Mindy's wedding!  We are really looking forward to it, and Audrey will be a flower girl!

On Labour Day, we went exploring in High Park, a massive park in Toronto.  Despite the fact that I lived nearby when I first lived in Toronto, I had barely even been in it before.  We had fun walking around, saw the little zoo, and found several geocaches.  Audrey also had the opportunity to practice her tree-climbing skills:

Lillian enjoyed her day at the park also:

 She is quite the nature enthusiast:

It was a great trip and we are looking forward to going back.  The girls are doing well.  Lillian is really getting stronger every day, and is starting to enjoy eating a little more.  She babbles constantly and likes to blow bubbles.  Tomorrow she will have her 6-month check-up, although she will be seven months later this week!  Tomorrow is also Audrey's first day of school!   She has chosen her outfit and seems excited, hopefully she won't be too worn out from our adventures.

Greetings from Canada!

We are up in Ontario visiting with lots of friends & family and having a great time.  Uncle Bryan took the bus down from Toronto on August 11th and stayed with us for two weeks.  We had a lot of fun showing him around, and then he was a big help on the ride up to Toronto.  Baba was also with us for a week and we had a blast as usual!

I have lots of photos to post, so I will try to catch up a little.  I have already taken a bunch on this trip and will have to post those next time.

 Visiting with Charlotte & Carter in Kentucky:

Lillian is getting to be quite a strong sitter!

At the American Museum of National History with Audrey's friend Daphne:

And with Daphne and her big sister Lucy, being silly:

One of Audrey's new things when she isn't avoiding photos, is to suddenly request, "Take a picture of me!"  And then she will pose quite nicely.  Here she is in Central Park:

Lillian getting ready for her first meal!

And here it is on video:



With Uncle Bryan in Atlantic City:

Audrey was quite excited to try this ride on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, but lasted for about a minute before they had to stop the ride.  They were nice enough to refund the tickets so that she could go on something a little less wild.

She was a fan of the dragon ride :)

And the carousel.

There was a nice view of the beach from the top of the carousel:
I

Here we are back at the American Museum of Natural History again:

We went back to NYC again with Baba and Uncle Bryan!


On the Staten Island Ferry:

We also explored some new neighbourhoods that I really enjoyed.  This was a really neat playground in Union Square park:

 We ended up our long day in a neat little Italian restaurant called John's on Twelfth.  We didn't quite make it to Little Italy, but had a nice meal anyway.

 Baba & Audrey :)

Here we are in the Italian Market in South Philly:

And relaxing at home!

And then back to New York - or almost - in Hoboken, across the river:

Being a big girl!