family fun

This past week Natalie's Grandma and Grandpa Cherry came to visit from New York, and spent every day with their new grandbaby. We put them right to work, baby-sitting and helping us on our home improvement projects (my birthday gift from Mike's dad was a brand-new set of front steps!! I'll post pictures soon!). We are truly so lucky to have parents who are so eager to help us in exchange for lots of cuddles from Natalie. :)

Here are a couple of pictures of Natalie with her grandparents:

Last week was also my 27th birthday, which I convinced everyone to spend doing all the things that I wanted to do, like going to the Farmer's Market, walking along the boardwalk, and eating Chinese food, cake and ice cream. Not a bad way to ring in the new year of my life! Here's our little family at the Farmer's Market:

Mike's parents' last day with us was bittersweet; we were so sad to see them go, but had such a wonderful time all together. We went out for lobster rolls and spent the day at the beach--Natalie's first time in a lake! She was so cute in her little bathing suit:

I may have gone slightly overboard in dressing her for the beach, but she just looked so adorable in her suit, matching hat, sandals, and sunglasses, and then her little robe cover-up. The budgie seemed to enjoy the water quite a bit, which didn't surprise us at all. She l-o-v-e-s having her baths, so splashing her feet in the lake seemed like just the perfect way for her to spend an afternoon.

Here are a couple more photos from our day at the beach:

We ended the week with a trip to the Boothbay Botanical Gardens with Natalie's Nana, Poppy, Aunt Em, and Uncle Wob. It was a beautiful day, and the gardens were so pretty. We spent the afternoon wandering the trails through the flowers and woods, and Natalie slept as peacefully as could be through nearly all of it.

Here she is with her Aunt Emma, making eyes at her favorite toy monkey:

And here are Nana, Poppy, and Natalie enjoying a quiet moment looking out at the Sheepscot River before we moseyed on back towards the flower gardens.

It's been a busy several days, but such a wonderful several days as well. Mike and I were both feeling pretty wiped out this morning, and decided to be as lazy as possible this afternoon to recover. Now I'm feeling a bit blue staring ahead at my workweek, but another long weekend with my little family is right around the corner so I'm trying to stay positive!