Tea Party at St. Thomas Church

The Tabernacle Society at ST. Thomas Church hosted a Mother/Daughter/Granddaughter etc. tea party on Saturday May 31st. I invited Melissa, Madeleine, Alicia and Thijs to join me for some fun. We had a wonderful time with lots of people to meet and plenty of food and tea to satisfy all of us. Our church choir director was there and provided some beautiful music on the piano. The two grandchildren were very good and were the youngest there. Everyone oohed and ahhed over them. Here are a few pictures taken at the party.

Waiting for the party to start.

My two best buds.

One of our choir members, Ann ( in purple) is
seated with her daughter and grandchildren
enjoying tea and goodies.

Alicia, Thijs, Melissa, Madeleine and Me.

Our choir director, Patsy and Fr. Philip.

Thijs and Madeleine chatting away.

Wednesdays in Newburyport

It's hard to believe that Thijs is now 7 months old. He's learning new things everyday. He has two bottom teeth coming out. He eats solid food now and loves it. He can stand pretty well for a little while holding onto something. Loves to go for rides in his carriage along the boardwalk in Newburyport. The following pictures I took on May 28th when Thijs turned 7 mos.

Looking pretty serious.


Happy-go-lucky fellow.


I can't hold my breath any longer.

It's hard to smile when you are teething.


Playing with his toys.


Recently got up from a good nights sleep.

Thijs is quite the charmer

I went back to Thijs's house on Tuesday night in order to babysit him on Wednesday. It had been over three weeks since I had done that. He was in bed when I arrived so I didn't see him
until early Wednesday morning. He gave me the nicest smile and came to me very easily. We had a great day. It was nice enough to go for a walk in the morning and we did a little gift shopping as well. He also played with his toys and got in a couple of naps. I think he's a bit of a flirt - so charming when he smiles. Take a look at some pictures I took and see if you agree with me.

We had a play time where he enjoyed his little
musical toys.

Look how he flirts with the camera.

Showing us his big cheeks and eyes.

Here he is with a questioning look.

Cute! Cute! Cute!

Playing with his dog that talks and sings.

Wait until his teeth come in.

"Ummm! I'm not going to open my mouth."

Playing in his Exersaucer.

A happy baby and so handsome.

Beautiful Madeleine makes a visit

Madeleine and her Mom paid us a visit on Tuesday. Remodeling is being done in their kitchen at home so they came to NH to avoid the noise and dust. We were delighted to have them because we hadn't seen them since before we left for Florida. Madeleine is growing up fast. She'll be 10 mos. old on June 3rd. If you visit her blog you'll see how many days are left until her birthday. Here are some pictures of our little sweetheart.

Madeleine soon will be crawling or walking.

How beautiful she is.

Making faces at the camera.

Waiting for a bite to eat.



Eating a tasty rice cracker.

She has two bottom teeth and is waiting for the
top teeth to pop out. Her poor gums are hurting.

Our Trip to Florida

We spent two weeks with our dear friend Rita in Florida. She has a lovely home in North Fort Myers and we really made ourselves at home there. Rita's brother and sister live there also, so we got to spend some time with them too. The weather was absolutely beautiful everyday with blue skies and bright orange sunsets. It felt wonderful to wake up to sunshine everyday. Our dog Tia felt like she was on another planet. We'd take a walk every morning around 7:00 and she'd run and chase rabbits and squirrels and smell every piece of grass along the way. Of course, she mostly enjoyed all the attention she got from Rita and Rita's sister-in-law Sue. I'm sure she misses being in Florida. She did quite well flying back and forth under the seat in front of me. We too miss our friends and the Florida sunshine. Here are a few pictures we took while there.

Rita, Omer, Sue and Ray at Omer and Sue's house.

Tia lounging after playing with her little stuffed
toy, a "squirrel" or "fox" that Sue gave her.

Rita, taking in some sunshine at the pool while playing
a challenging game of Scrabble.

Joan, working on a tan.

Ray, lounging and trying not to burn.

Friends of ours, John and Jeanne Frigon who
also live in Florida, visited with us at Rita's house.
Here we have Ray and Jeanne and Tia by Ray's side.

John, looking very handsome.

Lovely Rita, our gracious host.

Rita's brother Omer, took us on a drive to visit a
new Bass Outlet called Outdoor World. They have
everything you can imagine if you happen to be into
outdoor sports - from fishing, hunting, boating, golf etc.
It's a very interesting place. I took pictures inside but
they are a little dark. I'll post a few here to give you
an idea of the place.

This life-sized allegator greets you outside the door
before entering the building.

Looking down on the main floor.

Armadillo

Raccoon

Fox

Golf anyone?

Omer, Rita, Joan and Ray inside a man-made cave.

Mallard ducks permanently suspended in flight.

Ray pulling in a big"Jaws" shark.

Colorful gigantic tropical aquarium. This place
has two aquariums.

Rita relaxing in an Aderondack chair.

"Mother's Day" at the Tagues

We celebrated Mother's Day on April 27th because we were going to be in Florida on the actual Mother's Day in May. Since it was Melissa's and Alicia's first Mother's Day we wanted to do something special. Here are a few pictures from that day.

Family picture.

Cousins enjoying some playtime together.

It says on his shirt, "Yes, I"ve always been this cute".

Madeleine and her Daddy.

Enjoying some quiet time with Thijs