The first leg of our mini summer vacation found us in Michigan to meet tiny baby Lilly.*
After coming in the back door and stealing the baby away from her father, the Davis-Ross children began some full-on baby love. Even Thomas showed some particular interest in this tiny little thing that grabbed everyone's attention. I'm pretty much in love with the goofy "awww" expressions on Peter and Lucy's faces in almost all of their photos with Lilly.
I'm not sure if baby appreciation is inherited or learned, but Peter, Lucy and Thomas have had plenty of opportunity for both. Kevin's family is especially baby crazy, which meant it was difficult to get some time with the wee baby Lilly, but also that she's growing up in a family that loves her so much.
I also really enjoyed listening to Peter and Lucy talk with Aunt Jen about Baby Lilly and what their baby can do. For example (said while sticking a finger in Lilly's mouth): Our baby has teeth, Aunt Jen. Lilly doesn't have any teeth. Also overheard: our baby can crawl, our baby can say "da da!," and our baby can do itsy-bitsy spider. Yes, and our baby has about 10 months on this little one. It's amazing the difference those 10 months make. The kids didn't mean to compare - and they're forever sharing Thomas's latest tricks with whatever audience they can capture - but their tone was hilarious nonetheless.
On Sunday we celebrated Lilly's baptism. Kevin served as her godfather, and Peter and Lucy were invited to the baptismal font to watch the water, oil, and fire up-close.
Monday, we visited Lake Michigan for some much-needed outdoor fun. The waves were larger than the last time we visited, but it took Lucy only a few minutes before she realized just how fun it is to ride the waves and bob gently on the water. Peter took a bit longer to coax in, but once he did, he too had fun, although he never quite appreciated the water the way Lucy did. Toward the end of our time in the lake, she'd purposefully swim away from us when we came near her, perhaps in fear we'd tell her it was time to go back to the sandy shore.
great-grandparent namesakes together: Lillian and Thomas
The Ross family joined us later on the beach, and while Peter, Lucy and Maelynn played in the sand, Thomas and Lilly took a nap in the tent.
Throughout our visit, Peter and Lucy had to contend with Jason and Jen's first children, their two large dogs. Oh, man. Really, the "dog thing" is the biggest downer when visiting Jason and Jen, because it never ends. Peter always flips out when Jezebel comes near, and then starts to run, and then flips out even more when Jezebel runs after him, and no matter how many times Jason or Kevin or Poppy or I say it, Peter still runs and Jezebel still chases.
Luckily for Peter and Lucy, Jen had filled their basement with all sorts of awesome toys, including about $2000 worth of hand-me-down duplos from her younger brother and a random assortment of pink dress-up clothes. Also, now that the kids are getting older, they could play in the basement on their own while I sneaked upstairs and stuffed my face with delicious cake.
Thomas wasn't so big on the pink dress-up clothes or the small fortune in duplos, but he did love those snakes. And judging from this picture, Maelynn loves him.
*She was only two weeks old when we met her, and at just over 8 pounds smaller than all of the Davis-Ross children, and so when Kevin would pick her up and gaze into her tiny face and coo, "were our children ever this tiny?" I had to remind him, no, they never were.
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