We were very lucky this summer in that we got to join my parents, my sisters Samantha and Melanie, my brother Brian, Samantha’s boyfriend Erik, and Melanie’s friend Anne on a week-long trip to Taino Beach in the Bahamas (or the ‘Hamas, as Anya called it all week before we left). Despite getting hit with the outskirts of Tropical Storm Fay for much of the trip, we still had a wonderful time - and at least some of us managed to get to the pool or beach every day.

Anya loved flying on the planes! She was particularly excited by landing (”The plane is landing on the ground! It driving on the wheels! It go fast!”). We brought LOTS of things for her to do, but it turned out not to be necessary - she spent a good portion of the air time either sleeping, eating, or poring over the in-flight magazine and Sky Mall catalog. She had a little trouble falling and staying asleep while at the hotel (vacations should NOT involve waking up at 4:30 in the morning!) but towards the second half of the trip we were able to get into a groove that more or less worked. With nine adults and just one Anya in our group, she hardly got any attention this week. Yeah, right.

Between the three cameras that were brought, we took a lot of pictures (click here to see the full album). Here is a video and some of the highlights:

Yikes, THAT’S a big belly. Baby Girl #2 was there, too!

My parents and all of their kids:

Our “Bahama Mama”:

A piggy back train:

One of the storms:

The beautiful view from our balcony:

Anya admiring the ocean:

Lex playing in the sand:

Despite the look of worry here, Anya did end up loving the ocean:

Friedman family portrait:

Anya and Lex “chill-laxing” in a hammock:

She could not get enough of the slide!

Everybody in the pool:

Me and Anya, snuggling in a tube:

There were lizards everywhere! Anya was disappointed that she wasn’t going to get to pet and kiss them, as she announced excitedly when she first noticed them, but she still enjoyed chasing them:

The whole group at dinner on our last night:

Karaoke at one of the casinos:

Anya enjoying the play area at the Philadelphia airport during our return flight layover:

It really was a fabulous trip, with a good mix of activity and relaxation. I can’t remember the last time I had enough time to read two books in one week! Since my dad has access to the timeshare for the next 30 years or so, I am sure we’ll be back again some day, and I hope we have just as good of a time - except maybe with a little less wind!

Anya sang this song non-stop for about 15 minutes before I got out my camera and another 10 minutes after I turned it off. Everyone was here today, including all of the characters from her Where’s Mommy book, Elmo, Ernie, Baby, Anya, Mommy, Daddy, and her classmates and teachers from day care.

Anya tends to sing a lot of different songs throughout the day, but what made this one amusing/exciting to both me and Lex is that we had never heard it before! She must have learned it at day care, probably as part of circle time.

It’s been pretty hot here this past week.  Rather than venturing out to the pool or beach, we stayed close to home this weekend.  We took advantage of some new toys (many recently acquired from craigslist and Freecycle) and enjoyed our time together.

Anya liked moving the water from her pool to the water table:

Then we trekked up the hill:

Swinging:

Playing on the slides:

Anya tries to ride her new (used) toy:

It was a little small for her.  She ultimately decided this was easier:

(Savanna is the little girl who lives a few houses down from us.  Diesel is her dog.)

We had a very busy weekend! Playdates, time at the pool, dinner with friends…but the BIG event of our weekend was our trip to Sesame Place. Earlier this summer, Lex and I decided we weren’t going to take Anya there this year, but when a friend from my online October ‘06 birth club suggested a few of us meet up there, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity (Thanks, Saina!). To say that Anya had a blast is a gross understatement. It’s two days later and she’s still talking about the trip constantly (”I meet Elmo!  I eat breakfast with him!  I give a hug to Ernie!  I like Telly show!”).

We attended the Elmo and Friends breakfast in the morning (I highly recommend it; you really can’t get face to face time like that with the characters anywhere else in the park). Anya was a big fan of Elmo and Zoe, and eventually warmed up to Ernie and Big Bird. As for Bert, she only liked him from a distance. She was very excited to see him later at one of the shows we saw. Oddly, during the shows, she loved the characters, but the real people freaked her out. Stay away, Mr. Noodle! Anya loved the rides and the water attractions, and we even got her to take a (short) nap in her stroller. We took a lot of pictures; here are some of my favorites:

Anya gets a hug from Elmo:

The carousel:

Anya with Erica’s children (I’m still mad at myself for missing the chance to get a shot of all three families together):

Lex doing the hula dance at Big Bird’s show (see the video for more!):

And, of course, no post from me would be complete without a video:

This summer, I signed up for a Mommy and Me dance class with Anya, and she just loves it. She talks about it all week!

Today Anya and I spent some time with her friend CJ and his mom at Dorbrook Park, which has a fabulous (and free!) sprayground. I took a couple of videos of the kids playing and then used my fun Flip camera to make a “movie mix” - and I even got to add my own background music:

The timing of the words of the song and the footage of the two of them on the bench is coincidental - the camera’s editing software doesn’t give me much control - but how perfect did that turn out?!?

My sisters were little when Barney was THE thing for kids to watch. They started watching it before it was a show on PBS. You could only watch him on video, and watch it they did. Over and over. And over. As a result, I swore that any child I had would never watch a single second of Barney. Nevertheless, Anya has learned the words to that oh-so-charming Barney classic, “I Love You” (Thanks, Grandma):

As you can see, she very much enjoys singing it. Over and over. And over.

She’s had these two down for a few weeks, but eh, who has time to get things on camera these days? I’m not sure why she was being such a goofball, or why the potty is one of her favorite places to perform… Also, she usually counts to 13, but that night 12 was the magic number.

By the way, Jake - See? I told you so!