Fun on the Beach

During Katy's visit, we also made it to the lovely beach in Gaeta. Because it was still early in the season, there was no traffic getting there (joy), the beach wasn't crowded (hooray), and it wasn't terribly hot (woo hoo)!


We had a lot of fun just hanging out, playing in the sand, and wading in the water. Claire especially loved playing in the very perfect sand. She particularly loved it when her daddy buried her from the waist down. They each took turns burying each other and digging each other up. Good times!

Capri with Katy!

At the end of May, we were so lucky to have our good friend Katy come and visit us from England. Claire met her for the first time last fall, and immediately warmed up to her this time. She LOVED playing with Katy.


While she was here, we got to visit the beautiful island of Capri, a place we haven't yet gotten to. It was quite sunny, but apparently the water was too choppy to go to the blue grotto, which is the island's main attraction. We really enjoyed exploring the beach and the two main towns of Capri. Capri town is full of very high end shops and after walking through the town, we got some great views from a lovely cliff-side park. Andy and Claire had a great time playing the "run, jump and swing" game... Claire certainly enjoyed that more than the view.


Then we went to visit the town of Anacapri where we took a chairlift to the highest part of the island where there were more spectacular views.

Exploring Greece

Click here to see a video of Claire singing on the beach

In mid-may, Andy, Claire and I traveled to Greece. We wanted to get in one more big trip before the baby is born this summer and Greece has always been on our "must see" list. We were only there for about four days, but we sure did pack in the sightseeing!

On the first day, we checked into our hotel and immediately went to tour the Acropolis and the Parthenon. It was a beautiful day... almost a bit too hot. The crowds weren't overwhelming and we had a great time exploring the ancient ruins.

Claire did really well, despite the heat and a lack of a nap. She really liked running around the ruins, and she was very interested in the rocks... but not the important ones...


On the second day, we spent some more time exploring Athens itself, including doing a self guided walking tour of the city, where we saw many of the other major sites, did some shopping, and ate some great Greek food. Later in the day, we made it to the ruins of the ancient Agora, which was really interesting too. Claire enjoyed running around the Temple of Hephaestus, which was a remarkably intact structure, considering all of the ruins around it.

On the third day, we hopped on a hydrofoil ferry that took us to the island of Hydra, where we spent one night. We wanted to have a little bit of the Greek island experience, and we weren't disappointed. The streets were narrow and windy and the buildings were white with lovely blue doors. There was a little pebbly beach a short distance away that we spent some time at. Claire loved the water and she even serenaded us with some of her singing skills. We were able to catch some of her songs on video too!


The rest of our time in Hydra was spent exploring the little town. There are no cars on the island and they used donkeys to haul everything around. Claire really loved the donkeys and the numerous stray cats that were in the town.


The weather on our last full day was a bit iffy. We explored the town of Hydra a bit more before getting on the boat back to Athens. Because we'd seen most of what we'd hoped too, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the rooftop pool of our hotel. The pool was VERY cold, but Claire loved it. She is definitely at the stage where the desire to swim and be in the pool has overtaken her discomfort with the cold. The coolest thing about the pool, however, was the view of the Parthenon. So cool!

We had a great trip overall and it was a perfect last trip before the new baby arrives in July (or August)!

Funny Faces!

Claire seems to be developing her sense of humor.... I'm not sure where she learned this one. Maybe from Daddy, maybe from Elmo...

The Beach!

Yesterday we went to the beach in Varcaturo, which is about 15 minutes from our house. Shockingly, we hadn't been there before, which clearly, has been a huge mistake! The beach was lovely and not at all crowded because it's still before the "summer" begins. We went with a few friends that had older kids and Claire just loved playing in the sand and running after the big kids.


At one point, we were all down by the water, and Claire was playing at the water's edge. She waded in a little bit until where the waves were breaking. One wave caught her and she teetered and lost her balance and fell in. We didn't have our bathing suits because I hadn't intended to go swimming, but in I went after her, clothes and all. She thought the whole thing was pretty funny and said, "I like water!"

Baby Ballet

Today Claire went to her first ballet class and it was so darling! Check out this link to see a short video of Claire at ballet class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWBineGOdFU

The class was held at the base and ten 2-3 year olds were in the class. It was the first time that Claire was in a class where I wasn't sitting next to her directing her through the motions and she did really well. She was mostly able to follow directions, which really surprised me.


She just loved getting dressed up in her black tutu and ballet shoes which we bought earlier this week at Decathalon (a local sports store). All the kids were so cute and the moms had a great time snapping photos and watching them all run around.

After class, Claire and her friend Sadie had fun running around a little more!

The Big Girl Bed!

Over the weekend, Andy picked up Claire's big girl bed at Ikea and on Sunday we set it up for her. Claire has shown a major interest in all things related to sleep for a long time. In the last few months, it's been one of her favorite things to "play". She loves putting all of her stuffed animals to bed and she loves climbing in beds at other peoples' houses and at stores (if we let her). We were hoping the transition would be a smooth one. Part of our goal was to be able to take down and put away the crib for a couple of months before the new baby arrives, so Claire feels less like the baby is taking her stuff.
Anyway, we were all in Claire's room as Andy took apart the crib and put her bed together and Claire was fascinated by the whole process. When the frame came together, she even got in the middle of it and laid down on the floor. When the bed was put together and the mattress in place, she immediately climbed in to "sleep"... she wouldn't even let me put on the bedding! :)


So, naptime on Sunday rolled around a few hours later and she was a champ. We are now on day five of the big girl bed and the transition has been flawless. She loves her bed and talks about it all the time and she can't wait to get in it.

Now, if only potty training could go this smoothly....