The Martin Family: 4th of July Weekend

We were with Andrew's family at his dad's shore house for a long 4th of July weekend this year and had a lot of fun seeing everyone. Kurt, Michelle and Madelyn were also visiting from Seattle so the cousins had a chance to play together again - twice in just over a month. Not bad for living across the country from each other! We saw lots of family and friends over the course of the weekend and had four fun-filled days.

Combined, Cheri, Michelle and I got close to 1,000 photos so these are some of my favorites. Wish I could post them all but it was overwhelming, even for me!

Thursday 7/3:

Just after arriving around lunchtime, Ben and Maddie started playing outside in the kiddie pool and sandbox. Maddie loved the pool and Ben loved the water as well, although he preferred to play with the hose instead of being in the pool. Our son has developed a bit of a scaredy-cat complex lately and did not want to go in the pool. Oh well, next year!

Here's Ben watering the flowers for Grandpa G. I guess helping Andrew with our garden everyday has developed into quite the hobby for our little guy.

Maddie loves the water!

What a hit the sandbox was with both of the kids! I knew we would not be able to get Ben out of it and I was right. He loved it. Of course, despite all of the sandtoys that were there to play with, Ben took more of a liking to the gigantic tub that was intended for the drinks. Why do we buy them toys again??

Later that evening, we all donned our finest white and khaki threads and headed to the beach for professional family photos. We will be getting a link to the web site in another week or so and I am very eager to see the results! The kids were relatively good for the pictures, considering we took them at 7PM since we were at the mercy of the sun. Thursday was a very sunny day so we could not take photos until it died down a bit. Outside of some minor toddler issues, I think we got some good pictures of all of them and also of us.

Here's a sneak preview: Michelle and Madelyn on their way home.

Friday 7/4:

The Martins from Buffalo had arrived for the weekend on Thursday night and Maggie and Billy came to visit for a night on Friday. We also had good family friends the Browns and Yvonne Anderson (poor Russ was stuck at home with an allergic reaction!) for dinner so there was a full house for the 4th this year.

Here's Ben hitting the sandbox bright and early Friday morning, still clad in his jammies!

Uncle Kurt joins in the fun with his nephew. Who says toy trucks are for kids? Our little dictator would zoom the trucks to the other side of the deck, point to Kurt and say "Kurt get it!"

Ben and Maddie LOVED Charlotte and Frannie and since both kids have dogs at home there were no fears whatsoever of the "girls." Ben calls them "Charlotte" and "Yellow". I guess the "Fr" sound is a little difficult to say so he improvised! :)

Here are Ben and I in our pj's reading Go Dog, Go!. This is Ben's favorite book so he was so excited to see it at the house. I was impressed that it was Cheri's as a little girl and that she had kept it in such good condition over the years. I know what trauma some of the books at our house take from a certain 2-year-old!

And the festivities begin!

Daddy and Nate in their red, white and blue.

Maggie and Billy with Frances the French Bulldog.

Aunt Loretta, me, Maggie with Nate, Yvonne, Michelle with Maddie.

Cheese!

Three generations of Martin men. Now if only Mr. Benjamin wouldn't be so opposed to picture taking lately, we would have been able to get him in the shot as well!

Grandpa G with Nate, content and smiley as usual lately. You can't see too well but Nate's hat says his name - Ben and Maddie also got special personalized 4th of July hats!

Aunt Loretta, Maggie and Nate.

Maggie, Billy and Nate.

Maggie couldn't get enough of Nate!

Ben loved Jeff and Jordie Martin, Andrew's cousins. He acted like one of the "big kids" when he was with them all weekend and the boys had a blast playing with Ben. Here's Jordie with Ben playing basketball.

Charlotte and Frannie had to get dressed in their patriotic colors for the party too!

Spending the 4th with friends and family.

Maggie and Billy pose for another photo.

Katelyn and Carmen Brown were visiting for the weekend. Carmen's husband Doug is on tour with his band - Safetysuit. Check them out, they're great!!

Katelyn, Kurt and Jeff.

Our two little Martins boys have so much hair, that's for sure! Here's Ben with bedhead in full swing, after passing out for a 4 hour nap! I guess being up until 11:30 the night before, running around like crazy, can do that to a toddler!!

Fully recovered from his nap, Ben is now being silly.

Aunt Chel and Ben pose for a pic later at night. Note the phony smile on Ben...this is his "cheese!!" smile that he puts on for photos lately.

Madelyn Grace:
Nathaniel Joseph:

Katelyn with Madelyn.

So long, farewell. Nate comes downstairs in his 4th of July pajamas to say goodnight to the party.

Saturday 7/5:

What a surprise! All three cousins have matching 4th of July pajamas! (Thanks, CC, for our matching jammies!).

Two generations of Martins feeding the ducks.

Ben spends some time with Billy and then below with Jordie. And out comes Dr. Suess again, too!!

Cousin Mischief!! Good thing they're cute :)

This morning Grandpa G took several people for a boat ride, Ben included. Ben did not like the life jacket he had to wear but definitely liked the boat once it got moving. I did not go on the boat but stayed at the house with Nate and the others and waved to Ben when they passed by the house in the bay.

Here, Kurt, Nate and I are waving to the boat as it passes by.

Playing back at the house later on, resting before the evening soiree. Maddie turned one on June 27th so we celebrated her big day with the whole family a week or so late. Happy Birthday, Madelyn!

Here's Maddie in her birthday dress, all ready for her party. We were chuckling because she LOVES to open her mouth wide...and often! It's adorable...

Resting inside with everyone. The kids really enjoyed playing together. I'm so glad that they are so close in age!

The guys playing Wii...while Kurt reads in the corner, looking mightly scholarly!

Some of the people took a shot at Kan-Jam over the course of the weekend while everyone else watched from the sidelines.

Here's Ben walking Charlotte. He liked actually being able to walk a dog his own size for once!! Of course, Charlotte would sit down every time Ben tried to get her to move!

Ohh...one of the highlights of Ben's weekend: the ice cream truck. Here he is making his selection.

Yum, the two kids enjoying their treats :).

Happy 1st Birthday, Madelyn Grace!

Nothing like Dad in a pink birthday hat, huh, Maddie? :)

Uncle Dave and Aunt Loretta on the deck that night. They left early in the morning so this was our last day with them. Luckily, Andrew and I are taking the boys to Buffalo to visit in two weekends so we will see them again soon.

Sunday 7/6:
The next day we went to the boardwalk for the afternoon to show the kids a good time on the rides. Well.....

...apparently Ben has a different idea of a good time since he did not like the rides at all. We gave him three tries and he hated them all. The games, boardwalk and treats we got to eat were a different story, though - he loved these! Maybe next year he'll like rides!

The men and Maddie on the train. Maddie liked it :)...

Take two: the carousel with Mom. Hated this one too! By the second photo he had calmed down a bit but he was every bit as hysterical for most of the ride as he had been on the train.

Maddie loved it though!

Alright, last try: Aunt Chel seemed to peak Ben's interest with the truck ride and he said he wanted to go on at first but ended up hating it as much as the others!!

Here, the three dads are trying to win the kids a prize. Three tries - Andrew, Kurt, and Gordon - and three strike outs!

Ben loved the cotton candy (and Dippin' Dots, but no pictures of these) that we bought for Maddie and him to try. Maddie loved it too!

Maddie loved the rides and even went on a mini rollercoaster with her dad!

Ben, Nate and Maddie all loved the walk we took on the boardwalk.

Monday 7/7:

Ben decided to be inventive with his Matchbox car play this morning and (with G and CC's permission) found some dirt to use...right out of the flower beds. What happens at G and CC's house, stays at G and CC's house! :)