Max and Esme

The kids with cousin Keaton (17 months).

The first in a series of photo updates from our Nantucket trip.

Twice in the past few days we've cleaned the bathroom using products containing bleach. The first time because Esme had a 12 hour stomache bug that resulted in some seriously messy floors. (Turns out blueberries result in a shockingly magenta colored vomit.) The second time as part of a usual cleaning of shower tiles and grout. I didn't think the chlorine smell was particularly strong, but Esme immediately noticed and declared that the room smelled like the pool at the Y.

Max lost one of his top front teeth yesterday, leaving a gap in his smile and him looking much younger (and like his sister!) It had been loosening up for the last week and finally worked itself free while we were out on the boat. I couldn't actually pull it myself - Peter had to do it... Instead of a simple note to the Tooth Fairy, this time Max wrote and illustrated a short book. He named the first three teeth he had lost (Toothless, Toothsome, and Toothy) and described the means by which he lost them (first felt loose in Math, pushed out by another tooth, and pulled by Daddy on the boat.) The Girard Family Tooth Fairy, refusing to bow to local market trends, left Max a crisp dollar bill. Max is planning to spend it on Hawaiian Punch... that should ensure that the Tooth Fairy makes plenty of future visits.

Esme on the boat yesterday. Max catching bass at the lake last week.

We spent the July 4th holiday weekend in Rodman and South Lake dodging the rain drops and watching the grey sky. Max was thrilled to see his dolphin swing again, and Esme was excited to find an old doll cradle upstairs at Great Grandpa's house. An afternoon matinee and some rousing family games of Pachesi happily filled their days in Rodman. We headed to camp on Saturday morning. Peter and I drove Grandpa in and the kids rode with Mom and Dad. A fair trade for everyone for a little while! Again the weather wasn't great on Saturday, and very cold, but the kids jumped outside to run around and play on the swing set every time the rain stopped. The clouds cleared late in the evening, in time to watch the neighbor's fireworks display over the lake. We tried to wake the kids for it but they were sleeping too soundly - how they could through all that noise I'll never know. Sunday dawned clear and sunny so we stayed for the whole day building a dock, shivering in the lake, and...