Lux and Nick's Online Journal

Jersey Girl

Once again, we have allowed a lot to happen between entries; sorry about that. I'll try to catch up.

First, an update on the Cicada situation. The emergence is indeed in full swing right now, but it really hasn't lived up to its billing. Overall, it appears that it is a much smaller emergence than the one described by people who were around 17 years ago. Also, our neighborhood appears to have almost none of the bugs and their density seems quite patchy for no obvious reasons. That said, when you are in heavily infested neighborhoods there are a LOT of loud bugs around. They fly around drunkenly bumping into things and landing on you. Then they just sit and stare at you with their big red eyes. They are kind of interesting, and not as gross as I had expected. Still, I'm glad our house isn't covered in them!

Another event was that Grandparents Dan and Janie came out for a short visit coinciding with my birthday. We had a great time watching Lux play in her splashy pool (see photos), and we went out for a FABULOUS dinner at one of Washington's best restaurants while Aunt Karen generously babysat for Lux. That was followed up by a quick 1-night visit from our friend Lisa who was visiting from Tucson, AZ.

Next, we had a great three-day trip to Cape May, the southernmost point on the New Jersey shore. We took the car ferry from Lewes, Delaware and discovered that Lux LOVES wind. Standing on the upper deck in the wind caused her to laugh hysterically, and she charmed all the other passengers, as usual. In Cape May, we shared a guest house with our old friends Scott and Felicia and their 13-month old daughter Sofia. We had a fantastic time, playing on the beach, eating lobster, BBQing and such, but we discovered that vacations with two babies don't generally include a lot of lazy sleeping in like beach vacations did in our pre-baby days. We certainly hope to make annual trips to the shore with the Black's once they move out to the East Coast.

Immediately upon returning, we got together with our Bradley childbirth class gang for brunch, which is always great fun. It is great to see how the babies are growing. We are now about to enter the 3-month period where all 6 kids will have their first birthdays. It will be a busy summer!

posted by Paul Ray @ 7:53 AM