Father's Day

I think Nicholas is the luckiest little boy on earth. He has SO many people that love him. But let's face it... no one can hold a candle to his dad. Todd and Nicholas have a bond that is so incredibly special. No one, not even his mom can hold a candle to it.

I can see it every time they look at each other. I can hear it every day when I come home from work, and the two of them describe all of the adventures they had that day - I hear all about feeding the ducks at the park, how Nicholas "dunked" Todd at swim class, or the mounds of frozen yogurt they ate at Costco. I can see it in the way Nicholas can crawl up onto Todd on the couch and they just melt into each other - like Daddy's body was meant to be a throne for my monkey. I can hear it when they're playing together and Nicholas laughs until he can't breathe.

I am in awe of their relationship, and of course, BRIGHT green with envy. But at the same time, I feel so blessed to have a husband that has given every bit of himself to his son. Todd would surely do ANYTHING for Nicholas, and it makes me love him even more than I did before this little monster took over our lives.

Happy Father's Day, Todd. You are truly the world's best Dad.

Heaven on Earth

I don't think heaven is anything like the way it's portrayed in the cartoons - with all of the clouds and harps and everyone dressed in white robes. I'm thinking that heaven is different for everyone. Maybe for some people, it's sitting behind home plate at Fenway watching the Sox beat the pants off the Yankees. Maybe for others it's a table at Friendly's where the waitress brings a hot fudge peanut butter sundae that never ends. For me... it's a quiet evening in Maine, when the water begins to sparkle and the sky starts to turn pink. If that's not heaven... I don't know what is.

We spent plenty of time at the cottage last year, and it was great... but I think this year is shaping up to be the best yet. Nicholas is finally old enough to appreciate what a special place it really is. We spent an amazing Memorial Day weekend at the cottage.

He loved wading into the water (no matter how cold it was), taking boat rides (and yes, that's a picture of him driving below), and hunting for loons on the lake. Every morning, he'd run to the window and say, "Where did the loons go? I can't see them." And he was always the first to spot them in the water, or hear them crying across the lake. My little dude is a lover of nature for sure, and it makes me so happy to see him falling in love with Maine, just like I did as a kid.

We did a lot of different things on this trip too - things we've never done before. One day we visited a wildlife park that had lots of different animals found in Maine. And yes, I finally saw my first real, live moose. Granted, it was behind a fence, but it's the best I could do. Someday I will see one in the wild. (I've only been waiting 37 years.)

We also went to the Memorial Day parade, which was so fun. I have some great shots of Nicholas waving his flag and cheering for the fire trucks, but they're on my dad's camera. Mine ran out of batteries!

Bring on summer vacation... I'm ready.