Father's Day weekend

We went to Cleveland for the weekend with the girls, to spend some time with Chris's extended family. His parents both grew up there, it's where Chris was born, and most of his aunts & cousins are still there. There's lots of family there that had never met Rowan and Saoirse before. So we went for Chris's cousin Heather's graduation party.
Chris was thrilled that the hotel had a pool. Later that night, he was not so thrilled to discover that we were staying in the only hotel in America that does not have pay-per-view movies. But the pool was fun. The girls got to try out their new swimsuits. Saoirse loved being swirled around in the water by daddy. Rowan was true to her more cautious nature. She was not so sure about it all, needed to sit with Mommy by the edge for a while. Then she dipped her toes in. Then she sat on the step in a couple inches of water for a while. If given a summer, I'm pretty sure we could get her to let Chris play with her the way he plays with Saoirse.



Being part of a big family was a new experience for them at the party. People everywhere, junk food, other little kids. They took it in stride, for the most part. They got totally dirty, Saoirse spent some time sorting rocks and filling Great-Aunt Jane's purse with them.



Rowan grabbed a brownie almost as soon as we got there. She's a picky eater, but she loves dessert. Here she is getting chocolate cleaned off her face by Grandma Donna. Notice, in this photo, where Rowan is standing. In the grass....:) We made progress on the grass desensitization project in Cleveland. I guess if there are proper incentives (brownies) she'll walk anywhere.




Another first, and an appropriate one for Father's Day. We're 95% sure that Rowan said her first word on Saturday. Donna was holding her, and she reached out her arms for Chris and said "Dada."