THE DREAM TEAM

The Wog has been having a wonderful summer spending time with her friends. Things have been going so smoothly that I've donned these lovely girls the "Dream Team."

Here are The Wog, Lily and Arielle:


(And there's The Doodle, painting in the back right of the photo.)

My little lady:


Dipping:

(The Wog is at her most delighted in this picture. I love her squeaky smile!)

Not pageant-bound, but appearing so:


I think The Wog Blog is going to be seeing a lot of these girlies!

PIGLET PLEASANT HUGHES VAILLANT, 1994-2009

I have so much to say about Piggy, and no time to collect my thoughts or write them down. It's coming. In the meantime, I firmly know this: she was the dog of my lifetime. RIP, Piglet.

(Thanks to Minnie and Pop-Pop for this beautiful final picture of our sweet girl.)

A DAY AT THE BEACH

We took an impromptu 5th of July trip to Weirs Beach and the kids enjoyed playing in the sand and surf.

The Wog is insistent that goggles be worn at all times:

The Doodle likes to dig in the "dir."

Teamwork!

Doodlicious!

In and out of the water over and over again! We tried to explain to her that if she stayed in she'd feel warmer, but that wasn't nearly as much fun.

Sea creature:

The Doodle discovered that he immensely enjoyed jumping on resting Daddy from a running start. Here he is, gearing up to go.

The landing!

The Wog made a friend, and they were very industrious together. They were trying to build a channel for a little boat to sail through with impressive results until Doodzilla stomped his way through.

(But even Doodzilla needs a break now and then.)

The Vaillant men take a walk.

The Doodle also enjoys leaping from high points into our--sometimes unsuspecting--arms.

This one merits a close-up:

Cuddling in the lifeguard stand:

Nothing beats a day at the beach. Except for a day at the beach with ice cream!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY X 2!

The 4th of July fun continued in North Conway with a visit on the petting zoo, performances from High School Musical, and a ride on the...

...always-popular Moo Express!


Going for a spin with Lily:



Carefully studying how to achieve dart success. (The Wog got an accidental almost bullseye!)



For her efforts, she won a star-spangled lollipop:


More Doodle snacking!




We didn't make it to the official 9:30 p.m. fireworks, so we had a show of our own:

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Our 4th of July routine is quickly becoming a Vaillant family tradition! Our first stop was the Tamworth Parade, an event enjoyed by all--The Wog because they throw candy (CANDY!) from the floats, and The Doodle because of the plentitude of "wee-noo[s]" (AKA firetrucks).

Here he is, admiring a shiny red specimen...

...but only from afar. Up close, The Doodle is quite concerned:


A cute float:

The Wog and her friend Lily enjoy the parade!

Lily sits pretty. Isn't she Rockwellian?

The Wog waves at a float!

The Doodle snacked his way through the 4th of July, beginning with this tasty bagel:


The Doodle's new BFF, Eddie:


Waving the flags!

BEST. LOCKER. CONTENTS. EVER.

RADIANT

The name of the class is "Radiant Child Yoga." Indeed!