Kicking off summer with Niki and Peter

This past weekend (yay for Memorial Day and all three-day weekends!), Niki and Peter flew all the way from Tennessee to help Sonia and me celebrate the beginning of summer. Andrew missed all the baby-related fun because he flew to Texas to visit his parents and sister-- we wish he had been here to witness the mayhem! Sonia and Peter became fast friends.... Sonia laid her little head down on Peter several times this weekend, showing him that she loves him. I can't wait to see Sonia, Charlotte, and Peter all together this summer when we celebrate my dad's milestone birthday in July!

The weather was perfect for swimming, so we walked over to Maritza & Sara's local pool to beat the heat with them. Sosini was a little unsure of the pool water at first-- it was freezing!


But when we put her in her floaty thingy, she went NUTTY!!! This child absolutely loved floating around, splashing, kicking, and screeching like a maniac. Oh, my. She's going to LOVE swimming lessons.... Here's a short little video of some of the craziness:



Peter got in on some of the action, too, in Sara's floaty. He was chillin' like a villain!


Later, after a very splashy co-ed cousin bathtime, Sonia and Peter played in Sonia's old ducky bath. Sonia climbed in and out of the duck about 50 times! She's cuckoo.


The next day, we were supposed to celebrate Kieran's 2nd birthday with the Murrays, but the birthday boy was sick! Poor kid.... I hope my handsome little godson is feeling better. To distract us from our Murray-missing sorrow, we busted out one of Sonia's birthday presents: an inflatable pool! Sonia tested it out on dry land first:


I failed to fill the pool up far enough ahead of time so that the hose water could warm up (it was positively arctic in that little puffer fish pool!), but Sonia climbed right in and started splashing. I think this kid is part salmon.... Peter stayed outside the pool and helped Sonia splash a bit.



After about 10 minutes, even Sonia decided the water was too cold, so climbed out and played on the beach chairs instead. I love that little cherry swimsuit!



Later, it was time for fun in the tunnel. I didn't get a picture of it, but Peter sat (with a bit of assistance from me) for a long time at one of the tunnel openings and watched Margie Cat play inside. It was so funny! Here's a picture of Peter keeping an eye on crazy Sonia through the mesh:


It was so wonderful to see Stephanie, Erik, and Noah earlier today (before I drove Niki & Peter to Midway in a torrential downpour for their miraculously un-delayed flight) for lunch. This was the first time I got to see S&E since they tied the knot earlier this month! I didn't get any pictures of the newlyweds, unfortunately, but we had a nice lunch and Stephanie got some good baby snuggles.

Speaking of baby snuggles, check out me and my handsome nephew! I am the luckiest auntie in the world to have such fabulous nephews (Peter and Nicholas) and a fantastic niece (Charbunkle).


I love you, Petey-pie! I can't wait to give you more hugs and smooches in July!