Here are some highlights from month 17:
SUMMER VACATION:
Great Grandma Ginny was in town for our family reunion and we all got together to celebrate my cousin's graduation and my other cousin going into the Peace Corp. It was a great party.
The next week we all went away on our annual family reunion. Thanks to Great Grandma Ginny and Bill for a wonderful trip. Here are some pictures from our summer vacation week:
We celebrated Bill, Denny and Pam's Birthdays and Sophia stayed up way past her bedtime. She was a real trooper that night. ..every night after that though, she crashed early to make up for it.
Happy Fourth of July!! We celebrated with trumpets in the morning, a parade and fireworks at night.
Sophia ate A LOT of fruit on our trip. Her favorite was watermelon, as you can see...
Sophia loves the beach. It was much more enjoyable for me as well this year. She is able to play on her own in the sand.
Sophia enjoyed running around the amazing gardens. 
We got in quite a few hikes to the top of the mountain this year since Soph was up so early in the morning, and there was no food available before 7am. We even climbed up the watchtower this year....Don't look down Nick!
When given a choice, Soph will now prefer to drink out of my water bottle as opposed to her sippy.
Walking up and down stairs was a major activity this year.She also learned to twirl by watching an older girl.
Of course we had to take group photos in our matching reunion t-shirts.
We had a little wine tasting at a local winery (not a vineyard).
Striking a pose for the camera!
Bye-bye Mohonk! See you next year....
Sophia now climbs on the couch to play. She took a few head first dives, but now seems to be able to get OFF the couch as well.FAMILY AND FRIENDS GATHERING:
A visit with Grandma (who had great success putting Soph to bed) and a mom's night out for me!
Sophia had her first trip to the city for Ryan's 2nd birthday party! Alex was there and looks almost as big as Soph and he is 4 months younger. We had a great time Ker, and thanks for the goodies.
Aunt Regina had a super 50th birthday bash where Soph made 3 outfit changes for swimming, raquet ball and bed...a great time was had by all, though I was a bit exhausted after all that changing.
Happy Birthday Aunt Krissy! We celebrated with a yummy family dinner and new hair styles!
Soph and I had a fun day at the beach visiting the newly wed Karen. After a HUGE downpour, we managed to salvage the day by relaxing on Beer Island. That last pic is a pure Nick face.PLAYDATES:
Sophie had a fun time strawberry picking and then playing in her sandbox with Layla.
Our first playgroup at the beach....if you're happy and you know it, shout hurray!
After the beach...she put the sunglasses on herself and then passed out!
July brought 2 trips to the Children's Museum where Soph learned a ton. First she went with Ryan where she brushed teeth, said "ball" and enjoyed opening and closing this little door a million times. Then we went back with our playgroup and Soph learned to read and climb up a slide.
We saw Will at Mother Goose and had a few more laughs before it was time for him and Melissa to move out of town...
Unfortunately, Will's last playgroup at the farmer's market brought him to tears. We will miss you Will!
We went to a fair in town where Soph got to play instruments, see a horse and feed the goats (even though she decided to put the food outside the gate).
More fun with Noa at Mother Goose at the library, at the park and finally at the toy store (where we just window shopped, even though it was hard to resist this baby carriage).Sophia has learned many of the Mother Goose songs and now dances with her friend Leah.
We are having a great summer so far, and there is only more fun to come!
