Little Picassos

Here are a couple of CnC's first pieces of art. We're so proud of them. Colman seems to enjoy experimenting more with the paint, while Chelsea is more of a minimalist.

Colman's Ode to Apples 9.14.2009

This is the second painting they ever did. Colman seems to be experimenting with the impressionist brush stroke style.

Chelsea's Orchard 9.14.2009

Chelsea seemed more adventurous in the beginning with the broad strokes, but her later paintings show her moving toward a minimalist style.

The Beach

Joanna, Phil and Richard

In August, we took the kids to Navarre Beach for a mini family gathering. Doug's cousin, Melanie lives in FL with her husband, son and daughter. Her mother, Doug's Aunt Marcia, her sister, Amanda and her family, as well as Doug's brother Phil and his family rented a beach house for the week. We joined them for the weekend.
We had visions of CnC playing in the sand and holding them in the ocean water. None of that came to pass. They were freaked out by the ocean waves and didn't like the touch of sand. Ok. Well they will have lots of fun with their cousins...sort of. Colman cried a lot and wanted to be held most of the time, which is unusual because he normally likes to run around and find lots of little things to pick up and investigate. So Doug and Carol were a little bit shell shocked from the first beach trip for the kids.
But it was still great to see family. We were able to attend Nicole's birthday party. And everyone got to meet the 2008 babies in the family, CnC, Joel and Isaiah. Quite a productive year for the family.

Phil and Richard and the castle

Richard in the back, Isaac, Nicole, Jackson, Joel (white T-shirt), Isaiah

Carol hoped to have a nice family beach picture where everyone was coordinated...

But the kids were not interested in smiling for the camera.

Over the summer, Chelsea started walking around with her hands on her hips.

Dwayne's retirement from Air Force

Amanda remembering when she had to hold twin boys (Isaac and Jackson) as she held Colman and Joel

Staying in the shade so no one burns

Visit to Philly

Carol's grandfather manufactured the only manual water pump in Korea prior to and during the Korean war. Carol's cousin found one in Korea so now it is a fountain in front of her uncle's house.

Carol grew up in Philadelphia. Several aunts and uncles still live there. So the kids got to meet lots of uncles and aunts and cousins. We stayed for a couple of days with Carol's cousin, Sandra and her husband Tony before the long trek to Atlanta. The house is a beautiful old english Tudor home with a big staircase that the kids enjoyed going up and down on. This was the first time we let the kids go up and down staircases. They did well - there were no tumbles or spills, though someone was always near by just in case.

Aunt Sandra making sure no little heads go tumbling down

Aunt Sandra and her mom try to for a nice photo... Colman was not working with the ladies

Carol's Uncle learning that 1 yr old twins are a handful

We did make a trip into Center City to visit the Children's Please Touch Museum. Wow! The place was a kid's museum on crack AND steroids. It was amazing. The adults were much more into it than CnC.

Colman - King of broken hearts (didn't like the cheesy picture idea)

There was a giant kitchen/grocery store. The food is plastic and probably "eaten" by hundreds of kids. Hmmm, swine flu on your bagel?

Spaghetti before the merriment

New Hampshire 2009

At Lake Ossippee in Freedom, New Hampshire, Doug's paternal grandfather bought some land and built a little house they called "Camp". Doug's grandfather was Bernard Colman Goodwin. Doug's full name is Douglas Colman Goodwin. So we took Colman David and Chelsea Abigail to visit this sacred camp. Doug's Aunt Judy now lives there with her husband Uncle Dallas. They have since added onto the place but much of the original structure remains. It was great to introduce the kids to the place where their grandfather and father grew up swimming in the clear mountain lake water.

Aunt Judy and Uncle Dallas with CnC

Best of all, the kids got to meet their New Hampshire relatives. Along with Judy and Dallas, they met Aunt Judy's daughter Krista, son Tom and his wife Joanne and daughter Kristen. We celebrated Uncle Dallas' 75th birthday. Not bad considering he had just had a quadruple bypass a couple of mos before.

Trying on shoes after shopping


We took the kids swimming in the lake. The water was frigid - mid to upper 60's. Too cold for Carol, but we threw the kids in anyway. Colman whined a little but he settled in pretty quickly...once the numbness settled in. heh. Chelsea loved it from the start. She is her daddy's little girl - with the same internal temperature guage that gets quickly overheated. (tough luck growing up in the south) Judy and Dallas have a pontoon boat, that was not working (bummer) but it made a great playyard.

When we weren't torturing the kids in the cold water, we played out in the yard, picked berries, went shopping and relaxed. We also enjoyed lobster dinner - $3.99 / lb. A nice perk to living near Maine.

Doug picking blueberries and huckleberries

Huckleberres are smaller and darker than blueberries

Getting ready for football season at AU

Newest members of Red Sox Nation

The Fullers - Joanne, Kristen, Tom