Barbecue Sauce Party

I know it rained where a lot of you are this weekend - I hope you had a chance to grill something delectable in spite of the weather. We had a little barbecue on Saturday and Catherine spent the whole morning reminding me we were going to have "a barbecue sauce party" so we had to get ready. She really likes when people come over. Often I will catch her picking up her toys in the living room, and she always tells me she is cleaning up because our friends are coming over. On days when that isn't true (pretty much every day except Monday) and I have to tell her no one is coming over today, she immediately drops whatever toy is in her hand to the floor and continues about her usual activities, which are largely the opposite of cleaning.

We had a lovely barbecue sauce party with lots of friends, although it was a bit cool so there were only a few games of croquet early on and then we mostly took refuge indoors.


Mary enjoyed it because there were lots of people around who are not completely over her need to hold hands and walk around the house for hours on end. I wouldn't mind doing it, except I'm pretty sure she is completely capable of walking on her own at this point. She just doesn't feel like it. During the party at one point Mary was so excited about the mop she was carrying around in her free hand that I managed to slide my finger out of her other hand unnoticed and she walked at least ten steps on her own.

Then she figured it out.

She immediately sat down and started crying, and refused to let go of me for several hours.

So here is a video of her walking, not by herself, but holding onto Michael's hand. Her free hand must, at all times, be carrying a toy, preferably one much too large to walk with easily.



Morgan brought her tricycle with her to the BBQ sauce party so she and Catherine got to ride together for a bit. Of course I don't have any adorable pictures of the two of them riding off into the sunset, streamers flying, so here is a completely different video of Catherine's progress on her tricycle - she can get going pretty fast at this point, although she still tires quickly (luckily).



Sunday and Monday were both nice so we did some general yard work and house maintenance - the bushes and early blooming plants are trimmed, the grass is fed, the holly leaves are raked (again), beds are mulched, the gutters are clean, and a soft layer of yellow pollen is coating everything outside and in.



Catherine likes sandwiches.


And headbands.

She also has no idea what the word "yesterday" means. Here are some things she told me she did "yesterday" this week:
1. Saw the cranberries with Grandma (October 2008)
2. Went to the park with Grandpa (April 2009)
3. Slept in a car bed in the store (sometime before Mary was born)
4. Flew on an airplane (last Christmas?)
Oh well, at least they were all in the past.

Mary has suddenly turned very vocal the last few days. Her favorite thing is to yell "Da-Da!", a lot. A lot, a lot. He usually answers, and she enjoys that.



On Monday Michael and I also left the girls with our childcare savior Arline and snuck off for an early dinner at the Roadhouse Cafe, one of our favorite Hyannis restaurants. Other than the realization that Memorial Day marks the arrival of Cape summer traffic, the outing was rather a delight. Since the arrival of Cape summer traffic is almost entirely irrelevant to me, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And the tiramisu.