Art in the Park Series

Tonight we enjoyed the Providence Mandolin Orchestra in the park near our house. Riley made lots of friends (including the neighbors' dogs).

Riley's Hair

What has happened to Riley's dark, Asian hair?!?!? Look at how light it is! Too much pool time . . .

Beach Days

After Aunt Ruthanne's party, we spent some time with my siblings at the beach in Yarmouth, Massachusetts. Riley is one lucky little girl! You'll notice that everyone is always paying attention to her--here there are 5 sets of eyes on her in the picture alone.

If you didn't believe me . . .

If you didn't believe what I wrote in the blog entry below (that that picture was the best we could do), this picture is a good comparison. Poor Aunt Ruthanne--she wanted only one good picture!

2nd Cousins?

Here are the second cousins. Or are they first cousins once removed? They all share great grandparents.

You may not believe that this is the best picture I could get, but it was. There were many attempts. At one point, everyone was set up on a bench (I know, I know--bad choice), and two tumbled to the ground with many tears but no injuries.

During this photo shoot, Angelica, it appears, has stranger anxiety. She's 14 months old. Christian was in protest, hiding his face. Kelly (center) was a superstar and could not understand why these other kids wouldn't pose for the picture. Ava (back row) kept trying to attack Christian, her big brother. Chase kept trying to scoot away while yelling, "Mama!"--he's remarkably fast. And after about 30 seconds, Riley just laid down on the blanket across everyone and refused to move.

That sort of summarizes my life right now, too!

Mathews Women

We celebrated Aunt Ruthanne's 70th birthday party at the Cape this weekend. Here are a handful of the Mathews women.

Posing

This is what Riley does now when you say, "Say Cheese!"

We are at the zoo here. You can't tell bc it is yet another picture of Riley in her carriage. But, as you can imagine, stroller time is the only time that this active toddler sits still long enough for a picture!

Uncle Tim's Entry

I have to include this last picture. This is Riley modeling one of the many outfits Uncle Tim gave her the last time he visited. (By the way, Uncle Tim is a full-fledged radiation oncologist now, living it up in Florida.) She has always been a Red Sox fan--this proves it!

Uncle Paul

Ok, last blog of the day. Uncle Paul has finally visited again from Cleveland! He flew his new-ish plane here (he's a pilot), and he got to hang out with Riley yesterday for the ENTIRE day. She's a spoiled niece!

Mathews Clan

Here we are, after playing with water balloons and coffee bean sacks, after eating burgers and slush, after changing two (maybe three) totally icky diapers--here we are, together as a family! The only one missing is Michelle, who was jet-setting in Seattle.

We are
back row: Denis, Donnah, Riley, Ellie (Popo), Matt (married to Donnah)
front row: Gina (married to Mark), Joan (Nana), Kelly, Mark

Family Reunion

This is Riley, Kimberly, and Kelly. You can see that Kimberly and Kelly are excellent at posing for pictures; Riley had to be bribed to sit still with slush, and even with the slush, we couldn't get her to smile . . .

Family Reunion

Cousin Karyl organized games for the kids (and for the Mathews siblings who are 30-40-something--we've always been the most competitive). Kelly showed Riley the art of throwing water balloons. Riley even convinced Aunt Kim to make her MORE water balloons after she'd popped the ones Kelly gave her. We got soaked! It was great fun.

Family Reunion

Yes, it seems that there is a Lew Family Reunion every other day . . . but this was a BIG ONE! Even the cousins from New York were there.

Water Park

Riley has been enjoying the mini water park across the street from us. It makes me nervous because it's a little slippery, but Riley has her handy watershoes that help a little.

Holland Visitors

We've been busy this summer. At the end of June, my friend from college, Tammie, visited with her husband and baby Isabella (8 months old). Isabella and Riley are great friends now! We had a busy weekend--zoo, swimming, Providence Waterfire, Target. Riley was sad that her father missed the weekend; he was studying for his Orthopedic Boards at a course in Maine.