beach and more.

hello all. i thought i would give a brief summary of our past week... as usual, mary claire and i spent many an afternoon at the ymca. they have a wonderful pool as well as a child development center that mary claire just loves. the best thing about it, in my opinion, is that it gives mc an opportunity to interact with children of all ages, which is great since the majority of her time is spent at home with me.

i have recently started letting mary claire assist me in the kitchen with little things like stirring or sprinkling in some spices. she really seems to be enjoying it. i think this christmas i want to buy her one of those miniature kitchens so we can cook side by side. i can even get her to put on oven mitts, just like mommy, when i am putting things in the oven (don't worry, i don't let her actually get anywhere near it).

we also started a compost pile and began working on a vegetable and herb garden. we are starting everything from seed, with the exception of basil, oregano, and rosemary. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor early next spring.

on sunday, we took a trip to cocoa beach, which is about an hour and fifteen minute drive. i am fairly certain that mary claire views the beach as an all you can eat buffet of sand, shells, and salt water. we do our best to keep her from swallowing the sand and shells, but it is virtually impossible to keep her from constantly licking the salt water off her little fingers. she absolutely loves the ocean! i actually wish she exhibited a little fear instead of running full speed to the water every chance she gets. nevertheless, we love living close enough to make day trips to the beach!