Labor Day in Bandon

(Note: the Blogger website had undergone some changes and I'm trying to figure out the new formatting. This entry might look a little awkward. ~ Erica)

We took advantage of the long weekend to visit Grammy and Kelly in Bandon! Brielle started the visit with one of her favorite activities - walking the dogs with Kelly.

Up until now, she's only called the dogs "doggie". But this visit, she was able to differentiate between "Rosie" and "Fohfie" (Sophie). She even said, "I love Fohfie". With us, she's only said "I you", but she said the word, "love", for the doggies.

The blackberries were ripe, and Brielle loves picking berries. The last time we went picking with Grandma Pat, Brielle put the berries directly into her mouth. This time we tried to get her to put the berries in a bowl.

She did put the berries in her bowl. Then she immediately picked them back up to put them in her mouth.

A highlight of the trip for Brielle was visiting the beach, or as she likes to call it, the "big sandbox".

It ended up being a beautiful day, but the morning was really foggy. Brielle didn't mind.

She enjoyed playing in the sand, running along the beach, and feeling the water rushing onto the shore.

Sand dunes provided a fun, though slow, slide.

Back at the house, Brielle was excited to see that Grammy and Kelly set up a swing for her inside their house.

We managed to overlap our trip with a fun visit from Grammy and Kelly's friend, Elaine. Brielle enjoyed meeting her and getting positive attention from yet another adult.

We had a great time hanging out on the back deck, eating wonderful food.

We also enjoyed taking the boats out on the lake. Unfortunately there are no photos because I wasn't sure if my camera would be safe so close to the water. But we all had a great time. Brielle was in a separate boat from Mommy and Grammy, and she kept a close eye on us the whole time. We weren't sure if she was making sure that we were okay or if she was jealous that our legs were long enough to pedal our boat.

Another fun part of Bandon is getting to visit Grandpa Taylor. Sassy, Taylor's dog, is the first animal with a name that Brielle said over and over. After our last trip to Bandon, Brielle would say, "Sassy dog" whenever she saw a big dog walking down the street. Needless to say, she was really happy to spend time with Sassy again. Almost immediately after arriving, Brielle found Grandpa's collection of hats and handed one out to each of us, including Sassy.

Thanks for a great visit, Grammy, Kelly, and Grandpa!