Caitlin having a picnic with Mr. Lobster at Castle Island

Staying indoors during the summer is sort of against my religion. Unless it is either raining or oppressively humid, if you need me I will be outside. Despite the very high temperatures, Caitlin and I ventured out to lots of local parks and beaches for some quality fresh air and sunshine. Don't worry, Caitlin wears SPF 1,000 which I reapply obsessively throughout the day. Caitlin loves spending time outdoors-some of her favorite outdoor activities include, eating grass, eating sand, pointing at other people, yelling at dogs, and swimming. Oh, how that girl loves to swim. In fact, Caitlin's love of swimming is so intense, it warrants an entire post to itself, so stay tuned.

We recently took a great day trip to Castle Island in South Boston, which has a beautiful walking path, a picnic area, and lovely views of the Boston skyline and Boston Harbor. Caitlin's favorite part of Castle Island was watching the many dogs out for walks with their owners. Every time Caitlin sees a dog these days she says a baby version of "Woof, woof" and points, which is pretty cute if I do say so myself.

We also went swimming at Houghton's Pond, which is part of the Blue Hills Reservation. Houghton's Pond features clean, shallow and warm water, a great combination for a swimming baby. Jessie, one of Caitlin's favorite friends, joined us at Houghton's for an afternoon of sitting in very shallow water, most likely warmed by the urine of several young children swimming and catching minnows nearby. Caitlin loved drinking pond water and attempting to eat rocks while she chilled in the water. Mama played some pretty tight defense and I am proud to report not one rock was swallowed during our stay.

A summer would not be complete without some beach trips. So far, Caitlin visited Nahant Beach in Lynn, which she absolutely loved. At Nahant, Caitlin played with Mama's co-worker friends, waded in the salt water, and ate lots and lots of sand. Today, Jessie came with us to Duxbury Beach, which is slowly descending on my list of favorite local beaches. Due to the high winds, our morning at Duxbury Beach more closely resembled hanging out in the middle of a Saudi Arabian sand storm. We did spend some quality time swimming in the moderately freezing ocean, but our time on the sand was less than awesome. By the time we left, all of our belongings and our entire bodies looked very much like sand sculptures.

Caitlin and I have lots of other summer adventures planned including, a trip to the New England Aquarium and hiking in the Blue Hills. I think Caitlin and I are going to feel very depressed when I return to work at the end of August. I keep telling myself that I still have a month, but it just does not feel very long. But, I am not going to let my return to work get me down. Instead, I will make every effort to enjoy each remaining day of vacation and if that means eating an ice cream cone every day, well dammit, I guess that's just something I'll have to do!

Caitlin thinking profound thoughts during our Castle Island walk and Caitlin relaxing at Nahant Beach