Pan Mass Challenge, Beth goes to the Middle East

Its been a whirlwind for the Murphys!

Saturday I participated in my first ever Pan Mass Challenge - I did the one day, 85 mile bike ride from Wellesley to Bourne - raising over $3000 for Dana Farber in the process - and loved every minute of it!

The first thing Isabelle said to me when she saw me after the ride was "Daddy I'm so proud of you!"

Sunday was family day. We took care of some shopping for Beth's big trip - she left for the Middle East - Jordan, Syria and Iraq - yesterday, and Daddy and Isabelle rode the carousel several times at the Mall while Mommy shopped. Then we walked Main Street Falmouth, where Beth and Isabelle played catch, and ended up at the Golden Swan, our favorite Indian restaurant. Great weekend!

Countdown to the Birthday!

List of things to do today: Finalize security arrangements for Iraq, take out boatloads of cash for travel, and... send out Isabelle's birthday invitations (featuring the above picture)! It'll be an east meets west party with a Turkish apple tea party following a Cape Cod dinner (quahogs, lobster...).

Highlights from the past week:

When the waitress at Talk of the Town asked her name Wednesday night, Isabelle responded: "Isabelle Marjan Murphy."

Nana and Isabelle had another play date this week with Emma and Diane Collette. Yesterday's destination: Horseneck Beach known for the best hermit crab hunting on the Cape!

Here's the official invite!

Barnstable County Fair

Isabelle and I went to the Barnstable County Fair last night (Mom is in San Francisco for the week), and pretty much did it all!

We started with the Ferris Wheel - her first - and she loved it. From way up high we were able to scout out the whole place, and knew that after I won her a stuffed animal (a purple monkey), we would be headed to the Super Slide. On the way to the Super Slide... we found the Big Bears (the whole thing spins, and we could control the spinning of our own bear - very fun, very easy with a 23 month old)... had a gyro, some ice cream, went potty 4 times (we now bring the potty with us when we have the stroller, it is so much easier than waiting in lines!).

Every time we went on the Super Slide, as soon as it was over Isabelle would turn to me, with a huge grin, and say "Again! I want the Super Slide again!" and run to the front of the (rather large) line.

Other highlights: She wanted to go on the dragons (similar to the Big Bears but for older kids). I told her she was too little. She looked at me and said "I want to be bigger". Feeding the farm animals was a large part of the day. There were lamas, lots of goats, horses, a turkey, bunnies, and a pot bellied pig. She only got nipped on the fingers once, and frankly it didn't bother her much! My favorite memory of feeding the goats was when a goat thought the strawberry on Isabelle's outfit was real, and started biting her pockets - look closely at the photos and you can see that the greens on the strawberry stick out - this is what the goat was grabbing!

The french fries, doused in catsup, were popular too. And ff course we went on the merry go round, more than once. "Again, Again!", and "you sit on this one, I will sit on THIS one!". She loved it!

Finally, at 9pm, I won her a teddy bear and we headed for home. As I was loading her into the car, she was clutching her teddy, she looked up at me and said "where's my monkey?". I had left it in the stroller. She hugged both the teddy and monkey the whole way home.

Tuesday my parents picked Isabelle up from daycare, as I had a lacrosse game. My mother was asking her about the fair, and specifically asked what she had to eat. Isabelle replied "Daddy had a sandwich, and I had a bite". While technically true - I did have a gyro, and she did have just one bite of it - for the record I brought carrots and chicken for her, which she very much enjoyed.

Monkey Face

Isabelle's Year One video is finally complete! After "finishing" it for her first birthday, we found a few more tapes - Sonoma, the Triple Dip and the one with Daddy and Isabelle at the Grand Canyon!!! Incredible. It's the first time we've made an AppleTV file. Isabelle can't get enough. "I want to watch Baby Isabelle. Baby Isabelle. Watch Baby Isabelle. I want to see Baby Isabelle. Baby Isabelle..." Then she jumps up and down on the couch, dances wildly when the Italian music hits, and waves her arms around like a "maniac" (something she's been calling herself recently - and, no, we do not call her this!). She screams and claps when she sees herself being fed the bottle... when Daddy dives off the swim platform... and when she and I are swinging.

I just counted how many tapes I have for her second year video, and I can't believe it: 22! Wow. And this week Principle Pictures moves into an office at 18 Middle Street. 18!

We had so much fun at RJ's 7th birthday party this weekend! He's into Star Wars - especially R2D2 - just like me at that age. Next he'll be feathering his hair! The 80s are back, baby! Auntie Briana made RJ the most amazing R2D2 cake, and there were big plans for a water gun showdown. Instead we fled indoors when a flash flood threatened and hail balls came hurtling down from the sky. The food was delicious! Bonnie's famous baked beans and poke-someone's-eye-out sword skewers were big hits! As were Mom's legendary taco dip and new great potato salad with summer squash and vinegar. While Anika had fun driving the tractor and eating under the umbrella, she most enjoyed playing hide-and-seek with Brita's car keys.

Driving to the party we saw what will become Isabelle's playhouse! I think we're going to have them paint it purple! It is precious - and wired.

Isabelle is up to some new tricks:

--She makes a monkey face by pulling her ears forward and blowing up her cheeks. (Daddy does the same face.)
--She pulled her bathing suit bottom off on New Silver Beach in order to walk into the water up to her knees and tinkle. (Jane tells the story of Dennis doing exactly the same thing on the same beach as a boy.)
--She is good at the matching game.
--She loves her pillow (Thank you, Sean and Sara).
--She likes sharing watermelon with her class every Friday during the summer.

Ryan & Megan Tie the Knot and Isabelle Goes on Vacation

Ryan and Megan are married! Congratulations, guys - it is going to be phenomenal having you on the Cape! Highlights from the fabulous fun Fitzy wedding: John's leap from the shore as the boat leaves the dock (hey, it was about to happen!), gorgeous sunset sail ride and unbelievable lobster dinner, Barking Crab visit, at breakfast bumping into an ambling groom shopping for bridesmaid's gifts, doing the whole Cliff Walk (with Jane in her Super Orthodic Sandals--that stands for SOS!), jogging to and around Goat Island, watching Ryan's face light up as he waits for Megan to arrive on the alter, seeing Auntie Bri's eyes well up as she stands in the groomsmen line as sole groomsperson, hanging out with amazing family and friends, and knowing Isabelle was safe and sound with Grami and Grampi. They took Isabelle on a trip to Fairfield to visit Anika - and what a time they had!

Isabelle came home requesting one thing, "Noisy kisses! I want noisy kisses!" Noisy kisses... just like Grami gave her! Isabelle tested out her new move on them; it's the one we call sprint-to-the-street-and-scare-the-crap-out-of-you. That didn't go over so well in the Brundage household!



Father's Day was a blast... Dennis turning to me in the middle of the circus, "This is the perfect Father's Day." Isabelle and Daddy rode an elephant and a ate cotton candy. We sang "Happy Father's Day To You" all the way from CT back to Newport and then all the way home from Newport. In fact, we're still singing it today! We capped off Daddy Day with --what else?--tacos... served, of course, in the jalapeno taco holders that were Dennis' Father's Day gift two years ago.

Go Daddy!

"Daddy swims in the pool AND the ocean, and he rides the bike and he can run, too," Isabelle shared with us after the Hyannis Tri. Dennis finished 9th in his division, and came in second if you count him and Tracy (way to go, Rockstar Trac!)! It was great to see Auntie Peg (who is probably still scraping smushed fruit bar off her seats), and not so great to let the guilt set in about not actually doing it.



Here's also what up:

Isabelle is giving me a little ego boost by calling the Elmo & Julia Roberts video on YouTube "Elmo and Mommy." It would be a bit more satisfying if Julia weren't full-on 1985.

She doesn't just say "again" anymore; she says, "one more time" -- which, of course, means ten more times.

When I guide Isabelle's fingers to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the piano, I only use her pointer finger. Cheryl (who Isabelle loves and requests kisses from) taught us that I need to teach her to keep all her fingers extended because it will really help her to understand form from the beginning. So happy to know that! She also gave us a couple piano books, and says she can start giving Isabelle lessons at 2.5.

It's Ryan and Megan's wedding this weekend! Psyched to be docking at the Newport Yacht Club. Isbelle is heading to Gales Ferry to hang with Grami and Grampi. On Saturday they're taking her to pick strawberries with Anika and Elli.

I found new office space today, and decided I cannot live without it. And am so happy with our new CFI.

When Nana took Isabelle to the store yesterday, Nana commented on a passing stoller, "Look, Isabelle, a baby!" "No, Nana," Isabelle said looking at the twin boys, "there are two babies."

The Mission

The mission: Get Isabelle on as many free flights between now and her 2nd birthday as possible! Where we go and what we do... TBD. I've always wanted to just show up at the airport and figure out what flights are about to leave and board... maybe now is the time to actually do it! We've got two months left for Isabelle to fly for free. Look, paying for her ticket isn't a big deal - it's just that not having to pay for it somehow seems that much better!

Last night I told Isabelle a story while she went to sleep. She and Anika (she insisted on Anika as a travel companion) drove to the airport and spent a week in Paris together. They met Fifi the white, curly-haired dog and Jean-Philippe, the blonde, curly-haired god. Wait, different story! They walked along the Seine, searching for the bookstore with Walt Whitman's great-great-great-maybe great again - grandson. They ate nutella and banana crepes underneath the Eiffel Tower. They cruised the chunnel to catch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in London. Then they were very tired from their exciting day... and... fell...........aaahhhhhhh.....sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...

Unfortunately, bedtime tonight wasn't so smooth. It was MOMO MADNESS:EXPERIENCE PAKISTAN night!!! Isabelle loved the chicken tikka while rockin to the beats of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan! And she wore her decorative, turquoise blue jingly outfit from Afghanistan. We've never had a sitter while we're still in the house, and it was impossible for Isabelle to comprehend how we could be so near and so far away. Kelsey was amazing (and tinkled on, I just learned), but there was no way Isabelle was going to bed without Mommy or Daddy.

It was great seeing everyone tonight - Nana, inaugural Momo'ers--Matt, Heather, and Olivia--Isabelle's Fairy Godmother, Beth, Ellen, Elise, Daniel, Nicole and Eric! Go MOMO!