Juniper has always been up for an adventure. She thrives on new experiences, new places and faces and things to see. The excitement of a whole new house to explore, things to touch, places to run. She loves a road trip, chatting the whole time about all the things whizzing by outside the window, anticipating the destination, savoring the journey, giggling the whole time. She has always been that kid - fearless and adaptable.
Owen is wary of anything new. He is thoughtful and cautious and quick to startle. He enjoys the familiar and cozy and predictable. Regular naptimes, regular mealtimes, regular bedtimes. He cried pitifully, heartbreakingly for most of the many hours it took us to drive from North Carolina to southern New Jersey, wondering what on earth might warrant such long and uncomfortable travels.
We had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend with Charlie's family, mostly lounging by the pool or at the beach, enjoying the beautiful summer weather. Juni spent every moment she could in the water, splashing in the waves with her daddy or her uncle, kicking around the pool in her "floaty wings". "Look at me! I'm a Juni fish!" Indeed. When she wasn't channeling her inner fish, she was picking blueberries and riding the carousel on the boardwalk and zigzagging around the little zoo nearby (where she met the most adorable two-day-old baby camel).
Owen avoids the water and the sun, so he spent most of the weekend lounging and dozing and crawling around in the shady spots. He enjoyed a few moments of fun in the sand and a bit of toe-dangling in the pool before crawling back to the sand- and water-free safety of my lap with an expression of mild panic on his face. Though while crawling around on Grandmom's lovely new deck, he did manage to stumble upon some tasty ears of Jersey corn. Little adventures can be just as grand as big adventures, especially for this little guy.