Birthday Bonanza

This Saturday our family was invited to three events all of which were starting at 4:00.  We struggled to find ways to attend all three, and after an elaborate plan all it took was a bit of rain to solve our dilemma.  Last night we attended a wedding reception for our neighbor Rachel and her husband Gener.  We all had a great time eating, laughing, and celebrating.  Allison and Emmeline had fun enjoying some cake, my two sweet treat bandits.  I, on the other hand, got the pleasure of meeting a wasp up close and personal. (I was stung)  In my defense, I was protecting Emmeline and another little girl named Ella; better me than them.

The rain caused the birthday parties to be moved to 12:00 and 4:00 today.  The first celebration was for Emmeline's good friend Estella.  She turned three on Saturday.  The party was at Milburn Orchards which if you read the blog on a regular basis you should recognize as the same place that we did our berry picking this summer.  The party included feeding the goats, a hayride, and, of course, cake.  Emmeline really enjoyed feeding the goats although she was not always sure that they were only going to lick the food out of her hands.  Daddy had to be the brave example, hooray for chivalry.  The hayride, not unlike swimming, was a no go.  She got onto the trailer full of hay, but quickly decided she did not want to go for a ride.  For Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Kim, it was a carbon copy of the carousel incident in Toledo.

After a fun filled time of presents, cake, and sand box we were on our way to Kennett Square, PA, the mushroom capital of America.  Our birthcenter friends Josie, Sky, and Avie invited us to celebrate Avie's second birthday.  Avie turned two on the 18th.  There house was somewhat nestled in the woods with plenty of green space for the kids to run around, and they also had a pool that was about two or three feet deep for the kids to swim, of course Emmeline wanted nothing to do with that.  Instead, she spent most of her time in a swing that they had hanging from a tree.  Allison and I took turns pushing her in the swing, and it wasn't until dinner time that she really started to play with the other kids that were at the party, maybe it was the cake that made her feel more comfortable.

What a bonanza of birthdays!      

Emmeline swinging at the orchard

Deep concentration

 (It's a lot of work sucking your thumb and feeding Milly at the same time)

"See Emmeline the goats will only lick the food from your hand"

"I love baby goats"

After a bit of modeling, she had no reservations about feeding the goats

Hayride, have fun everyone.  We will watch.

Yum, Cake!

"I can swing all day"

Here we are swinging some more.

Mommy, trying to convince Emmeline that there is more to life than swinging

(As you can see, she wasn't convinced)

Taking turns with Sabine

We did have a few moments of hide and seek.

The game is still a work in progress (We like to run and count)

Enjoy this short video of Emmeline bouncing on a ladybug ball

Summer '09 Camping Trip II

On Monday, August 10 we loaded up Jacy and Emmeline into the CR-V and drove 518 miles to Maumee Bay State Park in Ohio.  We met my parents there and spent one wonderful, hot mess of a week on the banks of Lake Erie.  We had all sorts of fun, adventures and good food.  (We also got a tad sunburned, I came down with a virus, and the family dog got sprayed by a skunk AND got into a dog fight...).  I am sure that it will become an annual tradition:

Emmeline enjoys dusk on the beach.

Jacy and Emmeline play in the sand.

Beautiful Jacy.

I love the Midwestern sky, especially right before

a storm

Our campsite was right on a small pond.  Emmeline

enjoyed watching the sun going down every evening.

"Daddy, I said 'good-night' to the sun!"

Playing 'Ant in the Pants' with pa-pa at the campsite

What?!  Emmeline is in the water?!  Must be because

grandma and pa-pa were there to hold her hand...

On Thursday, August 14 Paul and I had our first overnight trip away from Emmeline in honor of our eighth wedding anniversary (actually on August 17).  We went to Put-in-Bay, Ohio a small island in Lake Erie.  This is a picture of our B&B, Ashley's Island House.  Emmeline stayed at the campsite with my family.  I was repeatedly assured that she had an amazing time without us but we still missed her like crazy.  We couldn't help ourselves from looking at pictures of her on our phones several times.

Since it is a small island and there is a hefty 

charge for cars on the ferry, most people get

around on rental golf carts or bikes.  We had

fun tooling around on our little electric cart.

We toured the Heineman Winery on the island.

Admission included a glass of wine and a tour of

their crystal cave.

Heineman winery workers discovered this crystal cave

(the world's largest geode) in 1897 when they were

digging for a well.  Proceeds from tours of this cave sustained

the winery during prohibition.  

All of the winery's grapes are grown on the island.  An

amazing feat considering the island's small size.

The Put-in-Bay ferry that took us from Port Clinton, Ohio

(the "main land") to Put-in-Bay and back again.

Auntie Kelsey and Uncle Paul joined us for three nights.

Emmeline would not let Kelsey out of her sight!

"Kewsey!  Read to me!"

Camp fire, family, cheap beer, good food: Ah, life is good!

Pa-pa and Emmeline at the Toledo Zoo.

Grandma and Emmeline discovering the monkeys.

Grandma and pa-pa had so much fun showing their

granddaughter all of the animals.

"Waddle, waddle, waddle!"

Emmeline watches some Sesame Street in the camper while

Jacy devours the Twilight series.  I got her hooked!  Have

you read it?  If not, get on it!  You'll love it!

We went to the Maumee Bay street fair on Aug. 15 

and Jacy entered the talent show.  And she won!

See for yourself her winning performance...

Auntie Jacy is Here!

My baby sister Jacy arrived on July 30 and we are having a blast! It is now a tradition for Jacy to visit us all by herself during the summer for a week or so. This is the fourth summer that she has made the journey all by her lonesome. Now she is 17; I wonder how much longer she will be interested in spending part of her summer with a couple of old married folks and her little niece?:

Auntie Jacy has arrived!

Kate, Mike and Milly joined us for pool fun and dinner on

Saturday; Milly LOVES the water!

Emmeline prefers to stay out of the water.  She likes

to take water out of the pool and pour it into cups

and bowls.  I hope she grows out of her fear of water

soon.  She won't even let us wash her hair in the tub.

Jacy feeds Milly a bottle.  I can't believe how long it

has been since anyone fed Emmmeline a bottle.  My, how

time flies...

Emmeline gets to feed Milly again.  Open wide!

Emmeline and her friend Elisa at Bellevue park on

Sunday.  Another fun night of free music!

Emmeline concentrates on Jacy's feet as Jacy explains

how to jump off a cement block.

Oh!  That was fun!

Swinging like a monkey on the top of the slide as

daddy anxiously polices the situation from behind.

Choo-choo, cha buggy!  Maybe Central High's yearbook could

use another picture or two?  This would be a good one...

Emmeline saw this stone wall and said: Humpty

Dumpty sat on the wall?!

Emmeline Louise and Jacy Kaitlyn

Us girls

This morning: eating a peach in pigtails.  The pigtails lasted

about ten more minutes.  I can't even describe how cute

Emmeline is in pigtails, barrettes and clips but you will

hardly ever see pictures of her in them.  She gets pretty

frustrated with them and I get equally frustrated as she pulls

them out.  Her bangs then hang over her eyes and I want to

scream!  Arg!

Playing in the sand at Rehoboth Beach this afternoon.

Notice the Dora Band-Aids on her knees, compliments

of tripping yesterday during our walk.  She is such a little

tomboy!  Scruffy, scrappy, and no patience for fluff! And, no,

she did not get in the ocean. Not even close.

Auntie Jacy and Emmy Lou; so happy to be together!

Yummy little toddler.

Diggin' with daddy.

Working hard.

Ice cream!

Pure contentment.

Another annual tradition: burying Jacy in the sand.

Emmeline was very worried about poor Jacy under

all that sand.

But was reassured as Jacy continued to smile throughout

the burying process.  (If you can't tell, this is one of Paul's

favorite traditions, too!)

Kiss, kiss!