Group Selfie with Amy

I made Hannah a photo book for her 5th birthday with all my favorite photos from the first 5 years of her life. It took me for-EV-er (until the end of October, well after her birthday at the beginning of August) to finish, and now I'm bummed because this photo didn't make it in. Argghgh! I thought I was so thorough in siphoning through the millions and bajillions of photos I have...

This group selfie is from a hike we all took around Robert E Lee park in July. Amy wore Jacob on her back, so I was feeling light and free without my squishy little 25-pound snuggler. It was awesome!

Finger sucking/self soothing

I snapped this not-so-great picture because I wanted a visual reminder of the way Jacob tucks his lovey into the crook of his arm and then pops his middle and ring finger into his mouth and sucks away contently. I love it!

This is the last photo in the June folder of photos! On to July....

Summer time...family time

We're time traveling back to June tonight on this, my once-every-other-month blog post, to my annual family reunion. As has been the case lately, I didn't take any pictures...I should probably change the name of this blog if I'm no longer going to be obnoxiously photographing my kids. My cousin Kim shared a few of her pics with me. Only the younger kids are represented since both Hannah and Clay are eating in the pics I have of them and the adults don't look so hot either. So here are Jacob and Mason!

This year we rented a pavillion in Waynesburg and spent the day chowing down, running around the playground, swimming at the water park, and visiting with family.

On the way home the next day, we stopped at my dad's. Hannah remembered riding the tractor on her last visit there in the winter and went straight for it this time. She got to drive it herself this time!

Then she let Jacob in on the action.

 And of course Ginger was a huge hit as well.

They'll have their own tractor to ride soon since we'll be needing one to mow 2 of the 5 acres we just bought, and maybe they'll even end up with a dog sometime in the next year! Big changes are coming soon for this family!

Petting the Possum

In all my visits to Oregon Ridge, I never noticed the possum that lives just outside the Nature Center. One morning way back in June, we were coming out of the bathroom during the possum's breakfast, and we got to pet the possum! So cool.

And then we went for a hike around the quarry. It's our favorite trail there and is the perfect distance when when young children are trailing behind.

Pixie Grotto at Robert E Lee

This is the most catching up I think I've ever had to do. I wish I could say we've been partying it up over here in celebration of summer, but we spent most of June and July pretty busy. Eric was gone for 2 and 3 weeks every month from May to June, and I was slammed with work in addition to single mom status. But it's all over now, and we're squishing as much summer into the month of August as possible. When we're not summer-ing it up, I'll see if I can catch up, starting with this hike around Robert E Lee that we took back in June with our friends Liam, Jeanne, and Jim who showed us how to get to Pixie Grotto.

Jacob held his first worm on this hike. He threw it the first time we handed it to him, and then he held it a little too tightly the second time.

Photo courtesy of Jeanne Stafford

Photo courtesy of Jeanne Stafford

 

Since then we've followed that trail the whole way around to the other side of the lake a few times, but this little spot is definitely one of the best.