To the park!

A man on a mission: Jack pushed the stroller all the way to the park and would accept no help at all.

Jemma enjoyed the ride!

Growing up is hard to do.

Sweet Jemma Jane is learning the meaning of the word "No" and while she's not enjoying the process, she's catching on pretty quick. Here is her sweet, sad I'm-sorry-face. Makes you want to squish her, huh?

Science Camp

Ava was looking forward to seeing her school friends at Science Camp today (she was of course up and dressed long before the rest of us!) but it is always an extra nice surprise when her cousins show up too!

Jack was bummed to miss out on the fun but he cheered up when I got out his very own bug-catching kit. He held the net out the car window all the way across town, checking every few seconds to see if he'd caught anything yet!

I told you so.

Jemma Jane was happily playing away in her walker till she heard me walk in from the other room and instantly she looked like this...just before the tears.

What would I do without her?

Here's a shot of Ava just before we left for Costco the other day. She had packed the bag with sippy cups, snacks, diapers and wipes (after refilling the wipe container) all without me saying a word about it. I love her standing here with her Starbucks cup and her sunglasses, more pulled together than me!

This girl is amazing.

She writes the grocery lists in the car for me, she packs the sunscreen for the park and then reminds me to put it on everyone, she sets the table every night and includes funny handmade namecards even though we all sit in the same place every night. She anticipates the needs of everyone in the family: she fills Jack's water, she brings Jemma toys, she leaves sweet notes for her daddy, and the other day when we were on our way to a playdate I mentioned that I should have grabbed a kleenex and she said, "oh, I put some in your bag for you so you wouldn't have to go in the house and miss the fun," and sure enough there was a neat little stack in my bag!

So Miss Ava, my most faithful blog reader, thank you for being such a sweet, helpful girl--I don't know what I would do without you!

So this is karma...

(this is her rice cereal face--there is even some up her nose)

So every time I leave Miss Jemma, I hear what a sweet, dee-lightful little pumpkin she is. Whoever has had her (her daddy, grandmas, babysitters, etc.) says she could not have been happier, more smiley, etc. and I think to myself, huh?? Because the Jemma Jane I know is perfection when being held and cuddled but is a sad, screaming disaster as soon as I put her on the floor/in the bumbo/in the walker/on the chair. If I am in the room, she must be held by me only and she has an uncanny (and creepy) ability to sense when I am in the house. When I come home from somewhere and she is playing happily, I silently shut the door and tiptoe in, but her ears perk up immediately, her head cranes around like an owl, and she stares at me so intently I can feel it and then she opens her mouth and starts the screaming.

I am not exaggerating even a little bit. Ask Ed. Even he thinks it's amazing.

My mom has very little sympathy for me as this is apparently exactly how I was as a baby.

My Adventurer

Jack came in to tell me that he is going on an adventure and marched on out...then popped back in to say, "but don't worry mom, I'll be back for lunch."

Ahhhh, Vacation....

We headed out of town again this weekend but this time for a plain ol' vacation (no running required).

On the way there, Ed had to stop to check out his fields (that's him working hard), while I stayed in the car and did this.
We were headed for a wine tasting tour and we had so much fun that I have very few pictures! We had yummy, yummy food, more wine than I've had in a long time, and a lots of friends to enjoy it with.

I wanted to get one shot of Ed at this winery because the guy there to the left, the winemaker, went to Jr. High with Ed and they played baseball together....small world. This was one of our favorite wineries--still newish and pretty small but good wine and very friendly--check them out here.

We ended at Three Rivers Winery where I chilled (in the sweltering 100 degrees) on the deck while some of the group hit the Par-3 course.

On trying new things...

Ava says, "mom, can we have pie for lunch?" And I of course say, "we don't have any pie!" To which she replies, "you could bake a pie! (long pause) seriously mom, you should try baking... you might like it."

Oops I Did it Again!

I like the way she thinks...

Ava took this one.

A good day.

A picnic.

Jack has his bucket, football, and trusty plastic hunting knife by his feet.

Ava has baby Cate by hers.

I love them.

My boys looking for signs of wildlife.

Ava took a walk and came back with this. For me.

This is why we always pack the big boots.

Totally tuckered out.
Yes, that's the trunk of the car and no, we didn't drive with him back there.


I see that I have no pictures of Jemma Jane...she was there and she was sweet and she spent most of the day asleep.

Workin' hard

Ed rototilled the yard with his trusty buddy close behind.

Jack of course loved the whole thing and would like to know when are we going to mow the dirt again?!

Happy Aniversary!

to Paul & Connie!

25 years!

Their kids threw a surprise party for them Sunday night but I think the bigger surprise was that Sam, who is in the Navy and stationed in Virginia, flew home to surprise Connie for the weekend.

The whole family. Hard to believe Sam and Emma were little enough to be the ring bearer and flower girl at our wedding.

Yummy food!

A rare picture of us and important because we were still standing (and having fun!) after the race that morning.

CDA 1/2 Marathon (or, did we actually pay to do this??)

Paula and Joe were nice enough to take our kids for 24 hours (don't worry--their turn is next month) so we headed up to CDA the night before and had a fantastic dinner at our new favorite restaurant, squeezed in a quick Target trip, and then relaxed at my Aunt Julie's.

Ed's smirking because he cannot believe I am taking a picture at the restaurant.

Bright and early and on our way.

Post-race whiskey at Red Robin.

Sorry no race pictures (because, as you can see, I take all the pictures and I was running)--but a little race update: Ed finished in a very fast 1:43 and then he had a good 25 minutes to wait for me :) Actually, it was a beautiful run right on the river and the lake, nice and sunny (too sunny for me, just right for Ed) and for the most part I had a good time, except from miles 10-12 when I kept thinking "did I actually pay to do this?? And, more importantly, I am getting some seriously bad tan lines!" But the last mile was not too bad and I averaged under 10 minute miles so I think we can call it a success.