A Little Surprise

We've been keeping a little secret for a while... And, she's has arrived.

Our friend, Susan, wrote a blog post about how she came to arrive in our family.

www.gracefilledmess.blogspot.com

We have more photos, tons more.  More to the story, lots more.  However, in our haste to travel and meet our little surprise I didn't bring the cord to connect the camera to the computer.  So, the rest of the story and the rest of the photos will have to wait until we arrive home next week.

Shabby Shack

Anytime we visit Grammie and Grampie and the boys hear me mention going down to the Shabby Shack, they clamor to go with us.  However, they do not care about actually going to the Shabby Shack, they simply want to come along because they know Grammie will be a sucker for a "little treat" at the soda fountain next door.  The boys took Grammie on a little date for a treat last time we were there.  This soda fountain looks exactly the same as it did when Mom took Carla and me there as little girls.  Kind of nice that way.

Two Wheels

I realized as I was getting ready to post these photos of the new bikes, that I never wrote about Caleb on a two wheel bike.  Caleb has a balance bike and he loved that thing and was a crazy man on it.  Here's the thing about the balance bike: no brakes.  No pedals, either, but the lack of brakes was a bit concerning.  One day while I was gone, Jamie took off the training wheels of his regular bike and I came home to crazy boy pedaling down the street (and stopping with the brakes!).  He loves it!  We have always had bikes from garage sales or hand me downs.  The tires have been a bit worn and there were a few quirks but overall, everything worked well.  However, after countless repairs this summer, we decided that bikes would be great early birthday gifts.  We've been having birthday fun with these gems for weeks :+) 

We're onto Another Year

We had a wonderful summer.  We played, swam, vacationed, played games, painted... you name it.  School started about a week and a half after we returned from vacation.  Jonathan is now in first grade and this means school for more than last year's three hours.  We loved our schedule last year and we met so many neighboring families from his class that I wasn't nearly as excited about the start to this year.  However, it has proven to be great for the biggest little man.  His teacher is amazing.  Caleb and I have volunteered in art and had lunch with Jonathan several times.  Although all transitions have their tricky parts, we are getting in a groove and first grade looks to be great!

 It was pouring when we headed out for the first day of first grade, so the customary photos are not in their usual outdoor location.

I posted all of the photos, because I think it funny to watch the slow progression of Caleb's expression to finally conclude with a smile.

The hardest adjustment has been for Big C.  Big C is ready to be big.  He misses Jonathan and he wants to do a little of his own thing.  Good thing, as his one year of preschool starts tomorrow and I think he's going to take that place by storm.  There will be no tears.  I think I'll be lucky to get a hug as he is so excited.

Farming

We plowed through a long drive on the way home from vacation and made it all in one day.  It was a very long day.  However, as a result of making it home in one day, we were able to attend the dairy farm visit that I had scheduled for the next day.  The boys milked a cow, tasted all kinds of awesome milk and cheese, saw the inner workings of the milking machines and saw the bottling process.  Such a great tour!!

Scenery

The last day's hike was breathtaking.  This was our view for the first two miles up...

 After the first two miles it was much more like this...

After the turnaround, my view from the rear of the boys heading back.

Hike 2

After a such a steep uphill climb on our first hike we decided to choose smoother sailing for day two so that hike didn't become an evil word.  We hiked a flat trail that was along the river and had lots of fun things to look at along the way.  Not to mention throwing rocks into the creek/river... always a favorite.

 Pretending to be beavers after we saw a beaver dam