Over the River and Through the Woods...

In August the kids and I spent a couple fun filled days with my sister and her kids 

at my parents' house on Lake Champlain.

My parents at the lake.

Myles and Merlyn took these pictures of some of their activities, which included fort building, wilderness exploring, and bike riding.  Some of the pictures were actually quite nice, some were a little random, and some weren't worth posting.

Signs of civilization in the wilderness.

Isaac the explorer.

Merlyn on her bike.

Berkleigh multitasking.

Berkleigh's belly and bike.

The kids got  to swim, play, and skip rocks within sight of the ferry.

The girls

The boys

All six kids (even Merlyn and Berkleigh!) jumped off the end of the dock.  That was pretty impressive, since the dock was about five feet above the water.  Notice how each pair has a similar style of jumping.

Elizabeth

Carter

Isaac

Myles

Merlyn

Berkleigh

Synchronized cannonballs from Isaac and Myles.

I think they were huddled together for warmth, although they'll never admit they're cold!

All six cousins.

We got to see the full moon rising over the lake.

Myles

Carter

Myles and Carter had fun trying to "hold" the moon.

Of course, kids get pretty tired from all that activity, and with exhaustion comes crankiness.  Berkleigh threw a fit about where she wanted to sleep, and when I left her bedroom, she went out on the couch:

How Berkleigh's fit ended.

The second day we went to the wonderful town beach.

Carter and Elizabeth

Myles

The kids swam in the lake, ran through the waves, and played in the sand.
They buried each other...

Carter/Elizabeth

Myles/Merlyn

... which led to taking some of our favorite funny beach pictures.

Merlyn/Berkleigh

That night, instead of witnessing fits from Berkleigh,

 my mom and all six grandchildren got to participate in one of their favorite activities: 

Reading together.

The girls had time for a little tea party before we left for home.  

Based on their body language I'm thinking that Merlyn was

 trying to persuade Berkleigh to do something she didn't want to do.

Tea time!

I thought this picture perfectly illustrates the difference between a family's vehicle

 and the empty-nesters' mode of transportation.

The van and the Harley

Now that my parents are officially retired, 

they have more time to enjoy their grandchildren and their Harley!

Linus Slideshow

We went to visit Grandma in the nursing home today.  I put together this slideshow and brought my laptop to the nursing home so Grandma could see pictures of Linus.  It's the first slideshow I've made, and I love it, so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

Make sure your volume is up so you can hear the music.  Enjoy!

Merlyn's Birthday List

Last Friday Merlyn picked me flowers and put them in a glass on the counter.  Next to them was a note which simply read "To Mommy. From Merlyn. Send a thank you note. Love, Merlyn".  She's been on a letter writing kick, and they're quite amusing.  I'll have to post a picture of one of them when I get my camera back (I lent it to a friend so she could take pictures of her brand new niece).

My beautiful flowers. 

Today Merlyn is home from school sick and she passed some time writing her birthday list.  I thought I would share it with you (exactly as written) so you can see what I mean when I say her writing is amusing.

Blank papers

a farmer's hat 

Barn Bots  (boots)

a pare of glovs

a baby Doll

a toy fone

a toy Arplan

Pant my room  (paint)

a webken  (Webkinz)

a fish

and fish stuf

and I want Iea cearem samwich cack   (ice cream sandwich cake)

          Love 

          Merlyn 

  Most of it doesn't even need translation.  Pretty good for a six year old!

Meeting Linus

On Saturday, September 18th, we drove to Vermont to visit the newest member of the family, and Kelley and Jason, of course!  It was also our first time seeing their new house, a cozy log cabin on the side of a mountain.

   

The kids meet their new cousin.

They can't take their hands off him!

 

Linus David was born 9/16, weighing 8lbs, 4oz. We had the honor of being able to share in his first days at home.

Merlyn and Berkleigh were very excited  to hold Linus for the first time.

So were Carter and Myles.

So were Bryan and I. 

I know you're asking, "Where's the picture of your first time holding this sweet baby?" Well, I did (of course!) hold him, and there is a picture of that first moment, but Bryan took the picture, and it was very blurry.  Unlike me (who takes dozens of shots of the same picture to account for closed eyes, unnatural expressions, etc) Bryan takes one picture and he's done.  So, instead of a picture of me holding Linus, here are a couple of pictures of Linus wearing the hat that I knit for him.

What a handsome model!

Comfy hat/warm head = sound sleep!

More pictures of Linus, just because I know many of you are starved for pictures, since (as Alison says) Kelley and Jason live in Narnia now.  Plus it's easy to take pictures of such a cute little man.

"Hhmmm..."

Look at the adorable frown lines!

Linus is precious.

The first of many traditional "cousin pictures".

Hopefully we'll be able to get more pictures soon.  It's been more than a week since we've seen Linus, and I'm sure he's changed already.  Congratulations to the proud new parents!