Teaser

This year I've taken quite a little break from photographing anyone other than my own children.  But when one of my oldest and dearest friends asked if I would do her little guy's 2 year photos, I just couldn't say no.  However, being 2, little "E" could say "no" just fine.  He was not very interested in having his picture taken by this strange lady he only sees a handful of times each year. Anyway, I thought all of my 4 readers might get a kick out of seeing our first attempt at a portrait of this adorable little family.

Summer School

One of the great things about homeschooling is that almost anything can be a teaching opportunity.  This summer, we've taken advantage of a lot of local farms that have Upick berries.  In the spring we picked strawberries, which we've done quite a bit.

Last month we got to pick blueberries, which is something we've never done before.  We've had lots of fun learning about seeds and sun how things grow. 

The really great part is that everyone gets to do it together.  Jadon picked about a quart of blueberries himself.

Chloe did great, she picked more than half a gallon!  What a champ!

Even Isaac got in on the fun, riding along on Momma's back.

Micah got a little distracted, but still managed to get quite a few berries in his bucket!

Zac at 10 months:

He's SO big!!

Mummum is a favorite word, no mama or dada (at least with any intention) but he's decided dinnertime is very important and "mummum" is about all he says until his mouth is full.

(yummy blueberry muffins from the blueberries we picked last month!)

He noticed stairs for the first time on Saturday.

(he also climbed stairs for the first time on Saturday)

Still loves his momma and big sister, but he's starting to warm up to other people now. 

But he's pretty happy on Momma's back. :)

He got his first tooth on Friday, 10 months and one day.  But he won't let anyone check it out. 

He's gotta keep chewing instead.

My Awesome Little Brother

My brother, Brian, came by today for most likely the last time for more than 2 years. He's off to Malawi next week with the Peace Corps.  While I'm sad to miss him, and a little jealous of the adventure, I'm mostly excited and proud of him! So Kevin took the day off of work to visit and we spent a great morning together before he left this afternoon. 

Of course, it's beautiful outside today, so we had to walk up to a local café for lunch.  The kids thought that was a real novelty and had a hard time not running in the street. 

We had to get a few last photos together, kinda fun.

And Chloe is really going to miss Uncle Brian.

We're all going to miss him.

If you want to know more about why he's going or what he's doing while he's in Malawi, click here.

Fun on the Lake and a Little, Big River

When all was said and done, and we were on our ridiculously long drive home, Kevin and I asked the kids what they thought about our vacation in Minnesota.  We asked for their 3 favorite things that they did.  Their responses varied of course.  Jadon loved tubing with Daddy

and swimming in the lake.

Micah had a great time fishing

and doing the boys vs girls photo scavenger hunt.

Chloe asked to have her birthday on vacation every year, it was obvious she loved being the center of attention.

But the one thing they all said was that they LOVED going to the headwaters of the Mississippi!

It was drissly and dreary that day, but we decided to go anyway.  All the kids ended up soaked, falling into the river at one time or another (sometimes on purpose, sometimes on accident). We all had such a great time and the kids really thought the idea of walking across such a HUGE river was awesome!
Jadon got to cross with Kevin.

And even Lydia made it across with Mark, although convincing her to let Daddy help was quite a trick.

Even Mommy and Zac got a picture taken on the rocks, although we did cheat and cross the little bridge.

(something about slipping on the rocks with a baby strapped to me didn't sound all that appealing)
What great memories we made! And I love that most of the fun was just enjoying God's world!