Nana's visit

My mom came to visit us for a couple of weeks at the end of July.  Of course, the kids were thrilled to have some Nana time - they played and read and had tea parties and went to the park and the library, and just had a great time together.  I got to get out a little on my own, and Patrick and I got to go on several dates!  It was wonderful.  We are all so glad she could come.

A beautiful tea party

Of course, they read lots of books

Another tea party - with fancy hats and everything

We love Nana!

The Poconos

We went to the Poconos on vacation with Patrick's family for a week in July.  We had fun together, despite the face that the accommodations were, uh, less than ideal. =)  We called it camping, but it wasn't really ... except for camp fires in the evening, and s'mores!   The campground where we stayed had a pool and water slides that the kids just LOVED - they would have happily spent all day everyday in the water.  There was also mini golf and a lake for fishing.  Papa, Danny and Patrick got to play (real) golf one day, and the big girls went shopping at the outlets.  We also spent one day hiking at Bushkill Falls - it was beautiful and so nice to be out hiking.  It rained for the last part of the hike, but we still had a great time.

Finn went swimming in a real pool for the first time

Uh, Mom ... I'm not sure this is a good idea.

The little slide - fun for groups

campfire

Getting ready to hike

Off we go!

Patrick carried Finn the whole way - wow, it's a good thing he's strong.

Bushkill Falls

Happy little hiker

Tea with the girls

Molly and I spent a fun Saturday with Bobbi, Aunt Diane, Aunt Lorrie and all the girl cousins at a cute little tea room.  We had a real British tea (the little girls had lemonade to drink) and a great time being together! 

Do you think she was excited?

A real china tea cup - she felt like such a big girl, and she did great!

The little girls in their matching dresses from Bobbi

Happy Birthday, Finn!

Finn turned one on Sunday!  What a big year.  He is such a sweet, smiley baby, and we are so thankful to have him.  He eats like a bottomless pit and has turned into a pretty good sleeper now, hooray!  He is still doing his one-arm, one-toe variation of the army crawl, but he is a fast little booger.

He has started pulling up and cruising now, so he is into everything.  He is so tall!  It took him a while to practice and get strong enough to pull all that weight up - and it was a big surprise when he finally did it!  I was in the kitchen when I heard Elijah yelling frantically, "Mom!  Mom, come quick!  We've got a real problem here!"  I raced into the powder room to find Finn standing up, chewing on the toilet seat and grinning at me!  Elijah was horrified.  I was horrified, and laughing at the same time.  Nothing is safe now!

Standing tall!  The ottoman is just perfect for cruising.

Loving his table toy!

Too much fun to be still!

Today we had a birthday party at Patrick's parents' house for Finn and Aunt Lorrie and Uncle Bill.  It was a fun day, and extra fun that Nana got to be there, too!  We chose Goodnight Moon as the theme for Finn's cake and decorations.  Yesterday, Maiah came and spent the whole afternoon helping me make and decorate the cake.  She was such a big help!

Surprised, and hoping to grab the candle.

Goodnight Moon cake

My baking assistant, Maiah, with her first fondant cake!

Elijah's shark party!

Elijah turned six today!  We had a fun party to celebrate on Saturday.  Elijah chose sharks/oceans for the theme and we had a great time getting ready.  The kids helped make some decorations:

Everything turned out great, and we had a fun day celebrating.  

It's your birthday, Chum!

The birthday boy!  Finn was wearing his matching shirt, but we didn't a picture of them together.

Elijah's best friend, Isaac, and his brother Levi

All the kids loved playing in the pool, but Molly was in there ALL DAY

They also had a great time with the sprinkler.

Shark cupcakes!

Elijah, Molly and Evan got their shark tattoos on their foreheads!

Elijah and Molly proudly wore their shark tattoos to church the next day.

They became slightly famous at church.