the 4th

Liberty, anyone?

We spent our 4th of July with cousins, and it was super-fun! 



just a splash pad post

Here are some phone pics of a recent splash pad visit we made as a family. (Just trying to post a little more often!)

She's a little bit airborne in this shot (if you look at her feet)...

Lots of hiking

Because the weather has been amazing lately, because Ohio is so beautiful (and we're leaving it soon!), and because Gavin is the most enthusiastic hiker in the history of wilderness, we've been doing a lot of hiking lately. 

 Sophie is NOT a fan of the hiking and generally insists on being carried. She does like to wade in all the little streams though. (And we wish she didn't think the streams were beverages.)

Here are a bunch of photos, not organized at all.

Easter 2016

Our Easter has been really wonderful! We dyed eggs Friday morning (see above), which was fun. It was our first time dyeing eggs as parents because we were never ready for the mess. The kids loved it.

We spent the day Saturday in Cincinnati with cousins having an egg hunt and an Easter feast.

I put black jelly beans in a few of the eggs so the kids would try them. For my kids it was their fist black jelly bean. 

left: Sophie will definitely be having more in the future
right: Gavin will NOT

Cousin time is the best, and these two were inseparable all day.

Then on Easter Sunday we brunched with friends before our afternoon church.

Macey & Gavin are adorable. So is the watermelon basket Kelsey carved!

our Easter garland - Gavin loved making this with me

She's 2!

We love this feisty little fireball, and we can't believe she's 2! Some of her current favorites: reading, being outside (no matter the weather), dogs, cereal, tablets (iPads & Kindles), whatever Grandma Sheri is drinking, the word now, pretending to talk on the phone, cuddling her toys.

Here are our favorite pics of Sophie from the last 6 months.

She was Amelia Earhart for Halloween.

hide & seek (with brother)

expert-level thumb-sucker

cheering for the Razorbacks (like a good girl)

adept at getting into tricky situations

She loves swimming
(and any activity with her brother).