Some of our "Up North" adventures...

This was at a petting zoo near the lake

I think this hammock was already busted before all 7 kids piled onto it.

James and Mimi

Group shot

Our little family

James

Sabina's beautiful family

Charis and Stephen in front of the "Beast."

My cute boy

The big kids taking a shower in their swimsuits

Group cuddle with cousin Tate

Liam and Mimi

Liam, Cousin Callie and Mimi

James and Pap fishing in the evening (I don't get it)

James and Hattie learned to snorkel this year and loved it!

Hattie and Callie hangin' at Jameson's new favorite restaurant "Chucky's Chicken."

Hattie and Callie were trying to see if their arms would reach around this tree.

Cousins in the "Lost Forty" forest

This was taken during a "men only" fishing trip in which Brad and Blaine dragged Grandpa Gilbert fishing out in a canoe (I don't get this either)

Hattie, Callie, Cole, and Liam

Little Moss Lake

I Love this picture

Liam and cousin Cole- he was very patient with our little 3 year old

Uncle Blaine carrying the rascals

This picture does not belong with the others but I'm too lazy to make a new one for it because my computer moves like molasses when uploading pictures. This is Liam playing with cute cousin Hathaway (Barbara's daughter)

Washington D.C.

The boys' first subway ride- at least that they can remember. It's hard to believe that I used to ride a subway every day. I don't miss it at all. It was a fun adventure for the kids.

View of the Capitol Building from the Mall. The sun was very bright that day. I love Jameson's pretend sunglasses.

Hattie with the National Monument in her hand.

They look like monkeys standing by a cage, but they are actually standing in front of the White House.

James and Liam loved "driving" the airplanes at the Sea, Air and Space Museum

We drove to Minnesota this Summer to see the Thatcher side of the family and then on our way home was spent a night in D.C. because Brad had a meeting there. I don't know that city very well, so we explored it together while he was in meetings. It's a great place. The kids loved the Sea, Air and Space Museum and seeing "Barrack Obama's house," as Liam loves to say. I just loved that everything was free! The subway was easy to get around on and was relatively clean (compared to what I am used to in NYC). Except for the heat and humidity (August is NOT the best time to see D.C.) we had a great day.

Our Utah Trip (July)

My darling niece Anna

My cranky sis, Miss Meliss (jk- she's never cranky, just cute)

Amanda lou hoo

Jenniveve- the birthday girl

Mama

Darling Madeline and me at Jenny's birthday lunch.

This was taken at Great-granny's birthday lunch

Brad and Matt went fishing and let the boys play with their catch...

You can tell that they aren't enjoying this...

Ok, so I'm a little late to the game of posting on this trip, but I do want it to be documented. Don't judge me, I'm a feast or famine kind of blogger!

First Day of Preschool...

This kid was so sick of being home with mom and so psyched to go to school.

He's pretty big!

He didn't even say good-bye when I left. Too bad for me it's only 2 1/2 hours three times a week!

Our Beloved Tree

These pictures were taken from our neighbor two houses over. The the limb was enormous.

These pics were supposed to be on the last post. I don't expect any one to care too much about this tree saga, but I wanted it documented for our memories. It was such a big tree and provided so much shade and love. It was also special because a few years ago we got a photo in the mail from a relative of a woman that lived in our home about 100 years ago and we could see the tree when it was a baby. It was really hard to see it go and we did everything we could to save it. We had it trimmed regularly and had two of the largest parts cabled together to make it safer, but in the end, it had lived its life and it was time to be removed.

It was quite a mess.