Our Trail...

In the past few months, we have started taking a lot of hikes as a family. We usually head up to the Shenandoah National Park for a 2-3 mile hike. The boys have been doing a wonderful job on these hikes. With Drew's encouragement, Ben has moved away from being carried some of the time and has become a "good mountain climber" (a self proclaimed title). It also helps that part of the hike involves a Swedish Fish reward for making it to the car.

Two weekends ago we spent a night at a lodge in the SNP and enjoyed a yummy dinner and breakfast together. The sleeping was a little less enjoyable due to flailing arms and legs. It is amazing how much little kids move in their sleep.

Here is a picture from the balcony of our room.

The highlight of our weekend was the discovery of our own personal trail...

Noah usually carries the backpack at some point during the hike to make him feel important and give that extra motivation to keep going. Ben decided he wanted to help out too and carried the pack for the last 100 yards to the car.

September...

September started with Ben's first day of preschool...

In typical Ben fashion, he decided to sleep on the floor the night before preschool. We frequently put him to bed at night (in his bed) and find him in another spot in the morning. Sometimes we move him back to his bed when we check on him and still find him on the floor again in the morning. Drew found him at the bottom of a sleeping bag in the boy's play closet the other night.

Noah gently woke Ben to tell him to get ready for preschool.

Noah and Ben had a great morning together before Noah headed off to school.

Then Ben got dressed for the day...

It took multiple tries to get the pants on.

Ben was asked to make a picture of himself to bring on his first day of school.
Here he is holding miniature Ben.

September ended with a trip to the beach to celebrate my mom's birthday...

Drew, the boys & I went down a day before everyone else showed up. We got to the beach late at night, so we all took a huge nap after lunch on our first day there. Drew has the magical touch...I would never have gotten the boys to sleep like that on the sofa with me.

The house where we stayed had a pool and Noah spent a lot of time in there.

Cannonball!

My poor photography skills missed the big splash.

Drew enjoyed thinking about what he was missing at work while he lounged in the pool and later at the beach.

Ben stayed out of the pool and enjoyed playing with the toys at the house instead.

Pregression of...

...hole digging...

...and dumping on mom.

Noah was determined to catch a sand crab.

I let him have fun and never mentioned the fact that the holes in the net would make it impossible to catch anything smaller than a baseball.

A fluke rain storm came by while we were at the beach. People only a 1/4 mile down the beach were totally dry, but we got drenched walking back to the house. This is a picture of the boys sitting in the outdoor shower waiting for the rain to stop. We got so wet it looked like we had jumped in the pool. :)

All smiles after showering and drying off

Cousins having a quiet moment together.
From left to right: Grace, Noah, Philip, Betsy and Ben

Adults enjoying the quiet moment while the kids watched the Disney channel.

It was overcast the rest of the time, but that didn't stop us from getting out and enjoying all that the beach has to offer. We went bike riding, hiked around a lake, jumped back and forth between pool and hot tub, and enjoyed time at the beach. my brother even took a kayak out a few times.

My mom, brother (Harrison) and sister (Patricia)

brother-in-law (Steve), Betsy, and Harrison

Ben having fun with his Uncle BoBo

Getting a little snuggle time with my youngest...I love it!

September was a great month!

Riding in the Scout

Drew put a roll bar in the Scout this past year. Now it is safe enough for the boys to ride in. We drove it to the pool multiple times this summer and even drove all the way into Harrisonburg to get take out from Qdoba one night.

The last time we had a picture taken in the Scout was when Drew and I were driving away from our wedding. I love the two additions we have in this picture. :)

We made it!

For those of you who read my post from earlier today...

Noah had a great day at school. I expected him to get off the bus exhausted and grumpy. Instead he bounced off the bus (forgetting his backpack) and spent the next 30 minutes telling me about his day. I hope he will always be as communicative about his day (it may have helped that I had freshly baked cookies waiting for him in the kitchen which kept him seated for an extended period of time).

Hooray for a good first day of school!

Noah's 1st Day of School

I can't believe that my little guy is old enough to go to Kindergarten! Here is a recap of this morning's send off...

Noah and I spent a few minutes in his bed this morning discussing how he felt nervous about going to school. He mentioned a couple of times that his stomach felt funny and he had a few moments of anxiety over what was in his backpack, but for the most part he did a great job getting off to school. I had the camera by the front door so that I wouldn't forget to take Noah's picture as he got on the bus. Noah found the camera and took these first two pictures before getting around to the serious business of fixing breakfast and packing his lunch.

caught in my pj's

Ben didn't wake up very well this morning and spent some grumpy moments on the sofa before entering into the fun of the morning.

fixing waffles for breakfast

fixing a sandwich for lunch while Ben finished his breakfast

heading out the door for school

sad face while waiting for the bus

happy face thinking about the fun day ahead

getting on the bus

...and off he goes

After Noah's departure...

Ben and I walked down the road to check out how the other moms and younger siblings were doing. Our friends, the McCoys, were just sending off their oldest daughter.

Ben and Anna have fun waiting for the bus to pick up Jane

Ben, Anna and Kathleen watch Jane get on the bus

Ben took a picture of me walking back to the house feeling a little sad

Ben's teacher, Mrs. LaPrade, came by for a visit to help Ben get ready for preschool. Ben will be starting school next week. This morning he played very well by himself and seemed to enjoy having all of the toys and mom to himself.

I can't wait to hear how Noah's first day went...

Safari Park

At the end of July I got to take a trip to a monastery in Cambridge, MA. It was a gift from my dad this past Christmas. I enjoyed my time of quiet reflection. While I was gone Drew spent time with the boys enjoying just the opposite of quiet reflection...he took a trip to the Safari Park near Lexington. Drew teamed up with Anthony Tongen for a guys' trip to the park leaving moms (me and Megan to enjoy a little quiet time ).

Since I wasn't there, I will leave the pictures to speak for themselves.

Paul and Ben

Noah and Micah

Micah, Paul, Noah, Ben and the Tiger

Paul, Micah and Anthony

This is the view out the side door of our minivan. Apparently there was some trouble getting a buffalo to remove his head from the vehicle at one point. :)