Cute Boy

Evan is sometimes just too cute.  He uses pillows for blankets and his special blanket around his shoulders, and sometimes his head.  One morning this is how he greeted us!

Peek-a-boo!

A Cooler Day

The horribly hot weather finally cooled down a tad bit, but more heat was expected in the afternoon.  With that in mind, I thought it would be a good morning to visit our Amish neighbors that we hadn't seen since winter.  (Meghan was also home from school since it was Friday.)

We had a lovely visit.  (And I'm always amazed at how much my friend does all day long!)  Well, it did get pretty warm while we were there, even though we were home before too late in the morning, the kids still came home looking like this and needing some hydration in the form of water and a small freeze pop.  They take after their dad!  I was warm, but not that sweaty!  We are so thankful for air conditioning!

Our Getaway

Camp was awesome, as you have likely noticed from the posts.  Following camp, Derek and I took an overnight trip to State College, PA.  Derek is a Penn Stater, and I lived there for two of the years that we dated.  

Can I just tell you that I think this was the most needed getaway for us?  Sometimes life just needs to slow down and be focused...and this time away was focused on us.  

Upon our arrival, we settled into our hotel, and then went to dinner.  We decided to hike Mt. Nittany that night instead of waiting since the forecast was calling for possible rain.  Basically, we arrived at the base of Mt. Nittany at 7:20.  Yep.  At night.  No flashlight on an unfamiliar trail.  Smart?  No.  Memorable?  Yes.

This is Derek and me at the top of Mt. Nittany.  Hot and sweaty.  Check out the tree behind us.   

One of the views of State College, including Penn State's campus.  It was a hazy, hot day...and this picture was probably taken a few minutes before sunset.  (This picture is not zoomed.  We had some nicely zoomed pictures, also, but they don't show you how far up we were.)

This picture of the trail was after it was already getting dark, and it was certainly not the steepest area.  Those rocks do not make for quick climbing-up or down!  I had hiked Mt. Nittany when I lived in town (once), but did NOT remember it being tough, and even laughed at Derek when he read that on the website's description of "rigorous".  It was incredibly tough, especially trying to navigate down the mountain in the almost dark.

I am happy to report we made it down the mountain at 8:57 pm.  The sun had already set, but it was still passable in the woods.  Another fifteen minutes would have been treacherous though on that trail!  

You may not be wondering, or even care, but that hike made me feel every inch and year of my 34 years.  I was happy to know that my in-shape husband was feeling it, too.  My knees and ankles hurt-a lot.  I was still feeling it a bit two days later.  Of course, it didn't help that I am also not in shape.

I did have a disappointment.  We went to one of my favorite restaurants.  They served the yummiest French fries.  EVER.  They were called beer batter fries.  Our first night in State College, we went to this restaurant.  Though I wasn't really that hungry, I purposely ordered a meal with fries instead of just the French onion soup that I really wanted.  I was horribly disappointed when my fries came, and they were -gasp!- NORMAL.  No beer batter to make them yummy. 

Something that is kind of funny is that on our way home from Pinebrook, we drove through Kutztown, PA.  I attended Kutztown University, so we saw both of our alma maters within a few days...when we live several hours from both campuses.

So it was a good, very good, getaway for us.  We're glad Derek's mom watches the kids for us each year so that we can do it!

It's a Hot One

Below is what weather.com described our day.  The partly cloudy part is not accurate.  It was full blown SUNNY.

Partly Cloudy

Temperature:

94°F

Feels Like: 108°
Details:
Dangerous heat index. Outdoor exposure should be limited.
(Large red font may have been edited to increase size and color.)

Precip: 0 in
Snow: 0 in
Wind:
From WNW at 6mph

Links:

We had the joy of seeing a coworker friend of Derek's get married today.  (He is a Penn Stater and NY Mets fan.  Pretty cool, huh?)  The downside was that it was an outdoor ceremony.  We were thankful that a breeze blew for a couple of moments during the ceremony.  Even better, the reception was inside.  


It was a beautiful ceremony and reception...but it's good to be home and in fresh clothes, too!

Last Day...

So there were lots more pictures...but most involved others' children, too, and without asking, I thought I'd better not share them.

This picture is for all of you who think there are never pictures of Derek and me here on the blog...especially of the two of us together!  Our pastor was sitting behind us, and he was being goofy.  :)  (It's camp, and my shirt is allowed to be that wrinkly.  Yes, I am that short.)

The children put on a couple of songs for the closing program.  These photos are all taken before the music began!  During the song, she was either jumping around (at times along with all the others) or in awe of the screen that showed the song's words.  At the end of the song only one child bowed-my daughter!  Haha!

This is our buddy Joey.  He attends our church, and we were thrilled that he and his family were able to go to Pinebrook, too.  The pictures were at the children's garden.  (Derek and the children spent the morning there while I packed to go home.)

You might be interested in seeing pictures of the kids at the children's garden last year.  They have changed!  And Evan didn't use the stroller once this year!

Beautiful, huh?

Pinebrook Friends

Something big happened at Pinebrook.  We (meaning I) let go a bit.  And I made sure I took a picture of it!

This is a photo of Meghan going off with the "big" girls.  They were heading to the playground.  I suspect the oldest child was about ten years old.  Those three older girls loved playing with Meghan on the playground.  Meghan tired them out though.  They actually took turns taking a break from playing with her since she ran around so much!  Watching that first time cracked me up!  One child, Grace, actually asked me how I kept up with Meghan all day long.   It's good to not hover too much, and Pinebrook is a fabulous place to let kids have freedom!

We had some girl time (two adults, four girls) when we went for a stream walk and then painted some rocks at the craft shop.  Meghan was the only one who was able to and wanted to climb this rock despite there being a four and six year old with us!

Here we are after our stream walk and rock painting.   Amy is the mom, the two blondes in pink are two of Amy's girls, and the blonde in orange is another friend.

Amy and I met at camp last year.  Though she is my pastor's daughter, she lives a couple hours from us, so we hadn't met before.  We've enjoyed getting to know one another over the past year and deepening our relationship at camp this year.  It helped that she was just two doors down from our room!

More Water Play

The kids weren't the only ones to have fun in the rain at Pinebrook.  (Click here if you missed that post or just scroll down.)

One rainy afternoon the men took over the parking lot in front of our rooms to play football.  Despite the wet pavement and flip flops, no one was injured.  Meghan was not too impressed that she and the other children had to take turns with the parking lot.

The kids loved all the puddles...until Evan fell down.  (I say he fell down though we can't be certain that he was not pushed.)












Daddy to the rescue!

Rainy Night Play

It rained quite a bit while we were at camp.  We didn't let it spoil our fun though.  When we came back from the evening program on the second day, Meghan splashed in puddles the whole way back.  

Once we were at our room, the children took advantage of the rain and splish-splashed throughout the parking lot.

Unfortunately, my camera's settings were not properly set, so the pictures are blurry.   The children did not stand still!

Other children were there, but Meghan and Evan were the only ones playing in the rain!  The adults and kids alike loved watching them play.  They just ran back and forth yelling with joy.

It's so good to let children just be children! 

The following morning this is what greeted me after my shower.  Cute, huh?

Pinebrook Day 2

The second day at Pinebrook, we played at the pool.  Meghan was in her glory.  Evan couldn't be talked into more than a minute in the water.  Even before feeling the water he was not interested in the water.   

Our children are so different!

Family Camp Day 1

Sunday after lunch, we trekked to the Pocono Mountains to Pinebrook Bible Conference.  (Derek and I agree that we are not in the mountains, nor in a valley, but this is still considered the Poconos.)

Our car was fully loaded.  At one point both kids wanted to hold their backpacks.  They knew they were being silly.

Upon our arrival, lots of fun was had just in the parking lot.  Meghan rode her bike.  

They even shared a couple hugs-for the camera, of course!

The evening ended with fireworks!  They were quite impressive, and incredibly loud!

We came last year, too.  (Click the Pinebrook label below this post to see those posts.)  This year has been so much more fun, especially for me!  We are staying in a different location this year, and with the change brings many more opportunities to socialize, especially during naps and after bedtime.  

I have been able to really enjoy time with the friend I made last year at camp.  We stayed in touch throughout the year, but visiting in person is so much more fun!  

(In case you are wondering, I scheduled posts out on Live, Learn, Love, so that is why posts there are showing up on a regular basis.  We do have an internet connection (at times), though it is a weak one.)

Help!

Sometimes children find the funniest things to amuse themselves...but then they need help out of the situation.

This is a very, very sturdy cardboard tube.  It also works as a wooden leg.  Meghan put it on by herself, but then needed some help to remove it.  She couldn't walk in it, so it wasn't very effective as a wooden leg.  (Her left leg is not in the tube, it just looks like she lost it.)

If Evan cries and his sister is with me, I know that he is likely to be hurt (and not just mad).

I heard a small cry, and decided to investigate.  By the time I arrived, he was content, and squeezed in behind the chair.

 Meghan helped, too.  (Those are our library books in the chair.  We keep them separate, and in a bag, in the dining room.  The library book receipt is in the picture above.)

Growing Girl

Would someone like to tell Meghan that she no longer fits into this 3-6 month sweatshirt?  She didn't believe me when I told her it was for a baby the day she found it.

Pajama Shoot

Meghan came downstairs in her pajamas and her baseball cap.  I thought it was too cute, so we took a few pictures.

Pouty.

Personality!

Silly.

Relaxed.

In Mommy's Absence...

One morning Meghan greeted me in my bedroom right after I had gotten out of the shower.  I could smell the distinct smell of peanut butter.  Upon closer inspection, my little girl's face, hands, and arms were covered.  In peanut butter.

Upon going downstairs, I found an empty jar of Jif in the corner of the the couch.  Just so you know, we do not eat in the living room.

For several hours, all I could find for traces of a mess was by the bathroom door.  Apparently Meghan's hands were too slippery to turn the knob.

A few hours later, when the lighting had changed in the living room, I noticed a large pale spot on the couch.  

The wall, couch, and my daughter all cleaned up just fine.  

If you are curious, like I was, about how much peanut butter Meghan actually ate, it wasn't much.  I called Derek to tell him about the mess.  He admitted to an "oops."  He had left the jar on the island for me to throw away.  Oops.  It could have been so much worse!

Birthday Cuddles

Yep, today is my birthday!  I suspect it will be just as glamorous as all the previous ones...

This morning at 5:25 I heard someone in the house.  Hmm...Derek should have been long gone to work already. Shortly after, Meghan comes in to the bedroom and tells me she is cold.  (I think she actually meant hot.)  So she gets into bed with me (a very rare occurrence) after I explain to her that if she wants to play she can go to her room or downstairs but my bed was for sleeping.  She crawled over top of me, and I assumed she would go lay on Derek's pillow.  Instead she laid her head right beside mine, so we shared half a pillow for the next hour and a half. We do have a king size bed, but she enjoyed cuddling instead.  I enjoyed it, too, except for the wild hair tickling my face!

I got a little scared when, after my shower, Meghan brought me a card she made and told me "happy birthday."  There was no evidence that Derek helped her make the card, and I was expecting a large mess downstairs, though Meghan doesn't have open access to craft supplies.  Later I called Derek, and he did help her make it.  Phew!  During breakfast she also sang to me.

I tried to upload a scanned photo of me from kindergarten.  (It was the last of the cute days.  During kindergarten I bent over at my desk and cut my hair.  I had hair to my bottom, without bangs.  And I gave myself the most awful bangs in the world.  Unfortunately they lasted for way too long.)  Somehow I just couldn't get the photo to work though.

I mentioned cuddling as one of my favorite things today over at Live, Learn, Love, our other blog.

Independence Day

We had a great weekend with some company.  For the first time since 2005, my mom and stepdad were able to visit overnight.  It was a really nice, relaxing weekend.

We tried to get pictures...but this was about as good as it got.

We also had the chance to watch fireworks Saturday night.  We were really happy to know we had a decent view from our backyard.   

(I used the rail of our steps as a tripod to try to get pictures and was fairly pleased with the results for my little camera!)

Happy Independence Day!

Some Final Farm Thoughts

The children love Grandma's piano.

  Unfortunately, Evan figured out how to remove the top of the keys while we visited.

They even had some duets.

Who doesn't love a little mud when you have rain boots on the last day of our visit?

But really, it's lots of mud!

Evan didn't want to leave.

Yes, rain/mud boots go well with a dress.

The best part was that Evan got his first REAL tractor ride!  

Notice his boots had fallen off by that time!

Evan was very much Grandpa's little boy the whole visit.

We had a really nice time...just not enough of it!