Afternoon at the Fair

We joined Ben, Betty and Bailey at the Falls Road Montessori School Toddler Fair. It was a fun afternoon complete with firefighters, reptiles and pony rides!

Josh takes a turn putting out the "fire"

Katelyn's turn!

Firefighters Bailey, Katelyn and Josh

None of the kids hesitated to hold the reptiles - and the mom's did a good job of not projecting their discomfort with the snakes on their children! :)

Katelyn was the first one to hold this cobra (okay...a hognose snake!)

Josh's turn - he also pet geckos and a bearded dragon!

We completed the experience with Josh and Katelyn's first pony rides. They were both very excited and Josh rode without anyone beside him.

Yeehaw!

Crabby Birthday

We celebrated Kate and Jed's birthdays with a crabfest at their house. We rarely get crabs at our house, so it was a treat for us and the kids. Josh LOVES crabmeat and Katelyn is developing a taste for them too. Thanks for a fun day - Happy Birthday!!!

Katelyn's favorite toy of the day

Ready to open some claws!

Happy Father's Day, Jeff!

We love you so much!!!

summertime

We're taking advantage of all that summer has to offer. We spent the day swimming with some friends - Josh was in the water for almost three hours straight! And then we went miniature golfing with Grandma and Pop-Pop after dinner. We felt like we were on vacation!

Catch and Release

It only took one day to remember why we don't have a pet. Daily maintenance and...poop. Mater had a little vacation with us, but we decided everyone would be happier if we released him. So, at the suggestion of our local animal expert, we wrote Mater's name on his shell so we might be able to identify him on a future visit. We said our goodbyes, gave him some final pats, and he made his way from our yard into the wooded area behind our house. Mater did not waste any time! And Josh and Katelyn haven't asked about him since. :)

Mater successfully went under the bridge that Josh made for him!

Katelyn looking cute in her sundress!

A Day on the Beach

We spent the afternoon at Sandy Point State Park for a picnic and a few hours at the beach. The water was really warm, which made for a fun time for everyone. We are looking forward to more sand and surf this summer!

Mater the Turtle

After dinner, we headed to the back yard to clean up and Josh shouted, "I found the turtle! He's right here!" The turtle was in the grass near our deck steps. Apparently he liked hanging around our yard. We decided it would be fun to keep the turtle around, so we called our local marine biologist, Aunt Kate, to find out what we need to do to have a pet turtle. :)

Josh named him Mater. :) Until we get some garden fencing to make a little grassy area for Mater to live outside, his home is the turtle sandbox under the deck. Mater really enjoyed the lettuce from our garden. We'll keep you posted!

Morning Visitor

We found a turtle under our deck this morning on the stones while we were filling up the kiddie pool. Hopefully he'll find a good hiding place when the kids are playing in the yard later! Reminders not to touch the turtle every 5 seconds were required during the 5 minute span we were watching him - I don't know if I'll be able to keep that up all morning, so he better get out of here!

Update: When Daddy found out there was a turtle, he wanted to keep it. But Mommy went out and he had high-tailed it out of there. We'll be on the lookout!

At Play

We had a visit with Pop-Pop's Aunt Lila and Uncle Dan from Utah. Josh and Aunt Lila went for a little walk in the yard while he pushed the seeder around. :)

Later Josh put on his "Diving Gear." Basically, anything he could velcro or clip on - he has a very important job to do!

Last year, Katelyn couldn't hang on the rings by herself or see over the bar on top of the swing set. She's getting so big now!

Tonight

We planted the cucumber plants that Josh started growing at school. This is only half of them. The other half are in Shrewsbury in Pop-Pop and Yia-Yia's garden.

(You can tell that this is pre-bike ride, huh?!)

Josh asked for a photo to be taken of him with his horsey and duckie.

Katelyn hanging out with Daddy...


...while he is recuperating from his Achilles Tendon repair. :(