Be proud! I've made it to the last July Post! We took Tabitha and some new friends who has just moved to Germany to Heidelberg castle. It's just a classic! Not as cool as Rheinfels, but still definitely worth seeing. :)
Busy, busy, busy boy!
My children and their new friends running around like monkeys.... same old, same old.
Cute sister Tabitha. Love this girl!
Isn't this castle amazing?! We've visited it before here. This time around I went with Tabitha and my boys. I prepared this time by buying some flashlights for the boys. I knew they'd be both useful (lots of dark tunnels for exploring!) and a good toy to keep the boys entertained. They were a success!
It never fails to amaze me looking at ruins of a castle and wondering what it was like before it was destroyed. Especially cool are the hollowed out once-spiral stairways.
Looks safe, right? ;)
The fortifications looked like a good spot for a picnic!:
Safe/trapped place to eat and let the little ones roam. :)
Can someone tell me who this huge sippy cup-rejecting big boy is? Where did my baby go??
It was so nice having the boys one year older-- we got to do a lot more exploring this time! I can't wait to take them next summer too. :)
William's new posed "smile"... you'll see it a. lot. in the next several posts. ;)
Cameron feeding the ducks
Gorgeous boy hanging out in the stroller. Our clock is ticking on his stroller tolerance though... Andrew turned 18 months old and somehow he knows it! He just wants to do whatever his brothers do! Driving me crazy.
Tabitha has ALWAYS been an animal lover. Look at this woman all up and cozy with the shaggy donkey. Occasionally I'll deign to let the thing eat from my hand, but she was all snuggles. haha. Love her!
Even though not a single boy is looking at the camera, I *adore* this picture. Click on it and see if you can find what had my sister Tabitha and I laughing ourselves to tears*.
While Andrew and Momma were out of town, Daddy held down the fort. Look how sweet he dressed up these big boys for church! Geez, they're growing up fast...
This is my grandmother, Virginia. I always called her Mimi. Isn't she beautiful? She looks like a movie star! When I look at this picture I see my Aunt Linda's eyes. Lovely.
This painting of Mimi hung over the TV (that was usually playing golf) in the den. I remember Mimi's house better than any other place that I've ever visited. I can close my mind and walk through her house and know exactly where everything is and always was... each visit there, it was almost exactly the same. I loved it. The smell of wood stain always takes me to their deck. EVERY 2-hour drive up to the house was filled with declarations of "I see Mimi's house!" from all seven of us kids ... for the entire drive (my poor parents!). Mimi & Grandad made every visit special-- I hope that I can recreate that one day for my grandkids ... not that I'll ever be that old.... ;)
This is Rab. He is a childhood toy of my dad's. When my dad and his sisters were young and went on car trips, Mimi would tell stories of Rab's adventures to the kids. My dad inherited the talent and told me and my younger sisters countless stories of Big Squirrel (thereby condemning himself to a lifetime of squirrel themed birthday/Christmas gifts...sorry Poppy!).
This is the magic bunny. It has a hollow in the middle where the bunny would magically fill with candy every night. Seriously... I need one of these things. ;)
Such a sweet love with this couple!
Big family shot.. and so many were missing too (kids and in-laws)!
SISTERS!
Felton Cemetary. This is my dad pointing out where our relatives are buried to my big brother Trevor. It's pretty incredible how much of my dad's dad's family is buried there.
Trev and his big boy Preston. I can't wait for a couple years from now to get all the younger cousins together for the fantastic chaos that I always adored as a kid. :)
Are you proud of me? I'm making serious blog progress... (we're up to july 9th now!) the best is all yet to come! We have this sweet little park near us that we *love*. Remember when we went there last fall? Last year corn was planted behind it, but this year they had wheat. I love living out here where there are fields everywhere, but we're still not in po-dunk-ville. ;)
I don't think this swing will ever get old. Actually we just visited this same park yesterday and I told Nathaniel I want to take one of them home with us to our house in MD. Think it would fit in my suitcase? ;)
Can you spy the frog?
What scar? ;)
what a cute little bum!.. and... William swimming in pjs. hey. it's summer. anything goes.
Nathaniel's watch broke one WHOLE year ago. We finally got around to taking it to a jeweler we knew from our previous stint in Germany. It so happened that the day we went to Darmstadt they were having their annual fair. We let the boys take a couple spins on a the merry-go-round, but largely just enjoyed people watching and taking in the scene. :)
Pony rides! Both boys were hesitant at first, but ultimately got on. William had his face painted like a pirate, but Cameron wanted nothing to do with face paint. :)
The joy of a trampoline!
Father/Son dunk tank strategy chat...
... AND, it paid off!
This guy was an incredible "jack sparrow". Seriously, impressive!
