Play time!!
Blueberry picking proved "fruitful" - haha - for mommy and daddy, but taxing for the munchkins. Neither was particularly intrigued by picking berries in the warm sunshine on July 4th but we pressed on!
After picking - parade time! Jack stayed awake this year and both kids thoroughly enjoyed the candy...
Kate now easily befriends all mascots...
But at the end of the day, sometimes she's just so sleepy from all the fun that she can't even stay awake to finish a good book!
Okay, again random sorting of pictures, but back to 4th of July... we visited our annual picnic at Big Louie's and the kids, especially Kate, had a blast in the pool. What basically ends up happening is we arrive, say a very quick hello to everyone, and then are stuck in the pool with a bunch of kids - ours included - the rest of the day, all anti-social and stuff. I guess that's not entirely bad but by the end of the summer we feel a little guilty for all the pool-mooching!
Jack's first taste of a snowball...
chasing after the bay wildlife
Okay, so this puppy guitar has been Jack's favorite toy for MONTHS. Thank goodness Christmas is coming, because anytime we're at a toy store he plays this guitar...doesn't he look like the most boring rock star ever!?!
My pair of goofy gusses...
We took a family hike one day when I had borrowed a friend's backpack carrier. It was a nice relaxing walk, Kate was into it walking all by herself, and once we found the water and a ton of rocks to throw into it, it made their day!
A visit to PA allowed us a chance to hit a favorite mini-golf spot, this time with kiddos and Papou. This shot below was as happy as the outing got the whole time....it quickly melted down to whining, sweating, wishing for it to be over. But I tallied 2 hole-in-ones and Jess had 1, and I managed to find 2 lollipops to occupy the wee ones, so it was a successful day!
Another trip to Rehoboth....Kate posing with her cousins
Then we made our way down to Ocean City for our annual trip. Thanks to some amazing, wonderfully giving old neighbors, we are fortunate to have a place to stay just a block from the beach, and we take full advantage of our time there...
A night out to dinner at Bull on the Beach...
...before a little boardwalk/ferris wheel action (for Kate) -
because lil' bro was a wee bit tuckered to enjoy himself!
Unfortunately, it doesn't transpire into later mornings, despite being excessively tired from all the activity. This was eeeeearly morning (as usual)...
Visiting the Fo's...a stare-down with his Papou. I always laugh when they stare at each other, because everybody has always said that Jack looks just like my dad - EVERYBODY. So I often wonder if Jack is thinking - hey, you sure look a lot like me ol' fart!
While in Oley...visit the Dairy Petting Zoo!
After visiting PA family, we drove down to Elk Neck State Park in Maryland to visit with my friend Allison and her family. They live in Michigan and we rarely see them so it was nice to catch them on the east coast. We hiked through the woods right along the water to a lighthouse which was pretty cool. Otherwise, the day was simply H.O.T. so after a campfire dinner of mountain pies (basically sandwiches toasted over a campfire) we headed home...
Uncle Tyler and Aunt Fopper gave Kate this cardboard house a long while ago, and we dig it out over and over again when all the other toys just get boring. Back in July, play time with the house involved Jack trying his hand at home decor. He found some of their Little People furniture and brought each piece so carefully into the house. I guess for the people who might live there and need a place to sit and eat dinner?! Too cute...
Instead, THEY became the "little people" who needed to sit down and eat in there!
nice...
another deck pool plunge...
and post-swim redneck meal of chicken on a fork!
Okay, so this one just needs either more explanation. Or to be deleted. But now you've seen it so here goes. I think it was national eat more chicken day or chick-fil-a day or something goofy, and in conjunction with one of the mall family fun days, anyone who dressed up like a cow could eat for free at Chick-Fil-A. There were different tiers of free meals based on how decked out you were. We impressed them with our effort - yes those are cow hats and spots on all of us!
Every summer we find ourselves downtown at some point wondering when the fountains are on, and for once we happened upon them when they weren't excessively crowded and had probably just come from a hot Orioles game or something so we took off what clothes we could (off the KIDS, not us!) and let them run free. They loved it. It was totally worth the soggy car seats on the way home!
Sometimes Kate picks up a baby brother at the grocery store!
My lil' thug!
Late in the month came the annual Delaware State Fair. This year Kate was excited to feed the giraffe, who proceeded to slide that nasty tongue out and grab a nibble from that far away! And then....sneezed all over us - disgusting.
And it's taken us a few years to finally not squeeze the chicks to near-death. She was so sweet and gentle with them, and completely fascinated with the newest ones poking out of their shells in the cage.
Initial reaction=gentle and sweet like Big Sis. Then crushing squeeze to neck, head, anything he could grab...yikes!
I thought it was called getting "goosed" not "goated"
Enjoying a nice glass of milk at the OC beach house...
And our typical boardwalk bike ride, which Jack really did enjoy...
though you couldn't tell!
One of our last nights down there we hit a little evening event with live music, face painting, a giant playground...
Whew! What a month!
