Last Days of Summer Break...

On Labor Day we drove 10 minutes to Lord Hill Regional Park to go on a little hike. The weather was great and it was nice being outside with the kids. Jessie, Ben, and Josh enjoyed walking, running, hiking, jumping, skipping, etc. in the great outdoors, usually not being quiet enough to hear much of the sounds of nature. The blackberries along the way were yummy treats. Beaver Lake was disappointing to the kids because no beavers were to be seen, but overall we had a great time spending time together on one of the last days of summer break!

Here's Abby enjoying here free ride along the way.
Hiking is so exhausting!

Last week, we got the slip'n slide and the baby pool out again so the kids could cool off on the beautiful sunny day that it was. Abby really enjoyed the warm pool water.
Sitting in 3 inches of water just wasn't doing enough to cool Josh off, so he tried this...

Our Trip to the Lake

We were fortunate to be able to visit my parents this summer, who live on Owasco Lake. It had been two years since we made the trip, so we were all excited. As usual, my parents were great hosts, even though my family is bigger every time I come visit. We did the usual things on most days, like swim, fish, tube, go out on the wave runner, etc. It was really nice to see not only my parents, but most of my relatives who were also there vacationing, as well as others who came to the yearly Whitney Family Reunion (thanks Aunt Kathy and Uncle Marc - we had a great time!!). We even drove to North Salem, NY, to visit my brother and his family. Here are just some of the many photos we took while we were there...

Abby enjoying the bouncy seat down at the beach... Ben loved the paddle boat. He got really good at getting around...

This is the water trampoline at my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Marc's house. The kids had a blast on this. I even tried it out...

Here are the baby cousins. My cousin Corissa and her baby girl, Peyton (about 9.5 mo.), my mom holding my cousin Rob's baby boy, Torin (8 mo.), and Abby (6 mo.).

Fishing went well off the end of the dock. Each of the kids caught several perch or sunfish over the time we were there...

The kids loved going out on the wave runner and taking turns "driving"...

Jessie...she's always been our "little mermaid".

One afternoon, rode down to the Auburn-end of the lake and anchored the boat there. The lake there has a sandy bottom so the kids loved swimming without their water shoes. This day happened to be very windy so the lake was rough with white caps. The ride home was fun for the kids - like a ride at the amuzement park because of the waves and they got soaked riding in the bow of the boat...

Aunt Kathy took us to Fillmore Glen State Park one morning. It was a beautiful morning and it was gorgeous walking up the stream with the light coming through the trees. It was quite the adventure, though, because everyone except Aunt Kathy ended up falling at least once. First it was Josh, then me (carring Abby in the front carrier) trying to help Josh, then Mike (holding the camera) trying to help Josh, then Ben, and then Jessie. We had a great time, though. Thanks Aunt Kathy for a fun morning! Since Mike was carrying the camera when he fell, we didn't get many still photos. Here's one...

The last weekend we were there we all drove to North Salem, NY, to visit Mike, Annmarie, and Cecelia (Cece). On the way there we stopped in Windsor to visit my Aunt Pat (Dad's sister) and Uncle George and Susquehanna to visit my Aunt Frances and Uncle Frank (Grandma and Grandpa White, as we kids call them). It was nice to see them all!

This is Cece, she'll be turning 2 at the end of September...

I think we all have a photo or two of us in the tub with our siblings or cousins. Now Josh and Ben have one... Here they are with Cece in Mike and Annmarie's jetted tub that they never have even used for themselves, yet! They had a blast with all those bubbles!

Photo of the cousins...

Here is Grandma Bennett with Abby. Grandma just turned 80, but you'd never know it! If you haven't been to my parents house (or been there recently) here is a photo from the end of the dock of the beach, new stairs my dad built all my himself (the tower ones with the flag), and their house at the top. Thanks, Dad, those stairs are great! It was so nice not to have to worry about the safety of me or my children!!!

Abby enjoying her last moment in the lake.

My mom and Abby, just before heading upstairs to get ready to to the airport.

The kids and their Grandma and Grampy...

Whew, It Was HOT!!!


You would think we'd be use to it by now...a few days here and there in the summer when the temperature skyrockets and gets into the 90's, even the high 90's, but when you don't have air conditioning in your house and the temp inside is 80 by noon, it gets a bit unpleasant. So, to keep cool we got out the slip 'n slide, the water guns, and the kiddie pool. Even Abby got to enjoy a little water once we put up the beach umbrella in the yard over the end of the slide. I'm hoping that it's a good sign of what's to come when we visit my parents on Owasco Lake in a couple weeks. Here are photos of the fun...


Jessie
Josh

Ben

Ben and Josh setting good examples to Abby of how to have fun in the water.

This and That

Here are a few misc. photos from the last month. Our weather here has been typical Washington...teasing us with with nice summer weather for a little while at the beginning of the month and then cooler rainy weather again. It looks like this week will have a mix of both; doesn't surprise me. It always seems that it's like that until the 4th of July and then we'll have 2 months of consistently nice weather. So...we're trying to be patient.

Ben and Josh enjoying one of the teasing hot days when they broke in the sprinkler for the first time this year.

Abby staying cool on that hot day, too.

Jessie teaching Abby how to use the computer.

Abby's 4 month birthday on June 4th.

Josh - What did you say?

I know that he'll be turning 3 in two short months, but I still can't get over what a good talker Josh is sometimes. I guess that's what happens when you have two older siblings that you admire so much. Here are some of my favorite things that he says:

-That's super awesome!

-That's gross!

-That makes me sad.

-It's not really good. (when he doesn't like the food he's eating)

-I want to play in the backbarg.

-It tastes like sour. (lemon drop candies)

-That's not true!

-Stop copying me!

-It's fine, Mama! (when I'm telling him it's not o.k. to be doing something)

-We solved the problem.

-Don't go anywhere, Mama. (as I head upstairs to get Abby from bed; he always wants to go and be first into the room)

-Mom, how many more minutes?

Sometimes he'll say something and Mike and I will look at each other and just laugh. He is such a character!

Double Digits

Well, believe it or not, my first baby just turned 10 at the end of April. Where does the time go? As I was looking for photos to post today, I had lots of Ben, Josh, and Abby, but very few of Jessie. That's because 10 year olds don't hang around their family all that much...they'd rather be on sleep-overs, playing with friends, hanging out in their room , or playing on the computer, and they are in school all day and don't get to go the park after lunch when the sun is out. So, I guess I need to make more of an effort to photograph her else before I know it she'll be 18 and leaving home. Here are just a few photos from the last few weeks.

Jessie's party with her friends. She took them swimming at the public pool in a nearby city.
Jessie and her friends (minus Elizabeth T. who had to leave early).

Family party - combined with Alaina's 1st Birthday.

Don't hit yourself in the head with the helium balloon weight - you'll get an instant giant goose egg! Owie, Ben!

Josh being a good helper in the kitchen...

Abby is almost always happy now. She's growing tooooo fast!

Like I said...where's Jessie?

HAPPY EASTER

Jessie, Ben, and Josh after gathering Easter Eggs at the city's Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday.

Easter Day.

Blessing Day

Mike, with the help of his dad, Steve, his brothers, Greg and Jeff, and cousin-in-law, Curt, blessed Abby at church today. Here are a few photos of our seven-week old.

Oooh! I finally caught a slight smile.

Yes, I'm a proud mama!