Proof's in the Pudding

I've been so lax with my camera for our last several visits (i.e. not taking any) that I told myself I'd be better this time around.  It wasn't until five minutes before we left for home, though, that I commanded Dude and Dudette to sit still for their FIRST EVER picture with Cadence.  Here, Cadence, see?  Your Grandma and Grandpa love you very much, and I actually documented it.











We had a wonderful visit, full of good people and good food and bits of adventure.  Hosting two big barbeque get-togethers and graciously preparing many meals for an extra family of ten (!) has earned these two many jewels in heavenly crowns, but even without the jewels, they'd do it anyway.

Thank you both for working so hard to make our visits rich with joy and cuddles and adventure and feasty things.  We love you bunches.

By the Seashore

John dutifully took us to the beach!  The grey clouds ensured that we had nearly the whole place to ourselves, and the children made the most of it with shell-gathering, seagull-chasing, sand-burying, and, of course, the sea, itself.

















Lookee here!  All the children save Cadence in one frame...it's practically a family photo!

And there!  John's head in the waves.

While John swam out to sea, I sat on a towel with this beauty and took snapshots.







John dragged me out before we left, though, and although the initial shock of cold water was unpleasant, I'm glad he did.  Ocean swimming is tremendous.

G & G's Pool

It's always one of the biggest highlights of the summer.

The children enjoyed it with new-to-us cousins,















and then the next day with a Papa.  Notice Piper's discovery of the paparazzi stretching over the fence...

His Weight in Cookies

Uncle Jeff made a lasting friendship with this boy, sparked by generously bringing the children cookies that were the size of their heads.

Aidan polished his off in five minutes flat.  (That boy's got some great genes from his mama's side.)

Baby Island

April took a break from her own grandbaby to hold Cadence for a bit.

...but only because her grandbaby was in great demand from all other corners!





With good reason, too.  Look at those eyes, would you?







Sarah and I tried to get a picture of all the grandchildren (and great-grandchild!), with spotty results, thanks to Zeke and Piper's wiggles.  Sorry, Sarah, but this was the best of my bunch.  :)







And then a blurry picture of babies-in-a-row.  Cadence (just shy of 3 mos.) on the left, cutest monkey Elijah (2 weeks?) in the middle, and Trevor (5 months?) on the right.  The whole weekend was so much fun.  It seemed like babies were spilling out of all the corners!






Yum.  Elijah.  Yum yum yum.







And with the mamas.  (Tiny, tiny Elijah!)

Last-Minute Making

The night before/day we left for Long Island, I finally tackled decorating shirts for the new baby boys.  

A crocodile for little Trevor:

And-- surprise!-- a kingly penguin for Elijah.

No Restraint

It started innocently enough when I took a picture of her asleep in her bouncer.





But then she woke up, and, by gum, I just couldn't help myself.

She's even cute when she channels Popeye.

Paper or Plastic, Ma'am?

A while back, Millie organized a spur-of-the-moment scripture scavenger hunt.

I didn't quite understand how it worked, but the children all got it.  My job was to take a picture of Annika stuffing a chicken in her bag.

???

Really, I didn't quite understand how it worked.





It was a fun fifteen minutes, though.





Now to fill the rest of those summer hours...

Leftovers

True leftovers-- some of Debbie's wedding flowers.





200 heads of garlic tied and ready for hanging.







And to show the gritty behind-the-idyllic-scene reality, here's the heavy dresser decomposing outside our back door that's been taking months to reach the burn pile and a car that's been napping on our lawn for a good while.  Lazy things.  It's like they expect US to carry them where they're supposed to go.






Oh, yes, and toys.  Always toys.







Hulk stands by our pitiful corn that cries for rain.





A while ago, John gave me a grid notebook to keep track of all my to-dos because I was always losing my loose-leaf lists.  It's been great, but sometimes I'm over-zealous.  After finally doodling Flora and Sisi's gifts, I eagerly went to cross it off my list, on which it had sat for nearly a year.  Then I laughed.  Two for one!  Now I think I'll write everything I need to do twice just for the pleasure of crossing off twice as much.






Luci and Aidan dance to Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire.








He's got the moves.







Aidan, always so obsessed with anything that has buttons...except pants.  He's not very interested in pants.





Fog rising after a brief but much-needed rain.







Aidan, always driving his car in the house...probably without any pants, too.