Sandy Lake fun

Bereket and Tamagn have grown gills and fins this summer. We think they are of the flying fish variety due to their affinity for entering the water in this style. A big thanks to Brandon Loy for stringing my three little movies together, muting out my dumb comments and filling the space with a happy little tune. Thank you so much!

summer in pictures, thus far

Summer has come to Grove City this week and we are hip-hip-hooraying for it! At last it feels like summer. We are loving the hot sun shining down from the blue sky and that glorious post-swimming chlorine-stretched-skin feeling. I am getting a bit panicky as we near the end of July and most of my summer goals are not yet accomplished. And a few, not yet begun.

Tonight I sat down to my pictures. And smiled. Pictures always make me smile. They awe me with what a blessed, full life I have. And that makes me so very grateful to the Giver of all these good things.

Right. That is why I make picture books. To remember. To stir myself to see, to give thanks, to worship.

Just reminding myself that photo documenting isn't a frivolous hobby of mine, in hopes that I will make time to get on it before summer has gone away.

Here are a few pictures to make you smile and to recap our summer thus far.

Bereket can't wait for his teeth to fall out on their own, so he's taking things into his own hands.

Crocs and socks. Why?

BT and his many teddies. And his tired daddy.

T loved swimming lessons. I loved that someone else got to tell him to stop splashing and quiet down.

And Josiah loved archery camp. I loved that it was close enough for him to walk by himself (close enough is at the end of our block. No,  I'm not one of those moms.)

Folly Beach and a few of my favorite people.

Weddings!! I love them and we had two this summer that members of our family participated in.

Eliza was a beautiful bride. I could say more than a caption will hold.

And Olivia was a beautiful maid of honor. Truly.

My newest nephew and his big brother, who now knows my name!!!

Got to sneak away to Florida all by myself for a weekend to meet this little guy. He's captivating.

Camping at Clear Creek. A highlight of my boys' summer.

The Brandywine River Valley

There is so much to see in this area! I had a very difficult time deciding which direction we should head on our last day in the Philadelphia vicinity. Longwood Gardens or Chanticleer? Historic Kennett Square or Chadd's Ford and the N.C. Wyeth studios? Winterthur or even a fun looking giant playhouse? My boys really wanted to see the rest of the Brandywine battlefield but I wasn't sure we could spend a whole day there, so instead of heading north out of the hotel parking lot, I made an impulsive right and went south to the Hagley Museum. And I was glad I did.

We could have spent a full day at this idyllic riverside mill which was founded by the duPont family in the early 19th century. The duPont family came to the United States in 1800 to escape the ravages of the French Revolution. After several failed business ventures, they settled on the banks of the Brandywine River in Delaware and started a mill to produce better quality black powder. Their story is told at the Hagley Museum. I found it fascinating. My boys liked the gunpowder explosion demo and all the old stone structures in the powder yard available for climbing. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

We picnicked on the property and then rushed over to the Brandywine Battlefield, determined to squeeze it in before picking Casey up at 3:00. Due to a sleeping four year old, we only had time to drive through the park and visit the grand, 300+ year old sycamore tree. The tree was the highlight. It witnessed the defeat of the Continental army on September 11, 1777. We made sure to gather plenty of sticks to bring home; inexpensive, precious souvenirs.

A couple of the many stone structures that house the black powder roll mills. They were all open to the river so if (when) there was an explosion, the force of the blast was directed across the river.

The canal which runs between the powder yard and the rest of the community.

In the machine shop. All the tools were original, from the mid-1800s, and powered by a turbine on the banks of the river. This demo was about an hour long and very interesting! It even kept my boys' attention (mostly). I kept wishing my dad was with us; he'd have loved it.

He's going to space! Mama needs a break. :)

BT looking for just the right stick under the old sycamore.

Riding home. He slept like this for almost two hours. Finding the perfect stick is hard work.

Philadelphia adventures

A long weekend trip with Casey to the city of brotherly love. Here are a few pictures of our first two days, which included a walking tour downtown with Katy, my mom's cousin, and a visit to Valley Forge with great-uncle Brook and his sweet wife, Bambi. Every day spent with Uncle Brook is memorable! I wanted my boys to meet him.

Bereket thoroughly impressed my cousin by walking into this room, pointing at this picture and asking, "Isn't that Willliam Penn?" Sure is.

A huge city map at the Philadelphia History Museum. We also got to see George Washingtons' desk, John Brown's gun, and the beaded belt given to Wm. Penn by the Lanapai indians along with the land that would come to be Pennsylvania.

Visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington Square.

Know why we say "upper case" and "lower case" for letter differentiation? Comes from the cases that the letters were kept in in the print shop. "Big letters" were kept in the upper case, and "little letters" in the lower case and each has its own place (similar to the keyboard) so the typist could easily find the letter they were needing.

A highlight for my boys. Drilling like a real soldier in the Continental Army at Valley Forge. What do you think they've been doing every day since?

Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge.

A field where part of the Battle of Brandywine was fought.

Another battle field that has been reclaimed by millions of grape hyacinths. Lovely!