Penn State Chics Dig Nerds

To enjoy last nights weather, we decided at the last minute to go on a picnic at the Seven Points area of Raystown Lake. I took the kids to the swimming and sand area while Jesse fired up the BBQ. Here, Brady is eating all of his parts of the smore separately. We tried to time us all going down the slide at the same time, but I need to take my other camera next time so I can continuously shoot pictures on the self timer. It will work better. Natalee really enjoy this sliding bar. She did the sliding herself. However, she was a little too eager to let go at the end. Luckily someone was always there to help out. Jesse and I decided that we have eaten more hotdogs this summer (maybe even this month) than we did in the past 10+ years combined. We never ate hotdogs before kids unless we were camping-- and not even at every camping trip (mountain pies are better). Perhaps it is time to go on a hotdog ban again! And, maybe introduce mountain pies :)

Last weekend, we traveled to Aunt Bev's house in New Jersey with the other ladies on my mom's side of the family. On Saturday we went to the Turtleback Zoo. Yes, it was extremely hot, but we did not complain :) I was shocked. Natalee rode on a pony all by herself! I thought she would back out at the last second, but she didn't. (Don't the workers look absolutely thrilled to be at work?) We all took a train ride at the zoo. Natalee got some new cowgirl boots from Aunt Bev for her birthday. Here she is sporting them: In the middle of the card game, we decided to make smores. That's right, on the oven! It was much too hot to make a fire outside.

Here is a slideshow of pictures from our time in Michigan. The pictures include playing on the beach, 40 Mile Point Lighthouse, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Fort Michilimackinac, and a birthday party. (You can click on the slideshow to go to my picasa web album and watch a larger view) We stayed at a Graham's family cabin. It was a beautiful cabin built on the shores of Burt Lake. We were so fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to Michigan and meet up with with Jesse's family. It was such a fun time and we got to see some beautiful country!

Natalee 1 day old: 1 year old: 2 years old: 3 years old:

Today, we celebrated Natalee's 3rd birthday with a party -- her second party since we held one for her in Michigan. She was thrilled beyond words to have a birthday party for herself. She had looked forward to it for a long time. We had some marble cupcakes with jello inside and pudding on top. The last present opened..... an inflatable bouncy house and slide from Grammy and Pappy. Oh, what fun this will be! Happy 3rd Birthday to Natalee! We love her so very much. It's hard to believe she is three years old already, yet, it seems like a long time ago, too.

We are back from all of our travels now. Last week, we were in Michigan. I have a lot of pictures that need sorted through right now, but here is a preview of what we did. We took our bikes along and went for a lot of bike rides. Here is Brady's first bike ride where he is on the back of his dad's bike with a helmet on. He did really well! We saw a couple of lighthouses on this trip. We rode bike to this lighthouse, the 40 Mile Point Lighthouse near Rogers City, Michigan. It was a beautiful bike ride that mostly followed the shores of Lake Huron. We also visited Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We learned that we really should have gotten there earlier in the day when the sand was cooler. Brady did not like it when he fell into the hot sand. We still did manage climb the dunes a bit and we built some sand castles. We had a great time with our family. We are thankful for the opportunity we had to visit Burt Lake, Michigan, and stay at the cabin that was built ...

At 8:00 this morning, it was already 84 degrees. Later in the morning it already topped 90. Time to bring out the sprinkler!!! Natalee is very shy about water on head. She got wet, but not completely. Brady thought it was funny to run through! He got soaked. Then, Natalee went "fishing": I'm so grateful for A/C on days and nights like these :)

A few weeks ago, Brady turned 15 months old. Today he had his 15 month appointment. He came in at 21 pounds, 2 ounces (10th percentile) and 32 1/2 inches (75th percentile). He is a healthy little boy! Although you can't really compare the two kids, at 15 months Natalee weighed in at a mighty 20 lbs. 12 oz (20th percentile), and she measured nearly a giant at 32 1/4 inches (95th percentile). So, I think they are kind of similar. A little bit taller and a little bit leaner :) It is amazing to think that Brady is now approximately the age that Natalee was when we moved into this house!

These pictures are from our weekend at St Pete Beach, Florida. We went for my cousin Deron's wedding. I could not decide what pictures to blog about, so I put them all on this Picasa Web Album Slideshow. Enjoy!