Mae Mae tries ice cream!!!

While in Nappanee, we visited Dairy Queen for some cool treats (b/c our most beloved ice cream place, The Chief, was closed......grrrr......). Anyway, we let Mae Mae try some ice cream. She would scrunch up her face like she was in so much pain and then she would want more. So funny. I guess the ice cream was a little too cold for her liking!

Summer Vacation--part 2

We enjoyed getting to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Detwiler at Greencroft Healthcare Facility in Goshen. The kids enjoyed meeting the resident cat and rabbit. We spent a few afternoons in Meemaw and Papa's backyard in a baby pool they had purchased for our use. The girls wore matching swimsuits........super cute. One evening, we were invited to visit with friends on the lake in Syracuse. We swam and had a cook out and took a boat ride. Niko and Ella were little fish. They wore their life jackets and had a big fun time. Niko jumped off the pier over and over. Ella would float and "swim" and jump off the pier if you held her hands. The boat ride was very fun but very busy. I held a very wiggly and uncomfortable Mae......she was wearing a life jacket that was very safe but very bulky. Lenn kept track of Ella and Niko who kept wanting to try out different parts of the boat while I kept wanting them to sit still!! We did get back to the dock in one piece and our kids are still talking about the great day we spent at the lake.

Summer Vacation--part 1

We had a great vacation in Nappanee in July. We drove up to Nappanee on July 2 and came home on July 10. Meemaw and Papa Carl took great care of us and had a full house for that week. Papa's birthday was on July 2 so we celebrated with a birthday dinner and cake (with lots of candles!! O.k., actually there were only 7....). We went to the Buffalo Chip Stew Festival on July 3 and had a blast (Niko's word!). Ella and Niko fished and Niko spent hours running around with cousin Colin. Ella told Papa that she wanted to fish all night. She loved it!!!

Mae is 9 months old!!

O.k., as of today she's actually much closer top 10 months old but I haven't been able to blog in awhile due to some major computer malfunctions. So, better late than never......

Miss Mae continues to be such a joy. She is so busy crawling, climbing the stairs, pulling up on everything and cruising around the furniture. She doesn't say any words yet........I'm still anxiously awaiting the first "ma ma ma" to come out of her mouth. We love her so much!!

Canal Walk Pictures (Pt. 2)

Canal Walk Pictures (Pt. 1)

Yesterday was a beautiful day in our city. We rested after church and then took the family downtown to play at the Canal Walk. This part of our city is such an interesting area of art, open green spaces, water, museums and people. The big kids climbed rocks, looked at flowers, played chase inside and around 2 amazing sculptures, collected roly-polies, watched kites and had an all-around great time. Mae just sat in the grass and took it all in.

I see a baby in a field of flowers......

Over Memorial Day weekend, Meemaw and Papa Carl took us to a beautiful patch of flowers growing wild in Nappanee. We took the opportunity to grab some sweet pictures of our kiddos.....