Kenton's parents are too old and achy to carry him on their shoulders very often. Luckily, he has strapping young cousins to do that sort of thing.

Em enjoyed riding the carousel with Granny

Apparently it's easier to get your kids to look at the camera when they get a little older. I guess that's something to look forward to.

Edward and the kiddos spent most of last week in Gatlinburg with Edward's family. Being in a new job, I have no vacation time yet so I was here. Alone. The peace and quiet was nice for a couple of hours, but it was driving me crazy by Sunday! They had a great trip and I'll get some more pictures posted soon. This one of Kenton and Granny is one of my favorites.

One year ago...my big boy was just a chubby little baby who could barely climb into his bed!

Kenton, sweaty and happy, on Saturday's hike

We did so much fun stuff this weekend! I had to work Saturday, so I had Friday off. We started out the day with about a two-mile hike at Clifton Gorge, then we were all hungry so we headed up to Young's Dairy for some lunch. After eating, we fed the goats and then got ice cream. Kenton also had a great time playing in the sprinkler for one of the flower beds that was a little out of whack and spraying all over the sidewalk. He (and several other kids) found it was a great place to cool off.

Saturday while I was working, Edward and the kids had another great hike at the Indian Mound Reserve. They even saw a snake! After I got off work, we saw our friend David and his son Noah, who had gone to the Dayton Air Show. Since it was a convenient place to meet up, we wound up going back to Young's. After eating, the guys all played a game of putt-putt golf while Emery and I walked around the grounds.

This morning, Kenton and I went to a 10:00am showing of Thomas' Great Adventure. It was the first time he'd been to a movie theater and he did really well. The movie was a little over an hour and half and he was quite well-behaved. He really loved movie popcorn, too. After the movie ended, we had lunch together and then went to a bookstore which had a Thomas train table. He didn't want to leave, despite the fact that he has a train table at home, but I eventually persuaded him to.

Overall, it was a great weekend! Unfortunately, both the kids (and maybe both the parents) seem to be coming down with a cold. Emy has been suffering the most, but hopefully we'll all kick it in a couple of days.

Kenton talks about his ice cream cone at Young's Dairy

Visiting with David on Saturday evening

Kenton enjoying the view at Indian Mound Reserve Park on Saturday morning

The park of the day was Dayton's Cox Arboretum, which was hosting a Butterfly Festival. We didn't actually take in many of the festival sights because there were lines and Kenton, like most almost 3 year olds, is not patient. However, the park was huge and absolutely beautiful and we spent a couple of hours exploring there. The day was just perfect for being outside--temps in the 80s, a nice breeze, and lots of sunshine. I tried my best to get a picture of a butterfly, but had no luck. I think the children I was with might have had something to do with that. The best I could do was to get a bug of some sort on a flower, but I think it made for a nice picture. Although we scared all the butterflies away, Kenton did get to see an earthworm and a little frog, and he thought that was very cool.

Edward and the kids went to Clifton Gorge about a week ago and Kenton has been begging to go back ever since. Earlier in the week we told him we would go today, and I was really looking forward to getting to see it, too. We got there and had walked for about 5 minutes before the rain started. We kept walking when it was just drizzling but it picked up pretty fast, so we hightailed it back to the car. To say Kenton was disappointed would be a real understatement.

Since we were already out and about, we decided to go to the mall and take advantage of their free play space. Kenton played and ran and jumped for over an hour. Edward sat with him and Emery and I got to do some shopping. By the time we left Kenton was so tired he asked to be carried to the car. Even thought our original plans got rained out, I'd say it was a good day.

Kenton has started sleeping in the floor. We're not sure why. At first we'd just find him down there with no cover or pillow when we went in to check on him before we retired for the evening, but now he tells us that he wants to sleep in the floor. So we fix his pillow and Thomas blankie and stuffed animals and books and tuck him in down int he floor. At least this house has carpet instead of hardwood floors.

Baby girl tried blueberries for the first time last night and LOVED them! We made blueberry pancakes and she meticulously picked out and ate the blueberries, leaving the pancakes behind. She loves pancakes, so this was really saying something.

Papaw feeding Emy, who ate like she hadn't seen food in about three weeks. We really do feed her at home, but you wouldn't think so from the way she ate. Maybe food tastes better at Nana & Papaw's.

Horsing around with Daddy and Nana

Kenton and Papaw checking out the green beans

Nana & Papaw with our kiddos and cousin Connor

We went to Nana & Papaw's for the 4th of July and had a great time. We didn't tell Kenton we were going until the day before, which was a good thing because he was so excited. He didn't sleep very well the night before and only napped about ten minutes on the way there. He held up pretty well until around 8:00 that night, though. He had a great time playing out in the back yard and learned the fine art of hanging upside down on the swing set rails.