Lake Jean

Summer fun on a lake up north. We were blessed with beautiful weather and the perfect place to sit and read and watch the kids play in the sand and water. We basically sat all day and enjoyed each others company. Shooting pictures of the kids and soaking in the sun.

We *heart* LaGarde's! Weekend Fun at the Cabin.

Our favorite place and some of our favorite people. What a great combo!
The kids loved spending so much time together (until they didn't).

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

We are so lucky that we have such an amazing place to retreat to. Matt's parent's cabin is like heaven on earth. Great food, great friends..... perfect views of God's wonderful creation. Nothing to do but read, talk and take hikes in the wood. The pups get depressed when we bring them home, as do we. I hope that we can continue to make memories at this cabin as the kiddos get older. It's so fun to hear about Matt running around here as a little guy and now he gets to share the same experiences with his little girls.

Why does washing the car always turn into this?

Best Buddy Portraits

Girls Mountain Weekend

Aubrey enjoying her "coffee" on the porch.

Leah playing in the sand at Lake Jean

Mountain sunset

Strawberry Picking

So often I fill my days with things that include other people. A play date here an outing there. I find myself more involved with talking to the other mom then actually spending time with my kids. I leave feeling like, wow.... I took them to "such and such" and I don't think I paid attention to them at all. That's a horrible thing to admit, but hey, that's life.
I have been trying more often to find things to do where it is just US. We headed out to Weaver's Orchard for strawberry picking early in the season. There were so many strawberries we basically planted ourselves in one place and just picked around us. Mostly we ate what we picked, but what made it home we devoured that night. No jamming for us.

Black Forest Trail

Without children... four days in the woods. Not really the way a normal girl wants to spend her birthday, but I was with Matt (by myself....sort of, we had the dogs). I had taken a couple of days off near my birthday to go to a conference, but it fell through. Decided instead to head out to the Black Forest Trail (the PA Grand Canyon). Amazing weather and hiking for a few days, just us. I did come out a little worse for wear, quarter sized blisters on my heals made things a little rough but all in all such a great time to spend together.

Little Girls at Longwood

Want to draw some attention. Show up at Longwood with four little girls in pink and white dresses. We decided to take advantage of the scenery and try to get some pictures of Ashley's girls and mine in their Sunday best. Thankfully, we were smart enough to bring a change of clothes for the fountains and another for the ride home. (That's three stinkin' outfits in one day!)
The girls ran from place to place barely giving us enough time to get some shots.

Springton Manor Farm

Looking back I think we have had one of the best spring and summer yet! We had so many days out in the sunshine it felt strange to be inside on any given day. I am not looking forward to the rainy, chilly days that are to come this fall and winter. My kids LOVE being outdoors. We are lucky to live in such a great area.... where creeks, farms, gardens and parks are everywhere.