Day 7: Life at the Lake

On Friday, we just took it easy at the house. Zac took Simon for a canoe ride in the morning. In the evening, Taesen and Tony and Kaelyn and Braeden came over.

Day 6: Independence Day at Apple Valley

For the Fourth of July, we went to a family reunion at Uncle Todd and Aunt Heidi's new house at Apple Valley.  The house was gorgeous with great views of the lake. I was able to visit with assorted cousins and relatives, while the kids enjoyed the water. Simon spent much of the time swimming.

Alice with Christian and Rachel's daughter, Eleanor.

Simon turned out to be quite adept a kayaking.

We all had a chance, at various times, to cruise around the lake on the speedboat.

Here is a picture that makes me happy. My cousin Christian, who I used to babysit, and our daughters.

We had a great time and our kids didn't want to leave. We got home too late to attend any fireworks.

Day 5: Ashville-->Airport-->Grove City-->Mansfield

On Wednesday morning, we bid farewell to Cam and Don.

Then we headed to the airport to pick up my brother around 10:30. Then we drove to Taesen's and had lunch with her and the kids and hung out for a bit. Tener mostly slept on the couch because he'd gotten up at 3:30 that morning to fly in from Austin. We took a brief excursion to the park, where Kaelyn and Alice biked around the pond several times, while Zac and Simon explore and Taesen and I chatted.

Later that afternoon, we drove up to Mansfield. Simon wanted to do archery right away. As will all things he takes and interest in, he was obsessed and kept working at it. It is so impressive to see him try to master a skill.

Day 4: Hocking Hills & Cam's Birthday

On Tuesday, we went to Hocking Hills. I can remember going to Old Man's Cave as a kid and absolutely loving it. In college, when we were dating, we'd go hiking at Hocking Hills and that's even where Zac proposed. So it was really cool to finally bring our kids to this sacred place in southern Ohio.

We started out at the Old Man's Cave area. It wasn't too crowded, but there were lots of people there.

After exploring the Old Man's Cave trails, we had lunch near Conkles Hollow. We ate at a picnic table under a tree while it rained. After lunch, Zac took the kids to experience the nearby cornfield. For the rest of the trip, Simon would point out every "corn patch" we passed.

For our second hike, we headed to the climbing and rappelling area near Conkles Hollow. We didn't see a single other hiker, so it was perfect. It rained just a bit, but the whole time there was rolling thunder in the distance, which provided an awesome soundtrack as we explored the area.

Simon played for a long time in the pool below the waterfall--finding crawdads and trying to build retaining pools.

The kids, (and Cam!), all did great scampering over the rocks and up and down the steep slopes as we searched for hidden caves and crevices. About the only time I feel successful as a parent is when we're outside. At least they can hike and enjoy exploring nature. 

It was a beautiful hiking experience. Both kids fell asleep on the drive back to Cam's.

After supper, Cam opened presents.

Then we all played lawn darts (one of the presents).

Day 3: Country Life

On Monday, we just stayed around the house in the morning. Then Zac and I met Brian for lunch in Grandview, while Cam and Don watched the kids. After supper, Zac and Don assembled the new picnic table we got Cam for her birthday, and we had bedtime snack out there.

We had delicious homemade pancakes with fresh blueberries for breakfast.

The kids busied themselves outside much of the time.

After snack the kids were playing (and fighting) with the giant peice of cardboard from the new picnic table. Alice tried to make a hotdog out of Simon and knocked out his loose front tooth. We couldn't find it in the grass.