Hannah's First Camping Trip

A couple of weekends ago we took Hannah on her first camping trip. We just went for one night up Santiam Pass. We all had a great time. Calla thought camping was so much fun, she had not been camping since she was about Hannah's age. We also went on a short hike. Calla loves hiking!

Calla had us pretending to be monkey's while we were hiking. Here she is hiding in the trees.

Happy Hannah hanging out at the campsite.

Hannah loved riding in the backpack!

Roasting marshmallows with our friend Brock.

Hannah even rode with mom for a little while.

Playing in the stream by the campsite.

Hannah was pretty worn out after one night camping and a short hike. Here are the girls right before heading home.

Planting Sunflowers

We decided not to plant a garden this year (two small kids, Scott traveling, a yard of weeds) but I did promise Calla we would plant some flowers. So now that we are back from vacation Calla and I got to the work of planting. Calla picked out sunflowers to plant and we planted them next to our three free tomatoes from a co-worker. Calla very proud of her seeds before we got to work.

Calla took lots and lots of care placing each seed.

She then carefully covered each seed with a little dirt.

It was amazing to watch her taking the small seeds from my hand with her little fingers.

Calla also watered her seeds and the tomatoes when we were done. What a great helper!

Vacation Part 2

The second part of our vacation took place on Myrtle Beach, SC, with all of my family. There were 26 people sharing two condos for one week and we had a BLAST! We are the only part of the family that does not live in OH, but Calla did not miss a step playing with her cousins that she had not seen in a year.

There were holes to dig in the sand.

"Walks" on the beach!

Sand castles to build.

Sand and seashells to eat.

and waves to enjoy. Unfortunately the kids were not super found of the ocean. We spent most of the week in the pool, but did have a few short visits to the waves.

Both girls really loved the pool and by the end of the week Calla was a little fish.

Vacation - Part I

We just returned from a wonderful vacation to the East Coast. We got to visit with lots and lots of family and had a wonderful time. Calla made lots of new friends and referred to everyone she met as her "new friend".
The first part of our trip brought us to Washington DC and MD to visit my wonderful cousin Pepper and her two wonderful children Grant and Anna. Calla and Grant were like long lost best friends. Pepper and I spent so much time playing together as children it was really great to see our children playing together like best friends.

Pepper lives very close to a wonderful park so we spend one morning running around after the kids. Scott had lots of fun, but would have prefered a little less humidity.

The afternoons were spent keeping cool by playing with the water table.

Calla has developed a great imagination and had Grant playing house with her. Calla was the mommy and Grant was her baby.

We did venture outside one afternoon to a local petty farm. Again Calla and Grant were side by side exploring all of the animals.

Anna and Hannah also had some fun together.

We were able to get a quick group photo. Thanks Pepper for a Great Visit!