Water Slide

To try something new, the kids set up their slip 'n slide at the end of the slide on their swing set. They had a blast sliding down and getting wet at the bottom.

Ellie

Paige mostly ran laps around the yard

Emmaline takes a break

Jacob thought this would make a funny picture...he was right!

Wegerzyn Gardens

We met our friends from home group at Wegerzyn Gardens today. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a great time running around together.

Playing tag in one of the children's gardens

Noah and Jacob in the play house

Emmaline loved playing in the waterfall

The Girls
Kaiya, Emma, Ellie, and Madilyn

Dragons Exhibit at Boonshoft

Our local children's museum has a dragons exhibit that the kids wanted to see, so we went today. There were lots of things about knights, castles, princesses and of course, dragons. They even had some real dragons you could look at. Nathan heads back to work tonight, so this was a good end to his vacation.

Ellie made a castle out of blocks

Emmaline was excited about everything she saw

Jacob with a frilled dragon

Princess Emmy

Knight Ellie

Prince Jacob

Music Mania

Ellie went to Music Mania today at church. Emmaline was too young, and Jacob was too old, so it was nice to spend some alone time with the middle child. She had a great time playing with her friends and learning different things about music.

Singing "This Little Light of Mine" with Emma and Gwynn

Playing drums

Look at the guitar she made

Trying out her new rain stick

Family Bike Ride

Today we took a family bike ride. We had a picnic lunch and then biked 8 miles on a nice trail between Xenia and Yellow Springs. It was over 90 degrees, so we initially stopped at a McDonald's on the way back for ice cream. Everyone was so hungry though that we ended up eating a full meal and then coming home for dessert. The kids had a lot of fun, I just need to figure out some way to hook the girls' trailer on Nathan's bike...although I guess I burn more calories hauling around an extra 70 lbs.!

Emmaline is really enjoying playgrounds this year

Ellie and Jacob at lunch
(Why can't they always get along this well?)

Nathan

Mommy and the Girls
(I know everyone is jealous of my super cool helmet!)

Jacob

Slip and Slide

We got the kiddie pool and slip 'n slide out for the kids this week. They have really been enjoying them.

Jacob, pool-side

Action shot of Ellie

Cheese!

This is great!

Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant

On the way home from Tennessee, we like to stop at the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant. The food is great (the portions are HUGE!) and they have really yummy apple fritters and apple butter. We enjoyed a good meal and then headed for Ohio. It was kind of sad leaving the mountains, but we have many wonderful memories from our trip.

Emmaline and Mommy
(Can you tell the someone is tired of being strapped in?!)

Jacob, Aunt Katie, and Ellie

Andy and Nathan

Dad, Mom, and Andy

Greenbriar Trail - take 2

After dinner tonight, we hiked the Greenbriar Trail one last time. It is our new favorite trail in the Smokies...lots of shade, lots of river, and not a lot of people. We enjoyed this last hike together before we head home tomorrow. We even came across an old family cemetery and some deer on the trail.

Jacob, all geared up to hike
Ellie taking a rest

Jacob and Aunt Katie enjoy a quiet moment in the middle of the river

Mom collecting rocks from the riverbed
Daddy and Jacob wading

Rock Band

One of the highlights of this vacation was playing Rock Band together. It was usually girls (Katie, me, and my niece, Marleigh) against the boys (Andy, Andy, and Nathan) and we held quite the competition. Sometimes we even let the younger kids play, but their scores didn't count!

The Girls

The Boys

Ellie on drums

Emmy practicing for her first rock concert

Jacob on guitar

Happy 30th Birthday, Katie!

Although it isn't officially until tomorrow, we celebrated my sister's 30th birthday tonight. Mom made chicken pot pie (our traditional birthday dinner) and a delicious cake. We ate, she opened presents, and we enjoyed our last night having everyone together. Good times!

Jacob, Aunt Katie, and Ellie

We gave her the necklace she is wearing and "13 going on 30"

Presents!

Make a wish!