A new cousin

There has been a miracle in the Elmer family. Casey's brother and his wife have been trying to adopt for quite a while and about a week ago their family was blessed with the addition of this perfect little boy. They didn't have much notice, but they all seem to be adjusting well and we are all so very happy to have baby Calvin in the clan. You can tell from the picture that Benji is going to make an excellent big brother, he's already a pro. We are all excited to meet Calvin when they come up for Malerie's wedding. Just seeing the pictures makes me baby hungry!

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that...

The Elmer's have a really cool trampoline. They dug a big huge hole and plopped their trampoline right into it, so the trampoline mat is right at ground level. It's great. Easy on, easy off. They have loved playing on it, but Maya sprained her ankle the other day and Dr. Jeff said "No trampoline for two weeks". She was not too happy about that, but I was just glad it wasn't broken (I broke my ankle on our trampoline when I was a teenager). The neighbor kids taught them a game where one person lays on the trampoline with their eyes closed, and everyone else walks around them singing "Dead man, dead man, come alive before I count to the number five. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, come alive." Then the 'dead man' jumps up with his eyes closed and tries to tag someone, then they get to be the new 'dead man'.

Miles doesn't play "Dead Man" but he likes to have his turn on the trampoline also. He mostly just craws on and off, often getting stuck in the springs. He sure is a sweetie. He likes being outside so much that he's skipped his second nap twice this week (aagghh). He's also gotten up to 8 steps in a row now.

The weather has really been beautiful the last few days. We've been able to play and work in the yard. The kids enjoyed helping Grammy plant flowers, and we've even played a little baseball. I'm taking yet another photography class, and was experimenting when I took the baseball pics, unfortunately they didn't turn out well, but lucky for me I got some outside pictures in automatic mode. Hopefully the mistakes will be worth it in the end and I'll be better off for it.

Maya lost yet another tooth (this makes three since we've been here). This tooth was lost a little before his time. Maya was spinning around on a drum stool and got to spinning so fast she slung herself off and landed tooth first on a nearby table corner. It busted her lip and popped that tooth right out. She was not too happy about it, but she got $5.00 from the tooth fairy. I guess the tooth fairy pays extra for trauma. I'm not sure how related to the fall it is, but she has two more wiggly teeth now. Before we leave here she may be completely toothless!

This little boy sure loves his daddy (I know, what's not to love).

Porter and Bennett finally got haircuts. We couldn't find clippers, so Peggy cut their hair with scissors. She did a great job, but I'm glad I have clippers. She didn't even have a comb! I don't think I have the patience to cut their hair with scissors alone.

Bennett loves digging in the sandbox. He has another game he loves here. It's called 'Tea Party'. There is this little table downstairs with a small pink tea set, and it's one of his favorite things to do. I'll try to get a few pictures of him playing 'Tea Party' next time (I'm sure he'll want to see that when he gets a little older).





Two kids that live up the hill came over to play on the trampoline and they brought their two huge Labradoodles. Maya was in HEAVEN. She thought they were great and had so much fun chasing them around.

Doesn't Miles look smart?

A few more sandbox shots.


Maya, being the sweet girl that she is, decided to share her sucker with Mr. Miles. He loved it, and didn't want to let Maya have it back.

Can you see the panic in his face? He's thinking "GIVE THAT BACK"!

A brief overview

When we first got here, we were afraid the whole summer would be spent in front of the TV. It was cold and rainy, but we got out a little and had a lot of fun.

There is a park right down the hill from the Elmer's house, so we rode our bikes down there and played. The kids had a blast!


This handy little blue contraption is attached to Casey's bike and we can pull two kids along in it. Bennett LOVES it. He calls it the 'Rolly-Coaster' and he holds his arms in the air as he is pulled along. Miles likes it too, but he was napping at this time, so Maya got a turn in the 'blue rocket'.

Peggy collected all these big cardboard boxes, so the kids made a fort and slept in the fort (in the garage) three night straight. We finally had to put our foot down and tell they they had to sleep in the house.

They don't seem to mind being in the house when there are fun people to 'nuggle' with.

Mr. Miles

Miles is changing so much. He's still a very squeezable smooch-able baby, but he's started standing from a sitting position, and has even taken up to three steps. He's eating much more human food (haha), and loves crawling around outside. He claps all the time (when I go in to get him out of his crib he claps for me), and he loves to dance (it's especially cute when he shimmys his shoulders). My only complaint is that the time is just going by too fast. Before I know it, he'll be a toddler and we will once again be baby-less, at least I'll have these cute pictures to look back on.

On the Road Again...

I wanted to be sure to include this cute little fox cub (I know it doesn't totally fit in with this post, but whatever). My parents live in a really nice neighborhood, and a few months ago they discovered a foxes den down the street. It was quite the exciting event when several fox cubs were found to be living there. My mom posted a video of them walking around and barking, but by the time we got there they were a little more cautious. I was afraid I would not get to see them, but one day we happened to drive by the den and this little guy was sunning himself. I had my camera so I snapped a few pictures of him!

About a week after Brad and Jessica's wedding we piled back into the van (not fully recovered from our 18 hour drive from Cambridge to Louisville), and headed for Spokane Washington (a 30 some hour drive) where we will spend the summer (if we're not kicked out before then). We broke the drive into three days and two hotel stays (WOO HOO) and got to see some really cool stuff, unfortunately the kids were glued to the TV and missed all the cool stuff along the way. I would try to point things out to them, but Bennett would miss whatever I was telling them to look at and spend the next 20 minutes whining "I not see it"...

I didn't think to take pictures of everything, but I got a shot of the St. Louis ARCH, a great sunset in some state I don't remember (probably Montana), and several pictures of the Mountains of Washington. You gotta admit it's "It's own sort of pretty".

Splish Splash

We had a few days where it was nice enough to swim while we were visiting Nana and Grampy. The water was a little chilly, but when did that stop kids from splashing around? They had a blast. I'm always curious how well they will be able to swim after a whole winter of not swimming, but they continue to amaze me with their daring and retention.

Bennett is at that age where he loves the pool, but doesn't realize that the floaties are the ONLY reason he doesn't sink. One time he walked through the gate and jumped right into the pool. Luckily we were watching and Casey grabbed him real quick, but even the dunking didn't scare him too much.

There is something HILARIOUS about kids in goggles. They just look so stinkin' cute. Check out Addie totally ready to go in her goggles, floaties, and swim tube. Too bad she never actually got in the water (maybe it would have washed some of that dirt off her face).

What a good Daddy to help Maya get some floaties on...

What a MEAN DAD to push her into the pool!

I remember last year the FAVORITE thing was to slide down the slide bare butt naked (they say it makes you go faster), this year everyone stayed clothed, but the slide was still lots of fun. Isn't Porter GORGEOUS!

I thought Bennett wouldn't swim much because the water was so cold, but he really loved it. He just puttered around with this cute little grin on his face. I love that kid (of course, I love all of them).

They all ganged up on Casey and pushed him into the pool, but the hooligans weren't satisfied with that, they wanted to hunt bigger game. After being told to get out of the pool, they combined their forces, and tossed a completely clothed Grampy into the pool (wasn't Grampy nice to humor them?). I think I was too busy worrying that Grampy's cell phone (which (unbeknown to me) he had taken out of his pocket in preparation for the attack) was ruined to snap any pictures.

Casey, what kind of face is this? Are you doing a sexy Gene Simmons impersonation?