Quassy in CT

Another CT summer tradition - Quassy with the cousins! Gage was riding everything - even the BIG roller coaster!!

Long Meadow Pond

I love love love New Englank lakes :-)

Extra bonus for having the ice cream man show up!

CT trip - birthday bashes!

It was a short one, but a good one.

We started out with a few birthdays celebrations. First just with Grammy and Grandpa the day we arrived .

The next morning, we had to make cupcakes to get ready for his party, which was the next day.

Next up...party time! The kids swam and played with the cousins

Next up...a darth Vader pinata

And...cake 

Presents

A walk out to the cows

And a game of pie face!

Brew week

It was Ohio brew week last week, which meant that all the breweries hosted events. Since Athens is a very family friendly town, we went to Little Fish brewery with the kids. After the kids played with the Rising Appalachian Warriors group doing dodge ball and foam sword fighting, we grabbed a board game and and played. 

It was a hot day, so cold beer (and cold home-brewed ginger ale for the kids) hit thr spot!

Dune buggy

Gage got a dune buggy for his birthday from Grandma and Gramdpa Rapp. Today, he finally got the chance to test it out. 

We did establish some rules. Always wear a helmet. Always be very responsible. No screwing around or doing anything stupid. No one can run after the dune buggy while someone is driving it. No driving it on the hill - ever. No driving like a crazy person. Always pay attention so you don't drive it into the pool like your dad did when he was a kid. Always turn it off when you're finished. Always plug it back in when finished. He agreed and said see you later alligator...and took off!

He was yelling "Gage is in the HOUSE" while he tore around the yard. 

Stinker

Early in the morning, a skunk decided to visit our yard. But, Mr. stinky pants did not want to leave the yard, and kept coming closer to the house. Pepper REALLY wanted to go outside to go potty. So, we decided that we would scare the skunk away by starting the leaf blower. He was not scared. Well, he did fall over once. Adam chased him out of the yard armed with a pool pole and the leaf blower.

That skunk was the slowest walker ever, but, he finally mosied away down the road...very slowly!

!!!

Double rainbow!

Wow! These pictures don't do the double rainbow justice! Beautiful!

Comic convention

Daddy wanted to check out a comic convention, so the family tagged along. While dad checked out comic books, we played in the kids area.

Dad eventually joined is - to pose as captain America 

Serpent mound

This has been on the to-do list since last year. Yesterday. We checked it off the list.

Serpent Mound is an earthwork build by Indians 2000 years ago. It's a long mound shaped like a serpent, and it aligns (at many places) with special events like the sunrise/sunset of summer Equinox/solstice, etc.  it doesn't look like much when you are walking alongside it.

But from above, it's impressive. 

You can't even see the whole thing from his tower. Here's another view of what it looks like from far above:

Love when there's cool history so close to home!

Yard camp-out!

Let me just say this...camping out in the yard is much nicer in Ohio than it is in sweltering hot Alabama. 

Fledgling

We have been watching our little fledging learn how to fly. She half-flew from the hanging pot where her nest is to the chestnut tree, only to fall on the ground and sort of fly to the swing. She sat there peeping for about an hour. 

Savannah couldn't take it anymore, so she went out to visit, with a promise not to touch the birdie.

She somehow made it back to the best, but we didn't see her leave the nest for a few days. Apparently that excursion was a bit much!

A few days later, though, she was stumble-flying around the front porch. We went outside to sit on the step, and this happened.

We spent about 40 minutes with this little cutie. 

And then she made her way back to her nest...

Where she hung out with her sister.

The next day, both these cuties were gone!! We keep hoping that we see them again. It was so neat to watch this whole process. We saw mama and daddy building the nest, we saw them grow up, and watched them learn to fly. It seemed like such a special thing to watch :-)

Boogie on the bricks

Boogie on the bricks was HOT this year. 

While dad and Jess drank beer, we made giant bubbles, made paper dragon crafts...

Then the kids and Jess got henna tattoos. Unfortunately....we also went in the pool that night. So...henna tattoos washed right off!!

Monster cupcakes

Another "summer to do" was making mister cupcakes. Check!!

Venus fly traps

Our friend Kathleen is studying plants and trees at OU, and she works in te university greenhouse. She invited us to help feed the Venus flytraps one day. Although the kiddos were a little nervous about handling maggots (that's their food), they had a blast. And, the maggots were so tiny they weren't even gross!