still-wish-we-were-there

It has been a crazy week coming back to piles of work at both my jobs. Whew! Here are some more beach photos. My brother-in-law Brian (yes, he's that large) giving my nephew Kaleb a shoulder ride...Myles and Cullen sharing some cousin love while my folks look on...and the Hendler-Voss family in the ocean (minus Junie). Good times. In the last week or so, Myles has started this new thing where he twirls the hair on top of my head as he falls asleep. It's like being baptized by a baby every night, I love it. Tomorrow will be the day of the avocado. We'll let you know how he likes it. At the urging of friends, I bought a used copy of Super Baby Foods and have quickly realized it's the Bible of baby food. I'm tearing through it, and would highly recommend it to others. This weekend is the Bele Chere festival in Asheville. There are lots of shows I'd like to see, Rusted Root for one, but it's just too loud for Myles and Seth has to sell tickets in the evening. I do think we'll take Myles to the Billy Jonas show, who does kids music. I've heard really great things about him.

Beautiful Isle of Palms

We're back. Isle of Palms was beautiful and hot, muggy and an adventure! We stayed in a beach house with my folks, my sister's family, and my brother's family. It was a little cramped, and Seth and I got flooded out of our bedroom on the last night due to a wild storm, but it definitely served its purpose. The pool behind the house was like bath water, and Myles enjoyed some time paddling around in his new, shady crab float. Check him out in his orange swimsuit (with millions of layers of invisible suntan lotion). I think he could be in a commercial. We made it to the beach nearly every day. Myles got used to falling asleep for the evening in his stroller as we strolled down the sidewalk or beach, listening to the ocean. No jelly fish stings or shark encounters, though I did spot one jelly fish washed up on the shore. It made me think of poor Karson who was stung so badly all those years ago on our ASP beach trip! The final photo is of all the cousins. My sister's son, Kaleb, is the blond. The other baby is Cullen, who turns one this week, and his older brother is Ashton...both my brother's boys, and they have a third boy due in October. Whew! We learned quickly that living with four kids is not a quiet affair, especially in the evenings. Myles caught a cold just before they left (someone told me that's Murphy's Law for kids) and proceeded to spread it to every single person on the trip. It's still hanging on (like the sticky boogies coming out of his nose) and I hope it will go away soon. We'll write more about our trip and post more photos soon! We had a great time, and it was a gift (as always) to be at the beach and witness the amazing ocean. Myles liked digging his fingers and toes into the sand mud. Ooh, and we also gave him his first solid food at the beach, a gruel-looking rice cereal that he sucked right down.

Pajama Jammie Jam

Yesterday, we celebrated Tom's birthday (Myles' Godfather) by driving south on the Blue Ridge Parkway over Mount Pisgah and hiking back along the river to a spot where we all hung out for a few hours, eating sushi and--yes--homemade icecream cookie sandwiches. Claire and Lydia played in the river, though it was super cold, actually everyone aside from Myles and I went in, including the exhilirated Juniper (she's a river dog). Here's a photo of Seth hiking with Myles as the sun was going down.

The other photo is of Myles in his pajamas. He looks great in yellow. This little chair we got way back at our baby shower from a friend of my folks, and he now sits in it for a few moments at a time, grabbing the arms and looking quite proud.

He's a redhead!

It's been too long since the last post...a busy few weeks we've had. On the 4th of July we went to our next door neighbor's house for an outdoor gathering of her extended family and lots of meaty food (Seth liked that, I enjoyed the coconut pie!), then we went to a church family's farm for good vegetarian food and a black plastic slip and slide for kids and adventurous adults...guess which adult slipped and slid in our family??? He has bruises to prove it. Myles and I fell asleep just as the fireworks started. Juniper, on the other hand, had to get some love from Seth, she was very freaked out by the noisy fireworks. My folks came for a visit on Friday, and that's where these lovely photos come from. We went with them to the farmers market on Saturday, and it was awesome! I hadn't been there in years, and Seth had never been. We got some juicy peaches, beautiful corn on the cob, and fresh bread. We might try to make a pit stop there on our way to the beach to get our produce for the trip...that way it's local, fresh, and cheap! We leave for the beach on Saturday, and will be in Isle of Palms for a week with my folks, my sister's family, and my brother's family. 4 boys (ages 3 and under), two pregnant mamas (I'm not one of them!), and two dogs (one with no eyes...poor old Tasha!). It will be lots of fun. We've been jokingly wondering if all of us can survive a week in one large beach house...I'll let you know how it turns out. I preached this morning, which seems to tire me out more than a typical Sunday, so I'm eager to head to bed. Seth is building bookshelves in Myles' room for the crazy number of books he has. Hope all of you are well!