Mulberry Street

It was time to move the boys in together and give Genevieve her own room. I had planned out the rooms throughout the summer, with the goal to make the move before school began.  However, the last week of summer arrived and I hadn't done a thing, so I dropped everything (my house is a wreck!) and I tackled the project.  Before This blue room served as a nursery for Emory and then Benjamin for four years.  But, it was time for the blue to go.  Genevieve decided that we needed to paint the walls purple.  So we did!  After The curtains served as our color palette.  We found an expandable day bed with drawers underneath so we could eliminate a dresser.  We moved in a used bookshelf and piled on all of Genevieve's stuff (she has a lot!) and then hung up a canopy for fun.  The daybed expands to fit another twin mattress and the kids are already fighting over who is going to sleepover with them when our next visitors arrive....

We packed a picnic lunch, which we ate in Eric's office, while watching funny cat videos on YouTube.  Then we walked along the waterfront while eating the treats Daddy's office provided.  It was a great date!

Our camp out went so well last weekend that we thought, why not go again and press our luck?!  And, instead of staying just one night, we thought we'd stay for two nights. As the weekend approached and the forecast included rain - every day - we questioned our impulsive decision. But, rain is part of camping...right?

We were lucky to have friends join us on our annual trip to the Water Mine Family Swimmin' Hole. I believe the only reason Genevieve participates in the library summer reading program is to earn a pass to this pool. Our visit was made possible with the help of great friends and the Ergo Carrier.   I put Benjamin in the Ergo and he went down the slides with us! He splashed in the lazy river and when he finally expressed his fatigue, we called it quits. These two weirdos had fun swimming with friends. Pretty sure they only needed me around to give them food.  It was great to see their confidence in swimming grow after dragging them to so many lessons. Sophie was a good sport letting Genevieve and Emory tag along .  There are advantages and disadvantages to being the biggest kid around...  And I had fun with my friends too!  Thanks Deanne and Eliza for making the day splendid! PS - I stole this photo from Eliza because she took off before I r...

A summer hike with Deanne, Sophie, Truman and Archer.     Photo credits also go to Deanne who hauled her nice camera along.  I'm barely toting my camera phone with me these days...

This little one doesn't seem so little anymore. Even Emory remarked how Benjamin was getting to be a big boy! We enjoy him so very much. Ben has twelve teeth (four of which are molars), he likes to put his head down and wait for someone to somersault him over, and he jabbers nonstop. Ben loves to play and interact with his siblings and cries angrily when they leave a room. He especially loves climbing into Emory's bed to snuggle and playing peek-a-boo with Genevieve. Benjamin is busy too. He crawls and jumps and dances and climbs and stands. He just doesn't walk...yet.