CAT!!!!!

Yesterday when I woke up I noticed that Sally was not in the house. Paul was working in the garage last night and the garage door was open. So I was under the assumption that she slipped out while he wasn't looking. I was right. We left the garage cracked all day so that if she made made her way home she could get in the house. I sent a noticed out to the neighborhood asking for people to contact me if they saw her. I waited all day and thoughts (not always good) kept going through my head as to where she could be. When Paul came home we drove around the neighborhood looking for her to no avail. The night went on Maddie went to bed and Paul and I went to bed, I was a in bit of a bad mood, sorry Paul!!! At about 4AM I was awoken by the sounds of a cat crying outside our bedroom windows, I shot from my bed to see what was the matter, went to the back door and turned on the backyard lights, went outside and called her, nothing!! So, to the front porch thinking that maybe when I turned the lights on it spooked her, I called her and she meowed back, after a while she finally came into the house and cried over and over. She has no limps, no scratches, nothing, wherever she was she took care of herself. Now to keep her from running away again!!

Madeline...

Nathan, Kayla, and Emily have gone to Oklahoma to spend the week with the grandparents. They left on Saturday which means Maddie has gone from having 3 siblings to being an only child. She has done pretty well with it all, but misses them especially in the morning and at bedtime. In the morning when we get up she will cry about everything and gets upset when I have to take my 5 minute shower. Normally in the morning they all get up together and will play or watch cartoons, but with Nathan, Kayla and Emily not here she is alone. At bedtime she just does NOT want to go to bed!! Last night Paul was working in the garage I was ironing shirts upstairs and Maddie kept coming out of her bed. I finally gave up and let her be, she got out her baby dolls, blankets, play food and cash register. She has been playing VERY nicely by herself and is good about cleaning her mess, sometimes with help and sometimes by herself. Well, I tried putting her to bed again when I finished the ironing at about 9:45. She came right back out,so I sat up there with her, still awake. Finally at 10:30 I brought her downstairs where she slept in our bed!! I am ready for the kids to be back!

Week 2 of Summer

This was the kids first week with nothing planned, It was OK. They were bored a lot, but I currently have a cold so I am not in best shape to entertain. Between, sneezing, feeling sick and just wanting to fall asleep I feel useless. Nathan has been playing next door A LOT, maybe even too much. The girls however are playing well together, I am going to miss Emily when she goes to pre-school in August, so is Maddie, I will need someone to keep Maddie entertained. I keep meaning to go to the library and get books for Nathan, but I am lacking the energy to load up all the kids and go out. Next week will be better, as long as this cold gets better! If anyone has some ideas for activities with kids let me know!

South Carolina

Aiken, South Carolina~ We arrived to Paul's brother's house on Thursday night where we had a great dinner and enjoyed hanging out. Friday we went fishing, picked wild blackberries, and played with the Wii. Friday morning their cat showed showed up, the kids were super excited to meet Jake and LOVED petting him.

Bird Watching! Look at that Whopper!!! Worms anyone?? Mmmm, wild blackberries!!!

Saturday after a great breakfast we headed out to a plantation where the magnolia trees were at least a hundred years old and the blossoms on the trees as big as your head. There were also ants, Fire ants all over, so we had to be careful where we stepped, but that was not the real problem as the ants were in the trees. When the kids tried to climb and play on the trees they were bit by the ants, Maddie got a good bite between her toes, don't ask!! It was a good morning then we headed into downtown Aiken. Where we walked around and then ate lunch at a local microbrewery. I was told the beer was good, but since I am pregnant, I just had to watch. After lunch it was too hot for anything outside so we went back to the house and played some more Wii.

Sunday after church we had another great breakfast, I must say we had 3 full breakfasts every day we were there. It was rather nice. Mark you are more then welcome to here and cook breakfast every day! After breakfast we loaded up the car and headed off to TX. It was a great visit and I am glad we took the extra time to visit family.

Washington DC

We left Lancaster around noon on Tuesday and headed for DC it should have been 1.5 to 2 hours however 3-4 hours later (traffic) we arrived at our destination. I am a little fuzzy on the times because I was sleeping most of the drive! It was good to get to the hotel and unpack. The only thing was after we unpacked, it was time to head out to see the sights. The museums were all close for the day, but we were able to walk by the White House, Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument. Then we were off to find some food, we ended up at a restaurant close to the hotel where we ate overpriced hamburgers. It was good and I ate too much, but we made it back to hotel and back to bed!

chasing a squirrel

taking a break before the long walk home!

Day 2 began at the Natural History Museum. Hooray for air conditioning!! It was fun to watch the kids in all of the exhibits while the ocean exhibit and the insect area were the hits, it was all fun to see. The ocean exhibit had a lot of fish preserved in jars, which help to make it seem real. It is good to see the dinosaurs and other model animals, but there is something about a real animal. Once finished at the Natural History Museum we continued our walk around the mall and saw the Capitol, Library of Congress, Parliament, and then headed off to the Air and Space Museum. On the way we passed a farmer's market, which was full of people. It was about 2PM at this point, a little late for a farmer's market I thought, but none the less, there they were. I would have liked to have stopped, but it was on the other side of a BUSY street, so we walked on by! After the Air and Space museum it was time to go back to the hotel, the kids were exhausted and it was hot. Once back at the hotel we laid around while the kids played in the room, dinner was sandwiches from bread and meat we brought with us. It was a good trip, but you could have spent a week there and MAYBE have seen it all. I know there were places that Paul wanted to tour and walk through, but with the kids getting grumpier by the minute and me not feeling very well, it was sacrificed.

Lancaster, PA

When we woke up on Friday morning, after 5 hours of sleep, it was time to start the day with a trip to Central Market. Central Market is a step back in time where there are people selling fresh baked goods, meat counters where your steak is cut from the slab of cow to the thickness you want it, vegetables that look and smell as though they were just picked from the farm, and fish that has NO fishy smell (must be fresh, right!?). Needless to say I wanted to buy a lot of stuff, but as we had no where to store it it was just not going to happen. After market we went to my Aunt Teresa's house were we spent the day hanging out and socializing with family. It was a good and relaxing day. Nathan had a good time with cousin Miles and the girls enjoyed playing in the sand box. we all enjoyed swing on the courting swing ( I think that is what is called).

Day 2 was a party for my grandma's, 90th birthday. Everyone gathered at Aunt Teresa's house and we had a great time catching up with family and just enjoying beautiful day with each other. Paul and I offered to pick up the cake and little did we know where we would end up! After driving through the countryside we were traveling down a country road at 45 mph and looking for the bakery, as we passed a white farm house, Paul says, " I think we just passed it." We turn around and arrive at the farm house with a purple pony sign in the front yard, not very big I may add, and drive to the garage behind the house. The garage has been divided in to 2 parts, the first half is a storage area, and the back room is where the baking takes place. There is just one woman there who does all of the cooking. In talking I told them we were from TX, they then informed me that they ship whoopee pies all over and he gave me two samples. It was a pleasant surprise. They were good, but not as good as my mom's!

Before going to Aunt Teresa's for the party, we took a trip to Long's park, a park close to where my Gram use to live and full of fun memories! There was a fun wooden play area and LOTS of baby ducks and geese. The kids had a good time with the animals and playing.

Day 3 was my cousin Kirstin's wedding day, she was a beautiful bride and it was great to finally meet her husband, Liam is a good man and I know he and Kirstin will be happy. Congratulations to you both!

Day 4 most of the family had left, so we met out at my aunt Teresa's where it was a rainy day and I had to laundry! We sat around ate and talked some more, then after naps and lunch we headed out to Strasburg where we took a ride on the steam train. It was fun and enjoyed seeing the countryside and watching the Amish plow the fields and bail the hay. Another good day.

Day 5, our last day in Lancaster, we met mom and dad for breakfast then headed into town to get some pretzels, which are gone. The pretzels are made in the back of a house. Like most things in Lancaster it is a small town feel with a throw back to a time long forgotten. We looked through the windows to watch the workers, whom are all elderly, as they twisted the dough to make the pretzels. Then it was back to Aunt Teresa's house to say good bye to everyone and continue our journey to Washington DC.