Labor Day Weekend

We just finished up a family-and-friend-filled weekend that was fun and relaxing. My mother in law came all the way from upstate NY and graciously swung by to pick up Anna from college so that she could hang out with us. The kids of course are blissed out on all the Grandma S and favorite aunt attention (they have a lot of favorite aunts, btw), Steve got in innumerable games of Settlers, and I got to eat and eat and eat and eat....so you won't be seeing any pictures of me until I've fasted for a month or three.
It was back to the normal today, though a new normal as we're starting our tentative fall schedule. I'm still considering a tumbling or dance class once a week as we won't be going to the play group, but otherwise we're keeping it very low key. And like usual, I took hardly any pictures. For example, we had an awesome cookout Saturday night with beef kabobs that were out of this world. And Hudson met baby Gemma for the first time and fell completely in love. Hen was never too in to babies, Hudson was obsessed. Didn't matter who was holding her, he wanted her at his level so he could hug and kiss and gently pet her, all the while making soft "hmmmm" noises. She smiled at him, so they're pretty much engaged and will be giving me 11 adorable grand babies shortly. Thank goodness I won't be running short on cute baby pictures to post :)

Everything is out of order, but this was yesterday as we wound down the fun.

Sheffy and Grandma S supervising

Handsome!

Hudson catching rocks

She was pretty delighted that Hudson could ride with her

Dirt, dirt, dirt. This child looks like a street urchin

Hen's learning to pump while swinging

Hudson figured out how to step from one to the next by watching other kids. I was impressed

First time using scissors

My Adirondack chairs finally went on sale! Also got 2 chairs for the patio. So nice to be able to sit outside comfortably.

In an attempt to keep the house clean for guests the kids picnicked for lunch. Clearly there were no objections.

Sailing our vessel! She was properly christened the Henrietta and behaved very well for all of us landlubbers (even after getting dropped twice on the trip down). We really need to do some reading on how to sail...

And today we started "preschool". It's a great curriculum for 3 year olds that takes them through the Bible and the alphabet in a year, along with some verse and hymn memorization, music and art appreciation, and mostly fun activities. Very low key, done in about 20mins a day. Of course she's loving it. (Note the large mug of coffee. Hud's up a minimum of twice a night, usually 3x/night. It's getting old.  

That's it. Trying to adapt to being back inside because of this horrid heat and humidity after such a gorgeous week past. Relief appears to be arriving on Sunday :)