End of summer

So, JL finally decided to use the bassinet we bought just before she was born. She never slept more than 30 minutes in the thing, but now, it's her favorite play space. It's soon going to some friends who are expecting a baby this winter, so JL will need to find a new spot to play.

 For an end of summer vacation, we drove to northeast Ohio for a Lilla Rose picnic. It was so fun to meet with about 20 ladies who I had only ever met on Facebook prior to this weekend. In addition to having Lilla Rose in common, many of us are homeschool moms, so there was more than enough to talk about. I even met another mom with a child allergic to gluten, so now we share recipes back and forth!

Just regular balloons, but they were a hit with the kids 10 and under.

Papi and the boys enjoyed playing this game

JL learned a lot this weekend, including clapping and waving.

A rare pic of JA. She was busy playing on the playground and cleaning up when another child spilled soda all down the slide. She was so happy to help, and I was proud to see her servant heart. :)

Most of the afternoon was spent meeting everyone, talking, and playing with our children. There were prizes for travelling the furthest (we tied with another family) and we learned one game to play at home parties.

The boys (with Papi's help) participated in the water balloon toss. I told them they were in training for our annual family reunion coming up in September. :)

This little town had many Amish families. This is not common at all where we live, so it was pretty neat to see. 

The kids shared a queen size bed, sleeping sideways. This is how we found them in the morning.

Even JL slept well at the hotel.

 The next day, we visited the Cleveland MetroZoo, and had a great time.

A rhino tusk. It was interesting that it's made of hair, not bone.

Where we began the carousel ride

Where we ended up.

 There was a fun little park near the carousel that had child-size animal homes for the kids to play in.

JT & JMC moved these plastic tubes around to guide the water in different directions.

JA ran around jumping over everything.

JL relaxed by dumping JA's water bottle all over herself.

Hanging out in a bird's nest.

We had another 2 days of vacation, but the batteries in the camera died, and it rained for most of the time anyway. We visited another town halfway between Cleveland and home, and went to their local history museum. We also took some time to swim in the hotel pool, and just relax.

It was a great weekend, and we have already begun to talk about returning next year.