A trip to the Zoo

Last month (wow, time flies!) we met up with some friends who live in Baltimore while we were over visiting and took a day trip to the Baltimore Zoo. Emma had been 2 years ago when Will was T-one month to his birthday :)

Excited for the tram ride!

Smile! It was a cool morning but warmed up perfectly.

Our first stop was the "fairy dogs"

 Checking out the Polar Bear...

Everyone trying to get a look at the zebras.

Zebras, ostriches, and rinos.

Will, trying to climb up for a better look at the cheetah (some things haven't changed).

We found the giraffes!

Inside the monkey house. There was a baby, but it is really hard to spot.

And the chimps were outside since it was such a nice day.

Will started to get tired and took a break in the princess stroller. (This used to be Emma's stroller too!)

Emma and Phoebe, holding hands.

Pretending to ride the horses.

Brushing the goats...

And Will was thrilled to ride the tram (its a train! A train!) back to the front of the zoo.

Hugs goodbye...

Keeping Cool

A few Sundays ago we headed down to Rehobeth to visit with the Thompsons after church. It was such a hot afternoon that the beach sounded miserable and even the backyard with a freezing cold pool was pretty sweltering!

The kiddos enjoyed throwing themselves into and out of the pool. Since the sides were pretty tall they didn't always make it out on their feet!



Filling up the little pool...



Emma had a great time splashing around in the deep pool


And Will split his time between the pool and watching Daddy and Mr. Billy play horseshoes.




Check out that handsome face!



Emma and Will have also discovered a strong passion for corn on the cob this summer. Emma polished off most of the ear by herself...



with a little help from Will!



Instead of the beach we opted for dinner on the boardwalk at Grotto's. Will ate two whole (very large slices) and Emma nearly as much! Then we spent a little time on the rides at Funland.

Fun on the boats...



Emma waited so patiently to ride the carousel,



with her tickets in hand.



And she had a blast!



Despite the face, Will quite enjoyed himself as well.



Lots of fun on the carousel!

Time with friends

We got to hang out with the Thompsons for a few hours this past weekend. They were in Delaware for a few very busy days, but we spent Saturday morning visiting during a large community yard sale. The weather was beautiful; a cool spring morning that warmed up nicely. 

Emma, Will, and Kellen enjoyed chasing each other around and particularly blowing (and spilling!) bubbles.

This little container ended up mostly on Kellen :-)

Its been so great to see our kids still get so excited to see each other, even though the visits are often several months in between. Emma loves to love on Kellen.

And this visit he was much more willing to hold hands and let her hug him!

The funny part is that Kellen and Will are closer in age than Emma and Kellen, and they are turning into little trouble makers together....playing with the music...

and enjoying cookies together...

This is such a sweet picture! 

Fun with friends

We recently got to visit with some good friends who recently added to their family with another little girl! The kids had a blast playing together.

Eating lots of Cheerios. Incidentally, this was the day before Emma got really sick. She was symptom free except for not eating dinner, but we chalked that up to a bunch of Cheerios for snack.

Sweet baby girl.

She was 6 pounds 11 ounces, the same as Will. Holding a newborn is so different than a baby just a month or two old...its crazy how fast they change!

 Cute! We are looking forward to many more fun times together

Triple Trouble

Emma had to get in on the photo op too!

Its a little crazy looking back at the first Memma, Cha-Cha, and Woo pictures. They've grown up so much in just a little over a year!

Apple Picking

Last week we had a great trip south of Dover to Fifer Orchards.

Emma was super excited to pick apples!

Will enjoyed the sights from the backpack while Emma and I picked apples with our friends.

After picking apples we spent time in the Fall Festival area at Fifer. We went through a corn maze, enjoyed some huge slides (they put ArmourAll on the slides every morning...they were fast!), played in the hay, and did rubber duck races. They had several of these tanks set up. You used the pump to push water through the shoot and push the rubber duck along. They were awesome!

All the kids!

It was a great trip!

Happy Birthday, Joshua!

On Saturday we celebrated the first birthday of our Godson, Joshua! The party was on the actual day, so while Joshua turned a year old, Emma turned 31 months old and Will turned 10 months old. God knew we needed to simply dates apparently!

Joshua was thrilled about his hat.

But everything was all better once he eyed up that cake!

 And dug in, of course!

 Yum Yum

Joshua and Will went for a quick dip in the pool afterwards, just before the rain started.

 Will and Uncle Kevin

Emma really enjoyed her special watermelon soda!

 Cheese!

Joshua did a pretty good job opening packages too. He and Will are checking out a new truck.

The kiddos all got dressed up for the occasion. Joshua went as Charlie Brown, and Emma and Will were Leia and Luke. They were all so adorable in their outfits, but after the fact we had very few pictures of them in the costumes!

Here is the best full length view of Emma and Will

Karene made Joshua's Charlie Brown shirt, Emma is wearing my angel costume from 25 or so years ago, and Will is looking super thrilled in his moisture farmer duds.

It was a wonderful day with family and friends celebrating Joshua's first year!