Vacation Part II: Hart Family

Grandpa Hart at the Cowboy Dinner... and his characteristic cheesy grin!

Eric got the honor of holding cousin J up to touch the huge longhorn steer

Amber and lil C. He looks kinda put out in this pic

Lil cousin A was a bit obsessed with Gwen... a love hate relationship

cousin J and cousin C are getting along wonderfully, though! check out that hug!

Pose for the camera or eat the camera or do both at the same time

had to capture the adults taking pics of the kidlets: Grandpa, Spencer, Grandma, Amber

And the next few: Gwen's complex relationship with her cowgirl hat

Tamara and her boys, J and A plus baby in the belly

Daddy gives Gwen's hat a try. Nice trade.

I think she fancies herself a cowgirl

lil A poses on the train

Gwen on the train with her new pheasant "wooster" (rooster)

Grandpa and cousin A

Eric said "Gwen" wanted to ride the grub rather than the pretty butterfly

Lil cousin C was an expert at wearing himself out at Silver Dollar City

Back in AR, Grandpa entertains Gwen outside

with an impromptu (swimsuitless) round of fun in the pool

Grandma reads to Gwen before naptime

J showed Gwen all kinds of tricks in the pool. He taught her to blow bubbles. She was stoked.

I was there lovin on the lil swimmers

Uncle Spencer helped the kidlets pick some fresh blueberries in the backyard

spaghetti dinner at Aunt Tamara's house with Gwen, J, and A at the special cousin table. They loved being together!

Sure had a great time at the Hart family reunion! Love you guys! See you in November!

Vacation Part I: Allan Family

In no particular order: our visit with Eric's family in Idaho involved all the festivities of a missionary coming home and the delicious food and extended family that go along with such occasions...and a glorious touch of the rustic outdoors with a trip to the cabin. Feeling manly after chopping TONS of wood... and may I sort of brag that I chopped one too? It only took me like 11 tries to get the wedge to do more than dent the surface, but not that I was counting. Having tried it myself, I was even more impressed with how well all these guys did!

Eric lovin on Gwen. He's a wonderful Daddy.
Mama Allan focused this purposefully to capture the look of contentment and pride on Eric's face as he looks at Gwen. He didn't know this was actually a photo of him and how he feels about fatherhood. :)

This reminds me of a photo I've seen of Eric with his brothers wearing wrestling masks of the white "pull-ups" variety...now they're all grown up and wearing luchador masks!

Elise successfully got the hummingbirds to land on her finger... she was very diligent and patient.

Elise holding Frederick, who was quite the cutie. I don't have any pictures of Jan or Edward, but they were there too. Usually Edward and Gwen were on the deck. Gwen chasing Edward, Edward chasing the dog... sometimes resulting in cousin love and cousin drama in rapid succession. :) Gwen couldn't get enough of "Ewah" or "Ala" (the dog's name is Ollie).

Gwen enjoying a quiet moment in a box.

And, what would a trip out the cabin be without the obligatory opportunity for Gwen to play in the dirt? She called it 'sand' and was excited to get in it at every opportunity.

Kind of a scary photo of her, but take a look at her crazy blond hair! Gwen loved chasing after Eric's youngest cousins, who were eager to play 'big sis' to their lil cousin-once-removed (is that what she would be?)Uncle Collin hoggin the kids... and they all match. Aw, that's sweet.

As usual, Gwen takes every opportunity to make a break for it... where exactly does she think she's gonna go?

Gwen and Edward playing in the rocks

family photo: Evan holding Frederick, Jan holding Edward, Mama, Papa, Elise, Bryce, Collin, Me holding Gwen, Eric, and Marc (Affectionately called "Monkey" by Gwen. She even signs it...he is pretty obliging, readily answering when she calls out his 'name')

Wonderful visit! See you guys at Christmas!!!!

As Promised, a Post

I have tons of photos. Pretty much the entire summer. With vacations and schoolwork, I've just been unable to fill ya in on what we've been up to. This post takes you through June, but I was too lazy to move the photos once I uploaded them. They are in reverse. Consider it a journey back in time...Proof that I exist. Even though I look kinda scary here at the girls night fondue party we had. So fun, so tasty, so friendly!
The best part is, this photo is totally staged. Can you tell?
2nd time at swimming lessons. Can you see the worry on her face? She HATED it the first 3 times, but now LOVES it! I think she was a) scared of the teacher and b) terrified of the waterfall
Popsicles are fun in addition to yummy
Oh yeah, when it is hot and daddy is desperate because Gwen keeps saying "outside, outside, outside, outside..." over and over again...this calls for creativity.
Swimming is a new favorite activity. I gave up trying to keep her out of the creek. We found a shallow area where the water wasn't flowing and went "swimming"
lots of critters to look at around here...Gwen is eying a crawdad Daddy caught
first fish
First try at fishing
Absolutely thrilled to be at the creek with Daddy. Wasn't it a lovely morning?
Not even scared that the tiger wants to eat her...
Neighbors: Ghada, Achmed, Ala, and Abrahem
Gwen made this shark hat. Can you tell she is in love? Still in her pjs but wants to wear the hat. She wore it so much... until she got curious to see how things were sticking together, and ripped it apart. Curiosity killed the...shark?

Love Affair with Water

I love it when Gwen loves swimming lessons. I am proud when she kicks and moves her arm to attempt to retrieve a rubber duckie, sits on the side of the pool with outstretched arms in anticipation for "3" which means I'm going to lift her into the water, and only sputters a little when we go through the waterfall. Putting her face in the water is still an ordeal, but is anyone surprised?

I love it when Gwen loves the beach at the lake. Running straight for the water so that I had to quickly snatch her up before a dive-- she was FEARLESS! I am proud of her confidence getting in the water and articulation when she then asks me to help her "es-swimming, es-swimming!" (it sounds like 'It's swimming') with all her excitement.

I love it when Gwen wants to help water the garden... one lil tupperware at a time, each time coming back to me and the water bucket with a loud squeal and empty tupperware held overhead! And, to be perfectly honest about things, I don't mind when she purposefully dumps the tupperware on herself and laughs about it.

Do I love it when she wants to:

play in the rain? Yes. I suppose I do.

play in the mud puddles? Not so much. But once the clothes are dirty and the damage is done, I guess I do enjoy seeing her so happy, almost naked, and VERY dirty!

before and after

Lil Friends and Polar Bear Video!

Our great friends are moving on in life, heading out of Columbus towards new things. They moved in right about the same time we did just a few apartments down, have a daughter just about Gwen's age, and are pretty much amazing in every way. We headed to the zoo together... and had a blast despite the indomitable heat!

Don't you love all the great reactions? Well, Lil Atticus slept right through all of it. But Charlotte's face is priceless: I gotta admit, that Polar exhibit is really cool! We timed it just right to see some great things. Like the following video:

Well, this is not the proper forum to say my goodbyes. But I will say that we love you guys so much! I know Gwen will still continue to ask to play with Charlotte every day... it will be so hard for her to understand. I DO understand and it is still hard for me. We will really miss you!