Kids Say Funny Things
-Matthew to Daddy(who had his shirt off) : "Daddy, why is it so dark inside your belly button?" Then Matthew wanting to stick his finger in the black hole got it shewed away by Daddy. It was a sweaty black hole of a belly button that a finger might not make it back from.

-Ethan just a few minutes later:"Mommy I tooted, right there" pointing to his rear end. Thanks buddy, I was needing to know that.


More Exploring in Connecticut

A friend told me about a beautiful waterfall that we needed to visit. He was right, they were awesome! We took the hiking trail to the top of the waterfall. There was a nice river that lead down to the start of the cascading waterfall.

The waterfall had several "layers" of falls with cool pools at the bottom of each that people were swimming in.

And some people think that these were created by evolution "big bang" nonsense. Only God could create something so beautiful.

And so we thought that after the hike it would be fun to take our shoes off and cool ourselves down a little bit. Both Amanda and Matthew "accidentally" fell into the cool water fully clothed.

At least we can take Matthew's shirt off so something stayed dry.

Ethan played for a few minutes, but got tired of being in the water. It was kind of hard for him to walk around with all the rocks.

The only thing dry is their hair. And they would have gone totally under if I would have let them. It was a very wet one hour car ride home.

Britt's Visit to Connecticut

I love my sister's. I especially love when they come to visit me. Britt and her 2 kids came a couple weeks ago and I am just getting around to blogging about it now. So here are just a few of the things that we did while she was here. I think we kept everyone pretty well entertained! Orchards, submarine museum, aquarium, beach, church(not as much fun as the beach), walks as a family, and celebrating Brittany's birthday on her last day!

Rainy Sunday, popsicles outside in the rain, sticky faces and hands.

We went to a waterfall and river. The kids had the most fun throwing rocks into the river and getting their hands dirty. As you can see Matthew is displaying his rather well.

Lucy, Bradley, Matthew, and Ethan feeling very proud of themselves climbing the huge rock!

We went to the very cool submarine museum and got to go inside and see what life might have been like in those tiny quarters. Ethan and Lucy are looking over the side and the waters below.

Why won't Matthew and Ethan ever look at the camera when I take a picture.

3 big boys eating some lunch before going into the submarine.

We also took Britt and the kids to the orchards to pick some fruit. It was a super hot day, but we got lots of blueberries.

Brittany and Lucy gathering blueberries.

The little duo in the peach trees. They loved playing together, most of the time. Ethan missed Lucy after she left. So sad.

View of the orchards and the kids walking down to the peach trees.

We had so much fun with Britt here. It makes me miss my family when they are here and then they leave. I often think it would be very nice to be able to live by our family again. Kids love to play with their cousins. You always have a friend in a brother or sister, and sometimes babysitters you don't have to pay. But we have had quite the adventures living in different places. So much to explore and do in every state we have lived in. And maybe next year we will be starting a whole new adventure.

Thanks for visiting Britt! Miss you!

Ethan turns 3

I can't believe that my little boy is 3 yrs. old. He is getting so big, but is still just as cuddly as he was when he was an infant. He loves Kitty's so we made him a kitty cake. He loved it, but loved eating it even more.

Still just as messy as his 1st birthday!

Ethan on his 1st birthday for comparison purposes. Look at those chubby cheeks!



Taking a bite suitable for a 3 yr. old.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ETHAN FROM THE OCEAN......because when we got there the tide was so low that we could walk out into the ocean for what seemed forever and still touch the bottom. It was more like a lake this day than an ocean. No waves at all! The picture below is a ocean-made island about 30 feet from the shoreline. The kids had a great time playing in the mud.

Amanda made a volcano out of the mud on our little island. Matthew had the ingenious idea to get the red seaweed and use it for lava. Smart boy. He actually is afraid of swimming through the seaweed, but for artistic purposes he will make an exception.

Of course no island would be complete without a mud bath. Jared helped the kids did a big hole. I think they were actually hoping to find clams to take home and eat. If you dig deep enough there will be some, but not today.

Now, Ethan knowing that he would be turning 3 soon decided to take up body art and drew himself a mustache. Lovely!

LYMAN ORCHARDS
On the way to Lyman Orchards to pick some fresh fruit, Matthew looked out the window and said "Daddy I see a rainbow." My first thought was "it better not be raining today" (we have had alot of rain lately). But Jared looked out the window and there was a rainbow in the clouds. So we pulled over and took a picture. It was really quite cool. And it stayed there for a long time. I have never seen anything like this before. It's like the daytime Aurora Borealis.

Matthew picking and eating a yummy peach!

Climbing the peach tree to get the juiciest and yummiest peaches.

The best part was picking the blueberries. The kids can tell which ones are ripe and we filled our baskets much faster than when picking the raspberries. The blueberries were soooo good too. I get hungry just thinking about it.

Here is a blueberry bush. I don't think I had ever seen a blueberry bush until this day that we picked them. Jared and I decided where ever we end up we will be planting some of these!

Here is Ethan blowing out his candles.