Philadelphia

We had a great time on vacation in Philadelphia! It was fun to stay with Nana and Uncle Wes. We went swimming with G.G, Aunt Beth, Uncle Chris, Kick, Caiti, and Cassidy. We spent a few days at the beach with Nana, Lori, Sean and Luke. Shane got to Boogie Board, Wyatt played in the sand for the first time, and Brooks and Shane went flounder fishing. Of course, we ate cheesesteaks, water ice, and soft pretzels. Friday night we had a BBQ at Nana's house, which was a lot of fun.

Ready for his first airplane ride.

Shane decided that Luke and Wyatt would be best friends because they were born two weeks apart. You could never tell by their size!

Wyatt got to sit in my old highchair while we were at Nana's house.

Wiped out on the beach.

Mommy and Wyatt on the beach.

The Boogie Boarding King!

Wyatt enjoyed playing in the sand.

Unfortunately Brooks and Shane did not catch any fish they could keep, but they still caught a bunch and had a lot of fun. This is a sea robin they caught.

The best friends sharing a fine Pennsylvania brew.

Shane with his cousin, Christopher, my friend Lori's son, Sean, and his cousins, Cassidy and Caiti.

Shane with G.G. and Nana.

4th of July

We stayed here in Chico for the 4th of July. In the morning Brooks ran in the Independence Day Run through Bidwell Park. Afterwards we had a pancake breakfast in the park. It was a beautiful morning! In the evening we went over to our friends' block party. The kids all swam and had a good time. We were able to see the fireworks from their driveway so we didn't have to fight any crowds.

The temperatures here are now in the 100's and it is very smoky from the fires. Ash is falling on everything like snow. We are pretty anxious to leave all this smoke and heat and head to the East Coast next week. Soft pretzels and Rita's Water Ice and a trip to the Jersey Shore!!! Woo-hoo!!!

Cabin with Friends

We spent the weekend at the cabin with our friends Heide and John and their two girls, Hannah and Julia. With all the wildfires still burning it was a bit smoky, but we all had a good time. The kids found a big toad, went for boat rides, caught crawdads, swam and just enjoyed the outdoors. The grown-ups enjoyed dock time and relaxing in the (smoky) mountain air.

At the smokiest part of the day, this is what the view of the channel looked like from our dock...

This is what it usually looks like...