Labor Day

We have a small list of things to accomplish BEFORE Ruth gets here. Time is short & we are really trying to fit it all in. Last night I actually spent the night up, alone, contracting....seriously contracting. from about 10:30 - about 4:30AM. I basically didnt get any sleep. the contractions were hard & had the potential to progress but they didnt. they didnt hit that certain "peak" that contractions have to hit to be considered "unbearable" for me. but nonetheless they were hard good contractions that kept me awake for most of the night. So with time getting short & if contractions like last night's continue we might not be able to complete our list BEFORE Ruth's arrival.

our list consist of the following:
*night of camping (Rachel's request)
*fishing with Elizabeth, Abigail, Asher & Esther. (all of the listed request)
*the zoo (Esther's request)

we also have a consistent request for picnics. so yesterday we went to a very close park & took a picnic lunch & allowed the kids to play on a very big playground. this is the same park where Clay & the 3 little ones ran into a copperhead about 2 weeks back. it's actually a camping park with hiking trails & a huge river that runs through it with paddle boats & canoes. thankfully we didnt meet any venomous visitors at Northwest River Park yesterday. we did meet a nice Russian family with a beautiful little pomerian dog. The children were very cool in that family...a girl & a boy & they both switched back & forth fluently between English & Russian. those children played very nicely with my children. we also ran into a young family with one little boy, who was younger than Levi, but walking. when we got on the trail that leads from the playground to the picnic, this little boy tried to join us. I told his Mom that he was fine...he would fit in nicely...but she decided to keep him.

here are some pictures from yesterday. i actually remembered the camera!

Esther wasnt happy that she had to eat her sandwich BEFORE she got any of the extra goodies.

 Levi has become a master at the slides & he loves them now.

 

Clay playing on the swings.

i love this picture of Abigail. she has a drop of kool-aid running down her chin. to be a kid again & not worry about things like that!

and this is Asher on his motorized motorcycle. it actually goes about 15 mph & he does great on it.