Happy Birthday Owen! Welcome Holly! Back to school!

I think the title sums it up. Owen has turned 2, we got a puppy and Zach is officially in the 3rd grade. I admit, I was NOT aware that school was starting so early and I'm still smoldering a bit of anger/frustration about it. In my mind there were 2 more weeks and I was happy to get some school shopping done 'early' as we had 3 weeks to go...imagine my surprise when my mother in law informed me No, you only have a week! I wanted time to kick back and relax, stay up late and sleep in (on days that Kev was home at least) Noooooo I don't want to start dragging Zach out of bed early every morning, struggle through the routine for getting to school, then the after-school homework, reading, chores, dinner, karate....aaarrrgggghhhh! But it's here and he's doing great, even if I'm still a bit miffed about it.

One week after our arrival home, Owen turned 2. Hard to believe he's so grown up already. And I swear, it's like he flipped some switch...he's suddenly trying to talk more, saying a new word almost daily, showing more personality, on and on, I just look at him and wonder where this little boy came from. We have started Tumbleweeds, a gymnastics center that has a great program for little ones, and he had a blast, running like a maniac through the gym. The owner commented on how much like Zach he was, she remembered details about how Zach was at that age and then remarked how he had the same energy. Hahahahahahahahaha.

Enter Holly....this is all Rusty's fault. He and Kim got 2 of the cutest little beagle puppies just before we left to come home. Little Sylvia melted my heart and I would have taken her with me then and there, had she not been Sophia's pick. So when we got home I started looking on Petfinders to see what sort of puppies were available around here. Kept it a secret from Zach and on Saturday, August 1, we snuck up to Orlando and got Holly. THANK-YOU SHARON! for signing us up on the list giving us a top spot so we could get the dog of our choosing. Otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten her, and she's a keeper. Part chocolate lab, part Australian shepherd (we are wondering about that second part, she looks like a lab) she's smart as a whip and keeping me busy when I think I have a free moment, I remember that I don't.

I think this brings me up to speed, I'll grab the pics and hopefully pass out for the night and get back on schedule with this here blog thing.

Btw, one of Owen's new words is 'rain'..."Wain!"

Remnants of West Virginia

Ok, I will admit, that month long vacation took a lot out of me. I didn't quite expect to halt the blog/photo process for a full month, though. But can I just say DAMN! I'm worn out. If I didn't know better, I'd swear my thyroid was screeching and grinding to a full stop. But alas, no good excuses. I was completely and utterly frazzled and fried by the time we were headed back home, Owen never really 'took' to anyone on the trip save Brittany, and when we got home he started waking at night, not napping well, being wound up/hyper, etc. Then it was his birthday, school started, visitors, yada yada. But I digress....this post will be dedicated to the remaining WV pics, I'll start another for our time home since then.

On our last full weekend in WV, I took the boys to Pipestem State Park, one that we went to almost every year with a big church group. It was one of the highlights of my summers back then. I don't think I quite conveyed the magic of the place, there were no kids for the boys to play with, I was trying to wrangle Owen while giving Zach enough attention, making sure neither one jumped off the tower (Ok, only Owen was up for that) etc. It was nice to go back and relive some fond memories, and Zachary enjoyed it...I'd love to go again when there is at least one other adult with me, and maybe some more kids. While there, I asked a gentleman to take a photo of us with my camera. He did, but despite my attempts at telling him how to use the autofocus it came out really blurry. So he took another, which he was pleased to admit was much better. I'll let you be the judge.

A few days later I got to see one of my college friends, Jon. Jon has been paralyzed from the neck down since he was about 14, but he is amazingly independent and I love him lots. Owen ran laps in his apartment while Zach snuggled the ferret and tried his hand at Rock Band. Thank goodness we had Brittany with us! She is the only person Owen allowed to hold him, and she's the only reason we made it through dinner without the total loss of my mind.

About 2 days later, I met up with some very old friends, I've known them for 30 odd years. Now we are all grown up with kids of our own instead of Crissy dolls. A brief stint at the Cabell county fair, a few rides, then dinner out and a couple of pics the next morning aren't enough to really let us catch up, but it was like old times just hanging out and chatting, no matter how many years and changes go by, it feels just the same.

And again, another old friend from high school, Lisa Robertson and her 2 adorable munchkins. After our dinner out, we met up at the hotel where the kids had a blast with the bed jumping and pillow fighting.

I'm sure there's more, every time I took photos I was mentally 'post' about it, coming up with the words I wanted to describe it here on the blog. But after a month, I guess you're lucky to get the pics haha. Did I mention I'm tired?

Good night

Is it time yet?
Btw, this photo is from yesterday. I need to figure out how to take sunset photos that don't black out the entire foreground.

And to finally catch up...

Yesterday Casi and Kelly came by to celebrate Casi's birthday. We met them about 2 weeks ago at the first party when Kathy came to town. So of course I grabbed the camera to get some pics of everyone. Sophia was very agreeable to the posing and picture taking requests. Zach was busy trying to get me to take pics of his flying leaps off the hillside and Owen was, as usual, not very happy unless I was holding him. Yesterday was actually pretty extreme for him, I think he was tired b/c this morning he got up early (as usual!) but then fell back to sleep for an additional 2 1/2 hours. Very abnormal, but very very VERY much appreciated.

Anyway, here are the pics. Along with two others I took a few days back and forgot to post them.

When in West Virginia...

You must go hiking, right? And playing in a creek is pretty much a requirement, too. So Uncle Caleb took the boys and me down a gorgeous trail at Glade Creek, down by the New River. It was so dark and cool and green, albeit muddy. Owen was having a great time running down, and alternately being carried by me. Zach wore his green cloak which made him look a bit like an elf sprite or something, he completely blended into the scenery.

Caleb took us down to a small waterfall, which fell into a deep pool that he says you can jump into from the edge of the trail, a sort of cliff/drop off. We took him at his word on that one. However, we went just above the falls where it was very shallow, Zach was DYING to get into the water. We had to find a way down to the water, and we took a small path that was a bit steeper than I wanted, what with carrying Owen, but with Caleb's help we made it down. Then I had to step into the water WITH MY NEW BOOTS on. Thank heavens for those boots, though. The rocks were completely covered with a slick, slimy algae that made crossing the water a bit like tight rope walking. Only with a baby and a camera. I gave up on the baby, letting Caleb take him over to the other side (where there was a nice flat rocky area for us to sit and eat our sandwiches).

Zach immediately got into the water and fell down, soaking his entire being. Owen saw Zach playing around in the water and kept scouting for a way past me to get into it. There was too much current to let him go freely, combined with the slick rock bottom, so Caleb took him. He had a ball, he bascially ended up on his belly, sliding on the slimy rocks, and Zach joined them. Three boys playing in the water and muck. Just precious.

On the way back, we came upon a delightful native creature. I keep getting told how lucky I am to have seen him, but I will be more than thrilled if I never come across any more of his kind in my life. He was sitting in the middle of the path, I was zipping along carrying Owen and Zach was skipping along at my side, Caleb in the back. When we saw him, I sort of froze mentally and started backing up, grabbing Zach by the shoulder and making him come with me. We waited a while for him to take his time getting out of our way, and then Caleb took the camera and snapped a few pics, getting closer than I would have dared. All in all, a complete adventure.

Owen's clothes were covered in the muck, which rubbed off on my WHITE shirt as I carried him. And I have since learned it does not wash out well. C'est la vie.