picnic and hike

We had a lovely day on Wednesday this week. Erik was off for the day and with grandparents and Uncle Will in town we decided to head out for a picnic in the park and a quick hike. :)

family photos

potty time :)

Well...you may have guessed it with our post title. Meredith is rocking this 'potty time' business - and we are all loving it. :)

Throughout each day, MJ now gives us the sign for potty, or we ask her and she nods or signs it...then we strip her down and have some potty sitting time. This last week of heat was the perfect excuse for lots of nude baby time in our home. :)

Success doesn't happen each time, but every day we catch one or two times, and it's enough to keep her interested, proud and keep us cheering!

snacks are always helpful when doing one's business. ;)

rice cakes...again.

Oh! Is there something down there? Good job, girlie!

moments with the dear Cockley family

Our last stop in our central PA visit last weekend was at the Cockley's beautiful home in the heart of Perry County. Visits with this dear family are a treat and one we keep coming back to. :)

Olivia (their oldest at 15) snatching a few moments to read

Fuzzy - one of their many (!!) friendly pets and a huge entertainment for Meredith

K.C. and Olivia laughing at Erik's antics

...gathering for popcorn, tea and blueberry pie...

yummy!

Berries! We found wild raspberries on our way over the mountain, and Erik and Kurtz picked the blueberries on their grandparent's property.

"Yardin Garden"

With our garden in full swing, an update on the crops seems overdue.

Our spring planting of kale and collards still lingers, but has been a wonderful supplement to our green consumption. They are so hardy, we almost have to kill the plants to make room for our tomatoes.

Trying collards for the first time this year has been a nice surprise.

We were not sure how to use them, but Erik has made a great side dish with collards, red potatoes, red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard. The largest leaves also make awesome wraps!

For the third straight year, our tomato plants have been quite abundant, coming from our compost - amounting to a few hundred volunteer plants spring up when Erik turned the compost into the soil back in early March. They've had a slow start with the cool, rainy spring, but they have been getting out of control lately and ready for some support.

The back plot (one of six around the yard), holds more bountiful tomato plants and the squash varieties (also compost start-ups) have been taking over.

Erik found free bamboo on Craigslist and picked up as much as our Honda could hold...

paired it down to size...

while MJ looked on and played with the clippings...

and used them to hold up the tomato plants (right) while keeping the squash vines from invading. Eventually, they will snake their way up the bamboo wall! Stay posted for the first fruits of our summer planting - coming very soon.

Sunday in the Park with MJ

While in Carlisle this weekend, we stopped at one of Jane's childhood parks - Fort LeTort. :) Meredith had a wonderful time swinging with Daddy and walking with Mama up, down and all over!

It was so fun for me to be there again, and remember the hype in Carlisle when "Fort LeTort" was being built...now 20 years ago. Yikes... it sounds so old to say I can remember things that happened 20 years ago!

E-town Visit

We spend this weekend in central PA - Jane's old stomping grounds. First stop was Elizabethtown, PA to stay with Phil, Em, Josie and Margo for Friday night and hang out time on Saturday morning. After the kiddos were in bed Erik and Phil smoked cigars on the back porch. Both guys tried to see how long they could keep their cigar ash (i.e. "top hats") from falling off - Phil broke all records (Erik's was half the length) and amazed us by his balancing skills and puffing technique. :)

The next morning we cheered on Meredith in her own version of the "warrior dash" - complete with the authentic headgear. ;) Get your walk on, GIRL!

...more photos to come on further happenings over the weekend...

"okay."

Meredith loves to imitate. :) We do a lot of imitating expressions around here...and now she is getting into imitating words!

Here is her latest....

4th of July weekend

We had a lovely weekend with dear friends in town - Joe and Lauren Stengele from Seattle, and Linda from Pittsburgh. It was such a blessing to have time with kindred spirits. :)

lots of meals outside on the patio

Meredith was thrilled to have so many playmates for several days! We loved seeing her cozy-up to our friends and to spend time with each of them.

It was a joy to see Lauren's pregnant belly (she's just entered her 3rd trimester!!) and have lots of time for 'baby talk' together.

Watermelon eating was a key activity over the few days we spent altogether. Meredith was an enthusiastic participant. :)

Mama soon stopped trying to wipe up the juice running down elbows and all over the dress... after all, this is what summertime is all about.

And...sparkler fun in the evening before the Stengeles popped out for fireworks.