Dad's Antics

Grampa got quite a good workout from the grandkids while we were there. Here are some photos of the kids, keeping Grampa busy:

You can see where this is going, right?

I love that you can see the moon in the background here.

And after the kids are done with him. . . .!

Meeting Grampa

It was nice to finally touch down and be on solid ground again. This was the first time that Grampa and Aunt Jessica got to meet my Brooke. We first went to my sister's home in the Salem area. We stayed with her for the first few days of our trip. Grampa and Grammy came to get us from the airport, then we had a delicious grilled dinner.

Here's Dad with my nephew Joel. Joel is 2 weeks and 2 days older than Brooke. He is such a sweetie and he stole my heart.

Aunt Jessica & Brooke

Plane Ride

Of course our trip started with a plane ride. Two of them, to be exact. We flew from Pittsburgh to Midway, then on to Portland. The kids love anything out of the norm, and flying is a great adventure for them. They did GREAT on each plane ride and I was so proud of them. I loved hearing all the good comments about our kids from the people around us.

Cole is always the one to give you a laugh.
After our first flight the pilot told Trevor he could come in and see the cockpit. Trevor was eating that up! Then the other boys filed in to see. The pilot was very nice to the boys, commented on their matching shirts and asked if we'd like a picture.

Stay Tuned!

We got back from our Oregon vacation Saturday morning at 3:30 a.m. (Yes, you read that correctly!) We had a good time, but the old saying is true: "There's no place like home." I wish I could bundle up my parents, sister, niece, nephew and the rest of my family and bring them out here to live nearby. I'm going to work on downloading some pictures and blogging soon, so stay tuned for some information about our trip.

Nana

David's mom was able to come for a visit the week of Brooke's birthday. We didn't do too much while she was here; mostly enjoyed her company. We did get out of the house a few times to enjoy nature and go bowling.

One day we picnicked at Canoe Creek State Park.

Brooke and Nana wore matching shirts.

Brooke got the "mooch seat." She sat in the middle of the table and ate a little bit of everything.

I just love this one. Look at all those cute tooshies! :)

We took a short hike to the kilns but the boys paused for a photo op.

Here are the kilns. They were very interesting to see.

Of course you can't go to the park with boys and not end up playing hide-n-seek, or tag, or both! It was Trevor and Cole's turn to count.

Now it's their turn to hide!

After the hike the boys took a dip in the water. This swan came right over to us.

When he finally figured out we weren't going to feed him, he left.

This was when we first spotted the swan.

I wasn't expecting Brooke to go for a swim, but Daddy took her in for a while. All her things were in the diaper bag, so Nana improvised and put David's shirt on Brooke to keep her warm.

There's that cute little tongue again!

Later that night Cole taught Nana how to play Pictureka. I think Brooke was learning too.

Our park has $1 bowling on Wednesday afternoons. We took Nana to bowling that day.

We told Brooke to clap her hands, and she did!

Our Family

We went to Canoe Creek State Park a couple of weeks ago got a few pictures after lunch. Not sure why, but you can always count on Cole to do something goofy!

Trevor, Cole, Logan

At least they're all looking, right?

Our Girl

Here are some cute pictures of our little Brooke that were taken in the last couple of weeks. She's so much fun and we all just love her to pieces!

Not sure if she just ate a piece of grass or what, but that tongue is too cute!

There's that tongue again!The boys love to put her in the laundry basket and slide her around the room.

I love this one. She's checkin' out her handsome daddy.

She knows she's safe there.

Family Visit

Last Thursday - Saturday we went to Cleveland for a whirlwind trip to visit David's family. All of his brothers and sisters were there with their families, as well as his parents. We packed a LOT into the 48 hours that we were there. We had Italian pasta (of course!) our first evening, a family picnic and portraits the next day, and some swimming and a BBQ at his uncle's home Saturday. It was a lot of fun.

Much to my chagrin the battery in my camera was dead! :( Boo-hoo! There were so many great memories and photo opportunities to record, and I missed them all. We did some family portraits at the park and this is one of all the grandkids. My three boys are dressed in blue, and Brooke is in the flag dress on the right.